NFL Predictions Week 8: Picking Each Week 8 Winner

Last Week: 5-8

Season: 66-37

Bye Weeks: Tampa Bay, Green Bay, New York Jets, Chicago, Atlanta, Oakland

Whew!  What a horrendous week for picking in Week 7.  A new week brings new promise and some enticing matchups.  Last week, we saw a rookie running back break a storied franchise rushing record, Tim Tebow play terribly then pull off a stunning comeback and the Saints drop 62 points!

This week, we have a possible AFC title game preview with New England and Pittsburgh. as well as an always interesting Philadelphia and Dallas game.  The Chiefs look to crawl out of that pitiful start and draw into a first-place tie in the AFC West.  The Lions will look to stop their recent skid in Denver amid Tebow-mania.

Should be fun; let's hope we can do a little better.  Here we go!

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans, Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

The Titans welcome the hapless Colts to Nashville this week, where it looked like they were pretty solid.  That was, until a week ago, when they were destroyed at home 41-7 by Houston.

The good news for them is they will be playing a Colts team that seems to have lost its fight after going down in a mind-numbing 62-7 blowout last week.  The Saints were able to run for 236 yards on the Colts defense in that game.  If this isn't the week for Chris Johnson to get on track, I'm not sure it will happen this season.

The Colts were only able to muster 11 first downs against the Saints and now face a Titans defense of similar stature statistically.  The Titans are worse against the run than the Saints, though, and could give one of the Colts' few bright spots, rookie Delone Carter, a chance to shine.

All in all, it will be an uphill battle for Indy in their search for a 2011 win.  The Titans will surely be fired up for a seemingly easy division win after falling to first-place Houston in such uninspiring fashion.

Matt Hasselbeck should be able to sit back and watch his star running back go, but will likely get in on the action as well against a defense that allowed five touchdowns from Drew Brees last Sunday night.

Prediction:

Tennessee Titans over Indianapolis Colts     31-17

New Orleans Saints at St. Louis Rams, Sunday 1:00 p.m.

On to those red-hot New Orleans Saints.  What a nice little run to get Indianapolis and St. Louis back-to-back after their tough loss in Tampa Bay.

Darren Sproles has been lightning in a bottle for the Saints and is making the most of every touch.  He is averaging 7.4 yards per carry and 7.3 yards per catch.  He should have a blast this week against the league's worst rush defense that just allowed a rookie, who had seen limited action, run for 253 yards.

Drew Brees will again be sharp and find his favorite guys.  Speaking of which, his new favorite target, Jimmy Graham, is looking unstoppable in just his second season.  St. Louis does give up the second fewest yards to tight ends in the league, but Graham should have something to say about that.

The big story for the win-less Rams is the continued absence of starting quarterback Sam Bradford, who will again be out of action.  That means A.J. Feeley will be taking the field again.  He was able to find new receiver Brandon Lloyd for some nice receptions in garbage time last week.  Lloyd lead the team with 12 targets and should get a lot of looks in catch-up fashion again.

The Saints are in great shape for another colossal blow-out win this week.

Prediction:

New Orleans Saints over St. Louis Rams     37-10

Miami Dolphins at New York Giants, Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

The Miami Dolphins had their first win of the season pulled out right from under them by some Tim Tebow magic last week.  They will face an opponent of a much higher caliber than Denver this week.

The New York Giants were stunned at home three weeks ago by Seattle, but won't allow a lesser opponent to sneak up on them in New Meadowlands Stadium this week.

The Dolphins defense isn't great, but it also isn't the worst against the run or the pass.  They should come out inspired and keep it close early on, but the same old mistakes will do them in.

Matt Moore still looks altogether unimpressive with a 67.0 QB Rating through his three games of action.  He will have a tough go of it on the road in New York, especially if Justin Tuck returns as expected. 

A bright spot for the Dolphins was their ability to get to Tebow last week with six sacks.  They will try to unleash Cameron Wake and their pass rush to disrupt Eli Manning, but in the end, they have only come away with four takeaways all season.  Beating the Giants starts with creating a turnover-prone Manning and the Dolphins haven't shown they are capable of doing so.

New York just has too many weapons and will have some big play-action gains thanks to a solid day from Ahmad Bradshaw.  Miami's miserable season will take another blow from the Giants on Sunday.

Prediction:

New York Giants over Miami Dolphins     27-13

Miami Dolphins at Carolina Panthers, Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

This game offers a face-off of impressive rookie first-round picks at quarterback.  Christian Ponder got his first taste of NFL action and gave his best shot at taking down the world champs.

