It’s not easy to get to Glendale, and Super Bowl tickets aren’t cheap.

Two teams are playing better than the rest, and it’s the good fortune of the NFL-following public that Thanksgiving and Black Friday give way to a stellar slate of Week 13 games headlined by a possible Super Bowl preview.

None will be more anticipated than the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, winners of seven straight games and atop the AFC, traveling to Lambeau Field to play Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay is 7-1 since starting the season 1-2.

This will come after an excellent trio of Thursday games, capped by the night-time grudge match pitting NFC West rivals Seattle and San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium. Dallas and Philadelphia, co-tenants atop the NFC East, play during the dinner hour earlier Thanksgiving Day after Detroit hosts Chicago.

Week 13 should bring plenty of perspective entering the season’s stretch run.

Here’s our present take on the top 32 in the NFL:

–1. New England Patriots (9-2): Seven in a row since Tom Brady professional obituaries were written in Kansas City, sealing 14 consecutive winning seasons for Bill Belichick.

–2. Green Bay Packers (8-3): Was not easy playing the Vikings outdoors. Aaron Rodgers home Sunday for hype-deserving meeting with Tom Brady.

–3. Denver Broncos (8-3): Sunday night in Kansas City, can the Broncos find the same iron-fisted running game that wore down the Dolphins?

–4. Cincinnati Bengals (7-3-1): Some turnaround, Andy Dalton: 40 for 57, four touchdowns since abomination vs. Cleveland.

–5. Arizona Cardinals (9-2): Week 12 at Seattle is Exhibit A: playing at home is a must in the postseason to keep Drew Stanton afloat.

–6. San Francisco 49ers (7-4): Aldon Smith back to being Aldon Smith and the 49ers can take down Seattle because of it. Could be a very happy Thanksgiving at Levi’s Stadium.

–7. Kansas City Chiefs (7-4): Losses to Tennessee and Oakland loom large as AFC playoff roll call begins.

–8. Detroit Lions (7-4): Thirty-five points in the past three games. Three of four losses were on the road, where team looks likely to start playoffs. I’m selling.

–9. Indianapolis Colts (7-4): Too much of the burden, and abuse, on Andrew Luck is recipe for early exit come January.

–10. Seattle Seahawks (7-4): Appreciate clutch? Pay close attention to Russell Wilson orchestrating the Seattle offense Thursday night. He covets this stage.

–11. Dallas Cowboys (8-3): Appetizing prediction for Turkey Day vs. Philadelphia: DeMarco Murray goes for 220.

–12. Philadelphia Eagles (8-3): And for dessert in Dallas: LeSean McCoy, does, too.

–13. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-4): Note to Todd Haley. Running back Le’Veon Bell draws the Saints, Buccaneers and Falcons the next three games. All three teams in the bottom 10 in the NFL vs. the run.

–14. Cleveland Browns (7-4): If you don’t believe in luck, perhaps track Brian Hoyer for the full 60 minutes on a given Sunday.

–15. Baltimore Ravens (6-4, Monday at New Orleans): Schedule unkind, but John Harbaugh’s teams solid on the road.

–16. Miami Dolphins (6-5): Deserved better at Denver, biggest foe might be attrition with injuries everywhere in secondary, offensive line.

–17. San Diego Chargers (7-4): Confident the Chargers are competent? Barely. Schedule, eye test make them AFC first team out at this point.

–18. New Orleans Saints (4-6, Monday vs. Baltimore): Dubious days ahead for defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Could we see a Ryan Bros. reunion somewhere next season?

–19. St. Louis Rams (4-7): Playoff-caliber defense, roster, outside of quarterback spot.

–20. Carolina Panthers (3-7-1): Tricky finish — at Vikings, Saints, Falcons — leaves Riverboat Ron up a river. GM Dave Gettlemen cannot forget offensive linemen when he makes his shopping list in January.

–21. Buffalo Bills (5-5, Monday vs. Jets): Turning to Kyle Orton kept the Bills afloat. It also spoke volumes about the state of the franchise.

–22. Houston Texans (5-6): Now what, Bill O’Brien? Ryan Mallett’s season-ending surgery stamps THE END on 2014; time to test rookie quarterback Tom Savage.

–23. Atlanta Falcons (4-7): Sting of the last-minute loss to the Browns lingers, but there’s another roundhouse right coming for you, Mike Smith — Arizona, Green Bay and Pittsburgh up next.

–24. Minnesota Vikings (4-7): Without Teddy Bridgewater, how grim might winter be in Minneapolis?

