With seven weeks in the books, we are reaching the midpoint of the 2009 NFL Season. The big winner this week is going to be the fans as the 1-6 Kansas City Chiefs, 0-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 2-5 Washington Redskins will be on bye.

That means that NFL fans will not have to watch these teams ruin their Sunday afternoon.

This week also features two very intense division rivalry games with playoff implications (New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints), not to mention a reunion between Brett Favre and the 70,000 fans that used to cheer his every move.

My record for the season is 66-37.

1) Denver Broncos (6-0) at Baltimore Ravens (3-3) - I refuse to say that this is a statement game for the Broncos, saying so would infer that they did not make one when they started 6-0 with home wins against Dallas and New England and road wins in Cincinnati and San Diego. This is just another chance for the Broncos to beat a potential playoff team and continue to convince people that they are a Super Bowl threat.

The game is much more important for the Ravens, they are now 3-3 after starting the season 3-0. Two of those three wins were against Kansas City and Cleveland at home. Their most impressive win was at 3-3 San Diego.  Baltimore is much more in need of a statement win than the Denver Broncos are, but I am still picking Denver in this game. Their defense is going to be able to stop the Raven's offense and put the pressure on Baltimore's pass defense to step up and win this game, not cost them the game.

The Ravens are ranked 23rd against the pass, mainly because their cornerbacks cannot cover anyone. I think QB Kyle Orton will be able to take advantage of that and make smart decisions that will allow the Broncos to score enough points to lead them to yet another win.  In a month the Ravens are going to have gone from arguably the best team in the NFL to a team with a losing record.  Winner: Denver

2) Miami Dolphins (2-4) at New York Jets (4-3) - These teams played a classic matchup just three weeks ago when the Dolphins won their home game 31-27, thanks to a Ronnie Brown rushing touchdown in the closing seconds. The Jets could not stop the Wildcat offense that game and Rex Ryan will have to show that he can make that adjustment.  The stakes are bigger this time, if the Jets win they will have a commanding 2.5 game lead in the division, if they lose they will be just half game up in the standings, thanks to not having their bye week yet. 

The Jets are coming off a dominating 38-0 win over the Oakland Raiders and the Dolphins are coming off a 46-34 game against the New Orleans Saints, a game they led 24-3 late in the second quarter.  The Dolphins could be facing a small letdown, but it is a division game and I expect their defense to play much better this game.  I look for this to also be a close game; these are two pretty sound defenses with young quarterbacks that can run the ball to take pressure off them. I think the Jets and their young QB Mark Sanchez will come out on the winning end of a close game. Winner: New York

3) New York Giants (5-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (4-2) - A very big divisional game for two teams that have had their struggles in recent weeks. The New York Giants have lost two games after starting their season 5-0 and the Philadelphia Eagles experienced the shame of losing to the Oakland Raiders and looking mediocre in a win over the Washington Redskins. 

Giants QB Eli Manning and Eagles QB Donovan McNabb have looked brilliant at times this season, but have both had injuries and had some games where they were not so great.  If the Eagles win this game they will lead the Giants in the loss column and will be guaranteed to have no worse than a share of first place with Dallas. If they lose they could be as low as third in the division by Sunday Night.

I like the Eagles in this game. They are at home and they had the Giants number at the end of last season. The Eagles were my pick to win the Super Bowl this year and while they have not looked like a Super Bowl team, I still think they have the talent to win the NFC East. Losing to Oakland made me lose confidence, but the Eagles are going to have to show me some more bad football games before I lose all faith. The Giants just are not playing very well now and have really struggled with good competition, so it's hard to pick them to not only beat the Eagles, but to go into Philadelphia and do it. 

This pick is as much about what New York is not doing as what Philadelphia is doing.  It's going to be a low scoring defensive struggle, but I think the Eagles take a close game. Winner: Philadelphia

4) Minnesota Vikings (6-1) at Green Bay Packers (4-2) - The Brett Favre Bowl II. Lost in this matchup between the Packers and their former iconic quarterback is that if the Packers win the game they will be tied in the loss column with the Minnesota Vikings, and if the Vikings win they will have a two game lead in the loss column, that would actually be three games thanks to a season sweep.  If the Packers want to win the division they will have to win this game. They won't.

Lost in the 57-3 domination that the Packers put on the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions is that those teams are a combined 2-11 and are being outscored by almost 15 points per game. The Vikings also beat those teams (both games on the road) 61-33 and that was in the first two weeks of the season when Favre was still developing chemistry and working his legs back into shape.  If the VIkings played those teams this week, they would win by a lot more. 

The problem for the Packers is they still have a suspect offensive line, they still do not have a defense that can shutdown RB Adrian Peterson and contain Favre at the same time and RB Ryan Grant is still not going to be able to run on the Vikings front seven. It hurts the Vikings that they will probably not have Pro Bowl CB Antoine Winfield, but good teams find ways to win with players missing and the Vikings were able to do just that by holding Steelers WR Hines Ward to one catch for three yards last week without Winfield. The Packers are a good team, but the Vikings are better and should win this game. Winner: Minnesota

5) Atlanta Falcons (4-2) at New Orleans Saints (6-0) - If you cannot already tell, Week Eight is going to answer a lot of questions in the various divisions. There are some very big divisional games with a lot at stake, none more than this game.  You cannot call Week Eight games must-win games, but this is a very very important game for the Falcons. The Falcons are two games back of the Saints, they cannot afford to lose ground on an undefeated team that is running away from the NFL, much less the NFC South.  If they lose they are probably going to be in wild card contention the rest of the season. 

