Arizona Cardinals (+11) at Philadelphia Eagles

Let's see. The Eagles were embarassed last at home last week in a game where nothing went their way. There's no question they'll be looking to take some frustration out upon the hide of the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals, meanwhile, got blitzed last week by a poor Seattle team. There's no question they'll put up little to no resistence. A bright spot last week for them was the play of newcomer Jason McAddley. He put up great numbers while playing for David Boston. If you snatched up McAddley on the waiver wire, congrats. You just missed his best game. The Eagles do possess one of the elite offenses in the league, and it's all because of McNabb. He is definitely their engine. And their tires. And their gas. And their driver. And their pit crew. And their, well, you get the idea. On defense, Philadelphia is normally quite good, but they are coming off a poor effort against the Colts. They will certainly rebound this week. Arizona can be summed up with two words: poor and slumping. After a pretty good start (4-2 after six games), they have struggled to find consistency anywhere. All the blame (on the offensive side) goes to David Boston's injury woes. Without him tearing up the opposing defense, Arizona sputtered on offense. With Boston gone for the season, things won't improve.

The pick: Eagles 31-10.

Washington Redskins (+3.5) at New York Giants

Back in the day, this matchup was a dandy. Now, you have Barber, an ailing Davis, and Shockey as the only sure bets around. Davis will almost certainly be back on the field this week, but this is a solid Giants defense that allows little scoring. This is a tough week for Davis to rebound. The Giants offense started the season horribly but has picked up a bit over the last two weeks. The obvious catalyst was Jim Fassel taking over as the play-caller. After averaging a mere 13 ppg over their first seven outings, Fassel's Giants have scored 25.5 ppg over the last two weeks. Just a tad improved. The defense has done extremely well in holding opponents to low point totals (17 ppg). Washington has shown a few flashes of being a Steve Spurrier team, but those flashes generally occur against poor defenses (their high point games have been against Arizona and Tennessee). Against the solid Giants, they'll scramble for points.

The pick: Giants 20-14.

Baltimore Ravens (+4.5) at Miami Dolphins

This is an excellent matchup of two similar teams. Both have a very good RB that's capable of turning in a huge statistical day. Both have a great, young, pass-catching TE. Both have solid defensive units that have been over-worked recently due to (at times) inept offenses. The difference here will be Travis Taylor. He has really stepped up his game lately and will catch a big gainer from Jeff Blake that will give the edge to Baltimore. Either that or Ray Lucas will find a way to lose again. The Ravens offense is far from a well-oiled machine, but their is definitely a vertical element present with Blake at QB. It looks like the veteran will keep Chris Redman on the sidelines even when the youngster gets healthy. Despite massive defensive losses, Baltimore is still solid on that side of the ball. Let's go with Jay Fiedler as Miami's most valuable offensive player. Wow, what a difference his absence has meant. Without Fiedler, this offense has put up three straight 10-spots. That's not going to get it done in the NFL. The defense is still as solid as ever.

The pick: Ravens 18-17.

Carolina Panthers (+9) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Quickly, now.

Panthers offense = very bad. Panthers defense = very good.

Buccaneers offense = mediocre but improving. Buccaneers defense = best in the league.

All that means Martin Gramatica will carry your fantasy team this week.

The pick: Bucs 19-7.

Buffalo Bills (+3.5) at Kansas City Chiefs

Say a prayer for the health of the officials in this one, and then get on your horse and ride! This will be an awesome display of offense as each offense is capable of scoring from anywhere and each defense is capable of allowing it to happen. I could add more, but why? This game is going to be a scorefest.

The pick: Chiefs 38-27.

San Francisco 49ers (-2.5) at San Diego Chargers

Welcome to the battle of 'San'. Since the season began, Francisco has only lost to the Saints and Broncos (two of the top six teams in the league). This just in: Francisco is a good football team. Sure, the offense is a little down, but they usually put up enough to get the job done. Meanwhile, since starting 6-1, Diego has been demolished by the Jets and showed no offense against the Rams. They are definitely heading in the wrong direction. Have you checked out their remaining schedule? Miami, Denver, Oakland, Buffalo, Kansas City, and Seattle. Diego will be lucky to finish the season at .500.

The pick: 49ers 27-23.

Cleveland Browns (-3.5) at Cincinnati Bengals

There's little doubt that Chad Johnson is related to Keyshawn Johnson. Chad has once again gauranteed a Bengals victory this week. Recall a similar boast two weeks ago before the win over Houston. There's no doubt that Cincinnati has certainly improved since Kitna took over as the starting QB. Of course it's hard to not improve after opening the season with 23 points total in your first four games. That's atrocious. The Browns aren't a whole lot better and will be without their top RB in Jamel White. This will give Green another chance to show what he can do. This is a good spot for him as Cincinnati is a tad soft against the run. On defense, the Browns have been disappointing as much was expected from this unit. Unfortunately, they have shown an inability to stop the run. Dillon owners rejoice.

The pick: Bengals 28-23.

