NFL picks, week 7

Sorry, guys. It's been a busy week, and I've got nothing.

Zip. Zero. Nada.

And here it is...

San Diego (+1) at Buffalo - Buffalo's played better than San Diego thus far. But I still think the Chargers are a better team.

New Orleans (+3) at Carolina - Carolina's at home with a better record. Maybe this is just contrariness, but I continue to be a Panther skeptic.

Minnesota at Chicago (-3) - Eeny, meeny, miny, mo.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (+9.5) - Yes, the Bengals are a bad team. Yes, the Steelers are a pretty good team. Yes, Pittsburgh's going to win. But the Bengals are going to put together another of their patented Maxwell Smart "this close" losses.

Tennessee (-8) at Kansas City - How bad are the Chiefs? How good is the Titans defense? If Tennessee scores 12, they'll cover 8.

Baltimore (+3) at Miami - This will be a three point game, one way or the other. People have now seem Miami's gimmick plays, and they aren't going to work the way they did against New England. The Ravens won't score many points, but neither will they need to.

San Francisco at N.Y. Giants (-11) - The Giants spit the bit last week. I hate to say this, but they're too good a team not to come back strong this week, against a mediocre West coast team 3000 miles from home.

Dallas at St. Louis (+7) - There's now talk that Tony Romo, instead of missing four weeks, may miss zero. He ought to take this week off anyway. Or play left-handed.

Detroit (+9) at Houston - The Lions will beat someone, some week. Not this week, probably, but I expect another close loss.

Indianapolis (-1) at Green Bay - Peyton's back. (Yes, I know he hasn't missed any games. I stand by my story anyway.) The Colts offense is starting to wake up. This may be the game of the weekend, but the Colts win at Lambeau.

N.Y. Jets at Oakland (+3) - This, on the other hand, is probably not the game of the weekend. Jets by 2. (Why? Excellent question. Really, a very fair, super-important question.)

Cleveland at Washington (-7.5) - The Redskins had the let-down that I was looking for two weeks ago. Having learned the danger of letting a weaker opponent hang around, they'll pick it back up this week.

Seattle at Tampa Bay (-11) - Ah. Here's one I feel good about. Tampa Bay, pretty good. Seattle, pretty bad. (Lame duck coach rarely good idea.)

Denver at New England (-3) - I hope that everyone understands by now that I will pick New England every single week, and justify it. Some of the justifications will be more strained than others. And, of course, some weeks, there will just be comments about how I'm picking the Patriots every week, and the justifications may be strained. Like this week.