CHALKS AND 'DOGS | Pro picks

Indianapolis (- 3) at New York Giants: The Manning bowl with the party line (set by Archie?): Peyton and Eli aren't playing against each other, they're playing against the other team's defense. Eli wants to show big brother something. The Colts want to be lower profile than the past two seasons -- they started 13-0 last season, and in 2004, Peyton was breaking a bunch of records. Hunch: Giants pass rush gets in Peyton's face, just as the Steelers and Chargers did last year. GIANTS 24-20
Dallas (+ 21/2) at Jacksonville: T.O. or not T.O? Look to defense. COWBOYS, 13-7
Atlanta (+ 41/2) at Carolina: The Panthers, who may be the NFC's best team, beat the Falcons twice last season by a combined 68-17. PANTHERS, 28-10.
Minnesota (+ 5) at Washington: The Redskins and their fans are a little too confident. Still ... REDSKINS, 18-7
San Diego (- 3) at Oakland: Philip Rivers can win his debut by handing off to LaDainian Tomlinson. CHARGERS, 27-26
Baltimore (+ 3) at Tampa Bay: Tough place to start for Steve McNair, who gives the Ravens the QB they've never had. BUCS, 13-12
Buffalo (+ 81/2) at New England: The Patriots keep scouring the waiver wire for receivers. But Tom Brady is still one of the top two QBs in football. PATRIOTS, 23-8
Cincinnati (+ 3) at Kansas City: Assuming Carson Palmer is as good as he was in preseason, the KC defense gets exposed. As usual. BENGALS 34-27
Seattle (- 31/2) at Detroit: Only 31/2? Rod Marinelli has made Lions tougher. SEAHAWKS, 27-19
Chicago (- 3) at Green Bay: Long, long, long, long year for Brett. BEARS, 20-3
Denver (- 31/2) at St. Louis: Pining for the old days in St. Louis. BRONCOS, 31-20
Philadelphia (- 31/2) at Houston: The Texans picked up five guys off the waiver wire the day after the final cuts. Sign of a bad team. Would they rather have Ron Dayne or Reggie Bush? EAGLES, 27-20
San Francisco (+ 7) at Arizona: Imagine a full stadium (63,400) yelling loudly for the Cardinals. CARDINALS, 27-12
New York Jets (+ 3) at Tennessee: Two more waiver wire teams -- neither will win much this year, so get the wins when you can. JETS, 12-10
New Orleans (+ 3) at Cleveland: And more waiver wire. BROWNS, 28-24
Associated Press
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