The New Orleans Saints have to win games like this at home and they have shown they are up for the task.  When both the then undefeated New York Jets (3-0) and the New York Giants (5-0) showed up to New Orleans and were soundly defeated. I believe these teams will split this year, with each taking their home game, thus I like New Orleans this week.  

QB Drew Brees is too good to stop at home and the Falcons will not be able to establish Michael TurnerMatt Ryan will keep the Falcons in the game, but they will probably be behind for much of the game, similar to what happened to Atlanta in Dallas last week. I look for a similar game this week.  Winner: New Orleans in the run game, because New Orleans is so good at jumping out to big leads at home.  QB

The Rest

6) Houston Texans (4-3) at Buffalo Bills (3-4) - The Houston Texans are starting to play good football at just the right time, winning three of their last four games with their only loss to defending NFC Champion Arizona, a game they lost by only seven points. This game is very similar to the Panthers and the Cardinals. The Bills average only 16.1 points per game, which is going to make it difficult to score enough points to beat a team that is as explosive as the Texans. I like Houston to secure another victory. Houston QB Matt Schaub is leading the NFL in passing yards right now, expect another big game from him.  Winner: Houston

7) Cleveland Browns (1-6) at Chicago Bears (3-3) - Chicago cannot make up for that 45-10 beat down they took in Cincinnati, but they still aren't bad enough to lose to Cleveland at home. Bears win big, behind a strong day from QB Jay Cutler and RB Matt Forte. Winner: Chicago

8) Seattle Seahawks (2-4) at Dallas Cowboys (4-2) - The Cowboys have found their groove, thanks to QB Tony Romo and WR Miles Austin playing out of their minds. Austin seems to be good for roughly 200 yards receiving per week and Romo is slinging the ball around with the best of them. Good thing Seattle is coming to town, the good times should keep right on rolling. Look for the Cowboys offense to have another big week. Winner: Dallas

9) St. Louis Rams (0-7) at Detroit Lions (1-5) - Has there ever been a matchup between two teams that are as historically bad as these two?  This "game" (I hate to even call it that) features the Rams, losers of 17 straight vs. the Detroit Lions who are 2-29 since November 11, 2007, including a 19-game losing streak that ended in Week Three this season against the Redskins.  I refuse to pick St. Louis to win against anyone this season, much less on the road; Lions win the game by default.  Winner: Detroit

10) San Francisco 49ers (3-3) at Indianapolis Colts (6-0) - San Francisco showed a lot of heart last week and QB Alex Smith looked like the real deal, but I just cannot see picking against the Colts at home. QB Peyton Manning is playing out of his mind right now even for his lofty standards and the 49ers have not showed me that:

a) they are capable of stopping the Colts offense or

b) they are capable of winning a shootout with Indy.

The only way the 49ers might win is if RB Frank Gore can carry the ball 30 to 35 times, produce first downs and control the clock. Even that did not work for the Miami Dolphins, who controlled the clock for 45:00 minutes and still lost to the Colts. Indy stays undefeated. Winner: Indianapolis

11) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) at Tennessee Titans (6-0) - If it makes Titans fans feel better, I correctly picked Detroit and Kansas City's first win of the season and this is my upset pick of the week. I think Titans head coach Jeff Fisher knew exactly what he was doing when he wore the Peyton Manning jersey at the fundraiser, he wanted to fire up his team to start playing hard again. I think they are going to do that this Sunday.

This doesn't mean I think they will roll off 10 straight victories and make the playoffs, looking like the team from 2007 or 2008. It just means that I think Jacksonville does not play consistently and that even though the Titans lost 37-13 in Jacksonville, the Titans will be out to prove that they are not going to be a punchline in 2009. If you don't think Jacksonville can lose this, look how badly they played against the Rams just two weeks ago.  I think RB Chris Johnson is primed for a big week coming off the bye.  Winner: Tennessee

12) Oakland Raiders (2-5) at San Diego Chargers (3-3) - Only one-and-a-half games may separate the two teams in the standings, but these teams are light years apart. The Raiders just are not playing consistent enough to win on the road. I don't think this game will be as close as their 24-20 opener, but do not expect the 38-0 blowout the Raiders suffered against the Jets or the 44-7 loss they suffered to the Giants two weeks before that.  San Diego has no running game right now, but QB Philip Rivers will be up to the task against a very weak opponent.  Winner: San Diego

13) Carolina Panthers (2-4) at Arizona Cardinals (4-2) - Hard to believe this is a rematch of a 2008 divisional round game with the way the Panthers are playing now.  If a team is going to beat the Cardinals they need to be able to score more than 15.7 points per game, which is what the Panthers are averaging this season. Expect more Jake Delhomme interceptions, more Kurt Warner touchdown passes and another Cardinals win. The Cardinals finally appear to have their grove back and playing Carolina can only help that. Winner: Arizona

Bye: Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins