CHALKS & amp; 'DOGS Pro picks

Philadelphia (- 1 1/2) at Pittsburgh: Things are getting harder for the Eagles. They won their first five games by 10 points or more, including wins the first two weeks over the Giants and Vikings, who with Atlanta are the closest teams to them in the NFC. But not too close -- all have two losses. Their last two wins have been a lot tougher, in overtime in Cleveland and 15-10 last week at home over Baltimore. So the Steelers give the '72 Dolphins something to cheer for in a season in which they can hardly find anything positive about the current Miami team. STEELERS, 20-17
Minnesota (+ 6) at Indianapolis (Monday night): Daunte Culpepper vs. Peyton Manning means yet another shootout for the Colts, who are averaging 31 points a game, best in the league, but surrendering 25, the fourth worst. That means the Vikings will score even without Randy Moss. COLTS, 42-34
New England (- 2 1/2) at St. Louis: The Patriots will be without Ty Law and maybe Corey Dillon, and the Rams will be rested after a bye. But the winning streak pressure is off now for New England and St. Louis is a model of inconsistency. PATRIOTS, 24-20
Houston (+ 6) at Denver: The Texans are over .500 for the first time in their history. The Broncos have played badly in two straight losses. Given the NFL's unpredictability ... BRONCOS, 20-16
Cleveland (+ 6) at Baltimore: The Browns upset the Ravens 20-3 on opening day. RAVENS, 20-3
New York Jets (- 3) at Buffalo: The people who doubt the Jets point at their schedule. All they can do is play the teams the league tells them to. JETS, 24-17
Kansas City (- 3) at Tampa Bay: The Chiefs have scored 101 points in their last two games. Tampa Bay's defense is better than that. CHIEFS, 23-22
New Orleans (+ 6) at San Diego: The spread alone shows how high the Chargers have risen. CHARGERS, 34-24
Chicago (+ 9) at New York Giants: In pregame coachspeak, Tom Coughlin makes these Bears sound like the '85 version. Come on, Tom. GIANTS, 27-6
Washington (+ 3 1/2) at Detroit: The Redskins got beat by the zebras last week. This week the Lions will do it. LIONS, 17-12
Seattle (- 7) at San Francisco: Tim Rattay may play for the 49ers, giving them some offense. But not enough. SEAHAWKS, 28-20
Dallas (- 1) at Cincinnati: The Cowboys found their ground game against Detroit. It should be there against the Bengals, too. COWBOYS, 28-20
Oakland (+ 6) at Carolina: Extra motivation for the Panthers: John Fox and Al Davis dislike each other. PANTHERS, 27-17
Arizona (+ 3) at Miami: When was the last time the Cardinals had more wins than the Dolphins? CARDINALS, 20-10
XLast week: 9-5 (spread), 9-5 (straight up); Season: 60-54-2 (spread), 76-40 (straight up)
Associated Press
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.