Week 8 NFL Picks and Results

Sunday
Houston at Tennessee: This is a tough pick and not because either team is good. It's hard for me to go against Houston here with how well they played last weekend against Jacksonville. Who in their rightened mind would've picked Houston to win that game 27-7?
Houston 24 Tennessee 17
Tennessee 28 Houston 22 (0-1)

Jacksonville at Philadelphia: Outside of MAYBE Indianapolis, no other team in football leans on their quarterback's passing more than Philadelphia. This showed last week when his three interceptions came back to haunt the Eagles. Both teams are coming off disappointing losses to teams with a combined record of 4-8. Jacksonville has slipped mightily since their 2-0 start and Philly has had difficulty staying consistent and closing out games. This will be a battle of wills. Who wants it more? At home, I'm going to go with the Eagles.
Philadelphia 24 Jacksonville 14
Jacksonville 13 Philadelphia 6 (0-2)

Atlanta at Cincinnati: Go figure, the week I pick against the Falcons and they score 41 points against the Steelers. The run defense improved heavily against Pittsburgh compared to two weeks ago against the Giants. Cincinnati tailback Rudi Johnson got off to a great start this season, but has simmered some in the past couple games. The key matchup on that side of the ball will be Atlanta's defensive backs against the receivers of Cincinnati. While Atlanta played well against the run last week, they couldn't stop the pass. With the improved gameplan by Offensive Coordinator Greg Knapp, the improved run defense, and the Bengals not having found a rhythm yet offensively, I'm going with the Falcons on the road.
Atlanta 24 Cincinnati 21
Atlanta 29 Cincinnati 27 (1-2)

Tampa Bay at NY Giants: First, the Giants had the overly hyped Manning matchup to start the season. Now they have the Barber matchup, which won't be talked about nearly as much. The G-Men can't take Tampa for granted, as the Bengals and Eagles have done the past couple weeks. Being on the streak they're on and playing at home, I don't think they will. Tampa will play them tough, but New York should come out of it with the win.
NY Giants 21 Tampa Bay 10
NY Giants 17 Tampa Bay 3 (2-2)

San Francisco at Chicago: Grossman better play better than he did against the Cardinals. In that game, he turned the ball over 6 times by his lonesome. To do that in successive games against two of the worst teams in the league would not be good. It's the Bears, though. Grossman could probably turn it over 8 times against the 49ers and Chicago would still find a way to win.
Chicago 28 San Francisco 10
Chicago 41 San Francisco 10 (3-2)

Arizona at Green Bay: With their dreadful performance a week ago and Denny Green's job perhaps on the line, Arizona should come out ready to play in this game. The key question will be, which defense will show up to play? Arizona's is more likely to show up than the Packers', so I'm going with the Cards in this one.
Arizona 28 Green Bay 24
Green Bay 31 Arizona 14 (3-3)

Seattle at Kansas City: Where's Kansas City at this year (outside of the obvious answer: Missouri)? They got pummeled by Pittsburgh two weeks ago, 45-7. They then rebounded and beat San Diego 30-27 last weekend. The Chiefs may get over the .500 hump after this game, because they're playing the Seahawks at the right time. Matt Hasselbeck is out of the lineup and Shaun Alexander is questionable. With the game at Arrowhead, that just ices it for me.
Kansas City 24 Seattle 10
Kansas City 35 Seattle 28 (4-3)

Baltimore at New Orleans: Where do I go with this one? Both teams are coming off byes. I don't believe New Orleans will be able to run much on the Baltimore front seven. Baltimore's offense has been anything but efficient this year. In other words, it should be a tight, low-scoring defensive battle. Whomever makes the least amount of mistakes will probably pull out the W. Some crazy things have been happening in New Orleans this year, but I'm going with the Ravens in this one.
Baltimore 17 New Orleans 14
Baltimore 35 New Orleans 22 (5-3)

St. Louis at San Diego: There are a lot of distractions in San Diego right now. They're beaten up on defense and awaiting word on Shawn Merriman's appeal. Both teams are coming off last second losses, St. Louis to Seattle two weeks ago and San Diego to Kansas City last week. With Marc Bulger playing the best of any NFC quarterback (in my opinion) and all the distractions on the Chargers' side, I'm going with the Rams.
St. Louis 24 San Diego 17
San Diego 38 St. Louis 24 (5-4)

Pittsburgh at Oakland: Oakland won a game! Surprise! Surprise! Well, enjoy it while it lasts fellas, because that "streak" is going to snap at one. It doesn't matter who Pittsburgh starts at quarterback, whether it's Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Batch, or Chris Berman. Willie Parker will run all over the Raydaaaaazzz defense and don't expect much offense from Oakland and Pitt's defense was torn to shreds last week.
Pittsburgh 28 Oakland 3
Oakland 20 Pittsburgh 13 (5-5)

NY Jets at Cleveland: Cleveland has played pretty tough defensively this year, but can't score much on offense. They're a downgrade of the Denver Broncos this year. NY has been a pleasant surprise in the disappointing AFC East and should pull out a road win here.
NY Jets 21 Cleveland 14
Cleveland 20 NY Jets 13 (5-6)

Indianapolis at Denver: Will Denver's defense be able to stop Indy's offense enough that their own offense can score the amount of points needed to win the game? Will Denver's offense be able to match Indy's offense point by point, even if it is low-scoring? I don't think so.
Indianapolis 24 Denver 17
Indianapolis 34 Denver 31 (6-6)

Dallas at Carolina: I'd like to go with Dallas here, because even at 4-3, "experts" and "analysts" are gaga over Carolina, even though they're currently in 3rd place in their own division. But, with all the distractions and indecision in Dallas right now, all I can say is, good luck to Tony Romo meeting Julius Peppers and Michael Rucker face-to-face on the road in his first NFL start.
Carolina 24 Dallas 10
Dallas 35 Carolina 14 (6-7)

Monday
New England at Minnesota: This will probably not be the most exciting Monday night game ever televised, but it should be close. With the momentum from their 31-13 win at Seattle a week ago and the game at home, I'm giving the slight edge to the Vikes here.
Minnesota 21 New England 17
New England 31 Minnesota 7 (6-8)

Week 8 Record: 6-8 (.429)
Overall Record: 71-43 (.623)