Dallas at Jacksonville

Dallas is the media magnet right now. All eyes are on T.O. and the Big Tuna. When will T.O. blow up? Not sure. But hamstring injuries are REALLY bad for wide receivers. I am not sure what to expect from Owens this game but of the three possible results (non factor, average performance, breakout performance), I'd be most shocked by a killer game by him. He hasn't practiced much, has no rythm with Drew Bledsoe, and won't be at 100%. This pick is about the Jags, though. This team won 12 games last year and they have a mean defense that allowed under 15 points per game at home. They didn't win pretty but they are scrappy and seem to find a way. Their offense continues to improve (16.3 PPG in 2004 to 22.6 last year). Jacksonville tends to start strong as they haven't lost against the spread in the past three seasons during the month. That probably has something to do with "fragile" Fred Taylor who isn't completely nicked up yet this early in the season. The public is on Dallas, pushing this line off of -3 which is hard to do. That extra half-point could come in very useful here. Jacksonville minus the points.