This is the toughest time of year to handicap NFL games for a couple of reasons.

First, you have too many teams that are, for practical purposes, out of the playoff hunt or just about out of the chase and so their motivation is not what it was two or three weeks ago. Worse, it can happen during a game. A 5-7 team that's a point-spread underdog starts off snarling but it falls behind by 10, 14 points and sometime in the fourth quarter, the guys realize that the season is all over and they sag. The result is that they fail to close on a point spread that they should cover.

The second reason is injuries. The injuries are piling up this time of year and what you thought you knew about a team is no longer valid because you're guessing about the backups. Houston is a good example. At the beginning of the season, I liked the Texans as a sleeper team, especially against the spread, because of their new quarterback, Matt Schaub. So, they start off 3-0 ATS, as I expected. Then the oddsmakers catch up, Schaub starts getting nicked, he misses snaps, he misses games and now the Texans have missed the spread seven times in the last nine games.

Well, we're 23-19-2, we're always in the hunt and we're handicapping our little hearts out.

San Diego at Tennessee (even). You can't ask for much more than this. Two teams battling for the playoffs in a game in which you're just looking for a winner, no points. After a disappointing start, the Chargers are 6-2 -- both in wins-losses and ATS. The Titans have been just the opposite lately. With Vince Young running hot and cold, the Titans are 1-3 over the last month -- both in actual outcomes and ATS. The feeling is that Tennessee DL Albert Haynesworth, out with a hammy, has been the difference. He comes back this week and the Titans do play better at home. Chargers QB Philip Rivers doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence, either, but there's too much talent on the San Diego roster to let an important game like this get away. Pick:  Chargers (even).

Cleveland at New York Jets (3). Cleveland let me down last week. The Jets surprised even themselves, I think. After six straights Ws against the spread, the Browns laid an egg in Arizona, losing to the Cardinals and the line. I know all about that late-game call that went against the Browns ... it shouldn't have come down to that. The Jets, apparently insulted that they were an underdog against winless Miami, demolished the Dolphins by nearly four touchdowns. But this week, we have a classic situation. The Browns are 7-5 and fighting for their playoff lives. The Jets are 3-9 and are marking the days until training camp. As long as Browns QB Derek Anderson doesn't have a meltdown and fails to protect the ball, this is Cleveland's game. One more thing.  Losing games like this are the type of thing that, in the end, get coaches fired. Fired coaches mean roster changes. I'm talking the Browns here. So there's  a ton of motivation on that Cleveland sideline. Pick:  Browns, giving 3.