The Patriots won their 17th game this season by ousting the Jaguars 31-20 on Saturday night. Some thought Jacksonville might be the team that could knock off New England, and though the Jags didn’t embarrass themselves, they wasted too many chances. They were simply beat by a better team that didn’t fold. No one is going to surprise the Patriots next week or in the Super Bowl, some team is just going to have to play a little better to beat them

Two playoff games down this weekend, two to go. Only three weeks to the Super Bowl.

It was another weather-unique playoff victory at Lambeau Field on Saturday, one that will sure go down in Packer lore with the Ice Bowl (though not quite to the same level). Green Bay looked good, really good, dismantling Seattle, even after the Seahawks took a 14-0 lead after two Ryan Grant turnovers.

So what doomed Seattle? Was it Grant’s amazing running game after the fumbles? Was it Brett Favre’s leadership and underhand passes? Was it the Packers’ defense that limited the Hawks to six points after the first two turnover-fueled TDs. Was it the snow? It was all these factors, and though the snow won’t be a factor if the Packers travel to Dallas next week, consider this: Without the two Grant fumbles that led to touchdowns, the score might have ended 49-6, with Grant finishing with 250 yards rushing.

The best moment from the game was Favre throwing the snowball. It was a perfect Packer moment from a perfect Lambeau victory.

Soon there will be only four …

SEATTLE at GREEN BAY
If there’s one coach among the other 31 teams that knows Brett Favre, it’s Mike Holmgren. But seeing how Favre has surprised everyone this season, I don’t think that will be a factor. Will sub-freezing temperatures in Green Bay be a factor? Perhaps (Josh Brown with his heated pants might think so), but not as much as the Packers would hope for. Matt Hasselbeck is more experienced than he was in 2004, when the Seahawks lost in OT at Lambeau after he guaranteed they were going to score, but he still doesn’t compare to Favre. And without a running game, the Packers’ underrated defense will hold Seattle in check.
Prediction: Packers 27, Seahawks 17

N.Y. GIANTS at DALLAS
Jessica Simpson won’t be at the game, and Terrell Owens might not be on the field. This will be the biggest test of Tony Romo’s career, and it’s against a confident Giants team. It will be Eli Manning’s biggest test, too. I bet both quarterbacks will come through, but at home with a better team, the Cowboys will squeak by.
Prediction: Cowboys 30, Giants 27

JACKSONVILLE at NEW ENGLAND
Everyone is saying if one team can knock off the Patriots, it’s the Jaguars, as they can slow down the game the Eagles and Ravens did in their near-misses, but with much better talent and much more confidence. Good point, but these are still the Patriots, I’m thinking only the Colts will have a chance to knock them off. Still, it should be an entertaining game.
Prediction: Patriots 35, Jaguars 24

SAN DIEGO at INDIANAPOLIS
The Chargers might not have Antonio Gates, which will put them at an immediate disadvantage against the Indy defense. They didn’t need much offense against the Titans, but the Titans didn’t have Peyton Manning. The Colts might be looking ahead to New England, but I’m guessing they will take care of business before then.
Prediction: Colts 27, Chargers 13

USC coach Pete Carroll is reportedly intersted in the open Falcons job. Three words of advice and some emphatic punctuation for Carroll: Don’t do it!

If the Falcons can get him, it’s a good move for the team — Carroll is perhaps the highest-profile college coach of the decade who already has NFL experience. And if he’s a bust, well, the Falcons can’t sink much lower.

But the fact the Falcons are in such bad shape is why Carroll should steer clear. It just seems like a no-win situation, jumping a USC team that contends for a national championship every year for an Atlanta team he might not pull out of its misery. Perhaps Carroll wants to find more success than he had before in the NFL (though he did make the playoffs with the Patriots). If so, wait for another team to call, one that isn’t the train wreck like the Falcons. USC loves Carroll. He can afford to be patient.

Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs stepped down as Washington’s coach Tuesday, and his return to the NFL, though not a resounding success, wasn’t an embarrassment.

The Redskins are a better team than they were four years ago, and they made the playoffs this season despite some down weeks and the tragic death of Sean Taylor. Although there was a sense Washington would bust out in the tough NFC East, Gibbs did guide them into the postseason.

