Ryan and I have agreed that while he will pick eight games this week (he needs the bonus points), I'll pick seven as usual. Of the eight possible games, I tossed Tampa Bay/Cleveland because it has no playoff implications and has a higher spread (3) than Washington/St. Louis (2).

New York over New Orleans. This game is essentially a pick'em, but I'm hoping the Giants will want to distance themselves from the playoff pack with a victory here.

Carolina over Atlanta. Go Panthers. Essentially a meaningless victory, since we'll lose next week to the Saints to miss the playoffs anyway (sound familiar?).

Washington over St. Louis. Go War Eagle. That Rams defense just won't be able to stop him.

Baltimore over Pittsburgh. The Ravens are a MUCH more solid team than the Steelers are. Period. Both teams pass fairly well but suck at running, and the Ravens defense is just stellar overall. The Steelers defense stops the rush well, but not the pass.

Cincinnati over Denver. Another pick against the Broncos, but damn, those Bengals are good. They can't stop the pass very well, but Cutler has yet to show me anything in the NFL.

Miami over New York. The Dolphins defense says more to me than the Jets offense here, and the Dolphins have been playing better overall as of late.

And the money game for the week...

New England over Jacksonville. Another very tough one to pick. I'm thinking that the Jaguars* just won't show up today, having been thrown under a bus by the Jaguars**.