Hank Goldberg from ESPN Insider:
Believe it or not, there are 11 teams that have a possibility of finishing the regular season at 9-7. Actually, with Cleveland and Baltimore playing each other this weekend, only 10 could really finish in a tie.
If we were to go into the tie-breaking procedures, you would be reading this well into the weekend, but that is how close these teams are. And don't think the team with the greatest need will necessarily prevail. Need versus out-of-it went 4-4 last week.
Miami is coming off the win over Oakland with New England coming up. The Dolphins are hoping not to become a fish sandwich. The Vikings have lost two at home by seven, taken two to overtime and won three, including an upset over Green Bay. They are a very dangerous 4-10 team, ranking first in the NFC in total offense. There will be some scoring on both sides, as the Fins give up 26 points per game on the road, twice as many as at home.
Green Bay will be facing a team that can also play in the chill when the Buffalo Bills come to town. In their last five meetings, the Bills are 4-0-1 against the Pack. Travis Henry has over 1,300 yards rushing, so it's not just Drew Bledsoe, Eric Moulds and Peerless Price to worry about. The Packers' defensive tackles are hurting. The points could be too high here, even with Favre's cold weather success.
New Orleans blew last week's game against the Vikes. The Saints, fighting for a playoff spot, should take it out on Cincinnati. They are 3-1 as road favorites this year, while the Bengals are 0-7 at home.
While the Colts stumbled at Tennessee a couple of weeks back, they are five of their last six in wins and covers. The Giants beat up on Washington and Dallas in their last two. This will be a step up in class.
Jacksonville has five losses by three points or fewer. Fred Taylor and Stacey Mack can run with Tennessee's Eddie George and Robert Holcombe. The Titans are on the road off a Monday nighter. Remember, home dogs are coming in at over 60 percent.
Mike Shanahan is 12-3 against the Raiders after Rich Gannon shredded his Broncos earlier this season with 21 straight completions on his way to 34-of-38. The Dolphins slowed Oakland's receivers last week with tight man coverage. Denver's strength on defense is against the run. So is Oakland's, now that its secondary is bruised. The over looks good.
The Jets had their annual, mysterious loss to interrupt their run, this time against the Bears. So now they have covered six of their last seven. New England gave up over 200 yards on the ground at Tennessee. These teams have split the last three years ? and the Pats crushed the Jets 44-7 in Week 2. That was with Vinny Testaverde at QB. Chad Pennington gives the Jets a shot.
Monday night should be one for the defenses in Tampa. The Bucs have 40 sacks and the Steelers have 41 coming in. Bucs QB Brad Johnson hasn't been practicing due to back problems. He was sacked 10 times by Pittsburgh last year in losing 17-10. The Steelers are getting warmed up; they had six last week. Some serious trends favor Pittsburgh. The Steelers are 16-5-1 on Monday nights since 1990 and are 10-3-1 as a dog the last two plus years. Play the under.
Early Picks: Minnesota plus 3, Pittsburgh plus 4? under 40?
Hank Goldberg looks at NFL matchups Sunday morning during the 10:30-11 a.m. (ET) block of SportsCenter.
