We have reached the season’s quarter pole, the point at which the big games get bigger and the lesser games start to fall off the map entirely.

If you love football, you have to be excited about the two matchups of division leaders, San Diego at Dallas and Cincinnati at Minnesota. The Broncos face the stiffest test of their surprising season at undefeated Indianapolis, while the Saints try to keep their undefeated season alive against the back-to-the-wall Falcons. The Eagles and Giants square off in a critical NFC East matchup.

And at the other end of the spectrum you have games that only a mother could love.

Sure, diehard fans of the teams involved will be keeping the faith and, yes, hundreds of moms will be watching their little boy’s every move. I don’t mean to belittle anyone for having a rooting interest in the Bills-Chiefs tilt. But let’s face it, unless the likes of Terrell Owens or Jamaal Charles is on your fantasy team or you’re doing an office pool, you probably couldn’t care less what happens.

Which is why the format for this weekend preview takes a new shape. I’ve made it simple: Some games are big. Others still matter. And the rest, with all due respect to Matt Cassel’s mother, don’t.

BIG GAMES

San Diego (9-3) at Dallas (8-4), Sunday, 4:15 p.m. It’s not like I work for Collective Soul and I don’t mean to obsess over this whole December thing, but you have to admit, this clash of teams with radically different records in the Twelfth Month is pretty interesting. The Chargers, riding a seven-game winning streak that would be all the rage if not for the Saints’ and Colts’ 12-game streaks, have won 15 straight games played in December, a stretch that goes back to 2006. After losing to the Giants last week, the Cowboys have gone 5-9 in December over that same time frame. Calendars don’t determine ballgames and the Cowboys are sick of hearing about it, but there’s no denying that one very hot team with a ton of talent has a distinct edge over another talented team with a rather large albatross around its neck. One suggestion for Dallas: Try running the ball. Tony Romo and his receivers have been on fire, but with linebacker Shawne Merriman and defensive end Luis Castillo expected back this week, the San Diego pass rush should get a boost. A few more carries by Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice could work wonders.

Cincinnati (9-3) at Minnesota (10-2), Sunday, 1 p.m. If you’ve been waiting for a Carson Palmer sighting, this could be the week. Palmer has kept his arm under wraps most of the season as Cedric Benson and Co. combined with a stiff defense to make the former gunslinger a game manager, but the Bengals probably can’t win in Minnesota without a big effort from their quarterback. The Vikings have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 35 straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL, and the Bengals have had a 100-yard rusher in seven games this season, including five of the last six. The Bengals might even be a smidge better against the run than Minnesota; they’re allowing only 3.8 yards per rush, compared with the Vikings’ 4.0. Adrian Peterson, who was held to just 19 rushing yards on 13 carries in Minnesota’s loss to Arizona last week, has his work cut out for him.

Denver (8-4) at Indianapolis (12-0), Sunday, 1 p.m. Among the 2009 rookie head coaches, the only one who can hold a candle to the Colts’ Jim Caldwell, who has yet to experience defeat in his current capacity, is Denver’s Josh McDaniels, who has weathered some storms and still has his team very much in the AFC playoff picture. No one has solved the Colts, who combine a Peyton Manning-led offense with a highly ranked defense that finally cooled off Tennessee’s Vince Young and Chris Johnson last week. The Broncos’ best bet figures to be pounding the ball on the ground with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter. Quarterback Kyle Orton hasn’t been protecting the ball quite as well of late, and besides, the more Denver moves the chains and runs the clock, the less time Manning will have to work. Not that that has stopped him yet.

Philadelphia (8-4) at New York Giants (7-5), Sunday, 8:20 p.m. The Giants did a number on Dallas runners last week, holding them to 45 combined yards. Eagles coach Andy Reid doesn’t need a reason to turn Donovan McNabb loose, but there’s one. Another is the expected return of wide receiver DeSean Jackson, a big-play machine who sat out last week with a concussion. If Jackson plays, McNabb will have an almost full arsenal of weapons that includes wide receivers Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant, running back LeSean McCoy, tight end Brent Celek and maybe even running back Brian Westbrook, who has a shot at suiting up after missing five of the last six games with a concussion. The Giants undoubtedly remember what happened the last time these teams played — the Eagles won a blowout, 40-17, in Week 8 — but coming off their win over Dallas, the Giants again have caught a whiff of the playoffs. And get this: Despite their swoon through half of October and all of November, the Giants stand to be in a three-way tie atop the NFC East if they beat Philly and Dallas loses to San Diego. Wow.

New Orleans (12-0) at Atlanta (6-6), Sunday, 1 p.m. This game is big to the extent that the Saints’ undefeated season and the Falcons’ dwindling playoff hopes are both on the line. The Saints still have much to play for — they would love to go 16-0 and Minnesota remains within shouting distance of the NFC’s top playoff seed — so they’re not about to start down-shifting. And that narrow win in Washington last week served as a wakeup call that they’d better bring their A game if they want to beat Atlanta, which is playing for its postseason life. The Falcons’ purposes will be better served if Matt Ryan can endure the pain of his turf toe injury, but Chris Redman again could get the call. Whoever plays quarterback for Atlanta should know that the Falcons are only 1-4 when they pass the ball more than 40 times in a game. But running is a whole lot easier with Michael Turner, and it’s looking as though he’ll be sitting again this week with a high ankle sprain. Tony Gonzalez’s grand plan of making the playoffs after escaping Kansas City is on its last legs.

