With four weeks left in the season, there are still six division crowns and 10 total playoff spots up for grabs. Congratulations to the Packers and 49ers, who have clinched the NFC North and West, respectively. Meanwhile, here’s a look at what can happen this week.

Everyone knows the Lions will be without Ndamukong Suh against the Saints this weekend. That’s a huge blow to their defense. But the real story heading into Sunday’s contest will be the absence of wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who has been taken away by opposing defenses in the last three weeks.

On Wednesday, we looked at how the division leaders stack up in terms of total defense. So today we decided to see how the eight first-place teams stack up when you take into account their overall ranking for both total offense and total defense. One thing to note is that there isn’t a great deal of balance among these teams. and only two of the division leaders — the Steelers and Texans — rank in the top 10 of both categories.

There was an interesting note this week in the NFL Media research packet pointing out that the top eight teams in the NFL in total defense all come from the AFC. Pretty crazy, considering it used to be that the NFC was known for rugged defense and the AFC was known for high-scoring aerial attacks.

When St. Louis beat New Orleans this weekend, we were surprised as all of you must have been – besides you hardcore Ram fans; we know you never wavered seeing those glorious throw-backs gracing the turf.

We hear a lot of banter from the public about the “Playbook” crew’s picks every week, especially when fans ardently disagree with a choice of a winner.

The torrid pace that Saints QB Drew Brees set in the first three weeks of the season has slowed down just a bit — he had thrown three TD passes in each of his first three games. Still, what was even more impressive for the number of pass attempts is that he had tossed only two interceptions in that span. The last three games have seen a dramatic reversal. It’s understandable that Brees hasn’t kept up the pace with TD passes, but he’s actually thrown more picks than scoring passes.

The near-fight between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Lions coach Jim Schwartz was the talk of the NFL on Sunday, overshadowing San Francisco’s 25-19 victory over previously undefeated Detroit.

As we will highlight in our “Tale of the Tape” this week — the Giants versus the Bills — we take particular interest in if and how a defense can get to the quarterback.

Another exciting week of games on Sunday – which means another interesting day of Monday tape study.

Get an early clue about next year’s Class of 2012 when the Pro Football Hall of Fame releases its preliminary list of nominees on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. Log onto NFL.com or tune into NFL Network for full coverage.

It’s only been two games — but so far, so good for the Wade Phillips defense in Houston. The Texans have been struggling for years to field a playoff-caliber defense, and the results have been far less than satisfactory. Enter Phillips as the new defensive coordinator.

You have probably heard the phrase “a team is only as strong as its weakest link.” In the NFL, the difference between a team’s weakest link and their strongest can determine the outcome of a game.

Leading up to Sunday, we did a little tape study and tried to find a few links that could be broken.

Against a suspect Eagles run defense, Ahmad Bradshaw leads the way among top fantasy flex players in Week 3.

Bears starting RT Gabe Carimi and Saints LB Jonathan Vilma left Sunday’s game during the second quarter with injuries.