On a Sunday when snowstorms hit much of America, two of the hardest-hit cities — Pittsburgh and Cleveland — also happened to host the two biggest NFL games of the day. But the result was a surprise, as a team that traveled up north from Florida turned in the most impressive performance.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ 29–22 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers established Jacksonville as the third-best team in the AFC and the team with the best chance of beating either of the two favorites, the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, before their seemingly inevitable meeting of those two teams in the AFC Championship game.

The cold, snowy, and windy day in Pittsburgh was the first time this season that the Jaguars have played a game in a temperature below 60 degrees, but Jacksonville’s run-oriented offense looked well suited to the conditions. Fred Taylor had 25 carries for 147 yards, and Maurice Jones-Drew added 12 carries for 69 yards; as a whole, the Jaguars, who out-gained the Steelers by more than 200 yards and won the time of possession battle by more than 15 minutes, dominated the game to a greater extent than the score indicates.

Jaguars quarterback David Garrard threw a costly interception yesterday, but it was only his second pick of the season. Jacksonville would be an underdog if it visited New England or Indianapolis in the postseason, but the Jaguars showed yesterday that they can win under any conditions.

Pittsburgh was balmy compared to Cleveland, where the field was so blanketed that at one point the referee had to delay the game and kick snow around in the middle of the field in an attempt to find out where, exactly, the 50-yard line was. The visiting Buffalo Bills ought to be accustomed to playing in the elements, but they struggled in an 8–0 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

The Bills’ problems with the weather were most evident when Bills long snapper Ryan Neill couldn’t grip the ball and ended up sailing it over the head of punter Brian Moorman, who then booted the ball out of his own end zone for a safety. Moorman got a lot of work, as the Bills ended eight of their 11 drives with punts.

Beyond that safety, the Browns’ other points came from Phil Dawson, who went 2-for-2 on field goals, making kicks from 35 yards and 49 yards. Considering how cold, windy and slippery the conditions were, Dawson may have had the best game any kicker has had in the NFL all year. Dawson and running back Jamal Lewis (33 carries for 163 yards) willed the Browns to win on a day when Cleveland’s passing game was nonexistent.

The 9–5 Browns only need to win one of their last two games to clinch one of the AFC’s wild card spots, and the Jaguars clinched a spot by beating the Steelers. With New England, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and San Diego leading their respective divisions, the AFC playoff picture has come into place.

At the bottom of the AFC, the Miami Dolphins finally won a game, beating the Baltimore Ravens 22–16 in overtime and improving their record to 1–13. That record isn’t anything to be proud of, but on a day when the franchise honored its 1972 squad, the only team in NFL history to finish a season unbeaten and untied, at least the Dolphins avoided the shame of becoming the first 0–16 team in NFL history.

With the AFC race all but over, the NFC playoff race got a little more interesting when the Philadelphia Eagles went to Dallas and upset the Cowboys yesterday.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had a brutal game, completing just 13 of 36 passes, for 214 yards, with three interceptions. Although the Cowboys still have the tiebreaker advantage over the Green Bay Packers and therefore have the inside track at homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, they let the Packers get closer yesterday.

The Packers kept rolling right along in St. Louis with a 33–14 win over the Rams, a win in which Brett Favre added yet another line to his Hall of Fame resume by breaking Dan Marino’s NFL record for career passing yards. Favre now has 61,405 yards in his 17-year career, and the way the Packers are playing, this great season for Favre is looking more and more like it will end in the Super Bowl.

Just as the Patriots and Colts have pulled away in the AFC, the Cowboys and Packers are clearly the class of the NFC. The Seattle Seahawks have generally been recognized as the third-best team in the conference, but they suffered an ugly 13–10 loss to the Carolina Panthers yesterday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have moved ahead of the Seahawks with a 37–3 blowout against the Atlanta Falcons, but that game said more about the Falcons — who seem to have quit on the season after coach Bobby Petrino quit on them — than it did about the Buccaneers.

The Patriots, Colts, Cowboys, and Packers have dominated this NFL season, with a combined record of 50–6, and they seem destined to be the last four teams standing at the end of January. But it became clear yesterday that, if anyone can crash that party, it’s Jacksonville.