I gotta go with Buffalo again ... maybe to my dismay. I am sorely tempted to say Tampa Bay over Miami but something also makes me reluctant there --- I'll be kicking myself if the Bucs do it again.

WHAT the heck is with the line only seeing Denver as 4.5 better than Washington? Wow, that is some serious slam on Denver. I realize that Pittsburgh thrashed them, but geez . . .

The Broncos are on the road. The Redskins played a better second half than Atlanta.

I'll make my official pick later, but check out 16.5 for the Detroit game. I haven't been closely tracking underdogs beyond the past few weeks, but that's a pretty extreme point spread. The gambling market has relegated the Lions to the second division.

I'm going with the 49ers over the Bears on Thursday night. They're playing in front of the local fans and have the national TV stage as well. Plus Mike Singletary is putting some drive into the franchise after some horrible years.

The gambling market has relegated the Lions to the second division.

And deservedly so, although it's worse when you're playing Mr. Wonderful.

Slow and steady wins the race. I'll take the Patriots.

I'll take Seattle. I don't really like any of the games this week. Seattle seems like the best value for what's out there.

Dave, I thought you had to pick an underdog to play in this pool. If I understand Jack's "dogs in CAPS" rule, this says

3 CHICAGO at San Francisco (Thursday)*

that you have to pick da bears, not SF.

George, Dave's not in the pool. And we welcome anyone's opinion on any game.

For my two safer picks of the week, I will take Green Bay to rebound at home and beat Dallas, and I will take Carolina at home against Atlanta. For my Hail Mary pick of the week...Cleveland picks up some Monday Night Mojo and knocks off the fading Baltimore Ravens.

I picked Denver for a 3-point "lock" last week, so I'm can't talk too loudly. But I like each of the 6.5 point 'dogs. All are good matchups even taking into account home field advantage. Jacksonville and New York are 4-4, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are 6-2 - with Cincy having a better record on the road, and the 3-5 Bills have outplayed 1-7 Tennessee. Can't see Tampa beating Miami or any of the higher point games panning out, and the rest don't offer enough bang for the buck. I'll send my final pick later this week.

I'm tempted to go with St. Louis as they are at home and I don't believe that New Orleans will go undefeated this season. Therefore, maybe it's their week to lose. I don't think I'll lock that in yet.

Seattle is probably a better pick. Arizona is playing well, but I think Seattle could have some positive momentum after coming back and winning last week. Not going to lock that one in either.

I will take SEATTLE because how bad can they be?

For those of you who asked Asheville is known as Portland East, or Portland South in addition to Paris of the Mountains. No Portlanders were harmed in the making of those names.

I'll take Tampa Bay. How much does it rain in Asheville? Maybe I'll move.

Well, it does not rain much, but when it does the mountains funnel it all to a couple of locations, which flood like crazy. Of course, people keep building and re-building in those areas. Not much of a learning curve here.

I have it on good authority that Chad Ochocinco is going to double his bribe and offer two bucks to the referee this week. That should make the difference for Cincinnati. Put me down for the Bengals.

I'm going to take Buffalo coming off a bye with a 2 game road win streak. And, depending on how many times they replay the Music City Lateral during the game, I may not live to pick next week.

Ok Jack - put me down for Buffalo. I'm sure I'll regret it but I gotta pick something.

I'm thinking the Jets are just about done between the injuries and Sanchez hitting the rookie wall. Jacksonville please.