But was this a wise decision, especially considering he may have lost three more starters to injury? Giants Cornerback Sam Madison, center Shaun O’Hara and linebacker Kawika Mitchell all were hurt during the Patriots’ 38-35 victory.

Those betting early in the Giants-Tampa Bay Buccaneers wildcard matchup don’t seem to care that New York may be short-handed. The line on Monday morning was the Buccaneers -2 ½ or 3.

This is lower than the recommended number the oddsmakers at Las Vegas Sports Consultants sent out, which was Tampa Bay -3 ½.

“Bettors can be fickle,” said Tony Sinisi, odds director for LVSC. “They are big on what have you done for me lately and the Giants looked tremendous against the Patriots.”

The Buccaneers, on the other hand, rested many of their starters during losses the past two weeks to San Francisco and Carolina. Those games didn’t mean anything to Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers will be the rested team with home-field advantage.

The Giants have an extra day to prepare, but may be feeling the effects of their hard-fought game against the Patriots.

“It’s almost a letdown for them having an unbeaten team at home beaten,” Sinisi said. “It’s hard to get an optimum effort week in and week out.”

Bookmakers opened San Diego 8 ½ or 9 ½-point favorites against Tennessee. Sinisi said he would make the line Chargers -8 if Vince Young were to start against San Diego. Young suffered a quadriceps injury Sunday night in the Titans’ victory against the Colts.

If Kerry Collins were to start, Sinisi would make the Titans +10 ½.

“Collins played well when he filled in for Young against the Colts,” Sinisi said. “But Collins is not mobile. He would be extremely vulnerable to the Chargers’ pass rush.”

The Chargers have gotten healthy on defense the past couple of weeks with Shawne Merriman and Luis Castillo returning. The Chargers have surrendered an average of only 12.5 points in their last six games. San Diego has won and covered its past six games.

“The Chargers are playing at a high level,” Sinisi said. “It looks like they’re peaking.”

Seattle is -3 ½ or 4 hosting Washington depending on the sportsbook. The Seahawks own the second-best home record in the NFL since 2001 at 42-14 (75 per cent).

If this matchup were to be played a couple of weeks earlier, Sinisi said he probably would have made the Seahawks -7. That’s certainly not the case now. The Redskins haven’t lost since Sean Taylor’s funeral, winning and covering their past four games.

“Washington seems revitalized,” Sinisi said. “Through everything they’ve been through – the (Taylor) tragedy, Todd Collins taking over at quarterback – the Redskins are playing their best ball right now.”

Seattle, on the other hand, is off a 44-41 loss to punchless Atlanta. Seattle coach Mike Holmgren kept out some of his offensive starters and rested others in the second half, but left his first-string defense in for much of the game. It was only the second time in 12 weeks Atlanta had broken the 20-point barrier. Third-string Atlanta quarterback Chris Redman threw four touchdown passes.

“I’m a Holmgren fan. I think he’s a great coach and they have a great home field,” Sinisi said. “But the Seahawks are tough to lay points with.”

LVSC recommended an opening line of pick in the Jacksonville-Pittsburgh matchup. The Jaguars had been bet up to -2 by Monday afternoon.

“We certainly understand the Jacksonville bandwagon,” Sinisi said. “That’s why we didn’t make Pittsburgh the favorite.”

Sinisi said the Steelers probably would have opened a field goal favorite if the matchup had been played a couple of weeks earlier. Now, however, the Steelers are coming off a bad performance against Baltimore, don’t have Willie Parker, and Ben Roethlisberger is banged up.

On the other hand, the Jaguars are red hot, discounting their meaningless game Sunday against Houston. Prior to that matchup, in which Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio, held out his starting quarterback and two best running backs, the Jaguars had covered seven in a row.

Jacksonville also has covered in each of the past four years against Pittsburgh, including beating the Steelers 29-22 three weeks ago under snowy and windy conditions at Heinz Field as 3-point underdogs.