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Several teams went into the final week of NFL regular-season action with a good shot at making the playoffs, but the Kansas City Chiefs weren’t one of them. To get to the postseason, Kansas City needed not only to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, but also to have the Tennessee Titans lose to the New England Patriots (somewhat likely), the Cincinnati Bengals lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers (fairly unlikely), and the Denver Broncos lose to the San Francisco 49ers (extremely unlikely).

The NFL is nothing if not unpredictable, though, and when Kansas City, New England, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco all won, the Chiefs were in the playoffs, ready to take on the Indianapolis Colts when the NFL’s postseason begins on Saturday. Chiefs running back Larry Johnson broke the NFL record for rushing attempts in a season during Sunday’s 35–30 win. Johnson had 33 carries for 138 yards and three touchdowns to finish the season with 416 rushing attempts, and he should have another big game when he starts the playoffs against the terrible Indianapolis run defense. Those 416 carries show how important Johnson is to the Chiefs, but they could be a bad omen because running backs who carry a heavy workload one year often get hurt the next.

Indianapolis showed its weak run defense off again Sunday, allowing the Miami Dolphins to gain 150 yards on 26 rushing attempts. But the Colts still won, 27–22, and by showing that they can win even when their defense can’t stop the run, the Colts may have given a preview for what they’ll do against the Chiefs. In fact, of all the teams in this year’s playoffs, the Chiefs are probably the best matchup for Peyton Manning and the Colts’ receiving corps. The Chiefs focus their defense on shutting down the opposition’s top receiver, but they do that at the expense of covering second and third receivers. That means Manning might not be able to find his favorite receiver, Marvin Harrison, but he should have a big day throwing to his second receiver, Reggie Wayne. Johnson will gain a lot of yards, but the Colts are the favorites.

The New England Patriots had Sunday’s most impressive performance, a 40–23 win over the Tennessee Titans. New England’s offensive line, especially guard Logan Mankins, opened holes all day for running backs Laurence Maroney (13 carries, 73 yards, one touchdown) and Corey Dillon (12 carries, 67 yards, two touchdowns).

Tom Brady completed 15 of 24 passes for 225 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers, and even Vinny Testaverde, Brady’s 43-year-old backup, got in on the act. Testaverde threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass, the 269th of his career, to 35-year-old receiver Troy Brown for the oldest touchdown pass combination in NFL history. If the Patriots, who finished the season 12–4, play as well in January as they did at the end of December, they’ll beat the Jets this weekend and will have a very good chance of winning their fourth Super Bowl in six years.

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Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells wore a scowl all afternoon Sunday. His team is in the playoffs, but it’s easy to understand how Parcells felt: By losing to the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys looked like the most hapless of all the playoff teams Sunday.

The Cowboys, who will play the Seattle Seahawks Saturday in the first round of the NFC playoffs, have in two weeks gone from one of the favorites to reach the Super Bowl to one of the shakiest playoff teams in recent memory. Quarterback Tony Romo, who started the 10th game of his career against Detroit, is the Cowboys’ biggest question mark. He showed his talent on Sunday, completing 23 of 32 passes for 321 yards, but he also showed his inexperience with plenty of mistakes, including an interception and four fumbles.

Much like Romo, the Cowboys secondary mixed big plays with blunders. That was the case from the very first play of the game, when Dallas safety Roy Williams intercepted a pass from Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown, only to have the score nullified by a personal foul on cornerback Terrence Newman. The Cowboys’ secondary allowed Detroit’s receivers to get open all day, and Kitna took advantage, completing 28 of 42 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns. Both of Detroit’s starting receivers, Roy Williams and Mike Furrey, had more than 100 receiving yards.

Despite the Cowboys’ problems, they have a good chance of winning their opening playoff game because Seattle has so many problems of its own. Seattle cornerback Kelly Herndon broke his ankle in Sunday’s 23–7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cornerback Jimmy Williams, who replaced Herndon, suffered a knee injury later in the game, and starter Marcus Trufant was hurt a week earlier, meaning the Seahawks will be without their three best cornerbacks when they face the Cowboys’ excellent pair of receivers, Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn.

This weekend’s other NFC playoff game will match up the Giants with the Philadelphia Eagles, but Philadelphia didn’t give Tom Coughlin and his staff much to study on film in its 24–17 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Knowing that Dallas’s loss to Detroit earlier in the day guaranteed them the NFC East title, the Eagles rested their top players and ran a vanilla game plan.

That Philadelphia beat Atlanta anyway says a lot about why Falcons owner Arthur Blank fired coach Jim Mora yesterday. Job security is never high in the NFL: Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green also was fired, and they are far from the only NFL coaches expected to resign or be fired within the next few days. Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher seems likely to quit and take at least a year away from coaching after 15 years at the helm of the Steelers. Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban also might move on. Although Saban has denied it, he is widely considered a strong candidate for the head coaching job at the University of Alabama. Other coaches on the hot seat include Oakland’s Art Shell and Cleveland’s Romeo Crennel.

But news of coaching changes could take a backseat to a retirement announcement by one of the NFL’s most popular players, Brett Favre. After his Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears Sunday night, Favre sounded like a player who was ready to walk away from the game. Whether or not his career is over , his season is definitely finished. For 12 playoff teams, the season just started.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.