For as long as football has been around, it has had a strong connection to politics, particularly national politics within the beltway. D.C. has had a pro football franchise for longer than any other pro franchise in any of the major sports.

It's been no secret that many fine presidents were also football fanatics. Even Nixon was a big football fan. It was one of his few qualitys. So let's talk a little football.

Although the season is heating up, there are few exciting matchups next week, and lots of interleague matchups between very good teams and very bad teams. The one exciting game on the schedule might be San Diego at Denver, a fight for first in the AFC West. With only one game to really look forward to (at there's Ohio St./Michigan on Saturday in college ball) I'll be doing a lot of shopping this week. Of course, jerseys are big for any football fan.

Of course, if I really feel like torturing myself, I'll go for that McGahee jersey. I just hope it comes with some extra padding around the ribs.

Anyway, my predictions for the games I'll be watching:

Chargers over Broncos: Tomlinson stays hot. Chargers toughen up on pass defense.

Giants over Jaguars: New York takes out some pent up aggression from the loss to Chicago with a romp over the Jaguars in Jacksonville.

Cowbows over Colts: The Colts barely survived Buffalo at home last week. Now they go on the road to face a much better Cowboys team. Look for a breakout game from Tony Romo.

Bears over Jets Both teams had big wins last week, but the Bears will take that momentum further. They're still angry about that Miami game.