NFL Week 8 Picks

NFL Week 8 Picks
M.D. Wright
10.24.08

Today's big story: I'm an idiot. The end.

I can't even seem to break .500 on any given week anymore. That's just how quirky this crazy league has become. I'm going to go the more "conventional" route and not take any dogs or road teams (unless they're in the Top 5 in the Power Rankings). Let's see how this works out. I need to finish with a few .800 weeks in order to just finish the season .600-.667!

And so, hence, the picks --

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Texas Stadium
Irving, Texas

The Cowboys are hurting on both sides of the ball -- and consequently, special teams, as Adam Jones has been exiled from the team with his latest "issues". Tony Romo is going to miss another month of the season. The Washington Monument aka Brad Johnson is going to get eaten alive by the Bucs and Giants (and Redskins, should he play in that game) defenses in the coming week. The Cowboys' season is going down the drain VERY quickly right now.

Their defense is awful, also. But if you have been reading me all season, I have said all along they're pedestrian at BEST without DeMarcus Ware. Even with him, they're only average.

The Bucs do all things well. Not great, but well. And they don't make mistakes when Jeff Garcia is starting.

Call:
Tampa Bay 34
Dallas 13
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Washington Redskins vs. Detroit Lions
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

The Redskins won't blink like they did against the Rams and nearly did against the Browns. The Lions couldn't even beat the University of Michigan right now, and that's REALLY sad, because the Wolverines haven't looked this bad in my entire lifetime.

Call:
Washington 41
Detroit 9
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Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins
Dolphin Stadium
Miami, Florida

This is going to be a tough game to call. The Bills' defense has been shaky of late, but they haven't collapsed. The Bills' offense is SOLID with Edwards and Lynch, along with Evans, Reed and Parrish. The key will be stopping the Wildcat offense. I think they will. Although real NFL fans remember how badly the Bills were in the 80s and 90s in Miami... these aren't your father's Fins.

Call:
Buffalo 28
Miami 24
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St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots
Gillette Stadium
Foxborough, Massachusetts

People say they are waiting for the other shoe to drop with the Cheatriots. Not making fun of injuries -- not at all -- but it is about to, starting with SS Rodney Harrison's season-ending injury on Monday night. Truth is, they still aren't that good defensively. They're slow, but when they are able to manhandle weak/undersized offensive lines like the Broncos and Rams possess, they're still able to get pressure on the QB. Add to that the fact that the Rams, despite their two wins lately, aren't that good offensively nor defensively (three's a trend in my mind) it's going to be tough for them to go into Foxboro and win.

Call:
St. Louis 17
New England 21
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Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Titans-Jets
Giants Stadium at the New Jersey Meadowlands
East Rutherford, New Jersey

The Chiefs are terrible. Without their starting QB and RB, they're worse than that. The Jets aren't good, either, but they should take care of the Chiefs easily... right? They just blew that game vs. OAK (no surprise to me, even though I hate the "Team A historically plays bad in Team B's house corollary -- it's foolish, since none of the players on the current team were there). The Jets SHOULD be better than they are, but when you have B. Favre throwing a couple of passes up for grabs per game and a shaky defense (which SHOULD be better than it has played), you aren't a team that can say "we win the games we're supposed to win". I'm nervous about this pick, honestly. But I will go with logic. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

Call:
Kansas City 10
NY Jets 26
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San Diego Chargers vs. New Orleans Saints.
Wembley Stadium
London, England

I am VERY nervous about this game a) because of the pick being the most iffy of them all this week and b) because my Chargers are on the verge of having to resort to one of their patented 7 or 8 game winning streaks in order to just make the playoffs if they lose this game.

Both teams are playing below expectation/potential, but who breaks out is hard to call. This is the "pick 'em" game of the week. I reserve the right to eliminate this game from my record if it goes completely opposite of the way I call it LOL. I STILL think the Chargers' defense is better than the Saints by a smidge; even though they have logged a ton of miles traveling to Buffalo and now London for road games in consecutive weeks.

Call:
San Diego 38
New Orleans 35
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Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

My natural, knee-jerk sentiment is to pick whoever is playing the Iggles. You know my hatred for all things Philly (except vintage cheesesteaks and some of the women), and I might be vindicated with picking against them, because the Falcons are pretty good. The Iggles aer rolling the dice putting a nicked-up Westbrook out there -- but if they expect to have any chance to win or make the playoffs, he must play and play WELL. Donovan McNabb isn't very good anymore. Period. Whoever says so is a blind fan or thought he had experienced a "resurgence" when he's put up his best numbers against pitiful defenses in St. Louis and San Francisco this year. The Eagles will certain attempt to blitz rookie Matt Ryan alot, as is their custom, but with RBs Jerrious Norwood and Michael "The Burner" Turner (I need huge fantasy stats this week from you and Roddy White, B!!!) that might not be wise...

