In the AFC, Indianapolis, New England, Cincinnati and San Diego will be the division winners. I believe I picked each of them in the Chronicle's Football section in August, but please don't look it up.

The AFC wild-card teams will be Denver and, uh, well, I don't have a clue.

Jacksonville has the second wild-card spot at present, but I've watched them beat the Texans two times, and I still can't see them in the playoffs. Besides, they've been outscored 273-225.

Even if the Jaguars defeat Miami on Sunday, I can't see them beating Indianapolis or New England in their next two games. Can you?

I think the last AFC wild-card spot will come from a group of 9-7 teams. And no, one of them won't be your Texans .

Those 9-7 teams could be Jacksonville, Miami, Baltimore and the New York Jets.

NFC East up in the air

Now for the NFC. New Orleans, Minnesota, Arizona and, uh, well, certainly not Dallas, right?

Even the most diehard Dallas fan can't be confident when the Cowboys are playing in December. Since the 1997 season, the Cowboys are 19-40 after Nov. 30, and they're coming off a loss to the New York Giants.

The Cowboys, Eagles and Giants have brutal schedules.

The Cowboys can't finish with the same record as the Giants because New York swept them.

Dallas hosts San Diego, travels to New Orleans and Washington, and finishes at home against the Eagles. Wow. Needless to say, the NFC East title and maybe both wild-card berths won't be determined until the last Sunday of the season.

By the way, the Cowboys have a five-game winning streak at their new stadium. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Chargers have a 15-game winning streak in December, not to mention their current seven-game winning streak.

Remember when we all said Norv Turner couldn't coach? Southern California has been good for him. The Chargers are a Super Bowl contender.

Right now, Green Bay is 8-4 with a four-game winning streak, but the Packers have to play three of their last four on the road. If they win two, they'll probably be a wild card, because the NFC East teams will beat each other to a pulp.

Since the NFL adopted this playoff format in 1990, guess which team has the best record in December. Patriots? No. Colts? No. Packers? Yes.

Green Bay is 52-29 (.642). New England is 50-29 (.633), followed by Indianapolis 49-32 (.605) and Philadelphia 47-31 (.603).

Nothing Super in 13-0

Teams went into the 13th game with 26 in playoff contention. Sitting at 12-0, Indianapolis and New Orleans have clinched playoff berths.

Only five teams have been 13-0. The last two were New England in 2007 and Indianapolis in 2005. The Patriots finished 16-0, the Colts 14-2. Interestingly, neither won the Super Bowl.

Oh, one more thing: Who do you think is the most successful December quarterback? You know it's got to be Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Brett Favre, right?

Don't bet against Brady in December, when he's 26-5 (.839).

John McClain can be heard on 610 AM at 8:30 a.m. Monday, 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and 4:30 p.m. Friday. john.mcclain@chron.com

McCLAIN'S PICKS

America's line McClain's pick

Seattle (5-7) plus-6 at Houston (5-7) Texans 27-24

Denver (8-4) plus-7 at Indianapolis (12-0) Colts 28-20

Cincinnati (9-3) plus-7 at Minnesota (10-2) Vikings 30-24

NY Jets (6-6) minus-3 at Tampa Bay (1-11) Jets 17-10

Buffalo (4-8) even at Kansas City (3-9) Chiefs 16-13

Green Bay (8-4) minus-3 at Chicago (5-7) Packers 23-21

New Orleans (12-0) minus-10 at Atlanta (6-6) Saints 24-17

Detroit (2-10) plus-13 at Baltimore (6-6) Ravens 23-6

Miami (6-6) plus-2? at Jacksonville (7-5) Jaguars 21-19

Carolina (5-7) plus-13? at New England (7-5) Patriots 29-17

St. Louis (1-11) plus-13 at Tennessee (5-7) Titans 27-10

Washington (3-9) minus-1 at Oakland (4-8) Raiders 17-13

San Diego (9-3) plus-3 at Dallas (8-4) Cowboys 30-28

Philadelphia (8-4) plus-1 at NY Giants (7-5) Giants 20-17

Arizona (8-4) minus-3 at San Francisco (5-7) Cardinals 27-20

Last week: 12-4 straight up, 6-10 against the spread

Season: 124-68 straight up, 106-82-4 against the spread