The Saturday night game is a fascinating one – Baltimore at Indianapolis. Personally I think the Ravens are the better team. But the best QB in football is Peyton Manning. The Colts also limped home at the end of the regular season after losing a game to the Jets when they were undefeated. The Colts’ coach, Jim Caldwell, decided to sit his starters in the second half despite having an undefeated season on the line. Given the age of his team, I think Caldwell’s decision was defensible.

In terms of match ups, you would think that the Ravens would match up well with the Colts — a physical running game and a tough experience defense that throttled Tom Brady last week. Yet, Manning has had great success against the Ravens over the years, winning his last 7 games against them while playing extremely well. Blitzing Manning is asking for trouble and yet giving him time is also trouble. Pick your poison. The Ravens chances lay in controlling the ball AND finishing drives. That means touchdowns. Therein lies the problem. I do not think Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense will be finishing drives. I like the Colts (-6.5). No strong opinion on the over/under, which is 44. Gun to my head, I will take the Over.

Sunday’s 1:00 p.m. game is clearly the most anticipated of the weekend – Dallas at Minnesota. Brett Favre never beat the Cowboys in the playoffs while a Packer. Of course, those Cowboy teams featured Troy Aikman, Emmit Smith and Michael Irvin. That is irrelevant history. Cowboys QB Tony Romo is playing very well, perhaps the best he ever has. The Cowboys, always loaded with talent, are finally playing to their talent level.

That said, the Vikings, who suffered late season road losses at Carolina, Arizona and Chicago, has been tremendous in the Metrodome – winning all 8 games. Their defense is loaded with talent (the Cowboys will not be running the ball like they did against the Eagles last week) and the offense has many weapons. While the Cowboys defense has played very well of late, they have not faced a team that plays as well and as balanced as the Vikings do at home. With Favre having Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Rookie of the Year Percy Harvin, TE Shiancoe and Bernard Berrian, shutting down the Vikings is a tall order for the Jerry Joneses.

The Cowboys are the better team. But the game is in Minnesota. I like the Vikings (-3). I also like the Under (45.5).

The Sunday night game is in most ways, the least compelling. Unless you are a Jets fan, they are a pretty boring team to watch. But you don’t score points with style. The Chargers can be run on. And the Jets can run the ball. Rookie Shonn Greene has emerged as a premier RB. Rookie QB Mark Sanchez can still lose the game for you. And Braylon Edwards will drop a lot of passes.

The Chargers’ Philip Rivers is a big time QB with a lot of weapons. LT is past his prime but can be productive. The game is in San Diego. and the Chargers have won a lot of close tough ones this year. All that said, I think the Jets come in loose, play great and win outright. I like the Jets (+7) (the line opened with the Chargers as a 9.5 point favorite.) I also like the Under (42).

I went 3-1 last week.

Speaking for me only