–25. Chicago Bears (5-6): Two wins in a row, no improvement from confounding offense that produced 204 yards in beating Tampa Bay.

–26. N.Y. Giants (3-8): So maybe 8-8 isn’t out of the question. Consider Coughlin’s march goes through Jacksonville, Nashville (Tennessee Titans), St. Louis with visits from Washington and Philadelphia (in a Week 17 game that might not matter to the Eagles).

–27. Washington Redskins (3-8): Offseason of change — again — coming, but how wide will owner Daniel Snyder’s broom reach?

–28. N.Y. Jets (2-8, Monday vs. Buffalo): With the right quarterback someone is going to win with this team next season.

–29. Tennessee Titans (2-8): Trying not to like Zach Mettenberger, a player scouts were hesitant to trust, but he’s giving them a fighting chance.

–30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-9): A second year off might be sounding pretty good to Lovie Smith right about now. If not, rest of the season might do the trick: vs. Bengals, at Detroit, at Carolina vs. Packers, vs. Saints.

–31. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-10): Unconfirmed — Jaguars popped champagne Thursday when the Raiders found the win column. No. 1 pick very much in play for Jacksonville.

–32. Oakland Raiders (1-10): Where the winning quarterback celebrates with drive-thru fare from Carl’s Jr.

What we learned Week 12

Cowboys 31, Giants 28

–Odell Beckham Jr. made the catch of the year — a leaping one-hander for a 43-yard touchdown — but the Giants squandered a 21-10 halftime lead when Dallas adjusted to take away New York’s rising star.

If you missed the Jason Pierre-Paul-Tyron Smith chess match, it was a great one. Two players in their physical prime going all out. Pierre-Paul, just 25, is a free agent after the season but the Giants are unlikely to let him escape. It speaks volumes of Smith that, other than a holding penalty, he won a 12-round decision on this card.

The Cowboys are this year’s version of the “Road Warriors.” Their win against the Giants is their fifth straight road victory this season, making them the only NFL team who has not lost on the road. This is also the Cowboys’ longest road winning streak since they ran through 10 wins on a streak that began on Nov. 12, 2006 at Arizona and ended on Dec. 22 at Carolina.

49ers 17, Redskins 13

–We are skipping the tired tumult in Washington for an even older angle. Anquan Boldin is a linebacker disguised as a wide receiver. OK, that’s not exactly breaking news, but the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Boldin continued giving more punishment than he received Sunday. Boldin caught nine passes for a season-high 137 yards and one touchdown in San Francisco’s 17-13 victory against Washington. During the 49ers’ game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, Boldin caught a Colin Kaepernick pass, bounced off a helmet-to-helmet hit from safety Ryan Clark and kept running for a 29-yard gain. Clark drew a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness, giving San Francisco a first down at Washington’s 19. “When he catches the ball you’d better bite down on your mouthpiece because he’s going to bring the thump, too,” 49ers strong safety Antoine Bethea said.

Outside linebacker Aldon Smith’s rust is already gone, and his presence is helping the rest of San Francisco’s pass rushers. Playing just his second game Sunday since returning from a nine-game suspension, Smith had two sacks and four quarterback hits against Washington. The 49ers sacked Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III five times, with defensive end Justin Smith, defensive tackle Ray McDonald and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch each getting one. “I think he looked really sharp,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said of Aldon Smith. “His speed was there, his power.”

Broncos 39, Dolphins 36

–The Broncos rushed 35 times for 201 yards overall, vindicating an offensive line that was criticized after last week’s 22-7 loss in St. Louis.

“They took so much during the week,” running back C.J. Anderson said. “They’re still human and some of them got feelings. They’re not going to tell you but some of them was hurt. They grind. It’s hard to do what we do with great defensive lines. They went out there and imposed their will.”

Peyton Manning missed two deep bombs to Emmanuel Sanders and mostly managed a controlled passing game that was the counter punch to Anderson with tight end Julius Thomas (ankle) out. Manning had four touchdown passes.

Credit the Dolphins, who led in the second half and were every bit the challenger to the Broncos.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been steadily improving in coach Joe Philbin’s offense. In four of the last six weeks he has posted a passer rating of 104.9 or higher and has 12 touchdown passes compared to three interceptions. He had three touchdown tosses Sunday and his one interception went off the hands of wide receiver Jarvis Landry. His 65.4 completion percentage is the highest of his three-year career.