Cam Newton, on the other hand, almost feels like a seasoned vet the way he has played since Week 1.  He led the Panthers to their second win of the season at home last week against a depleted Redskins team, but did so against one of the league's stingiest defenses.  

The Panthers almost seem like a lock to put up decent points each week; it just depends on how many they give up.  They should do fairly well against Vikings this week, who showcase a below-average pass defense.  Newton and Steve Smith will do their best job to exploit that with some extended plays out of the pocket.

I say out of the pocket because Minnesota comes in with a league-high 21 sacks, but I am confident Newton's mobility will avoid the bulk of them as Carolina only allows two sacks per game.

Leading the Vikings scoring charge will be Adrian Peterson who is quietly at it again, leading the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.  He will have a lot to say about the outcome in this game as the Panthers give up a lot of yards on the ground.

The explosiveness of the Panthers passing game and the more experienced Newton at home should be able to add another notch to their win column in this one.

Prediction:

Carolina Panthers over Minnesota Vikings     31 - 24

Arizona Cardinals at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

Not the easiest string of games for these under-achieving Arizona Cardinals, they will face the leagues top defense a week after losing the the No. 3 ranked Steelers. 

They were able to find some success passing against the Steelers, who have the league's best pass defense, but I have a feeling it will be a different story this week.

The Ravens were embarrassed on Monday Night Football against Jacksonville, where they were held to excruciatingly low offensive totals in their 12-7 loss.  Because of that loss, I think they will be amped up to play a bad Arizona club in Baltimore, where they have been very formidable this year.

I still think their offense has a lot to work out and this won't be a blowout, but they will get it done against Arizona.  Cardinals running back Beanie Wells thinks he will play after being injured last week, but that may not be the best idea. 

The Baltimore defense played very well as usual last week.  Even though they allowed Maurice Jones-Drew to run for over 100 yards, they forced him to fumble three times and will be dealing out some big blows to the Cardinals backfield as well.

Look for the Ravens to get Ray Rice involved early on after he only amassed eight carries last week due to a first quarter fumble of his own.  Baltimore just isn't that good of an offense without any type of running game.  Coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron know this and will get it done this week with a much more balanced attack.

Prediction:

Baltimore Ravens over Arizona Cardinals     26-17

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans, Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

The Jacksonville Jaguars put up a monster effort defensively against the Ravens on Monday Night Football, holding them to just 146 yards of total offense.  The problem for them, even though they pulled out the victory, was they only totaled 205 yards of their own.

They won't exactly shut down the Texans in Houston this week.  Matt Schaub and Arian Foster led the Texans to an explosive 41-point, 518-yard stomping of the Titans.

Andre Johnson has again been ruled out for the Texans, but they have been able to ride Foster to some impressive wins of late.  Foster had over 230 yards from scrimmage last week and will be the focal point of Houston's attack again.

For the Jaguars, they will need another Herculean effort on defense because Blaine Gabbert's offense ranks dead last in passing and hasn't eclipsed 300 yards of total offense yet in his five starts.

Maurice Jones-Drew will be called up as the workhorse again, as he has been all year, and it may be starting to take its toll.  He uncharacteristically put the ball on the ground three times in last week's win.

Houston's defense is near the top with seven forced fumbles this season and gives up less than 100 yards on the ground this season.  It should be another tough offensive outing for the Jags, and I don't see them holding these Texans to seven points.

Prediction:

Houston Texans over Jacksonville Jaguars     24-6

Washington Redskins @ Buffalo Bills, Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

After starting the season 2-0, the Washington Redskins have dropped three of their last four games, with the lone win by just seven points over winless St. Louis. 

The Bills, meanwhile, have dropped two of their last three after their 3-0 start.

Two impressive beginnings have slowed a bit for each team; the difference is the devastating injuries that have continued to pile up for Washington.  They are now without their top running back, top wide receiver and have voluntarily given the reins to back up quarterback John Beck over initial starter Rex Grossman.

All the mayhem in Washington has led to a lot of pessimism about how their season will end up.  They travel to Toronto to try and salvage their season despite the contrary beliefs of most experts.  They do have the type of defense that can keep their patchwork offense in games. 

That offense has only scored more than 20 points twice, and those were in the first two games of the season.  They do, however, play the next to last defense in total yardage this week, which may give John Beck an opportunity to get things going for the Redskins.

They will try to keep up with the Bills No. 3 ranked scoring offense behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, who just scored a contract extension.  The Redskins will have to do so with the graduated roles of Fred Davis, Jabar Gaffney and Ryan Torain. 

