CBS Sportsline Office Pool Challenge

For the sports fans out there who aren't totally satisfied with all of the fantasy leagues you're already in, there is a bevy of games online to satisfy your every competitive urge.

Whether you're interested in fantasy football games where an imaginary salary cap is used, or Survivor-type football games where your players are eliminated one by one every week, or even games that challenge you to pick the winning pro football teams each week,  there is a game for you.

And here's the best part: Most of them are either free or very inexpensive.   In this weekly column, I'll be critiquing some of these games for you. I'm going to find out what's good or bad, strong or weak, reasonable or unreasonable. In essence, I'm going to do the legwork for you. And in most cases, all you're going to have to do is point and click.   One of the best games going right now is CBS Sportsline's Office Pool Challenge. The challenge is to pick which pro football teams will cover the point spread. And CBS has guaranteed a $1 million grand prize to the winner.

Here's the format: All participants try to pick the weekly spread winners of every pro football game. Participants who pick all of the games perfectly in any week will be entered into the final drawing at the end of the season. If no one succeeds in picking all of the games correctly in any one week, the person with the highest score each week will be entered.

So, there will be at least 17 entries in the grand prize drawing, one of which will end up winning the $1 million. And the great thing about the format is that you can enter the game right now and not miss out on anything (I entered more than a month into the season).

You still have three weeks to match wits with the sharpies in Vegas, your buddies and all of the other pro football fans. The cost to enter is $17, and each additional entry will run you another $10. That $17 will get you access to all of the stats and expert analysis that CBS Sportsline offers.

For pure risk-to-reward value, you're not going to do much better than paying $17 for a chance at $1 million.

WEEK 15 SELECTIONS

Now I know how the Dolphins, Jets and Buccaneers feel every time the calendar turns to December. After my second consecutive 1-2 week, it seems my record is plummetting along with the temperatures across the country. It now stands at 14-10.

The Bucs continued their record of futility in games played in weather below 40 degrees by losing in Chicago, the Dolphins couldn't even win a winter game played on the West Coast as they were shut out by the Niners, and the Jets would have lost their home game if they had played anyone other than the Bengals, who have late-season, cold-weather issues of their own. Now, I didn't have an interest in those games, so other than things fantasy-related, I didn't care who won or lost. But I do think it's odd that I seem to have fallen into the same winter malaise that has doomed those teams in the last few years.

So, I've taken extra precautions for this week's action. I've hauled in a fresh, seasoned batch of San Joaquin Valley oak firewood for the woodstove, slipped on my polypropylene undergarments, and stocked the cupboards with hot cocoa mixes, whole bean Kona coffee and even some instant cappuccino packets (this IS the Bay Area, after all).

I gotta warm the cockles, baby. I gotta get out of this funk.

Let's not even wait for Sunday. The weekend kicks off with three games on Saturday. The Dolphins (9-4) will play their third game in 13 days when they travel to Foxboro to take on the Patriots (9-5) in a battle for first-place in the AFC East.

The Fish followed a dominating 41-6 Monday home win over the Colts with a 21-0 pasting by the 49ers in San Francisco last week. Now they have to travel all the way back across the country for this key matchup.

Miami won the first game between the two teams this year, 30-10. But I think this is a totally different Pats team. Tom Brady is now 9-3 as a starter and Antowain Smith, like a lot of travelers, has found New England in the fall to be quite hospitable. He has rushed for almost 1,000 yards and has given the Pats some balance to go with their receiving weapons, Troy Brown and David Patten.

And the Patriots now have a home-field advantage. They're 5-2 this year, with only narrow losses to both the Jets and Rams as the blemishes.

I think with the onset of cold weather, the home-field advantage will be even more pronounced on Saturday.

The Dolphins won the season finale last year at New England, 27-24, on a last-second field goal. The Pats will turn the tables this time around as Miami will show up a little leg-weary from the 6,000 air miles they've logged recently.

So play Brady, Patten, Smith and Brown for the Pats, and Jay Fiedler and Chris Chambers for the Dolphins. And let's play the home team in this one, and give the three points. In another matchup, the Raiders (10-3) host the Titans (6-7), who despite their up-and-down year, still have very faint playoff hopes.

The Titans are coming off a dominating performance of their own, as they totally shut down the Packers' running game last week en route to a 26-20 win. They held Ahman Green to nine yards on nine carries and also held Green Bay's passing game in check.

On the offensive side of the ball, Skip Hicks gave a boost to the Titans' anemic running attack by rushing for 142 yards in relief of Eddie George. And Steve McNair has really cranked up the aerial game lately, as he and wideout Derrick Mason seem to be hooking up for touchdowns every time a highlight is shown.

The Raiders struggled again, but made enough plays to beat the Chargers 13-6 last Saturday. Their defense carried the day, picking off Doug Flutie three times, including one near their own end zone in the last few minutes that clinched it.

But the defensive job that the Titans did on Green impressed me. I can see the Titans shutting down the Raiders' running game, which hasn't been as efficient this year as in years past.

The Raiders, meanwhile, might have their hands full with the Titans' new running attack. If you saw Hicks run the ball for UCLA in college, you know that he's talented and that last week probably wasn't just a fluke. And while the Raiders have a definite edge in their passing game against the Titans' 30th-ranked pass defense, the Titans should be able to take control of the game if they can pound the ball down Oakland's throats.

Besides, the line for this game started at the Raiders favored by 6 1/2, and has now moved down to five. That means a lot of sharp people in Vegas are backing the Titans.

Remember, the public loves to bet on favorites. So when the line on a game increases, in most cases it's the public backing the favorite. When the line goes down, it usually means the smarties are laying money on the underdog.

You see, they know that an underdog has three ways to win the bet, compared to the favorite's one. An underdog can win the game outright, tie or lose the game by less than the spread. On the other hand, the favorite has only the one way, that is to win the game by more than the spread.

So, we're going to go with the so-called sharp guys on this one.

Play McNair, Hicks, Mason and Joe Nedney for the Titans. And Rich Gannon, Jerry Rice and Tim Brown for the Raiders. But let's pick the Titans to make this game very close, and possibly win it. The Eagles (9-4) travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers (10-3) in a game dripping with playoff implications. The Niners are trying to catch the Rams in the NFC West, while the Eagles can win the East outright with a win on Saturday. With last week's victory at Washington, the Eagles are now 6-0 on the road this year and have won nine in a row dating back to last season. Their defense has been impregnable away from Veterans Stadium this year, giving up only 38 points and two touchdowns in those six games.

Granted, those games have been against the Chiefs, Redskins, Cardinals, Giants, Cowboys and Seahawks. Those teams' offenses will not be compared to the Niners', at least not this year.

But with Jeff Garcia hurting with a rib injury, the Eagles will be sure to rub their facemasks into his torso a little more aggressively than usual, and as a result, limit his effectiveness throwing the ball.

And I think the Eagles have the big cornerbacks in Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor to slow down Terrell Owens and the Niners' vaunted passing game. That means they would just have to concentrate on stopping the Niners' vaunted running game.

Anyway, this game looks like a slugfest between two legitimate heavyweights. This isn't going to be John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield III. This is going to be more like the Thrilla in Manila.

This is my value play of the week, because you're going to get three hours worth of an adrenaline rush waiting for the outcome. I can't see either team blowing the other one out.

Play Donovan McNabb, Duce Staley and the Eagles' defense, and Garrison Hearst and Owens for the Niners. Take the Eagles and the three. I'm sticking with them on the road until they let me down.

http://football0.fantasy.sportsline.com/mp/splash/home?product=opc

You can e-mail Greg Lucas at: greg@mrfantasy.com