Call:
Atlanta 34
Philadelphia 31
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Arizona Cardinals vs. Carolina Panthers
Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte, North Carolina

The Panthers have been up and down the past three weeks. The common denominator being when they've had to play tough defenses of late, they've struggled -- when playing the Chiefs, they've shined. I still think they're the third or fourth best team in the NFC, but the Cardinals are right behind them. I'm going to go against the grain and say the Cards pull it off. They get Boldin back, and with him, Fitz and Breaston, the Panthers cannot cover them all, along with TE Leonard Pope and stop Tim Hightower (FROM?!?!?! Richmond).

Add to that, the Cards' defense is very underrated... and you have a tough game for Jake Delhomme in the making, my friends.

Call:
Arizona 42
Carolina 31
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Oakland Raiders vs. Baltimore Ravens
M&T Bank Stadium
Baltimore, Maryland

Oakland does not travel well. Russell is playing poorly on offense. The Raiders' running game is stagnant. The Raiders' defense is sketchy at best (but stepped up to shut down the Jets last week). However, the Ravens can't take advantage of it on offense unless they run the ball more. Expect them to do so, and expect the Ravens' defense to confuse Russell all game long. He may throw 4 INT... (BTW, Ravens are birds that devour everything in sight. They're vultures. JaMarcus Russell will be able to lecture about it at length after this one. Poor guy.

Call:
Oakland 6
Baltimore 20
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Cincinnati Bengals vs. Houston Texans
Reliant Stadium
Houston, Texas

Okay, so I relent. These ARE your father's Bengals. A terrible QB, WRs that are about to start sulking (1997 it was Carl Pickens, 2008 it is Chad Johnson) and play hard even though they could easily quit and sulk as well (1997 it was Darnay Scott, 2008 it is Touraj Houshmandzadeh) and a defense that looks OK in highlights and has great individual talent, but overall plays badly.

The Texans are playing their 26th straight home game. They feel confident again.

Call:
Cincinnati 17
Houston 30
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Cleveland Browns vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
Jacksonville, Florida

The Browns are turning into a bad joke very quickly. They mess up the Giants' flow (although it wasn't a bad thing, necessarily) and then lay an egg in the final minutes versus Washington and are about to get trounced in Jacksonville as they fine/suspend their starting TE Kellen Winslow for shining light on hazardous working conditions. Go figure. I hate the Browns even more than I already did, for that.

Jacksonville is steady on both sides of the ball. No big plays made, nor surrendered -- that seems to be their M.O. That means Braylon Edwards will drop 4 passes, but he won't beat anyone deep as he did against the Giants.

Call:
Cleveland 14
Jacksonville 23
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New York Football Giants vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Heinz Field
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
*GAME OF THE WEEK*

The Giants are about to find out what they are really made of in their first "true" test of the season. On the road, no less, in a very tough facility to play in. The Steelers seem to be getting it done with smoke and mirrors with a 3rd string RB, shaky offensive line (which will surrender a few sacks this week) and a nicked up secondary (but very good 3-4 defense with the front seven). They will look to confuse Eli Manning and the Giants' offensive line.

However, the Giants have the best offensive line for a reason -- and lead the NFL in rushing. Look for the Giants to employ the Steelers' old M.O. against them (70% rushing, 30% passing, as Roethlisberger did in their Super Bowl season). No one has yet to, nor will, stop the Giants' rushing game (even in the loss, they gained 181 on the ground on less than 30 carries) with a three-headed attack. As long as offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride doesn't lose his mind and have Eli Manning hoisting up 31 passes (his average, FOR SOME REASON, this season), the Giants should win.

But this will be no runaway, unless Roethlisberger gets lazy and fumbles the ball as he gets sacked a half dozen times -- which he most certainly will -- if not more. If the Eagles can do it, best believe the Giants will.

Call:
NY Giants 33
Pittsburgh 27
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Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers
Candlestick Park
San Francisco, California

Maybe next year boys... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Call:
Seattle 10
San Francisco 6
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NO SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL THIS WEEK

Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans
LP Field
Nashville, Tennessee

The Colts are hard to figure out. They have not looked good all season except the Ravens game -- when Joseph Addai suffered an injury. They won't have him for this game, either. Manning's health is questionable, but the Titans are not a lock to win this game. Again, Kerry Collins is their QB. And I say this is the week that 1) The Titans lose and justify my move of the Giants back to #1 in the Power Rankings and 2) In the process, Collins throws two backbreaking INTs, like he used to do right when Giants fans used to gain confidence in him while he was with us.

Oh yeah, that games-without-surrendering-17-points streak is over, too.

Call:
Indianapolis 24
Tennessee 13
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More on Tuesday...