Week 8 Picks
Only 13 games on tab this week, but football starts at 9:30am Eastern and will run until about 11:30pm Eastern on Sunday. What's not to like about that?
The Browns are the 9:30 game, so it'll probably be another terrible football game for those NFL fans in London, but there are a lot of good games this week and let's jump right into my picks.
Week 8 Picks (Home team in CAPS)
Miami over BALTIMORE (Thursday, 8:25 p.m. ET, CBS, NFL Network, Amazon Prime): I thought the Dolphins would play well even without Jay Cutler. I was wrong. The Ravens offense didn't exactly look like a juggernaut, but their defense did play well. Terrible game though unless you're a Ravens fan. Very tough to watch.
Minnesota over CLEVELAND (Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET, from London, NFL Network): Hard to believe this is even possible, but the Browns might be worse than they were last season and last year's team was one of the worst of all-time. Cleveland has no clue what they're doing at quarterback and until they figure that out, hint it won't be this year, they may never win another game. With Aaron Rodgers out, the NFC North is the Vikings to lose and they'll beat Cleveland and head into their bye at 6-2 with at least a game and a half lead in the division.
BUFFALO over Oakland (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): Oakland kept their season alive last week with a buzzer beater win against the Chiefs and will need to keep winning if they're to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Bills are 3-0 at home this season and seem to play better at Ralph Wilson Stadium. It'll be close and I like for the Bills to remain unbeaten at home.
CINCINNATI over Indianapolis (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): Indianapolis might have two wins, but those two wins came against the two worst teams in the league, the Browns and 49ers. The Colts gave up 10 sacks last week against the Jaguars and have given up a league high 29 sacks on the season. The Bengals failed to sack Ben Roethlisberger last week and I don't expect them to come up empty against the Colts. If Cincinnati can get pressure on Jacoby Brissett and record more than 19-yards of offense in the second half, something they failed to do last week in Pittsburgh, the Bengals will win this game.
NEW ENGLAND over L.A. Chargers (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): After starting the season 0-4, the Chargers have looked a lot better the past three weeks winning all three games, including last week's 21-0 win over the division rival Broncos. A big part of their success has been from their defense, in particular the pass rush lead by Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa. Ingram has three sacks and Bosa has five sacks during the winning streak and they'll have to get some pressure on Tom Brady if they're to beat the Patriots in New England. I think they'll get some pressure, but the Patriots offense will be too much as New England wins a close game.
NEW ORLEANS over Chicago (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): Do you know who is in first place in the NFC South? It's not the defending NFC champions Atlanta Falcons. It's not the Carolina Panthers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers either. It's the New Orleans Saints. The Saints have quietly been playing good football this season and a lot of that success can be attributed to their defense. New Orleans had the league's worst pass defense a year ago and arguably had the worst overall defense in the league. This year they rank 10th in total defense. With Drew Brees running that offense and a top 10 defense, the Saints are going to be an interesting team to watch the rest of the season. That defense will smother the Bears on Sunday as the Saints win again. And somehow the Bears won last week despite QB Mitchell Trubisky completed 4 of 7 passes for 107-yards! Rookie safety Eddie Jackson had a 75-yard fumble return for a TD and a 76-yard interception return for a TD, which helped the Bears get their third win. In the last the Bears last two games, the offense has scored 2 TD and the defense has scored 3 TD. Not a recipe for success, but the Bears are 2-0 the last two weeks.
Atlanta over N.Y. JETS (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): The Falcons tour of the AFC East ends on Sunday and so far the tour has resulted in a 0-3 record and them being outscored 66-41. Atlanta lost to the Bills and Dolphins at home, losing in the final minutes of each game, and lost the Super Bowl LI rematch to the Patriots last week in Foxborough. Atlanta does not look like the same team that went to the Super Bowl last year and they better figure it out fast because they're already in third place in the competitive NFC South and the schedule doesn't get any easier with the Panthers, Cowboys and Seahawks the next three weeks. Jets are playing a lot better than expected, so the Falcons better come ready to play or they could lose their fourth straight game.
PHILADELPHIA over San Francisco (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): Philadelphia is the best team in the NFL and QB Carson Wentz is playing MVP caliber football. San Francisco on the other hand may be the worst team in the league and I expect them to get blown out by the Eagles this week. That'll just add insult to injury as the Cowboys demolished the 49ers, 40-10, last week.