Chargers 27, Rams 24

–Good teams find a way to win, and then there’s the Rams. For the third straight time, the Rams failed to follow up a big win with another win. Yes, the Rams have beaten the Seahawks, 49ers and Broncos, but they can’t string together consecutive wins. Quarterback Shaun Hill was inserted into the lineup because he takes good care of the football. But then this game became loss No. 7 because he tried to force a pass into double coverage with a minute to play and the Rams poised to score. The Rams aren’t bad; they just aren’t good and they proved it again on Sunday.

Seahawks 19, Cardinals 3

–The NFC West race is still there for the taking. With the Cardinals figuring out life after Carson Palmer, and the 49ers struggling to put up points, Seattle is in a decent position to make a run. Three of the Seahawks’ five remaining games come against those two teams, so Seattle has a chance to take hold of its own destiny.

Arizona (9-2) had just 204 total yards while having its six-game winning streak snapped.

“We were unable to make plays offensively all day,” Arizona coach Bruce Arians said.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson completed 17 of 22 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown, while kicker Steven Hauschka made good on four of five field-goal attempts. Wilson added a team-high 73 rushing yards but was also sacked a season-high seven times.

Colts 23, Jaguars 3

–The Colts continue to battle consistency issues in their offense, especially when an opponent’s front four — Jacksonville has a good one — applies pressure to quarterback Andrew Luck, who was sacked five times in the first half and lost two fumbles.

If the Colts hope to make a deep run in the AFC playoffs, they must find ways to score more than six points in a half against a team that has lost 10 of 11 games.

While Indianapolis’ offense needed two quarters to find any kind of rhythm, the Colts’ defense limited Jacksonville to 92 yards of total offense through three quarters and 194 for the game.

Bengals 22, Texans 13

–The Bengals are showing marked improvement defensively and shaping up as a perfect complement to the two-headed ground attack fashioned by running backs Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill. The Texans (5-6) amassed just 248 total yards and only 64 on the ground after rushing for 213 yards the previous week in a win at Cleveland. Texans quarterback Ryan Mallett finished 21 of 45 for 189 yards, posting a miserable 49.2 passer rating totaling 4.2 yards per attempt. Mallett learned Monday he’s out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle.

Eagles 43, Titans 24

–The Eagles sprinted to a 14-0 lead and kept the accelerator to the floor most of the game. Everyone wanted to get the win in the bag ahead of Thursday’s date with Dallas for first place in the NFC East.

“I’m really excited, man. I’m looking forward to playing those guys. We’re ready to roll, we’re ready for Thursday,” defensive end Fletcher Cox said.

Packers 24, Vikings 21

–After starting the season 1-2, Green Bay won its third consecutive game and for the seventh time in its last eight games. Combined with Detroit’s loss Sunday in New England, the Packers (8-3) claimed sole possession of first place in the division.

Running back Eddie Lacy finished with 25 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns despite playing through what was later described as an illness.

“It’s going to take a lot to keep him out of a game,” said Packers right guard T.J. Lang, who played through an injury of his own sustained in the first half.

“He’s a tough son of a (expletive),” added left guard Josh Sitton.

Patriots 34, Lions 9

Lions center Dominic Raiola is a “bonehead,” according to Vince Wilfork, the Patriots 330-pound nose tackle, who was on the sideline when Raiola admittedly tried to chop the knees of Wilfork’s backup on the final snap of the game.

Before that drama, the star of the show was Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who nearly hit the 300-yard mark in the first half. New England had a 46-10 pass-to-run ratio through three quarters. Brady has 20 touchdown passes and two interceptions during the current seven-game winning streak — and on Sunday he became the sixth quarterback in NFL history with 7,000 pass attempts.

On the flip side, Matthew Stafford was 18 of 46 for 264 yards and an interception — to go with a 49.5 passer rating.

“I think we missed some opportunities to make some big plays, got behind the chains a couple times, some untimely penalties, a couple sacks, a couple negative plays,” said Stafford, who was sacked twice and has gone down 33 times this season.

Bears 21, Buccaneers 13

–Lovie Smith returned and an ugly football game broke out. The Bears scored two touchdowns on drives that started inside the Buccaneers’ 20 after turnovers and played mostly dink-and-dunk against Smith’s familiar Cover 2 defense. It was a miserable rainy day for Josh McCown, who was abused by the Bears.

Browns 26, Falcons 24

–Brian Hoyer was abysmal for most of the final five minutes in forking over the ball and the lead to the Falcons, but the Browns’ quarterback got it together in the final drive of the game to set up a game-winning field goal.

“Defense did a great job, but I’ve got to play a lot better. If we want to really do something with this thing, I can’t play like that. I mean, I can’t believe we still won,” said Hoyer, mostly the same sentiment shared by fans on both sides.