We went looking for photos of Eli Manning completing passes last week, but all of them were to guys in white shirts, like Darren Sharper above. And that is why we expect the Giants to lose again this week...

CHIEFS (+6.5) over Chargers

The Soothsayer would like to say that this pick has nothing at all to do with the fact that Kolby Smith is helping carry the Soothsayer to the Promised Land in his money league. Okay, fine, the Soothsayer is lying, but he does believe strongly in the mighty powerful legs of Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith is not going to Washington in this game, but he is going to town. As a result, we like the Chiefs to at very least cover here.

Seahawks (+3) over EAGLES

The Soothsayer is confused – does A.J. Feeley walk on water? Did he turn the Eagles’ Gatorade into wine? For some reason, the linesmakers seem to believe that the emergence of Feeley has somehow transformed the Eagles into a team that does not suck. The linesmakers are, of course, heathen fools, and Feeley will reveal himself this week to be a lucky man that has success in his career against the Patriots but is otherwise a journeyman and nothing more. The Seahawks might not be world-beaters, but Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander will do enough here. Oh, yeah, Shaun’s back this week – the linesmakers must have forgotten that.

PANTHERS (-3) over 49ers

Something has to give here – either the Panthers have to finally win at home, or the 49ers have to prove that last week’s win was not a fluke. We say it was a fluke and that the Panthers have to eventually win at home so it might as well be this week. David Carr might not be a great option – okay, he is a lousy option – but he should be enough of a caretaker this week to get the job done. Look for him to lean heavily on DeAngelo Williams to get the job done though.

CARDINALS (+1.5) over Browns

This is a tough one for the Soothsayer, as he has been personally rooting for both teams this year, but the Cardinals being at home, in a game they need to win to keep their playoffs hope alive, is too strong for us to go against them. Kurt Warner will be looking to redeem himself after the fumble that allowed the 49ers to win last week, and he will find a way to do so.

Broncos (-4.5) over RAIDERS

The Raiders won last week in a battle of two bad teams. The Broncos, for all their flaws, are not a bad team per se. Sure, the Soothsayer might not like Jay Cutler – and, yes, it is personal, and Cutler knows why – but the Raiders would give anything to have a quarterback as competent as Cutler is. There is the issue of the Broncos’ running back, which right now is a player to be named later – the Broncos never seem to have a problem with that though.

Buccaneers (+3) over SAINTS

The Buccaneers have had a good season. The Saints are coming off a good week. How the Saints can be favored here certainly perplexes the Soothsayer. The Soothsayer would like to remind all out there of the millions lost by the betting community when the Saints committed an unforgivable sin – losing to the Rams when no one had lost to the Rams, and they compounded the sin by losing in a glorious manner. As such, we cannot understand favoring the Saints when the Bucs are good and the Saints are not.

BEARS (+2) over Giants

Please, before we go any further, look at the Giants’ schedule, and look where their wins have come from. The Lions, at 6-5, are the only team currently above .500 that have lost to the Giants this year. The Giants’ record has come from feasting on bad teams, but they themselves are not that good. The Vikings showed exactly why they are not that good last week – remember, until last week, the Vikings were known as a team that shut down the run, not the pass. We trust Eli Manning about as far as he can throw a pass to his own team, which is not that far at all.

Bengals (+7) over STEELERS

We think the Bengals have finally come around to being the team that we all thought they would be at the beginning of the season. Of course, it is a little too late, but such is life. As such, this game will be a lot closer than the points here would indicate, unless of course the Steelers decide that they want the game played on a high school caliber field again, in which case all bets are off.

Patriots (-20.5) over RAVENS

The Soothsayer is angry that the Patriots failed to cover a point spread of over three touchdowns last week, but we feel comfortable that they too are angry that they did not do so, and they will look to put some hurt on the Ravens to make up for that. The 4-7 Ravens will be glad that this game is on ESPN instead of NBC as there shame will be just slightly less public.