We’re at the halfway point of the 2007 NFL season – at least for some teams, depending on whether they’ve had their bye week or not. And just about the only thing we haven’t seen yet is the Patriots lose. They’re laying 17 points to visiting Washington. Only two teams have scored more than 17 points against the ‘Skins this season.

That’s the biggest spread of Week 8. The smallest is one point, which Minnesota is getting at home against the Eagles. Each team is 2-4, but they’ve both faced some tough opposition. Four other matchups feature a spread of three points. Most notable is the Monday nighter between the favored Broncos and the visiting Packers. Denver is far worse on paper, but coming off an upset win over the Steelers last week.

Meanwhile, we still didn’t know the fate of the Texans-Chargers matchup at press time, due to wildfires in the San Diego area. A decision was expected soon.

We didn’t think the Ottawa Senators would have any value left on the Stanley Cup futures market after going to last year’s finals. Silly us. The Sens were still the third favorites at press time, tied with Detroit at 7-1. They’re staring up at the defending champions from Anaheim and the reloaded Rangers, each at 6-1.

Apparently it’s too early in the regular season to make any judgments based on Ottawa’s 8-1 start, or Anaheim’s 4-5-1 stumble out of the gate. Otherwise, we’d have to give serious consideration to betting on 7-0-1 Minnesota at 10-1 odds. Or how about 6-1 Philadelphia at 15-1 odds?

It’s a long season, and Anaheim showed us yet again last year that it takes a combination of good health and savvy moves at the trade deadline before an NHL team’s Stanley Cup chances can be put into perspective. But Ottawa’s depth and sharp front office portend well for Sens supporters.

By the time the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox finish beating each other up, there might not be much left for the World Series. But the Colorado Rockies were still the underdogs at 6-5 at press time to beat whoever comes out of the American League.

We mentioned yesterday that Colorado was getting a 46.9 percent chance from Baseball Prospectus to win the World Series. But BP also acknowledges something of an X-factor: Willy Taveras. The fleet center fielder was added to the NLCS starting lineup against Arizona, replacing Ryan Spilborghs. Don’t let that 3-for-16 performance versus the Snakes fool you; Taveras stole a key base in the series opener and walked twice in Game 2, including the game-winning bases-loaded BB, to help the Rocks establish the lead.

Speed and scrappiness usually get scoffed at by seamheads, only because those qualities are overemphasized by traditional baseball “experts.” They remain positive qualities, and Colorado will need them.

Sweet cuppin’ cakes. The Boston Celtics were 4-1 at press time to win the NBA title. Taking that bet just might break every cardinal rule of sharp handicapping.

Look at the Celtics roster. Now look at the 2003-04 Minnesota Timberwolves. They had a “Big Three” of Kevin Garnett, Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell. They had more depth than Garnett’s current Boston club. And they didn’t even reach the NBA Finals.

Granted, they also had to run the Western Conference gauntlet, which explains to some extent why the Celtics are tied with the Dallas Mavericks as the second favorites to win the title behind San Antonio (7-2). But let’s not sell the East short. Detroit has climbed the mountain before, and Chicago is loaded for bear. They’re available at 12-1, as are last year’s Eastern champions from Cleveland. Would you take one-third of the payday to bet on Boston instead of these three teams?

Euro 2008 qualifying took soccer’s center stage over the weekend. If you had France over the Faroe Islands on Saturday, good for you. Things will be a little more difficult for The Blues on Wednesday when they face Lithuania, but not much; France is still a –1400 chalk.

A much more spirited game can be expected when England travels to Russia. In something out of a Cold War novel, the Russians are participating in what Scotland striker Garry O’Connor called “psychological warfare.” This match will be played at Luzhniki Stadium on FieldTurf, an uncommon surface to most European players.

“Frankly, I don’t think FIFA should allow qualifying matches to be played on that surface,” O’Connor wrote in the Sunday Telegraph. He also warned England that the Russians will flood the pitch before the match. As long as they don’t flood it with polonium. England is pegged at +125, Russia +190 and the draw at +220.