The Redskins will give an inspired performance on defense with their solid veteran leadership, and Beck will likely have a good statistical game, but the Bills defense makes its living off turnovers. The lack of experience by Beck will likely wilt under the pressure of the route-jumping Bills secondary. 

Bills running back Fred Jackson will keep the Bills offense moving with his dual-threat combination of rushing and receiving skills and keep them ahead from the onset.

Prediction:

Buffalo Bills over Washington Redskins     26-19

Detroit Lions at Denver Broncos, Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

The Detroit Lions visit Tim Tebow's Denver Broncos this week in their attempts to stop their two-game slide.  They will again be without explosive running back Jahvid Best, who is still dealing with symptoms of his concussion he suffered against San Fransisco two weeks ago.

The tandem of Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams will again pick up the load for the Lions in the running game, which has been the weak link in their offense.

Denver is riding high with optimism after Tebow led them to a stunning overtime comeback victory in Miami last week.  Despite the heroics he pulled off in the game's waning minutes, Tebow was altogether very shaky in his first start of the season. 

They will not have the benefit of facing a poor opponent this week and will need Tebow to string together drives before the final three minutes to have a fighting chance.  Their biggest concern in keeping the Lions in check will be stopping star receiver Calvin Johnson, who has 10 touchdowns through seven games, only the second receiver to accomplish such a start. 

The Broncos will call on long-time great corner Champ Bailey to get the job done.  He has successfully slowed down Vincent Jackson and Brandon Marshall the past two weeks, but even he knows he will have his hands full with Johnson.

The Broncos should have great success on the ground, as the Lions have been burned for big running games recently.  Denver will be without starting tailback Willis McGahee, which will give Knowshon Moreno a chance to get out of John Fox's doghouse. 

After the Lions have lost a couple close games in a row, they will be ready to take care of a severely lesser opponent and should take care of the inefficient Tebow-led Broncos.

Prediction:

Detroit Lions over Denver Broncos     31-16

New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, 4:15 p.m.

The New England Patriots will take their show to Pittsburgh again, where they won 39-26 last year.  In what is a very likely preview of a possible AFC title game, the Patriots No. 1 ranked passing attack will face the Steelers No. 2 ranked pass defense.

Tom Brady has been able to find great success against the vaunted Steelers defense in years past.  He is 6-1 against Pittsburgh, and last season, threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions.  Even though the Steelers pass defense has given up  hardly anything through the air this season, they will be tested immensely this week by the Patriots.

The Steelers have a matchup of their own they are ready to exploit.  The Patriots have the league's worst passing defense, and lightning-fast Mike Wallace should have a field day.  Ben Roethlisberger comes in 2-4 in his career versus Bill Belichick's Patriots, but has a good opportunity at home.

This is one of those games that will be very telling on where these teams stand at this point in the season, as both have understandable Super Bowl aspirations.  The Patriots should be able to sprinkle in an effective run game against an uncharacteristically poor Steelers rush defense, but it will be the short precision passes to Wes Welker that will be their focus.

Also, those pesky tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, who are nightmare mismatches for almost every opponent, should open the field up in the deep passing game.  This game should be lower scoring due to long, clock-eating drives by each team and will likely be similar to the Patriots win over Dallas.

Just like in that game, I like the ball in Brady's hands down the stretch to get the job done again for New England.

Prediction:

New England Patriots over Pittsburgh Steelers     24-23

Cleveland Browns at San Fransisco 49ers, Sunday, 4:15 p.m.

The San Fransisco 49ers are among the league's most surprising teams in coach Jim Harbaugh's first season as an NFL head coach.  They are doing so with sound defense, a good running game and a new-found consistency in quarterback Alex Smith's game.

They face another up and coming team, the Cleveland Browns, who also showcase good defensive play and were able to scrape out a 6-3 win over Seattle last week.  Their defense is led by corner back Joe Haden, who headlines the league's best pass defense.

The Browns, though, are not as intimidating against the run and will have trouble bottling up a resurgent Frank Gore, who has been on a tear of late.  That ground and pound style the Browns are sure to see from San Fransisco will be a big problem, especially if Colt McCoy can only lead the offense to six points. 

The 49ers only allow a shade over 16 points per game and boast the league's No. 2 rush defense.  That is a bad matchup for Cleveland, who ran running back Montario Hardesty 33 times a week ago.  If they are shut down in the run game, they will have to ask Colt McCoy to throw a lot.

