Sunday’s upset double feature saw the New York Giants (+7.5) roll with the punches, just like San Diego in the AFC Divisionals, and eliminate the Dallas Cowboys 21-17. Dallas outgained New York 336 yards to 230, but only made it into the red zone once in the second half.

This game was in sharp contrast to Saturday’s tilt between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks. The Packers were the only favorites to cash in this week, and they cashed in big-time with a 42-20 beatdown in the snow. Seattle scored two quick touchdowns off Ryan Grant fumbles, but Grant responded with 201 yards rushing and three TDs.

New York’s secondary took a hit Sunday when CB Aaron Ross came out of the game with a sprained shoulder. Sam Madison and Kevin Dockery were already out at that position; Green Bay appears to be healthy and could capitalize if New York doesn’t get well soon.

I’ve read some crazy predictions out there – apparently, some people think the New England Patriots (-13) are going to lose this Saturday night when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hey, it could happen. You almost have to apply quantum physics to come to that conclusion, though.

Why would anyone predict something like that? Perhaps to stir up controversy, to collect as many incredulous eyeballs as possible? I suppose cold, rational thinking is out of style these days. You could make a much more compelling case that the Jags will cash in, but I’ll take the Pats –13 based on their proven talent level and the advantage of the bye week.

I’ll also go chalk on the Colts (-9) over San Diego, which I feel much more comfortable doing. What’ll happen when the Patriots and Colts meet in the AFC final? I expect Indy to be undervalued and to beat the spread, if not win outright.

Is the Pope Jewish? There is simply no way Baltimore brass should allow Billick to stay on as coach of this team. Billick was brought to Crabville supposedly because he knew how to put points on the board. After all, that was his background, as OC with a record-setting Minnesota Vikings unit in the mid-to-late ’90s. And in his second season, the Ravens won a Super Bowl. But they did it with a record-setting defense, and a very ordinary offense. And in the years since that title, the Baltimore offense has not gotten any better.

Things could have worked out for Billick and the Ravens. They started out by winning four of their first six games this season. But driving for the winning touchdown in Buffalo in Week 7, with a second-and-one around midfield, Billick called three pass plays in a row while Willis McGahee never touched the ball. Three incompletions later, the game was lost, and Billick should have been canned on the flight home. Instead, they’ve dragged this thing out; Baltimore has lost nine games in a row, and Billick has lost control of this team.

The capper came when this team lost to the 0-13 Dolphins when Billick showed no balls at all and went for the tie on fourth down at the one-foot line in the waning seconds, when a TD wins the game. Gutless.

Although Brett Favre set the all-time record for INTs earlier this season, finally topping ol’ George Blanda’s mark of 277 to the relief of Packer fans everywhere, No. 4 probably won’t lead the league in INTs this season. He did throw a couple of picks Sunday against the Bears, to raise his season total to 15. But the Packers are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC, and although he’ll keep his starting streak alive this weekend against the Lions, Favre should not play enough to throw five interceptions.

The league leaders in this dubious category heading into the final week of play are Eli Manning and Carson Palmer, both with 19 INTs this season, and Derek Anderson, Jon Kitna and Tony Romo with 18. And we can’t rule out Vince Young, who’s thrown 17 INTs this season. The Giants are locked into the No. 5 spot in the NFC, so Manning shouldn’t have to do too much against New England Saturday night. Cincinnati is out of contention, and we’re not sure just how much Palmer will play Sunday at Miami. Cleveland is in the unusual situation in that they have no control over their playoff fate; if Tennessee wins, the Browns are out, and if the Titans lose, the Brownies are in. So it’s hard to say what might happen with Anderson when Cleveland hosts San Francisco.

Detroit plays a meaningless game at Green Bay and Dallas visits Washington with nothing on the line for them, so again, it’s difficult to discern what Kitna and Romo might do. But we’ll go with Palmer to win this dubious race, although we wouldn’t put much more than a dollar on it.

Full credit to the Ravens for putting the boots to the Patriots Monday night. Their reward: another game staring at big chalk, this time against the Indianapolis Colts.

Baltimore managed to run for big yards against the Patriots. Run defense happens to be the one area where New England isn’t world-class, sitting at No. 11 in efficiency. The Colts are even worse in this department at No. 21, and they won’t be getting any better without injured Dwight Freeney on the defensive line.

But are the Ravens in any mood to beat the Colts? Losing to New England the way they did was a punch in the gut. Players are questioning coaches, blaming officials, and otherwise gazing at their navels after losing what analysts were calling “their Super Bowl.” Beating the 10-2 Colts just won’t have the same motivational zest to it, even as a revenge game from last year’s playoffs.

