Week 12 picks

It was a tough week for Eagle fans with the early end to McNabb's season and the sad death of Andre Waters.

Waters, a ridiculously undersized run-stopping safety, was among the biggest hitters of the last 25 years. His ability to clog the middle was a big part of what made the Eagles' vaunted Buddy Ryan era defense go.

A reputation for late hits pinned Waters with the unfortunate nickname "Dirty Waters." I won't deny that Waters had a tendency to come in beat after he was allowed, but he also played with as much heart and determination as any football player I've ever seen.

Here are the picks:

MIAMI at Detroit (+3) Over the past 24 hours a White House official traveling with President Bush and a Secret Service agent assigned to first daughter Barbara Bush have been injured during early morning, off duty night club altercations.

Tampa Bay at DALLAS (-11) In a sign of the times, when I read about the incidents I immediately assumed there was a gay angle.

Denver at KANSAS CITY (-1) LT's recent TD explosion can't be good for fantasy rival LJ's fragile ego.

CAROLINA at Washington (+4) Until this year, A Redskins victory on the Sunday before an election meant the Republicans would also prevail. Going back a few weeks, the 'Skins beat the Cowboys on election Sunday. And that's how bad the current 'skins are, even on the rare occasions they win they end up ruining impressive streaks of coincidence.

Pittsburgh at BALTIMORE (-3) Unless they are still blinded by the fading glare of last year's Super Bowl trophy, Vegas doesn't think much of the Ravens.

NEW ORLEANS at Atlanta (-3) This week former NFL head coach Jim Mora Sr. empathized with his son's QB plight and labeled Michael Vick a "coach killer." In keeping with the family theme, it is far more likely Michael's little brother Marcus would actually kill a coach.

Jacksonville at BUFFALO (+3) Now that Kissinger is back in the fold, the decision to give 81 year old Marv Levy control of the Bills doesn't seem so out there.

Arizona at MINNESOTA (-6) Teams too ashamed to identify with the city where they play meet in a meaningless game.

Houston at JETS (-6) Seeing as Justin Morneau was only the third most valuable players on his own team, I'm firmly in the Jeter-got-robbed camp.

Cincinnati at CLEVELAND (+3) The step children of Ohio football square off.

Oakland at SAN DIEGO (+13.5) Phillip Rivers is really good.

GIANTS at Tennessee (+3) And it's making Eli Manning look even worse.

Chicago at NEW ENGLAND (-3) It's up to Belichick and Brady to expose these charlatans of the Midway.

Philadelphia at INDIANAPOLIS (-9) At this point, Philly would be better off having one, not two, capable back up quarterbacks.

Green Bay at Seattle (NA) Still no line on the Monday night game because of Farve's injury status. I have 251 reasons to bet he'll play. Update: I'll take Green Bay and the ten points.

Last week's picks -- Usually what happens is I will lose all the early games, and stumble to something less than a complete embarrasment by winning all the late games. Last week, I won most of the early games. Hope for a breakthrough week was promptly destroyed by the late games. A typical 7-8-1 was the final result. 63-76-4 for the year.