Taking a back seat   

Playoff talk is heating up. There are a few teams you figure to be locks – the Colts, Bears, Ravens and Chargers – but there's much to be determined between now and the season finale.

For this week's Pick 6, I'm going to look at the three games on Thanksgiving Day and three Sunday contests involving teams in the playoff hunt.

Miami Dolphins at Detriot Lions
I have never understood why the league insists on having one of these Thanksgiving Day games in Motown given that the Detroit Lions are perennially a bad team. It'll be interesting to see how Miami Dolphins quarterback Joey Harrington fares against his old club. You figure that he'll really be up for this game, but so will the Lions. One thing we know: If the Lions lose, they can't blame him.

Also worth watching: How the Lions try to handle Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor. He's playing at an incredibly high level right now (four sacks, two interception returns for touchdowns the past four games) and I don't see Detroit having any answers for him. They're going to have to commit so many people to blocking him.