Sixteen weeks down, and one to go. And, what a week! Cowboys-Giants on NBC for the second time in less than a month, but this one is for a playoff ticket. Win, and you’re in; lose, and you’re out. When was the last time the Cowboys won on Sunday Night Football? Never mind. When was the last time the Cowboys lost to the Giants at the New Meadowlands, er, MetLife Stadium? Never. Cowboys are undefeated against the Giants in their new home.

The Giants’ win over the Jets rendered the Eagles game an exhibition, and what an exhibition it was. Many of us wanted to see a statement game – send the Eagles a message and pay them back for the previous game. That didn’t happen.

Off topic, and you may ask this of your friends, families, and co-workers:

In any given year, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are on the same day of the week. But, in any given year, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are not on the same day of the week. Why is this? Answer after the jump.

Thank you for all the kind words, encouraging feedback, and Christmas wishes over the past week. I will continue to add in the average weekly scores of everyone that is active in this year's contest. I think that KD is drawing the same line I am - players who have played eight weeks or fewer AND missed the last six consecutive weeks are considered inactive. Everyone else is considered active.

With only one more week left in the regular season, I have listed every active player in all charts this week, so they will be a little longer

Before I start the charts, here is the answer to the off-topic question:

In any given year, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are on the same day of the week. This year, both are on Saturday (last Saturday and this Saturday). But, in any given year, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are not on the same day of the week. This year's Christmas Day was on Sunday, but THIS YEAR'S New Year's Day (01/01/2011) occurred fifty-one weeks ago, on a Saturday. This coming Sunday is New Year's Day of 2012. That's "next year", not "any given year".

We lost a few more this week, probably again due to the holidays. Here is our weekly participation:

Thanks again to the Texas teams for costing anyone a chance to go 10-for-10 this week (we went 6-103 in those two games alone). Our overall record was actually better this week than last week (our composite overall was 10-6), but it was hard to overcome those two big losses. We again jumped on the "freebies", going 328-3 in our six biggest wins.

Here's how we did in each game this week:

Congratulations to Jebediah Flibberbrush, who is continuing to maintain his lead in the overall chase. His lead is now two with only one week to go. Good luck catching him, as he has been at or near the top each week.

Muted congratulations to the only one this week to go 9-for-10 - StarloverinWNC. Congratulations are muted because the one miss was the Texans against the Colts. Star was one of the five to pick the Eagles this week, and we never offer full congratulations to anyone who picks against the Cowboys.

Again, these are all the "active" (inactive are defined above; everyone else is considered active) players, with their week #16 scores (the ones at the bottom missed week #16) and their overall scores.

Now, here are all the active players, with their average score per week. The past two weeks have been tough on us, with both the Cowboys and Texans losing games that most of us picked them to win. Consequently, Aaron Burtram, last week's leader, slipped behind bcg08. I almost want to add an asterisk to bcg08, because after playing six weeks in a row, bcg08 has missed the past two weeks, and has jumped into the lead by doing - nothing.

The past two weeks, I have tried to help you with holiday travels and travails by offering the chance to submit two weeks' worth of picks on my FanPosts. Many of you have done so. I will again take picks on this FanPost for those of you who don't want to wait for KD's next contest page to get picks in.

With the Cowboys flexed into the Sunday night slot, I adjusted the order. This week, there are no Thursday, Saturday, or Monday games. All games are on Sunday, New Year's Day. Nine are early, six are late, and the Cowboys close out the regular season.

Here's the week #17 lineup:

New York Jets at MIAMI

Buffalo at NEW ENGLAND

Tennessee at HOUSTON

Indianapolis at JACKSONVILLE

Washington at PHILADELPHIA

Detroit at GREEN BAY

Chicago at MINNESOTA

Carolina at NEW ORLEANS

San Francisco at ST. LOUIS

Baltimore at CINCINNATI

Pittsburgh at CLEVELAND

Tampa Bay at ATLANTA

Kansas City at DENVER

San Diego at OAKLAND

Seattle at ARIZONA

Dallas at NEW YORK GIANTS

Happy New Year, good luck, and GO COWBOYS!

Fear the Star!