Today features two great games between the four top NFL teams, and we should expect epic battles in both cases. The Steelers are coming off a great come-from-behind win in Baltimore that clinched their division and a first-round bye, and now they can all but cinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Tennessee Titans on the road today. The Titans lost against the Texans last week on a questionable decision to go on fourth down rather than kick a long field goal, but either way they played one of their worst games of the season. Last week, I was only off by a point on my prediction for the Steelers, and this week I’m predicting a 24-9 victory for Pittsburgh.

Tonight, the surprising Carolina Panthers take on the New York Giants at the Meadowlands in the feature game at 8:30 pm ET. Carolina has won three in a row and seven of their last eight, while the Giants are coming off two straight losses against division opponents. Carolina will win again tonight and knock the Giants out of their home-field advantage, 31-17.

Other notable picks:

• New Orleans visits Detroit, otherwise known as the Big Easy of the NFL.  Detroit loses 28-21 and sets themselves up for selection as the worst team in the history of the NFL.
• I’ll pick my upset of the day with Seattle upending the Jets in Seattle.  Why?  Mostly because I promised Jazz Shaw I’d quit picking New York teams to win, but I think Seattle has one surprise left in them and the Jets might be vulnerable.
• Atlanta and Minnesota are almost perfectly matched against each other, but the Vikings have improved over the last few weeks and are playing at home.  I’ll go with the Vikes by three in overtime, 34-31.

Update: Yikes. The Steelers really ran out of gas today. They’re going to need to rest up some of their starters next week at home against Cleveland.