We are now in the make-or-break period for many teams in this year’s NFL seasons, when playoff spots and seedings begin to come into focus and teams play accordingly. Sometimes this makes teams play harder, sometimes they choke, sometimes they back into a playoff spot, and some teams enjoy playing spoiler. With all of that figured into the odds this week, I think I’m going to rely mostly on my gut feelings when I look at a lot of this week’s match ups. (And in your guts, you know I’m nuts) From what I’ve seen so far this season, who will want it more?

For starters, I’ll take Jacksonville with 4 points against Pittsburgh, counting on the Steelers to be reeling psychologically after their drubbing by my Patriots last week. I’m thinking back to how pathetic the Colts played the week after they lost to the Pats, and I’m wondering if the Steelers will be in the same sort of mood. I’ll continue to pick the Packers, this time to cover 10 points against the Rams, as they work to cement the number 2 seed in the NFC. I’ll also take the Titans to cover 4 points against the Chiefs, since the Titans are fighting for a possible playoff berth and the Chiefs are thinking about next year.

I think the Colts minus 11 points over the lowly Raiders seems like a good bet, and after watching them just squeak by the Lions last week, I don’t have a lot of confidence in the Cowboys to cover 11 points over the Eagles, who I’ll take plus those points. And finally since I also find the Giants mediocre under pressure, I’ll go with the Redskins plus 4 and a half points against them.

With a long-shot parlay of Jacksonville-Green Bay-Tennessee-Washington and ten bucks on every bet, our total rounds out to $70.

Yes, no Patriots bet. They are an amazing 24 point favorites over the Jets, since everyone is expecting a good ol’ fashioned ass-whuppin’ as punishment for videogate and as a way for Belichick to give Mangini nightmares. While I’ll certainly enjoy the game immensely if it goes that way, I’m not sure the Pats would want to risk a cheap hit by rolling the score up that much against a team that, frankly, isn’t worth expending that much energy over. Just get the win, notch up a few more TD passes, and move on towards running the rest of the table, if you ask me.

And a tip of the hat to stuffonmycat.com, the source of our handsome risk-taking friend above. Feel free to make your own awful “feed the kitty” joke. Meow!