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Dr. Z's Forecast

Seems kind of freaky, doesn't it, that only 12 of the 32 NFL teams have winning records? It's as if someone were saying, "O.K., everybody over .500, pick up your pass for the playoffs." Which means that a 5--5 team can figure, well, just one lucky break here or there and we're in the postseason. All this is a preamble to my trying to talk myself into making the Redskins my upset special for the weekend. If you're a Skins fan, you had to love the way they kept attacking the Dallas defense on Sunday, never giving up until Jason Campbell threw that final, fatal pick. But you also had to shield your eyes at the way T.O. ravaged a defense that seemed to be playing without any safetymen.

This weekend, Santana Moss (right) and the Redskins give it a shot in Tampa. The Bucs, with a 6--4 record, have opened a two-game lead in one of the league's sorrier divisions. Yeah, I see an upset here. Tampa Bay will be coasting, the Skins will be hungry, knowing how close they came to hanging one on the league's darlings. If only they can patch up those gigantic holes in their secondary. Washington in a upset.

K.C. barely squeaked by in Oakland in October, but I think the Chiefs will win it more comfortably this time. Here's what should be a straight formula pick. On paper Tennessee, a rough, physical team, figures to give the Bengals more than they can handle. I made the Titans a favorite on my early chart. The opening line came up pick 'em. Everything points to a Cincinnati victory. No, I simply can't do it. I'm taking the Titans. New Orleans gets itself together in QB-deprived Carolina. I like the Browns, slightly, over Houston, but the Texans are a different team with Andre Johnson back. Finally, Chicago at home over Denver, and the Rams to give us our second upset of the weekend, over Seattle.

Last week 5--1
Season 57--30

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