The Chosen: NFL Week Eight

Week Seven 9-4 , Season prediction tally: 70-33

I like prognosticating. I like the challenge of fantasy football. Nothing is as much fun though as seeing your favorite team put together all the pieces of the puzzle, and play up to their full potential.

The Cardinals stomped the Giants the other night, and their defense is really coming along. Without the fluke play and then Kurt Warner setting up NY with great field position with an INT, the score could have easily been 24-3.

Ken Whisenhunt is building something special in Arizona, and firing Clancy Pendergast and hiring Bill Davis has shown to be another superb move. The thing that is most exciting is that a lot of their best players are young.

They may be putting together more than a playoff team. This squad has the makings of a team that could own the division and be one of the best teams in the NFC for years to come. Just sayin'.

That said, lets get back to another tough round of predictions.

Denver at Baltimore. Two teams coming off a bye, and the Ravens defense not looking as effective without Rex Ryan this year. I just have a hard time believing Baltimore is only 3-3 while Denver sits at 6-0.

Ray Rice is hard to stop, as is Joe Flacco. It is tough to win in Baltimore, and Denver is due for disappointment.

Pick: Ravens

Houston at Buffalo. The Panthers racked up a lot more yards than Buffalo last week and lost, but that's because Jake Delhomme is stinking it up this year.

Matt Schaub and Texans are always good for a lot of yards but they can score points too.

Pick: Texans

Cleveland at Chicago. Look, Cleveland's defense is the league's worst and they have scored four offensive touchdowns in 81 possessions .

Pick: Bears

St. Louis at Detroit. There isn't much to like about either team. I do like Matthew Stafford's progress, at least before he was hurt.

I'll give the edge to the Lions at home after a bye week, since Stafford is expected to be back in the mix.

Pick: Lions

Miami at N.Y. Jets. Last time these teams met it was a great game from both teams and both quarterbacks. The Dolphins really need this win, and I think they are a better team than their 2-4 record would suggest.

Still, I have to believe Rex and company will have corrected their mistakes, and are so angry about how the wildcat ran them into the ground, they will answer with a win.

Pick: Jets

San Francisco at Indianapolis. I am jumping off the Singletary bandwagon. I say promoting Alex Smith to take over as leader of the offense will turn out to be a season-killer.

Smith has a bigger arm, but a lesser leader than Shaun Hill. In crunch time, opposing teams can blitz Smith into stupid mistakes, I haven't seen anything otherwise from him to believe he is a changed player now.

Truth be told, they may need someone not named Hill or Smith. I don't even need to talk about the Colts, maybe the best team in football after a week of rest equals victory.

Pick: Colts

Seattle at Dallas. The Cowboys ousted a solid Falcons team, and the Seahawks O-line is in shambles. In fact, I can't imagine Seattle getting many more wins this year with they way their injured reserve is stacking up.

Pick: Cowboys

N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia. The NFC East is weak this year for the first time in a long while. The Redskins stink, the Cowboys are underachievers, and these two teams are inconsistent.

The Giants' D-line has more talent than any, yet they look like they are missing Steve Spagnuolo and their secondary is ailing.

I can't get a grip on Philly. DeSean Jackson is one of the game's most dangerous players, but their D is missing the late Jim Johnson. Philly at home gets the edge.

Pick: Eagles

Jacksonville at Tennessee. Has Jeff Fisher lost control of this Titans team? If so, I am shocked. He has been one of the best coaches in the game for 15 years. I am beginning to wonder if the death of Steve McNair is effecting him more than we know.

Jacksonville is playing surprisingly well sometimes ; then again they lost to Seattle 41-0.

Pick: Titans

Oakland at San Diego. I fell for the false hope of the Raiders building something once and I got burned.

Pick: Chargers

Minnesota at Green Bay. I think there will be boos for Brett, and this time around the Packers will get smart and change up their protection schemes. They aren't going to let Jared Allen ruin Aaron Rodgers' chance to even the score.

Pick: Packers

Carolina at Arizona. The divergent paths these teams have taken since last year's playoff meeting has been well chronicled. Jake Delhomme hasn't recovered and Arizona is playing great right now.

Carolina has shown me nothing, and they don't even have the common sense to change quarterbacks when Delhomme has clearly lost his confidence.

Pick: Cardinals

Monday Night Football:

Atlanta at New Orleans. Atlanta is a good team, but they had a tough time stopping Tony Romo and nobody is playing as good as Drew Brees right now.

Pick: Saints

Byes: Cincinnati, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Washington, New England

In 2005, Carson Palmer led the Bengals to an 11-5 record, and I thought they had arrived. I expected them to play like they are now every year, but starting with Palmer's knee injury in that fateful playoff game against the Steelers, the ball has not bounced in their favor. It has taken them four seasons to resurrect that level of play, but they are back.

I've never been fond of Larry Johnson, from back in the day when he was whining about playing time and Dick Vermeil called him a crybaby publicly. Remember, he was playing behind the great Priest Holmes and hadn't done anything to earn more reps. The latest in a long line of ill-advised decisions by Larry has resulted in his suspension. I am excited to see Jamaal Charles get more touches and hope he runs away with the job.

Pittsburgh is always going to be in the mix for the playoffs it seems. They are one of those teams that can lose key players, but have the depth to cover.

Tampa Bay is not well. We may see Josh Freeman make his debut after the bye week, but I'm afraid it won't matter much.

Do I really need to say anything about the Redskins? Too bad the owner can't be fired.

Sam Aiken is a good story for the Patriots. The seventh-year receiver has 34 career receptions, but showed off blazing speed in that long TD catch and run in London no less. A career special teamer that the Bills let go in the offseason without resistance. The Patriots are just awesome in their knack for finding and utilizing talent.