True parity in the NFL has arrived at the same time as the movie "Any Given Sunday," the phrase from the Pete Rozelle era to describe a league in which any team could beat any other.

	Charlie Batch and the Lions are still stuck in a second-half stupor.

This week, it was "Any Given Friday, Saturday and Sunday," a Christmas weekend when teams that absolutely had to win lost instead.

Then, the Detroit Lions made the playoffs anyway.

Going into the final weekend of the regular season, parity rules.

The Lions , losers of three straight and five of their last seven, are 8-7. In the likely event they lose at Minnesota, they will make the playoffs at 8-8 along with the survivor of the four 7-8 teams that will fill the final spot -- the Cowboys, Packers, Giants and Panthers.

Only three .500 teams have ever made the playoffs, even as the NFL has expanded from one wild card to two to three.

They were the 1985 Cleveland Browns, who won the AFC Central with that record, the 1990 Saints and the 1991 Jets. And the Browns were a fluke -- Denver missed the postseason in 1985 at 11-5, a victim of being in the wrong division at the wrong time.

Start with Friday's loss by the Cowboys to the Saints, who entered with a 2-12 record.

Jake Delhomme, who had never thrown a pass in the NFL and was only a part-time starter with NFL Europe's Frankfurt Galaxy outplayed Troy Aikman, a quarterback with three Super Bowl rings. Deion Sanders let Keith Poole get by him for a 50-yard completion because he never thought a raw rookie would throw in his direction, and the Cowboys lost 31-24.

On Saturday, the Lions lost to the Broncos 17-7 as Olandis Gary ran for 175 yards in the second half alone.

"There's just not the competitive fire and spark that I would want to see from our ballclub at this stage," Detroit coach Bobby Ross said after the game. "We have some weaknesses, but that's not the point. You overcome those things with fire and intensity, and I just don't like it."

By Sunday, the Lions were in the playoffs because the Giants, Panthers and Packers all lost, too.

Some would celebrate, considering Detroit was 5-11 last season and then lost Barry Sanders to retirement. But the more savvy Lions know they're not exactly a playoff team right now.

"We started out 6-2, and since then, nothing has gone the way we wanted," quarterback Charlie Batch said. "We've made it a lot tougher on ourselves than it needed to be."

There's another way to look at it: any given Sunday.

Upwardly mobile
The St. Louis Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans stand the best chance of going to the Super Bowl.

All reflect the NFL at the end of the century -- three are relocated teams and Jacksonville is an expansion team in its fifth season.

"That's one of the reasons I like playing here," says Peyton Manning, the Colts' second-year quarterback. "We can make our own tradition. I talked to John Unitas, and he wanted no part of us. He thinks the team's history ended when they left Baltimore."

Yes, new blood -- Manning, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison, Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Jevon Kearse, Steve McNair and Eddie George, all of them establishing tradition in new locations. And Mark Brunell, Fred Taylor and Tony Boselli already are stars in Jacksonville.

But remember the old teams had tradition, too -- from Elroy "Crazy Legs' Hirsch through the "Fearsome Foursome" in Los Angeles and the Unitas-led teams in Baltimore.

Houston was one of the original AFL franchises. It has had stars like Earl Campbell, Warren Moon and the long forgotten Bill Groman, who caught 122 passes for 2,648 yards in the first two years of the franchise.

But the Oilers might best be remembered for one play -- Mike Renfro's end-zone catch from Dan Pastorini that was ruled out of bounds in the AFC title game in Pittsburgh on Jan. 6, 1980. It was one of the calls that eventually led to replay.

On the other hand, two decades is an eternity these days.

Speak no evil
Most players don't publicly criticize opponents. Minnesota's Cris Carter adhered to that rule Sunday, sort of.

Two weeks after a high ankle sprain, normally a four-to-six week injury, Carter had five catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings' 34-17 victory over the Giants.

"Every game is critical at this stage, you go out and play in pain," he said.

Then, Carter was asked about the absence of the Giants' starting cornerbacks, Jason Sehorn (broken leg) and Phillippi Sparks (pulled groin). Sparks, who has missed most of the second half of the season with the injury, is a free agent after the season.

"Yeah, I know Jason and Phillippi are out, and we were playing against guys who weren't good enough to start for them," Carter replied. "But that's part of the game. At this time of year, it's critical. Jason has a broken bone. He can't play. But ..."

He broke off the thought at that point.