I haven’t had this much fun watching the NFL in a long time – Monday nights notwithstanding. It should be even more fun this week. Just add Turducken.

We’ll start with the Packers at the Lions. Dallas is the more enjoyable Thanksgiving team to watch, but the Cowboys get to host the Jets – ho hum. Green Bay is favored by a figgie.

Then Sunday is just nuts. The Jets-Cowboys might be a blowout, but the Patriots host the Eagles while laying a colossal 23 points. Watching that Pats offense is a religious experience, like dinner at Spago, or Jessica Alba dancing.

And Monday is Miami-Pittsburgh. An awful matchup on paper with the Steelers spotting the Fins 16 points. But maybe, just maybe, Ricky Williams will play. This is one of the greatest tailbacks in NFL history, although the whacky tabacky and a short, injury riddled stint in the Canadian Football League has truncated his career. Run, Ricky, run. Don’t make me start watching pro wrestling again.

If the NFL playoffs were to start this weekend, Cleveland and Arizona would both be watching the postseason at home on television. When the real playoffs finally arrive in a couple of months, you can expect both the Browns and the Cardinals to be playing.

Out of all the NFL teams currently outside playoff contention, the Browns and Cardinals have the best shot at getting over the hump. The Browns are currently 5-4 and are one win behind the Wild Card leaders in the AFC. Cleveland has a great offense and an improving defense, as well as one of the easiest schedules the rest of the season. Out of the seven teams Cleveland has left to play, only one has a record over .500 – in fact the combined record of those seven teams is 23-40. Cleveland may have a similar dilemma on their hands in the offseason with Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn that San Diego had a few years ago with Drew Brees and Philip Rivers.

Meanwhile in Arizona the Cardinals are 4-5 and sit only a game back of Seattle for the NFC West division lead. As long as Arizona can stay healthy this should be the year they unseat the Seahawks in the West. The Cardinals have all the tools on offense and, like Cleveland, have a pretty easy schedule. Out of Arizona’s remaining seven games only two of their opponents are over .500, and like Cleveland’s opposition the combined record of those seven teams is 23-40. Place your future bets now – Arizona takes the NFC West.

With eight weeks left in the NFL regular season we asked Bodoglife.com bookmaker his impressions of the huge Patriots/Colts game and whether the Pats have what it takes to become only the second team in NFL history to finish with a perfect record. He also gives us his picks for most the most surprising and most disappointing teams in the NFL. And for you fantasy fans he gives us his Most Valuable Player and Least Valuable Players this year in the NFL.

What were your thoughts about the Patriots Colts game? Can the Patriots run the table and finish 16-0
The Colts-Patriots game lived up to the hype of being Super Bowl XLI ½, here are just a few of the highlights:

Tom Brady overcame two interceptions (which doubled his season total) and completed his 25th game-winning drive to help the Pats defeat the Colts 24-20. The two-time Super Bowl MVP brought himself another notch closer to securing his first regular-season MVP award, while the Pats have now have the momentum to keep the ’72 Dolphins from popping celebratory champagne.

Running back Joseph Addai became the only Colt to run and catch for over 100 yards in a single game while Peyton Manning lost a fumble for the first time in 14 games.

Colts GM Bill Polian said before the game, “it doesn’t matter who wins this one…” insinuating that both teams will be seeded 1 and 2 in the AFC and meet again in the AFC Championships. But I think Polian missed the point here. By losing this game the Colts have all but guaranteed the Patriots will host the championship game in January. This forces the Colts out of the comfortable confines of the RCA Dome and into the winter conditions of Foxboro. Advantage Patriots.

Can the Patriots finish 16-0? I think the only thing that can stop the Pats from running the table is if Bill Belichick decides to rest his players for the final two games because they’ve locked up 1st place in the conference. 16-0 would be an incredible accomplishment but as ego-driven as Belichick is, he’s not going to risk Brady, Randy Moss and the rest of the first stringers for some meaningless game versus the meaningless Miami Dolphins.

Patriots record 9-0, ATS 8-1
Colts record 7-1, ATS 6-2

Now that all 32 teams have played 8 or more games who have been your biggest surprises and biggest disappointments?

The NFC North is home to my two biggest surprise teams - the Packers and the Lions. They have a combined record of 13-3.

Maybe we should have listened to quarterback John Kitna when he proudly predicted the Lions would be good for 10 wins this season, because looking at the way they’ve played so far; he may have underestimated his team. Detroit will never be confused with the greatest show on turf but Mike Martz has the Lions offence averaging 25 points a game which includes the Lions hanging 37 points on the Bears, last years NFC champion, and 44 points on mastermind Mike Shanahan’s Broncos.

