It's that time again -- time to crank up our charity pro football underdog game for the fourth year. It's a season-long game in which players try to pick one NFL underdog each week that will win its game outright -- without the benefit of the point spread. Winning players receive the number of points that their underdog was predicted to lose by -- and the player with the most points at the end of the playoffs in January is the winner.

The entry fee is a Jackson, and all proceeds go to charity. The top finishers in our underdog standings get to say to which nonprofit organizations (501(c)(3)) the money will go. Last year, we sent more than $900 to worthy charities.

Entry fees aren't due, however, until next Wednesday, the 12th -- which means you can play this week's 'dogs now, and if you like the game, pay first thing next week. Your first week pick will still count.

It's easy to enter -- just send your pick by e-mail to underdog@bojack.org. That's the only way to enter; picks posted in comments on this blog or by e-mail to any other address will not count. The deadline for entries is the scheduled time of the first game on Sunday, which this week is 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (or prior to kickoff if you're picking the Cowboys in tomorrow's game).

The official rules are here, but enough of that -- on to the first week's lines. Do you see an underdog (in caps) below that can win its game outright? Good luck, everybody!

11.5 MIAMI at Houston
9.5 INDIANAPOLIS at Chicago
9 WASHINGTON at New Orleans
8 ST. LOUIS at Detroit
8 CLEVELAND vs. Philadelphia
6 TENNESSEE vs. New England
6 CINCINNATI at Baltimore (Monday night -- pick still due Sunday morning)
5 SAN FRANCISCO at Green Bay
4 DALLAS at New York Giants (Wed. 5:30 PDT)
3.5 JACKSONVILLE at Minnesota
3 BUFFALO at New York Jets
3 ARIZONA vs. Seattle
3 KANSAS CITY vs. Atlanta
2.5 TAMPA BAY vs. Carolina
1 PITTSBURGH at Denver
1 OAKLAND vs. San Diego (Monday night -- pick still due Sunday morning)

Feel free to leave comments below, as advice and kibitzing are always appreciated. But don't forget -- only e-mail entries to underdog@bojack.org will be counted in the game.