What a sap I am. I can't believe I waxed on and on about the beauty of football even in the face of defeat. My stance this week: There's no beauty in losing. And there certainly was no beauty in the Saints loss to the Rams or Carolina's loss to Atlanta. What's worse is my savage co-worker the I-man Existo Shuttlesworth is a damned Falcons fan, who has been claiming superiority to my Jets since day one. This is a man who once called KGB a top 5 defensive end of all time. He doesn't deserve to be right.

Where does this leave me? The bye weeks are over and there's a full slate of beautiful games to choose from, but I have no more survivor pools going. Of the four remaining players in my big pool, I and one other took Carolina, while the woman running it took the Saints. If it weren't impossible to fix these things, I'd cry foul that her boyfriend won by picking the blasted Seahawks. So much for my self-proclaimed genius when I picked Holmgren's crew in Week 1. Enjoy your $175 bucks!

The second chance pool for which I picked the Saints will go on strong without me. I was one of eight eliminated, but most were victimized by Peyton Manning's crumble. Still, half the field remains and without the bye weeks, it just might go to the end of the season. It was a good run while it lasted.

Here's a look at the big spreads and my advice for Week 11:

Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers (-9.5) (1 p.m. Sunday): Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk led their team in tackles last week and stuffed the Vikings run attack after resident scumball Al Harris hurt Peterson. All right, I'll bite. The Packers are good. They're at home and the Panthers are bad. I like the Packers.

Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts (-14.5) (1 p.m. Sunday): No Larry Johnson? I say that barring another collapse from Peyton and a virtual absence of special teams tackling, this should be an easy one for Indy. Dungy's team will bounce back.

Miami Dolphins at Philadelphia Eagles (-10) (1 p.m. Sunday): The Dolphins can run block. I watched a good portion of Jesse Chatman's runs and he had a hole and one cut to get 15 yards on several plays. Philly's run defense has been strong at home, allowing just 88 yards per game. I like the Eagles, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Buccaneers faithful popping the cork to celebrate keeping their record.

Pittsburgh Steelers (9.5) at New York Jets (4 p.m. Sunday): There have been times this year that I came to the sober realization that Leon Washington is the Jets' best player, or at least when he returns kicks, he's the safest bet to score. The Steelers got burned last week on special teams, which means they'll be focusing on that this week. Steelers win 92-10.

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (-10.5) (4 p.m. Sunday): James Thrash and Keenan McCardell had the first WR touchdowns this year last week. The Redskins spent all that money on wideouts and it paid off in the Santana Moss miracle game in '05, which was the first of three wins in the last four matchups. Roy Williams and Ken Hamlin cannot stop the deep ball, but if Moss is out again, no worries.

New England Patriots (-15) at Buffalo Bills (8:30 p.m. Sunday): I really don't think the Pats will lose this year. But as an upstate New Yorker, I know that if you give Buffalo another eight hours to drink before game time, this could get ugly. Still, rowdy fans and an upstart squad shouldn't be enough to take down Brady & Co.