In Green Bay, Brett Favre has turned back the clock to 1997. The gunslinger keeps firing, and he’s helped the Packers post a 7-1 record. It unbelievable that the Packers are winning without a running game, there are 13 running backs who have more rushing yards than the Green Bay Packers combined rushing attack. Lacking a solid running game could kill them in the playoffs but until then I’m going to sit back and enjoy the Brett Favre show.

When it comes to disappointing teams there are lots to choose from. Had I been asked two weeks ago the easiest answers would have been San Diego and New Orleans as both were expected to be at or close to the top of their conferences. But after a few big wins both teams have played themselves into contention in their respective divisions.

So instead I’m going to give the most-disappointed crown to the entire NFC West with a combined record of 9-23. This was supposed to be one of the most hotly contested divisions with Arizona hiring a new coach and promising big changes, San Francisco making some splashy signings, Seattle holding steady with the same squad that won the NFC West in 2006, and a St. Louis squad that was ready to breakout behind the legs of Steven Jackson.

However, so far injuries to Jackson and Marc Bulger have St. Louis averaging 12.4 points per game and sitting at 0-8. Division leader Seattle sits with a lowly 4-4 after losing in Week 9 to the NFL’s punch line – the Cleveland Browns. The San Francisco 49ers is 2-6 after losing to the Vick-less Atlanta Falcons. And the Arizona Cardinals are still playing like…well, like the Arizona Cardinals.

Green Bay Packers - Record 7-1 ATS 6-1-1
Detroit Lions - Record 6-2 ATS 5-3
San Diego Chargers Record 4-4 ATS 4-4
New Orleans Saints Record 4-4 ATS 3-5
Seattle Seahawks Record 4-4 ATS 2-5-1
Arizona Cardinals Record 3-5 ATS 5-3
SF 49ers Record 2-6 ATS 2-6
St. Louis Rams Record 0-8 ATS 1-7
Cleveland Browns Record 5-3 ATS 6-1-1

Who are your midseason MVP’s and your LVP’s?
Barring injury or an attack by a crazed super model Tom Brady is going to win the MVP unanimously. For the first time ever he has quality wide receivers to catch his passes. Brady is on his way to smashing the record for most TD tosses in a single season set in 2004 by archrival Payton Manning.

As for the most disappointing player, it’s hard to pick just one player so I’m going to give the honor to three: Cedric Benson, Frank Gore and Shaun Alexander. Frank Gore finished third in rushing yards last season giving everyone the impression he was going to bust out this year, but like the rest of the 49ers team he failed to live up to expectations.

Cedric Benson was finally given the chance to shine after a couple seasons sharing Chicago’s RB duties with Thomas Jones. But Benson has only cracked the 100 yard mark once this year and is averaging a lowly 3.1 yards a carry.

A revitalized Shaun Alexander was supposed to lead the Seahawks to the top of the NFC. However, Alexander has scored just two touchdowns and both came in the first two weeks of the season.

Is it possible to get used to surprises? If so, the NFL is as boring as ever this year. Here are the five biggest shockers of the 2007 campaign thus far.

1. The winless Saints: These guys were 8-1 to win this year’s Super Bowl. Instead, New Orleans is 0-4 and going nowhere fast.

2. Derek Anderson, Browns savior: Brady Quinn was supposed to be starting by now. Anderson is hanging in there instead with an 80.5 passer rating.

3. Marc Bulger benched: Bulger has cracked ribs and has been pulled for Gus Frerotte, but if St. Louis were 3-2 instead of 0-5, Bulger would still be in there.

4. Arizona, heading to the playoffs: Ken Whisenhunt has the Cards at 3-2 and poised to win a poor NFC West.

5. Running back Blues: LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson and Steven Jackson, none even close to the Top 10 in league rushing.

It’s all about the matchups. Some NFL players are licking their chops at the thought of facing their Week 6 opponents. Bettors and fantasy players are doing the same for the following stars.

LaDainian Tomlinson: The Raiders are ranked dead last in the NFL in rush defense. LT was a little slow last week with 67 yards on 21 carries; Oakland will be his tonic.

Kurt Warner: You don’t think Warner is loving this? He has a chance to lead the Cardinals to the NFC West title, and Carolina is all the way down to No. 28 in the league in pass defense.

Larry Johnson: Johnson had 12 yards rushing against Jacksonville last week. He’ll be amped to make amends versus Cincinnati’s No. 26-ranked rush defense.

Plaxico Burress: Bobby Petrino’s not known for his defense. Atlanta is 17th against the pass and 22nd against No. 1 wideouts. Burress has seven TDs despite a gimpy ankle.