McCoy is only completing 57 percent of his passes on the season and hasn't surpassed a quarterback rating of 80 in over a month.  Because of this, I like San Fransisco to take care of the ball as they have done all season and ride Gore to a convincing win at home.

Prediction:

San Fransisco 49ers over Cleveland Browns      24-10

Cincinnati Bengals at Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, 4:15 p.m.

Things are going pretty well for the Bengals lately; they have won three straight games and find themselves with an early 4-2 record.  They also finally decided to let former quarterback Carson Palmer resume his career by trading him to Oakland, and got some really nice compensation in the next two NFL drafts.

They will travel to Seattle where, on paper, they should gather another victory rather easily, but there is always something to winning in Seattle.

The Seahawks will again be without Tavaris Jackson at quarterback and will ask Charlie Whitehurst to lead them to victory this week.  That may be a tall order after watching the Whitehurst-led Seahawks gain a paltry 137 yards of total offense a week ago in Cleveland.

The Bengals will be without starting running back Cedric Benson, who is serving a one-game suspension, and will give the ground duties to Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard.  If they struggle to get going against a decent Seahawks rush defense, Andy Dalton may find it difficult to do all the work himself in an always wild Seattle atmosphere.

I take the Seahawks, who are known to play their best football in front of their extremely loud crowd.  Even though Whitehurst looked awful against Cleveland, he has won some big games.  Remember, he was able to beat St. Louis in a playoff type game to end last season, which won the NFC West for Seattle.

A little home-field magic this week and the absence of Benson causing some extra stress for Dalton will help Seattle make a complete turnround from last week and stun the surprising Bengals.

Prediction:

Seattle Seahawks over Cincinnati Bengals     13-10

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, 8:20 p.m.

The Dallas Cowboys will ride into Philadelphia a week after their first win by over three points since Week 11 of last season.  They did so on the legs of rookie running back DeMarco Murray, who was filling in for the injured Felix Jones and ran for a franchise record 253 yards.

Murray will surely get a lot of touches again this week against the Eagles, who have given up some big games on the ground and rank No. 23 against the run. 

The Eagles, though, are in an almost unbeatable position.  They are coming off their bye week, where coach Andy Reid is a perfect 12-0 all-time.  The electric Michael Vick has gotten a little healthier, and with LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson, they will present the toughest test for the vastly improved Dallas defense.

These teams split the season series last season, but the quarterbacks were Michael Vick versus Jon Kitna and Kevin Kolb versus Stephen McGee.  Now the star quarterbacks will face off, and Tony Romo, now off the pain-killing injections, gets a shot at the Eagles who he has beaten three straight times.

The all-world corner backs of Philadelphia will also face their toughest challenge of the season with the physical tandem of Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.  The game showcases a ton of talent all around in a heated rivalry.

In the end, Rob Ryan's defense can be the difference against the uber-talented, but mistake ridden, Eagles offense.  I like the Cowboys and Tony Romo to make a statement in the division and come away with one of those three-point Dallas victories coach Jason Garrett is so accustomed to.

Prediction:

Dallas Cowboys over Philadelphia Eagles    24-21

San Diego Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs, Monday, 8:30 PM

Monday Night's primetime match-up of the Chargers and the Chiefs probably looked like a straight up dud three weeks ago.  It's a whole different story now as the Chiefs have rattled of three straight victories.

Kansas City has taken care of some beatable opponents and have started to look like the team that went to the playoffs a year ago.  Well, sort of.  They are playing good, opportunistic defense, but have relied heavily on Matt Cassel's arm instead of their run-heavy offense they showcased last season.

A lot of that has to do with the loss of Jamaal Charles and Jackie Battle taking over the rushing duties.  Either way they are a Monday Night win away from taking over first-place in the AFC West after that horrid start to their season.

San Diego did beat Kansas City at home in Week 3 sending the Chiefs to 0-3, but they just won by three points over a team that had lost by 79 points over its first two games.  The big difference for the Chargers is the return of Antonio Gates who really makes their offense go.

He scored in his first game back last week, a loss to the Jets where they allowed three touchdowns to Plaxico Burress.  That is something to Chiefs will try to duplicate with Dwayne Bowe on Monday.

Phillip Rivers has had one of his worst starts in his career, he has seven touchdowns to nine interceptions.  He will have to be sharp to pull this one out in Arrowhead, but again with Gates back he has his security blanket and I believe he will make a big statement in this game.  I like the Chargers to slow down the Chiefs running game and force Matt Cassel into some costly mistakes and in turn slow down the Kansas City hot-streak.

Prediction:

San Diego Chargers over Kansas City Chiefs     23 - 17