CHALKS & amp; 'DOGS Pro picks

Cleveland (+8) at Pittsburgh: Charlie Batch starts again for the Steelers, who play better on the road. STEELERS, 17-12
St. Louis (+7) at Seattle: There are questions whether the Rams can do much with the Seattle offense, led by Shaun Alexander, whose 949 yards rushing in a half-season gives him a shot at 2,000. SEAHAWKS, 38-34.
Dallas (+3) at Philadelphia: While the Eagles were going through the T.O. saga, the Cowboys were off. Philadelphia, which lost 33-10 in Dallas, looked a lot more relaxed in its loss in Washington last week and seems ready. EAGLES 17-13
Washington (-1) at Tampa Bay: The Bucs are being exposed, and Gregg Williams' defense will confuse Chris Simms. REDSKINS, 20-11
New England (-3) at Miami: Despite their problems, the Patriots still are the best in the AFC East. PATRIOTS, 30-23
Houston (+19) at Indianapolis: Considering the Colts won by 19 at Foxborough, this huge spread looks legitimate. But the Colts will be down a bit and the Texans are playing better. COLTS, 27-10
Minnesota (+10) at New York Giants: The Giants have won in Minneapolis the last three years and beat the Vikings 41-0 in Giants Stadium in the NFC title game after the 2000 season. Reversal? Not for a team that has been outscored by an average of 331/4-6 on the road. GIANTS, 33-6
New York Jets (+9) at Carolina: The Jets have almost as many injuries as the Panthers had last season. PANTHERS, 29-9
Denver (-3) at Oakland: Mike Shanahan is 15-5 against the team that fired him in 1989. BRONCOS, 35-25
Green Bay (+91/2) at Atlanta: Does anyone remember that Brett Favre spent his rookie year with the Falcons? FALCONS, 33-131/2
Kansas City (+21/2) at Buffalo: Dick Vermeil's gutsy call propels the Chiefs. CHIEFS, 22-20
Baltimore (+7) at Jacksonville: Kyle Boller should be back for the Ravens. Sighs of relief from Ravens fans? JAGUARS, 17-9
San Francisco (+121/2) at Chicago: When was the last time the Bears were favored by this much? The question is whether they can score 121/2 points. BEARS, 20-2
Arizona (+4) at Detroit: What does it say about the Cardinals that their best player is their kicker? LIONS, 19-15
XLast week: 7-7 (spread) 12-2 (straight up); Season 54-74-2 (spread) 84-46 (straight up)
Associated Press