TAMPA BAY over Carolina (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): What has happened to Cam Newton? The former MVP of the league has not only being playing inconsistently, but he continues to be his own worst enemy in the press room. Newton abruptly left his press conference on Wednesday and continues to show that he does not taking losing well. Remember him after the Super Bowl? The Carolina offense has been good at times this season and so has Newton. They also have been terrible at times and so had Newton. Cam has more INT (10) than TD (9) this season and five of those INT have come in the past two games, both losses. Rookie Christian McCaffrey continues to not be a major part of the offense and it's mind blowing to me. Until Newton plays better and the Panthers figure out to use their weapons on offense, they'll lose again on Sunday.
Houston over SEATTLE (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, CBS): Big game out in Seattle late Sunday afternoon. The Texans have score 157 points in the last four games and QB Deshaun Watson is quickly turning into one of the best young quarterbacks in the game. Seattle is never an easy place to play, especially as a rookie, but I look for Watson to play well and for the Texans to score just enough points to defeat the Seahawks.
Dallas over WASHINGTON (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox): I know it was against the 49ers, but the Cowboys looked really good last week and they've finally been able to get the running game going. RB Ezekiel Elliott rushed for a season high 147-yards last week and as long as his suspension remains on hold, look for Dallas to continue to feed Elliott the football. Washington has the 9th ranked rushing defense in the league and they'll face a tough matchup against Elliott and the Cowboys 2nd ranked rushing attack. Cowboys run the football and carry the momentum from last week into Washington and get the win.
Pittsburgh over DETROIT (Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, NBC): Pittsburgh has looked really good the past two weeks and if their defense continues to play like the second best defense in the league, then the Steelers are going to win a lot more football games. Detroit will give them a game coming off the bye, but I expect the Steelers to get the win on Sunday night in the Motor City.
KANSAS CITY over Denver (Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): The Broncos have been outscored 44-10 in their last two games and QB Trevor Siemian has been sacked nine times. Unsurprisingly, Denver is 0-2 in those games. Until the Broncos can protect Siemian and he starts playing better, as good as the Denver defense is, they're not going to win many football games. At Kansas City on Monday night won't be easy and I think the Broncos' slid continues.
Bye: Arizona, Green Bay, Jacksonville, L.A. Rams, N.Y. Giants, Tennessee
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 11-4
Overall: 66-41
The Browns are the 9:30 game, so it'll probably be another terrible football game for those NFL fans in London, but there are a lot of good games this week and let's jump right into my picks.
Week 8 Picks (Home team in CAPS)
Miami over BALTIMORE (Thursday, 8:25 p.m. ET, CBS, NFL Network, Amazon Prime): I thought the Dolphins would play well even without Jay Cutler. I was wrong. The Ravens offense didn't exactly look like a juggernaut, but their defense did play well. Terrible game though unless you're a Ravens fan. Very tough to watch.
Minnesota over CLEVELAND (Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET, from London, NFL Network): Hard to believe this is even possible, but the Browns might be worse than they were last season and last year's team was one of the worst of all-time. Cleveland has no clue what they're doing at quarterback and until they figure that out, hint it won't be this year, they may never win another game. With Aaron Rodgers out, the NFC North is the Vikings to lose and they'll beat Cleveland and head into their bye at 6-2 with at least a game and a half lead in the division.
BUFFALO over Oakland (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): Oakland kept their season alive last week with a buzzer beater win against the Chiefs and will need to keep winning if they're to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Bills are 3-0 at home this season and seem to play better at Ralph Wilson Stadium. It'll be close and I like for the Bills to remain unbeaten at home.
CINCINNATI over Indianapolis (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): Indianapolis might have two wins, but those two wins came against the two worst teams in the league, the Browns and 49ers. The Colts gave up 10 sacks last week against the Jaguars and have given up a league high 29 sacks on the season. The Bengals failed to sack Ben Roethlisberger last week and I don't expect them to come up empty against the Colts. If Cincinnati can get pressure on Jacoby Brissett and record more than 19-yards of offense in the second half, something they failed to do last week in Pittsburgh, the Bengals will win this game.