The San Diego Chargers were ready for the scrap heap. LaDainian Tomlinson was getting stuffed like Thanksgiving turkey, the defense was giving up 30-plus points, and fans (gulp) were revisiting the Marty Schottenheimer dismissal.

Then came Denver. San Diego ran over the Broncos 41-3 last week, and now things don’t look so bad for the Bolts. They’re 2-3 SU and ATS in a really sad AFC West, and they can jump into at least a tie for first place with a win over the Oakland Raiders.

Norv Turner is unproven as a head coach, but his offense is starting to jell, moving from 26th in efficiency to 14th after last week’s taming of the Broncos. Defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell is under the gun for his conservative style, so we might not see much improvement in that department. Still, last week’s Chargers dominated both sides of the ball, and they match up favorably with Oakland.

Yes, Brett Favre is human. His third-quarter throw to Brian Urlacher (oops) let the Chicago Bears back into Sunday night’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers. And now the Pack are 4-1 SU and ATS.

But we still love Favre. And we like what he might be able to do in Week 6 against the Washington Redskins and their middle-of-the-pack defense. Even with that puzzling interception, Favre was 29-for-40 for 322 yards against the Bears. His 95.1 passer rating after five games is right in line with his best seasons in 1995 and 1996 – the latter earning Favre his Super Bowl ring.

We also love the fact that Favre is still throwing laser beams at age 38 (Happy Birthday, today!). And, of course, he’s got the charisma factor. The movie-star looks don’t win football games, but poise, confidence and leadership do. For the first time in a while, Favre had confidence in his team’s offense.

The Snakes have a young, no-name batting order that few people outside the Phoenix area would recognize. Justin Upton just turned 20 in August; Chris Young, Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds were all born in 1983. Credit Arizona management for letting the kids play – look at the late-season collapses of the Dodgers and Mariners for the dangers of sticking with declining veterans.

It isn’t just the baseball establishment that’s guilty of undervaluing youngsters. But don’t scoff at the betting public for the odds in the Cubs-Snakes series: Arizona’s questionable combo of Doug Davis and Livan Hernandez (the oldest pitchers on the staff at 32) held it together and cashed in at +124 in Game 2 and a mighty +184 in Game 3.

Injuries are in the NFL spotlight again, and the matchup between the Bucs and Colts has enough to choke a horse. The most important one is to left tackle Luke Petitgout, out for the season and no longer protecting Jeff Garcia’s blind side. Colts LT Tony Ugoh is one of several nicked-up Indy players, but it looks like he’ll be fine. What about Joseph Addai and Marvin Harrison? Who knows, but the Colts are holding steady as 10-point faves.

The Ravens’ offensive line has actually held up reasonably well without their LT, Jonathan Ogden, but they still need him. He’s listed as questionable after engaging in limited practice Wednesday. Ogden is a game-time decision against the 49ers, who have their own problems on offense without Alex Smith and Vernon Davis. The total on this matchup is just 35.5, the lowest on the Week 5 sked. San Fran is a 3.5-point home dog.

One of my favorite handicapping mantras is that the books are always flush with Cubs money. But the 2007 playoffs might be different – at least for the first week.

In Wednesday’s NLDS opener against Arizona, the Cubs were +125 at press time. That’s not bad for value what looks like a toss-up on paper. Carlos Zambrano and Brandon Webb are the starters; both are excellent, although Webb has the advantage here. Arizona also has the better bullpen. But the Cubs had a .754 team OPS, the Snakes .734. Chicago’s defense is also superior, especially with Orlando Hudson (also Arizona’s top hitter at .817 OPS) out for the season.

In the junior circuit, the Angels are +150 against Boston. In this case, John Lackey has arguably performed better than Josh Beckett. The Red Sox counter with the stronger lineup: .806 OPS to .762 for Los Angeles of Anaheim. The Sox might have a slight edge, but +150? Ridonkulous.