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.

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.

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.