Division leaders face off in NFL

MIAMI, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Rich Gannon and the Oakland Raiders (9-4) visit Ricky Williams and the Miami Dolphins (8-5) in a battle of AFC division leaders in Week 15 of the NFL.

Also, the Green Bay Packers (10-3) and San Francisco 49ers (9-4), only teams to clinch division titles, will face off Sunday in an NFC match.

And, the Philadelphia Eagles (10-3) can seal the NFC East and three teams from the NFC South - the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-3), New Orleans Saints (9-4) and Atlanta Falcons (8-4-1) - can earn playoff spots on Sunday.

Gannon, the NFL's top passer, and Williams, the league's rushing leader, are two of the league's hottest players and Oakland is the hottest team.

It's been a tale of three seasons for the Raiders, who opened with four wins, followed with four losses, and then reeled off five straight victories and own the best record in the AFC.

Gannon, who turns 37 on Dec. 20, has been consistently prolific throughout for Oakland, setting an NFL single-season record with 10 300-yard passing games.

Kurt Warner of the St. Louis Rams had nine 300-yard games in 1999 and 2001. Dan Marino achieved the feat first for Miami in 1984 and Warren Moon matched it in 1990 for Houston.

Gannon is also threatening Marino's record of 5,084 passing yards in a season. Gannon has passed for 4,205 yards with three games remaining.

Williams became just the third running back in NFL history to rush for more than 200 yards in back-to-back games. He rushed for a career-high 228 yards and two touchdowns two weeks ago in Miami's loss at Buffalo and followed with 216 yards and two scores on 31 carries in a win Monday vs. Chicago.

Only O.J. Simpson (1973 and 1976) and Earl Campbell (1980) had rushed for at least 200 yards in consecutive games before Monday, when Williams surpassed Kansas City's Priest Holmes for the league rushing lead.

Williams has exactly 1,500 yards, 46 more than Holmes. In his last four contests, Williams has 689 yards and eight touchdowns.

But Sunday, Williams faces an Oakland defense - led by tackle John Parrella and linebacker Bill Romanowski - which held San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson to 57 yards on 18 carries last week.

Miami quarterback Jay Fiedler used his legs to beat the Raiders in Week Two last season, running for a two-yard touchdown with five seconds left and lifting the Dolphins to an 18-15 victory.

Gannon completed just 14-of-25 passes for 125 yards. Miami cornerbacks Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain succeeded in containing star receivers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice, holding them to a combined four catches for 27 yards.

The Raiders are seeking their third straight AFC West title and hold a one-game lead over San Diego after beating the Chargers, 27-7 last week. The Chargers (8-5) visit the Buffalo Bills (6-7) on Sunday.

The Dolphins are tied with New England for first place in the AFC East, one game ahead of the New York Jets.

The Packers and Niners are familiar playoff rivals, with the Packers winning four of the five postseason meetings since the 1995 season.

Green Bay has won eight of the last nine meetings overall since 1995 with Brett Favre at the helm. The lone win for San Francisco came in the 1998 wild card round when Terrell Owens caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Steve Young with three seconds remaining, lifting the Niners to a 30-27 victory.

Favre led the Packers to a 25-15 victory over the Niners in the wild card round last January at Lambeau Field. The three-time Most Valuable Player threw for 226 of his 269 yards in the second half when he orchestrated four scoring drives.

Owens, a 6-3, 226-pound receiver, caught two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the winning eight-yarder with 12 seconds left, in the Niners' 31-27 win at Dallas last week. He finished with 12 receptions for 123 yards, raising his season totals to 92 catches for 1,225 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The win at Dallas clinched San Francisco's first NFC West title since 1997. The Niners trail Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Green Bay by one game for the conference's best record.

"We're happy to win the division, but we're not satisfied," said Niners coach Steve Mariucci, who used to be Favre's quarterbacks coach in Green Bay from 1992-95. He took over as 49ers coach in 1997.

In the final regular season game at Veterans Stadium, the Eagles look to clinch their second straight NFC East title Sunday when they meet the Washington Redskins (5-8).

Sporting a 9-0 record against NFC opponents and in control of their own destiny for home-field advantage in the playoffs, the Eagles need a win or loss by the New York Giants (7-6) in their last three games to wrap up the division.

Philadelphia closes the regular season with games at Dallas and the Giants.

