Well, it wasn't a horrible week, but still wouldn't be a profitable one. Close, but not quite close enough.

• Detroit 13, Cleveland 10 (-2.5) (34.5 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]: An NFC North team wins on the road? Shocker! And it goes against my theory of needing to run the ball to win - the number of rushes was roughly equal for each team - but Detroit passed 15 more times than Cleveland. I guess all bets are off when both teams are bad.
• Green Bay 20 (-2), Minnesota 23 (44 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: $9.80, T: ($10.20)]: Ouch. Not only does Green Bay lose this one a 56 yard last second field goal, but you also lose the one glimmer of hope on offense - Ahman Green - for the season. Yes, they still have Favre, but without your star running back, what do you think defenses will focus on? Minnesota, well, they still are bad. They beat a Green Bay team that's on the slide. Who?predicted that the NFC North standings would be turned completely upside down?
• Indianapolis 38 (-15), Houston 20 (45 O/U) [P: $1.03, S: $10.00, O/U: $8.93, T: $19.96]: The biggest shock of the game? The Texans scored 20 on the Colts much improved defense. Indy continues to roll, and they'll get a real test after the bye - against New England in Boston on Monday night.
• Kansas City 30, Miami 20 (-2) (42 O/U) [P: $12.50, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.52, T: $32.02]: So Kansas City was rushed into Miami - travelling the day of the game, and is able to go in and get the W, despite being a 'dog (really?). Ricky Williams is turning out to look a lot like he should have stayed retired - over a year off of full speed play (pre-season doesn't count) can be hard to overcome. Just ask some of the NHL players. Unfortunately for Ricky though, he was the only one to take the year off.
• New Orleans 17, St. Louis 28 (-3) (47 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]: So Martz is on injured reserve. Not often do you hear that. And they still won. I still wonder how play calling will be affected without the mastermind on the sideline. New Orleans continues their downward spiral?- and it's not just the way they're playing - it's even making it's way into the front office. With talk of leaving New Orleans, I'm sure it's hard to concentrate on football.
• Pittsburgh 27, Cincinnati 13 (0) (43 O/U) [P: $8.33, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.52, T: $27.86]: In Cincy's second big test this season, they once again came up short. This, despite the fact that Roethlisberger threw for only 93 yards. This was a hard hitting running effort for the Steelers, and it paid off. Cincinnati will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to beat the top tier of teams in the NFL, but they have a few weeks - they play Green Bay, Baltimore, and bye. They'll win all of those! Then they have another chance - Indianapolis. Now that's a real test!
• San Diego 17, Philadelphia 20 (-3.5) (47 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: ($10.00)]: Philly proved that they are an up and down team. They go from getting killed by Dallas to keeping the best running back in the game out of the end zone for the first time in 18 games. And, they did it with a passing game - 54 attempts for McNabb. So does this go against my running theory? Some say no - because they use their short passing game as their running game - Westbrook lead the team in receptions, indicating that maybe that really is the plan. And in case you doubt the ones saying this counts as a running game, it came from Steve Young. He knows a little something about football, I think...
• San Francisco* 17, Washington 52 (-12.5) (36.5 O/U) [P: $1.39, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($18.61)]: Could USC beat San Francisco? Probably not, but they could probably give them a run for their money. As it is, the 49ers play Houston in the last week of the season. This game will have meaning - it'll determine who gets the number one pick in the draft. Washington beat up on these guys, and it's embarrassing if you're the 49ers. Maybe Rice and Montana can come out of retirement. They'd be better than this group of misfits!
• Dallas 10, Seattle 13 (-3.5) (45.5 O/U) [P: $5.81, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($14.19)]: Wow. Dallas is a much improved team. They are playing above where I thought they would be - despite losing. Seattle is a solid team this year.
• Baltimore 6, Chicago 10 (0) (30.5 O/U) [P: $8.33, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $8.33]: Yawn. I can't imagine watching this one. The best part? Chicago is now tied for the NFC North lead, and they play Detroit?next week - the winner will be in sole possession of first place in the Norris division - and the only team above .500!
• Buffalo 17, Oakland 38 (-3) (40.5 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]: Moss played, and he made an impact. Of course, there was more than just him - the whole team stepped up and waxed the Bills. They're an exciting team, but they won't make it very far this year.
• Denver 23, New York Giants 24 (-2) (47 O/U) [P: $8.00, S: ($10.00), O/U: $0.00, T: ($2.00)]: The Giants came back and scored late in the game to get the W. A great drive by Eli Manning - who may have reminded a few Broncos fans of someone they used to watch for years do the same thing!
• Tennessee 10, Arizona 20 (-3.5) (45.5 O/U) [P: $5.56, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.62, T: $25.17]: The Cards get their first domestic win - remember, they are undefeated in international play this year. This team has potential. McCown is a decent QB, and the combo of Boldin and Fitzgerald are a great combo. I wonder if there's any basis to the rumor that Green may want to trade for Culpepper in the offseason. That could really be interesting!
• New York Jets 14, Atlanta 27 (-7) (40.5 O/U) [P: $3.33, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.35, T: $22.68]: The "Vinny" era is over. And with the death of their passing game, so is the "Martin" era at running back - he's getting no room to run without the threat of a pass. Vick just isn't a great quarterback - he threw three picks this weekend and put up less than 130 yards. If he couldn't run, he'd be relegated to Joey Harrington status!

Results Summary

• Picks (this week): 9 - 5 (64.29%) - Winnings: $4.29: A positive week! My first.
• Picks (season): 58 - 44 (56.86%) - Winnings: ($110.55): Still down, but I'm gaining!
• Spread (this week): 7 - 7 (50.00%) - Winnings: $0.00: I broke even. Not bad. I've only had one other week that wasn't negative.
• Spread (season): 43 - 58 (42.57%) - Winnings: ($150.00) Still down huge. I'm working on it!
• Over/Under (this week): 6 - 7 (46.15%) - Winnings: ($13.26): Again, it's the o/u that's killing me. I knew it would!
• Over/Under (season): 44 - 56 (44.00%) - Winnings: ($145.62): My hole is getting bigger...
• Total Weekly Winnings: ($8.97): I was barely down this week. I still haven't had a positive week...
• Total Overall Winnings: ($406.17): Ouch. The bleeding is slowing down, but it's still dripping pretty good.

Once again, I'll be back in a few days with week 8 picks.