NEW ENGLAND over L.A. Chargers (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS): After starting the season 0-4, the Chargers have looked a lot better the past three weeks winning all three games, including last week's 21-0 win over the division rival Broncos. A big part of their success has been from their defense, in particular the pass rush lead by Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa. Ingram has three sacks and Bosa has five sacks during the winning streak and they'll have to get some pressure on Tom Brady if they're to beat the Patriots in New England. I think they'll get some pressure, but the Patriots offense will be too much as New England wins a close game.
NEW ORLEANS over Chicago (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): Do you know who is in first place in the NFC South? It's not the defending NFC champions Atlanta Falcons. It's not the Carolina Panthers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers either. It's the New Orleans Saints. The Saints have quietly been playing good football this season and a lot of that success can be attributed to their defense. New Orleans had the league's worst pass defense a year ago and arguably had the worst overall defense in the league. This year they rank 10th in total defense. With Drew Brees running that offense and a top 10 defense, the Saints are going to be an interesting team to watch the rest of the season. That defense will smother the Bears on Sunday as the Saints win again. And somehow the Bears won last week despite QB Mitchell Trubisky completed 4 of 7 passes for 107-yards! Rookie safety Eddie Jackson had a 75-yard fumble return for a TD and a 76-yard interception return for a TD, which helped the Bears get their third win. In the last the Bears last two games, the offense has scored 2 TD and the defense has scored 3 TD. Not a recipe for success, but the Bears are 2-0 the last two weeks.
Atlanta over N.Y. JETS (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): The Falcons tour of the AFC East ends on Sunday and so far the tour has resulted in a 0-3 record and them being outscored 66-41. Atlanta lost to the Bills and Dolphins at home, losing in the final minutes of each game, and lost the Super Bowl LI rematch to the Patriots last week in Foxborough. Atlanta does not look like the same team that went to the Super Bowl last year and they better figure it out fast because they're already in third place in the competitive NFC South and the schedule doesn't get any easier with the Panthers, Cowboys and Seahawks the next three weeks. Jets are playing a lot better than expected, so the Falcons better come ready to play or they could lose their fourth straight game.
PHILADELPHIA over San Francisco (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): Philadelphia is the best team in the NFL and QB Carson Wentz is playing MVP caliber football. San Francisco on the other hand may be the worst team in the league and I expect them to get blown out by the Eagles this week. That'll just add insult to injury as the Cowboys demolished the 49ers, 40-10, last week.
TAMPA BAY over Carolina (Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox): What has happened to Cam Newton? The former MVP of the league has not only being playing inconsistently, but he continues to be his own worst enemy in the press room. Newton abruptly left his press conference on Wednesday and continues to show that he does not taking losing well. Remember him after the Super Bowl? The Carolina offense has been good at times this season and so has Newton. They also have been terrible at times and so had Newton. Cam has more INT (10) than TD (9) this season and five of those INT have come in the past two games, both losses. Rookie Christian McCaffrey continues to not be a major part of the offense and it's mind blowing to me. Until Newton plays better and the Panthers figure out to use their weapons on offense, they'll lose again on Sunday.
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| Deshaun Watson will have his hands full with the Seattle defense on Sunday. (Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports) |
Dallas over WASHINGTON (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox): I know it was against the 49ers, but the Cowboys looked really good last week and they've finally been able to get the running game going. RB Ezekiel Elliott rushed for a season high 147-yards last week and as long as his suspension remains on hold, look for Dallas to continue to feed Elliott the football. Washington has the 9th ranked rushing defense in the league and they'll face a tough matchup against Elliott and the Cowboys 2nd ranked rushing attack. Cowboys run the football and carry the momentum from last week into Washington and get the win.
Pittsburgh over DETROIT (Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, NBC): Pittsburgh has looked really good the past two weeks and if their defense continues to play like the second best defense in the league, then the Steelers are going to win a lot more football games. Detroit will give them a game coming off the bye, but I expect the Steelers to get the win on Sunday night in the Motor City.
KANSAS CITY over Denver (Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): The Broncos have been outscored 44-10 in their last two games and QB Trevor Siemian has been sacked nine times. Unsurprisingly, Denver is 0-2 in those games. Until the Broncos can protect Siemian and he starts playing better, as good as the Denver defense is, they're not going to win many football games. At Kansas City on Monday night won't be easy and I think the Broncos' slid continues.
Bye: Arizona, Green Bay, Jacksonville, L.A. Rams, N.Y. Giants, Tennessee
This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 11-4
Overall: 66-41
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