As always, the mystics who set each week's lines have left me seeking explanations.
The Colts as 9-point favorites in Giants Stadium against the Jets seems high. No one believes in the J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!?
If the oddsmakers are right, Chad Pennington is not going to throw for 300 yards, and the running game will continue to be abyssmal.
Did the linesmakers see 191 yards rushing Jacksonville rolled-up on Indy last week? I guess the Jets running game is so bad that an unknown back going for more than 100 yards is dismissable.
Equally surprising are the Miami Dolphins as four-point road favorites in Houston. Is the Mario Williams-led defense that bad?
Miami's offensive line is a seive. If the Texans can't pressure Culpepper, than they had better begin to decide if Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn is worth the #1 pick next April.
As for the Dolphins skills players, if not Houston than when? Never?
What is with the 0-3 Browns being three-point road favorites in Oakland? Can the Raiders be that bad?
We know the Browns can't run the ball - Droughns and Wright are a combined 41 for 89. I guess the oddsmkaers are saying Charlie Frye to Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow is more than Andre Walter to Randy Moss or handing-off to Lamont Jordan can handle.
How about a little love for the 3-0 Saints? They go to Carolina and are seven-and-a-half point underdogs? The line says WR Steve Smith makes that much of a difference that the Panthers aren't really a 1-2 team.
I am not sure an extra week off is enough time for Huard to improve or Edwards to learn how to coach an offense.
I know the Chargers defense dominated in the first two weeks, but should the team really be a two-and-a-half point road favorite at 3-0 Baltimore? Can "rookie" QB Phillip Rivers really lead the offense to a road win against the Ravens' defense? (I'm sure the Giants hope not.) This ain't Tennessee.
I know the Pats were disappointing in a 17-7 home loss to the Broncos, but six-point road underdogs in Cincinnati? Apparently, the Belachick and Brady magic is gone.
Finally, the linesmakers have no faith in QB Mark Brunnell. How else to explain being a three-point home underdog after last week's game? The Jaguars defense is good, but the return of Clinton Portis means nothing to Brunnell's prospects?