Denver Broncos (-5) at Seattle Seahawks

Will the Denver offense please stand up. Sheesh, that was a horrible effort last Monday as Denver was held to it's lowest rushing total of the season (77 yards). Still, these Broncos are one of the better teams in the league and should bounce back. They will miss the presence of Shannon Sharpe though. He'll be replaced by Carswell, and Ashley Lelie will see more action in 3-receiver sets. Neither are Sharpe, but both are good receivers. The Seahawks are definitely a team that's familiar with injury woes. They have suffered mightily this season as scores of players have missed time or competed at less than 100%. These injuries have pushed Seattle into the bottom third of the league. They got a win last week but won't get a streak going this Sunday.

The pick: Broncos 21-20.

Dallas Cowboys (+7) at Indianapolis Colts

Colts 35 - Eagles 13. Is this the Indianapolis team that everyone has been waiting on? Probably not. Everything simply clicked for the Colts last week, and they could do no wrong. It's about time as they had dropped three in a row and looked ready to complete drop out of the playoff picture. It looks like James will hit the field this week, but the jury is still out as to his effectiveness. James Mungro filled in quite well but will be relagated to a supporting role with James healthy. The Colts defense is very good against the pass (so keep Chad Hutchinson on the bench). However, Indy is still not a good run stopping unit. This would bode well for Emmitt Smith, but he will be sharing time with Troy Hambrick. This will likely make neither a good play. Overall, the Dallas offense is terrible (newsflash), but the defense is solid. They should keep the margin respectable.

The pick: Colts 20-10.

Jacksonville Jaguars (-6) at Houston Texans

Revenge time for the Jaguars as they have to be smarting from a week eight defeat to Houston. After losing the likes of Tony Boselli and Keenan McCardell (among others), Jacksonville has found it extremely difficult to maintain consistency on offense. They aren't bad, but they are certainly a couple notches below their former potency. The Jaguars defense is a tough unit and should be able to control a Houston offense that is simply the league's worst. The only good matchup for the Texans is at TE. Miller has shown good ability, and Jacksonville has allowed opposing TEs to post quality numbers.

The pick: Jaguars 23-10.

Green Bay Packers (-6.5) at Minnesota Vikings

Green Bay at Minnesota has a bit of a history of being high-scoring, but that's far from a sure bet this time around. After struggling to a 3-1 start, the Packers have been nothing short of stellar lately. They have literally dominated the Bears, Patriots, Redskins, Dolphins, and Lions while racing to a sparkling 8-1 record. Favre and the offense are among the best in the league, and the defense is slowly rising up the charts. On the other hand, the Vikings are (at best) struggling. Culpepper has played terribly the last two games and has thrown for 300+ yards exactly zero times this season. The only thing keeping Minnesota's offense afloat is the ground game and Michael Bennett. Once again, the defense is the worst in the league.

The pick: Packers 33-20.

New York Jets (-3) at Detroit Lions

Wow, what excitement here. Sure, the Jets have turned it around after an abysmal start, but outside of my buddy Chase, who really cares? The only exciting news in Detroit is that Germane Crowell has taken Bill Schroeder's starting job.

The pick: Jets 24-17.

New Orleans Saints (+3) at Atlanta Falcons

This is the game of the week. We have two teams that have already far exceeded everyone's expectations. These two offenses have been excellent lately. The Saints are averaging 32 ppg over the season while Atlanta has averaged just over 30 ppg in their last four games. In week eight, the Falcons eked out a 37-35 victory in New Orleans. Games like this are what makes the Sunday Ticket worth every penny.

The pick: Falcons 34-30.

New England Patriots (+3.5) at Oakland Raiders

Seems like I remember these two playing a memorable game recently. Can't recall for certain though. Ah well, it's hard to believe both of these teams are sitting at 5-4. Think about that. Here we have two of the top 10 teams in the league, and one of them will be a .500 ball club. That's pretty tough. Both offenses are top ten. Both defenses are top ten. Both teams have played very difficult schedules which will get a bit easier from here on out. This week though will be a battle. Don't be shocked when these teams are so even that they'll need overtime to find a winner.

The pick: Raiders 27-24.

Pittsburgh Steelers (-3) at Tennessee Titans

How a team can throw for 473 yards and still lose is beyond comprehension. What? The Steelers didn't lose last week? Sure seemed like it. What an unbelievable contest that was. You know how there's always a QB or two that come out of nowhere and lead scores of fantasy teams to championships? Presenting Tommy Maddox. If you have the guy, you already know he's a player. If you don't have the guy, you're kicking yourself for picking up Jamie Martin that week instead of Maddox. With Maddox, the Steelers are a Super Bowl contender. Pittsburgh's defense will need to tighten up a bit though. Meanwhile, Tennessee is quietly nursing a four game winning streak. Is this team good enough to win five straight? No. Their offense is sporadic, and the defense is prone to horrendous outings.

The pick: Steelers 25-21.

Chicago Bears (nl) at St. Louis Rams

Why 'no line'? Faulk's status is definitely up in the air. He is currently very questionable (as opposed to kind of questionable?). Obviously, Faulk is not one to be counted out easily. He has shown remarkable ability to play with various injuries. He is almost Superman. He is definitely The Man. Don't be surprised when he starts Monday night. He might not play the whole game (the Rams should be far ahead quickly), but I expect Faulk to suit up. At QB, Bulger will get one last start before Kurt Warner reclaims the starting job. Look for Bulger to make this a memorable departure. Expect little from Chicago. They've dropped seven straight (including a terrible collaspe last week against New England).

The pick: Rams 30-18.