Gibbs isn’t going out on top, but he already has three Super Bowl victories and will be remembered for that. This last coaching stint could have gone much worse — think Mike Ditka and the Saints. Gibbs leaves the game with his reputation intact

If there was one winner over the wild-card weekend I think has a chance to score an upset this weekend, it is the Giants. Eli Manning looked confident in getting his first playoff victory, and the defense stopped Tampa Bay. Though the Cowboys’ offense is not the Bucs’, the Giants may have enough momentum to put up a good fight at Texas Stadium.

As for the three other first-round winners, Seattle will challenge Green Bay but won’t overcome the cold (though there were tornadoes in Wisconsin today) and the memory of Matt Hasselbeck’s ill-fated coin-toss declaration three years ago; Jacksonville let Pittsburgh take away a big lead and a lot of playoff momentum; and San Diego survived a good defense but was unimpressive on offense.

It was kind of an uneventful game until the second half, but the Seattle Seahawks won the first playoff game of the season Saturday with a 35-14 victory over Washington.

It looked like the Redskins magic was working again when they scored 14 straight points, then recovered the kickoff in odd fashion. I saw that play and thought maybe the late Sean Taylor really was influencing the game, that he somehow ethereally knocked that ball down and away from the Seahawks. But Washington couldn’t capitalize, Seattle eventually took control of the game, and Todd Collins’ out-of-nowhere success came to an end.

It was a good victory for the Hawks, but they will have to do better if they want to win at Lambeau next week.

I guess this shouldn’t be so surprising, after all, the Dolphins went 1-15 (and barely went 1-15 at that), but Cam Cameron was fired today by Miami.

It wasn’t all Cameron’s fault the Dolphins were bad, but there were times they just looked wretched. They emerged from their lone victory with zero momentum — though they did face the Patriots the next week, you think they would bring something to their season finale against the Bengals. Didn’t happen, and on top of everything else, might have been the final straw after Bill Parcells took over.

Is one year enough for a new coach to establish himself on a struggling team? Perhaps not, but the Dolphins took a giant step back — from 6-10. Parcells and Miami made the right move.

I went 8-7 last week, again missing another game in my list. Next season, I promise I’ll actually count each week that I typed in the right number of games. I would have picked New Orleans, thus losing that matchup and going 8-8. That puts me at 162-109-1, the 1 being a game I missed sometime in October which I’m declaring a tie. That means I picked 59.7 percent of this year’s games right. Though that I think that was an OK percentage, I’m hoping to get that up to about 65 percent next year. Of course, maybe I was lucky to be above 50 percent in the first place. Either way, it was fun to make these picks every week and keep track.

Now the fun really begins …

JACKSONVILLE AT PITTSBURGH
The Jaguars won at Heinz Field last month, and that was against a team with Willie Parker, who’s out for the season. The Jags have quietly been one of the hottest teams this side of New England, while Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers know what it takes come playoff time, even though they lost three of their last four and four of their last seven. This might be the weekend’s best game, and the winner gets a trip to Foxborough.
Prediction: Jaguars 24, Steelers 21

TENNESSEE AT SAN DIEGO
The Chargers also have been playing well, winning six straight and could challenge the Colts, who they beat in November, in the second round. The Titans made the playoffs because of a Cleveland misstep in Week 16 and Indy taking it easy in Week 17. Tennessee won’t take advantage of its good fortune, particularly if Vince Young isn’t 100 percent.
Prediction: Chargers 30, Titans 13

N.Y. GIANTS AT TAMPA BAY
The Bucs limped into the playoffs, losing their last two games and three of their last four. And even though they’ll be playing at home, I don’t think they’ll recover against a confident Giants team that almost took out the Patriots. New York is the third-best team in the NFC, period. The Giants will advance to Texas Stadium.
Prediction: Giants 24, Buccaneers 20

WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE
Just when it looked like the Seahawks were getting it together and could possibly be a serious NFC contender, they gave up 44 points to Atlanta, mostly with their starting defense. The Redskins have enjoyed a nice run to get to the playoffs, but without the Vikings and Saints collapsing, they would likely have been home this month. I don’t think Washington is a playoff-caliber team, and the run ends in Seattle, which better regroup soon.
Prediction: Seahawks 27, Redskins 21