Known for its rowdy fans and horrible playing surface, Veterans Stadium has been home to the Eagles since 1971. The Eagles are 6-1 at home this season and have posted a 141-110-2 mark, including 6-3 in the playoffs, all-time at the Vet. Next season, the Eagles move into Lincoln Financial Field.

But before they think of next season, the Eagles have a chance to ensure the road through the NFC playoffs could go through Philadelphia. With wins in their last three games, the Eagles would clinch homefield advantage.

A month ago, homefield looked to be an afterthought for the Eagles, who saw quarterback Donovan McNabb go down with a fractured ankle. The following week, backup Koy Detmer suffered a dislocated elbow.

Despite the injuries, the Eagles have gone 3-0 in the absence of their top quarterback. Third-stringer A.J. Feeley is 2-0 as the starter.

The Giants will host the Dallas Cowboys (5-8) on Sunday.

The Buccaneers visit the Detroit Lions (3-10), the Saints host the Minnesota Vikings (3-10) and the Falcons meet the Seattle Seahawks (4-9) on Sunday.

The Bucs need a win to clinch a playoff berth, but have their sights set on more than just another trip to the postseason.

"This is a great opportunity for us to get a bye and the homefield and we need to take advantage of it," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "This chance we have doesn't occur often and when it does you have to focus on what you need to do and keep your eye on the prize."

Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp has been to the playoffs four times with the Bucs, and they won both home games and lost all four road games, including back-to-back defeats at Philadelphia each of the last two years.

"We would like the road to the Super Bowl to go through Tampa Bay," Sapp said.

The Saints can make the playoffs for the second time in three years with a win and a loss by the Giants or a win and a win by Philadelphia. On Sunday, they will face a Vikings team that has lost 17 straight road games, including playoffs.

Michael Vick and the Falcons look to get some of their swagger back after losing last week at Tampa Bay, 34-10. The defeat snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak.

Vick - the NFL's fastest quarterback - was shut down by the league's top defense, completing 12-of-25 passes for 125 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He rushed for just 15 yards on five attempts. Vick will not see anything like the Bucs defense in this one as the Seahawks rank 28th in the league in that category.

A productive game by Vick could have the Falcons back in the playoffs for the first time since their 1998 Super Bowl season. They need a win and a loss by the Giants to secure a postseason berth.

While the NFC playoff field could be set by the end of Week 15, the AFC is more jumbled with 11 of its 16 teams with a record of 7-6 or better.

Monday night, the New England Patriots (8-5) face the Tennessee Titans (8-5) in another battle of division leaders. The Patriots are trying to emulate the formula of their Super Bowl winning season when they won their last six games and finished 11-5.

The Titans have won seven of their last eight games after a 1-4 start and are tied with the Indianapolis Colts (8-5) for first place in the AFC South, but hold the tiebreaker advantage due a sweep of the Colts in the head-to-head series.

The New York Jets (7-6), who trail Miami and New England in the AFC East, visit Chicago (3-10) and the Colts meet the Cleveland Browns (7-6) on Sunday.

Colts receiver Marvin Harrison has 118 catches this season and needs six to break Herman Moore's single-season record of 123 receptions for the Detroit Lions in 1995.

The Browns trail the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5-1), who host the Carolina Panthers (5-8), by just one-half game in the AFC North.

The Steelers are coming off a 24-6 loss to the expansion Houston Texans. Pittsburgh held a 422-47 advantage in total yardage and 24-3 cushion in first downs while keeping possession for nearly 40 minutes.

But in his first game since returning from a near-paralyzing injury, Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns and lost a fumble that was brought back for another score.

Holmes also can break a prestigious record on Sunday. The reigning NFL rushing champion needs two touchdowns to tie Marshall Faulk's record of 26 for the St. Louis Rams in 2000.

Holmes and the Kansas City Chiefs (7-6) will visit the Denver Broncos (7-6) in an AFC West matchup. Denver, which has lost three straight and four of its last five, plays at Oakland next week before closing the season against Arizona. The Chiefs host San Diego next week and close their season in Oakland.

In other Sunday games, the Baltimore Ravens (6-7) visit Houston (4-9) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-8) meet the Cincinnati Bengals (1-12).

Sunday night, the St. Louis Rams (5-8) will welcome back unbeaten quarterback Marc Bulger when they host the Arizona Cardinals (5-8). Bulger is 5-0 as the Rams' starter compared to an 0-6 mark for two-time MVP Kurt Warner, who will miss the rest of the season with a broken hand. Bulger has been hampered by an injury to his index finger.