Yule love these 'dogs

As we unveil this week's pro football underdogs, there's an important note for the players in our charity game: This week there are two games on Saturday as well as one on Thursday night. And so there are three 'dogs who will require you to send in your pick early if they're your choice. For the Thursday or Saturday games, picks are due by kickoff time. For all the other games (including Monday night), the deadline is 10:00 a.m. PST Sunday. (As always, all picks must go to dogpdx24@gmail.com.)

Three weeks remain in the regular season, counting this week. Our contest runs through three weeks of the playoffs as well, but after the regular season, the games get far fewer and the point potentials tend to get smaller.

With that out of the way, here we go:

14  NEW ENGLAND at Buffalo

13.5  NEW ORLEANS at Green Bay (Monday, pick still due Sunday, 10:00 a.m. PST)

10  NEW YORK GIANTS at Atlanta

7  CLEVELAND at Cincinnati

6.5  CHICAGO vs. Detroit

6  PITTSBURGH at Baltimore (Saturday, 1:30 p.m. PST)

4  CAROLINA vs. Arizona

4  DALLAS vs. Tampa Bay

4  TENNESSEE at Indianapolis

3.5  NEW YORK JETS vs. Los Angeles Rams

3.5  WASHINGTON vs. Philadelphia

3  DENVER at Los Angeles Chargers (Thursday, 5:15 p.m. PST)

3  SEATTLE vs. Minnesota

2.5  KANSAS CITY vs. Houston (Saturday, 10:00 a.m. PST)

1.5  LAS VEGAS vs. Jacksonville

1.5  SAN FRANCISCO at Miami

Nobody scored in our game this past weekend, and so the standings here are still accurate. Good luck sorting it all out, players. And once again, don't forget that there are games on Saturday this week!

We end now with a brief holiday musical tribute to the underdogs, from "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." And a-one, and a-two:

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow,

Look now! for glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing.

Oh, rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing!