Week Eight: NFL Picks & Predictions

As most of you know, I pick 'em every week and have for years. I’ve been doing most of my picks right here on bleacherreport.com and also over at my site at www.sports-uncut.com.

Going into last week (Seven), I was a solid if unspectacular 63-27, good for a 70.0 percent accuracy rate. Last season was my personal best of 80 percent. This year, I'm looking to improve that!

Over the last two weeks, the consecutive 9-5 picks have lowered my average a little, alas. It'll come back, I know it will!

I finished Week Seven with an average 9-5 record, not great...but not bad either. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have picked the Cards, but who realistically thought that was going to happen? I guess a Saints pick would have helped too...

Oh well, it's a new week, and I gotta get better!

As always, I’m not picking the spread here folks; I’m picking the straight up winner.

Byes this week: Bengals, Chiefs, Patriots, Steelers, Buccaneers & Redskins

Record

Record from Two Weeks Previous (6): 9-5

Record from Last Week (7): 9-5

Record coming into Week (8): 72-32 (67.2 percent)

Now that the records are out of the way, let's get right to it!

Seattle Seahawks @ Dallas Cowboys

Seattle is coming in off a bye, and that's always scary to me, because it gives your opponent two weeks to rest, heal, and game-plan against you. Usually that swings the advantage to the rested team, but I'm not sure I believe that this week.

In Seattle's Week Six game, they got manhandled by the Arizona Cordinals, 27-3. The thing that's so disturbing about that is the fact that Arizona, at the time of that game, was ranked dead last against the pass.

That's right, 32nd, and Matt Hasselbeck was beaten, bruised, and abused in that game by Arizona's D-line and could get nothing going.

This week, the Seahawks face a Cowboys team that's ranked 22nd against the pass and 16th against the run, so one can reasonably assume that the challenge becomes tougher for them this week.

Conversely, Dallas looked great last week, and the emergence of MIles Austin as a legitimate deep threat will do a LOT for this offense. It'll open up Jason Witten, it'll open up the running game, and it may even allow Roy Williams to become something more than a bench warmer on your fantasy team. Maybe that's a stretch...

In the end, I thought the way Seattle responded, or didn't respond, in that game in Week Six made it resoundingly clear that they're missing a running game...bad. This week I don't think they'll be able to conjure one up.

VERDICT: The Dallas Cowboys feast on Seattle's offensive and defensive shortcomings and win at the "House Jerry Built."

Houston Texans @ Buffalo Bills

There's not much to say here other than Buffalo is a team on the ropes, even after they beat the Jets last week. They're just not very good.

On the other side of that, the Texans are a steadily improving team, and they seem to be making changes every week that allow them to have the opportunity to be successful. I like Gary Kubiak to scheme up his offense and lead the Texans to a W in Buffalo.

VERDICT: Buffalo is really bad, and Houston is a team on the rise with a good QB, RB, and WR and can score in bunches. They beat Buffalo soundly.

St. Louis Rams @ Detroit Lions

Last week, I said I thought that Steven Jackson would find the end zone against the Colts and their beatable run defense.

That didn't happpen, but what did happen was Jackson finally had a breakout game and made his presence known. He ran for 134 yards on 23 attempts, averaging a whopping 5.82 yards per carry.

This week, he and the Rams are facing the Detroit Lions, who don't pose much of a threat defensively, and he should be able to do some damage this week again. The Lions rank below the Colts in both rush (20th) and pass (30th) defense, which should mean a big day for S-Jax!

The Rams will feed the Lions a steady dose of Jackson this week, as Steve Spagnuolo now knows that Jackson is undoubtedly his best offensive player.

The Lions are on the right path. However, it sounds like "Megatron" Calvin Johnson will miss this game, and that doesn't help them much.

VERDICT: St. Louis gets into the W column this week against a below average to bad Detroit team.

Denver Broncos @ Baltimore Ravens

Bronco fans should be thanking me about now. I've picked the Broncos to lose for several weeks now, and they just keep winning. Will it happen again this week?

The Broncos are living the good life right now coming into this game with a 6-0 record and feeling pretty confident after handling the Cowboys and Patriots in successive weeks. The Ravens are most likely coming into this one knowing that they left one on the table in Minny and might be looking for a little redemption.

I talk about the power of the bye a lot, and in this game, both teams will have the same advantage as they're both coming off a bye. The fact that both teams have been scheming for two weeks and getting ready for this one makes me believe this game is going to be a good one.

Both the Broncos and Ravens have offenses that can score, but both also have Defenses that can hold In the end, though, I think that this game will come down to the passing game.

Baltimore can be thrown on, as proven by Philip Rivers and virtually everyone else that's played them. Running on them is tougher, so Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter figure to be of little relevance.

Conversely, the Broncos are currently ranked third against the run, and I don't think Willis McGahee or Ray Rice will have a ton of success there either, but they'll have enough.

The Broncos do also sport a No. 10 pass D as well, so that'll make Joe Flacco's day a little tougher having to throw against Champ Bailey, which will force them to try to run.

All that said, I think the Ravens have a chance in this game. They're at home, and it's an early game on the East coast, and traditionally Denver doesn't go East well. Not to mention, they have a RB in Rice that proved he can run against anyone—ask Minny (who's a top 10 run D). I like Baltimore a lot in this one.

VERDICT: Baltimore gets a win at home in what will prove to be the best game of the weekend!

New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles

The Giants have had questions fired at them like missiles this week asking about what happened and if they're really as good as the early signs showed they were. Philly is coming off a physical game against the Skins on Monday night, and that means they're dealing with a short week.

The Giants' loss to the Cardinals was a bit of a surprise to me. Arizona is a team that's been struggling to find any sort of rhythm and perform against the pass. However, they made Eli Manning's night tough, picking him multiple times.

Philly is a much better D than Arizona is, especially against the pass, so the job doesn't get any easier for Eli this week.

Philly has proven it can score quickly and in bunches, especially through the air. However, the Giants rank No. 2 against the pass and are just outside the No. 1 spot. With Brian Westbrook banged up (what's new), the Eagles may have to throw the ball a lot to get this one done, and I don't like that matchup for them.

VERDICT: The Giants get a win in a hostile environment this week and beat the Eagles.

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets

Earlier this month, I picked the Dolphins when the Jets were the "Flavor of The Week," and I was ridiculed worse than a 400-pounder on his eighth trip back to the food bar at a buffet. Turns out I was right in what was one of the best games I've seen in a long time.

Guess what? That doesn't change this week. Miami is the No. 1 rushing team in the league, and Miami has proven that they can play a little defense too. I like that pairing.

The Jets will surely be looking for revenge in this one; however, I don't know that they'll find it this week. The Dolphins will try to take away the Jets' ability to score by keeping their offense off the field.

Miami will do that by running the ball and running it some more, and with Ricky "Sticky Icky" Williams looking rejuvenated and Ronnie Brown being the main guy, I don't know that the Jets will have the answer this time any more so than they did last time.

VERDICT: It'll be a close game, but I think Miami pulls it out in the end.

Cleveland Browns @ Chicago Bears

Let me just start by saying this: I LOVE the Cleverland Browns. I don't love them to win, but I do love them.

Cleveland is outmatched in every facet of this game. Chicago is coming off a drubbing at the hands of the Bengals, and Matt Forte is going to want to make sure that people remember his name, as everyone in Chicago is now wondering what happened with and even clamoring for Cedric Benson.

The Browns will be destroyed in this one by Jay Cutler and Matt Forte

VERDICT: The Bears win an easy game at home against the worst team in the NFL.

San Francisco 49ers @ Indianapolis Colts

I don't know that there is a hotter offensive team in the NFL right now than the Indianapolis Colts. They're operating at a level that I haven't seen in some time. Peyton Manning is seemingly always on the mark, Joe Addai has looked good the last couple of weeks, and the D is slowly getting better and better.

The 49ers also look to be getting better and better ever week. Vernon Davis has finally sprouted into the player that everyone thought he'd be coming out of Maryland, Frank Gore is back and healthy, Michael Crabtree is a decent player, and Alex Smith actually has matured and is looking to step in.

The Colts gave up 134 yards last week to Steve Jackson, and he doesn't have near the line or the help that Frank Gore does. Tthat could very well be the deciding factor in this one.

The 49ers are looking to get into the win column again, and this might be the week as Gore has a HUGE day. That said, it's hard to pick against Manning and the Colts.

VERDICT: Indianapolis gets the win...but I'm torn in this one as San Fran could do some damage.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans

Short and sweet here...

Tennessee's D is horrid, Jeff Fisher is trying to get fired, and Vince Young is going to start...those are ALL bad things.

However, the starting of VY could actually be a spark for the Titans. VY is NOT a good QB; however, he's a dual threat, and J-Ville has to keep tabs on him more than they would have had to with Kerry Collins under center.

VERDICT: The Titans lose to the Jags as David Garrard and MJD have big days. However, the Titans getting into the W column for the first time is NOT out of the realm of possibility.

Oakland Raiders @ San Diego Chargers

In Week One, these two teams squared off and played in a great game. San Diego was nowhere near the team in Week One they are now.

Love him or hate him, Philip Rivers has proven that he is among the elite signal callers in the game, while his counterpart this week, JaMarcus Russell, has only proven that he's the worst starting QB in the NFL right now...aside from VY, of course.

The Raiders played inspired football a couple of weeks ago against Philly. However, this week—inspired or not—they're NOT getting a win in S.D. They just will not be able to keep up with the Chargers' scoring ability.

VERDICT: It’ll be a good game, but I like San Diego at home.

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers

I’m sure this is going to be a game for the ages. Brett Favre goes back into Lambeau wearing the uniform of the hated Vikings. That's like John Elway going into Denver playing for the Raiders.

The fan reaction is going to be harsh, but the game will be great!

I'm a little torn here. Minny looked pretty average last week, while G.B. had the good fortune of playing the Cleveland Browns. The Packer D is a good unit and makes big plays at big times.

That said, Minny's D is also a good unit that makes good plays at big times, and last game Jared Allen was an absolute beast!

It's going to come down to what these teams do on the ground. We know both can throw well, and we know that both can play D.

The variable here is the rushing game. Ryan Grant is hot and cold, and Adrian Peterson, for as good as he is, has been pretty inconsistent this season too, but he's been better than Grant has.

Ultimately, I like Peterson to have a HUGE bearing on this game, and for the Vikings to run the clock after getting up early on.

VERDICT: Brett is okay in this game, but the real star will be Adrian Peterson as the Vikes get a win on the Frozen Tundra.

Carolina Panthers @ Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals' bread and butter is their passing game. With guys like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, who could blame them?

However, the sledding this week is going to be tough, especially since they're facing the Panthers' No. 1-ranked pass defense. Carolina has been solid against the pass all year, and that stat is not misleading. They've been pretty good all season.

On the other side, Carolina has been running the ball well this season, and Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams have both been the keys to that phase of the Panther offensive attack. Arizona currently ranks No. 1 against the run, which makes the challenge tougher for them moving forward.

So, these teams are going to have to rely on options that they aren't used to relying on. Arizona is going to have to run the ball, and Carolina is going to have pass the ball. It should make for some interesting scheming and game plans.

If Carolina can get Steve Smith going and Arizona can get Beanie Wells going, this could be a fun game to watch. The problem is that Jake Delhomme is terrible, and I, as well as many others, have little confidence he can do that...

VERDICT: The Arizona Cardinals give Beanie the ball 20-plus times, and he leads them to victory at home.

Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints: MNF

This should prove to be a good game. Both teams have good D's, and both have good O's. In the end, though, I find it hard to say that anyone will best Drew Brees and the New Orleans offensive attack. t's just hard to say that.

The thing is, the Saints play D now too with the No. 2 D in the league...a little scary to me. I expect a good game, but ultimately New Orleans is too tough.

Atlanta won't lay down and die in this one. They'll play a solid game, but they'll have a lot of trouble trying to keep up with the Saints' ability to score.

VERDICT: The Saints get a big win in the Superdome!