RELEVANT GAMES

Miami (6-6) at Jacksonville (7-5), Sunday, 1 p.m. Hard to believe that the Jaguars, who were expected to finish last in the AFC South, would own the AFC’s final wild-card spot if the playoffs started now. And it’s almost as hard to believe that the Dolphins, who made a surprise run to the AFC East title last year while Tom Brady was out, are just a game behind New England. Obviously, more is at stake than just bragging rights in Florida. Miami’s extensive use of the Wildcat scheme makes it tough to prepare for, but imagine the Jaguars’ confusion in the film room this week as they try to figure out what to expect Sunday. The Dolphins didn’t run the Wildcat at all in an upset of the Patriots last week, and they threw the ball 52 times, a ridiculously high number for one of the league’s top rushing teams. But Chad Henne was up to the task, passing for 335 yards and two touchdowns. He wouldn’t mind airing it out some more against a Jacksonville defense with the league’s worst pass rush (12 sacks).

Arizona (8-4) at San Francisco (5-7), Monday, 8:30 p.m. The guys who devised the 2009 schedule obviously thought the 49ers would be in the playoff mix when they slotted this game for Monday night. Oh, well. Viewers still can see the defending NFC champion Cardinals wrap up their second straight NFC West title with a win over the 49ers. And a national audience can get its first good glimpse of quarterback Alex Smith, who has shown signs the last two weeks that if the 49ers are willing to commit to a more open offense, he could still be their guy.

Green Bay (8-4) at Chicago (5-7), Sunday, 1 p.m. With games at Pittsburgh and Arizona still to be played, the Packers need a win in Chicago to stay in the running for a wild-card spot. Shouldn’t be too tough. Consider that of the Bears’ five wins, the last three — while spread among six losses — came against teams with a combined record of 5-32 (Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis). In other words, the Bears have no clue how to beat a quality team anymore.

Carolina (5-7) at New England (7-5), Sunday, 1 p.m. Quarterback Matt Moore threw the ball only 20 times last week in his 2009 starting debut, which seems about right. The Panthers would like nothing more than to run the ball down the Patriots’ throats, and with DeAngelo Williams expected back this week, it’s possible he and Jonathan Stewart can do just that. The Patriots’ main vulnerability is their secondary, but Moore, who threw mostly short stuff last week, doesn’t figure to test it much. The Patriots have lost their last two games, and Tom Brady’s recent questioning of his team’s heart was a call-out to teammates that they’d better not let the slide extend to three games, a dry spell the Pats haven’t experienced in seven years.

Detroit (2-10) at Baltimore (6-6), Sunday, 1 p.m. When the Ravens got blasted by the Packers on Monday night, it marked the first time this year they had lost to a team that wasn’t in first place — and Green Bay still ranks among the NFC’s best teams. While the Ravens have struggled with some of the big boys, they always take care of business with the league’s lesser lights, so it doesn’t look good for Detroit (as usual). Daunte Culpepper, subbing for rookie Matthew Stafford, could take advantage of a thin Ravens secondary, especially if Baltimore DBs keep drawing pass interference penalties at the rate of about one every other opponent’s possession. But it’s hard to envision a team with Ray Lewis allowing the lowly Lions to steal a win — not with playoff extinction looming.

New York Jets (6-6) at Tampa Bay (1-11), Sunday, 1 p.m. The Jets’ season is on the brink and their “knucklehead” franchise quarterback, rookie Mark Sanchez, isn’t even making the trip to Tampa because he injured his knee last week doing a foolish Pete Rose impersonation against Buffalo. Kellen Clemens gets the start in a must-win game for New York. Look for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis to have a field day against quarterback Josh Freeman unless the rookie is smart enough to ignore Revis’ side of the field.

Seattle (5-7) at Houston (5-7), Sunday, 1 p.m. Technically, neither of these teams has been eliminated from playoff contention, but we all know it would take a series of incredibly unlikely circumstances to get either one into the postseason. Texans coach Gary Kubiak sure could use a win to help him keep his job, though.

St. Louis (1-11) at Tennessee (5-7), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. The Titans also have an extremely outside shot at the playoffs, but really, the intrigue in this game is the league’s top two running backs, Chris Johnson of the Titans and Steven Jackson of the Rams. Jackson has amazed because he has carved out his 1,232 yards with the help of a mediocre line, his own enormous heart and little else. But Johnson is in a world of his own. He has rushed for 1,509 yards and is in hot pursuit of Eric Dickerson’s season record of 2,105. Titans coach Jeff Fisher wants him to get it, so there’s little doubt he’ll be teeing off on a defense that probably is worse than its No. 28 league ranking, if you can imagine that.

DOG GAMES

Washington (3-9) at Oakland (4-8), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. The team that couldn’t close out an upset of New Orleans takes on the team that pulled one off in Pittsburgh. The Raiders are loving Bruce Gradkowski.

Buffalo (4-8) at Kansas City (3-9), Sunday, 1 p.m. My mother will be watching this game. And no, I won’t be suiting up.

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