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The Tennessee Titans will open the first round of the playoffs at 4:30 p.m. EST Saturday in Baltimore.

That will be followed by an 8 p.m. NFC game between Dallas and Carolina in Charlotte, N.C. On Sunday, Seattle will be at Green Bay at 1 p.m., followed by Denver at Indianapolis at 4 p.m.

The final playoff slots were decided Sunday, with Seattle, Baltimore and Green Bay getting in.

Matt Millen will be back next year as president and general manager of the Lions, who have had the worst record in the NFL during his three seasons in Detroit.

Lions owner William Clay Ford said Sunday he hadn't considered firing Millen, despite a 10-38 record during his tenure.

``I want him,'' Ford said before the Lions beat St. Louis 30-20. ``I don't need any more reason than that.''

Ford said there may be changes on coach Steve Mariucci's staff, however.

The Lions finished 5-11 this season in Mariucci's first year with the franchise. They were 3-13 last season and 2-14 in 2001 with Marty Mornhinweg as coach.

Millen has two years left on a five-year, $15-million contract he signed after the 2000 season.

Millen, who was not surprised by Ford's announcement, said he is even more determined to turn around the franchise he has run since leaving a lucrative job as a television analyst.


``You come to do a job and you've got to get it finished and find a way to get it done,'' said the former linebacker, who won four Super Bowls with three teams.

Ford agreed.

``The fans, and I don't blame them, are interested in the won-loss record and I guess that's the barometer you judge success or failure by if you're a fan,'' Ford said.

However, Ford said he's been pleased with Millen's drafts and leadership.

Ford said a big reason the Lions struggled again this season was because they have 15 players on injured reserve.

``I think of what could've been,'' Ford said. ``It could've been a lot better.''

Besides Detroit's awful record, Millen has been the source of some controversies.

He used a derogatory term for gays in a heated exchange two weeks ago with Kansas City receiver Johnnie Morton, who Millen cut two years ago. Millen later apologized.

``I'm not condoning what he said, but having said it, he did all the right things,'' Ford said.

Millen was fined $200,000 this summer by the NFL because he didn't follow the league's minority hiring policy when he hired Mariucci. Although he paid it, Millen has refused to talk about the fine. Ford criticized the league for fining Millen.

Last season, Millen apologized for his choice of words when he called an unidentified player a ``devout coward.''

``He may be learning on the job, but he's learning,'' Ford said.

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