Week 8 Picks

San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos
Tough task for San Diego in trying to go to Denver on a Thursday night following a home loss to Kansas City. They'll show up and play better, but it's tough to bet against Peyton Manning and that offense in prime time. The career leader in TD passes comes up with another solid performance (though not one of his best) and it gets the Broncos a hard fought victory over the Chargers.
My Call: Broncos 27, Chargers 20

Detroit Lions vs. Atlanta Falcons (at Wembley Stadium in London, England)
So much for my prediction of the Falcons keeping it close in Baltimore. They get blown away by 22 points. Maybe a trip to England instead of playing in the U.S. can help the Falcons out. Nah, probably not. Atlanta's offense is struggling with inconsistency and their defense isn't good. Although the status of star receiver Calvin Johnson still seems up in the air, I've got to go with the Lions.
My Call: Lions 24, Falcons 17

St. Louis Rams at Kansas City Chiefs
Impressive performance by KC going into San Diego and defeating the Chargers. Now they turn their attention to the Rams for the Battle of Missouri. Although I love what the Rams did at home against Seattle in an upset win, I just think the Chiefs are playing a little too well at this moment. They'll rely on Jamaal Charles and their defense as usual.
My Call: Chiefs 24, Rams 14

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans
Welcome to the NFL, Zach Mettenberger. The sixth round selection for the Titans out of LSU will make his NFL debut against J.J. Watt and Co. Although Ryan Fitzpatrick is still the QB in Houston, there's a hint that Ryan Mallett may soon take over for him. I'm gonna go with Houston on this one. They'll make sure to send pressure and make it a long day for Mettenberger. Although the offense won't light it up, it'll be adequate enough to sneak out of Nashville victorious.
My Call: Texans 16, Titans 13

Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
A couple bad teams go at it here. Other than the season opening win over St. Louis, the Vikings offense has stalled afterwards with the exception of the Atlanta game. The Bucs have been even worse; with their only win of the season coming in Pittsburgh a few weeks back. Well,  I'm gonna predict their second win comes here. Not necessarily because I am endorsing them as a good team, this is more of an indictment on Minnesota than anything.
My Call: Buccaneers 17, Vikings 16

Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers
Are things starting to blow up in Seattle? Although it may have been solid for the Seahawks long term to trade Percy Harvin and get him out of the locker room, in the short term, it did not make Marshawn Lynch too happy. Meanwhile, Carolina is coming off a pounding from the Green Bay Packers. The two teams who were the top two seeds in the NFC Playoffs last season are just looking to avoid falling under .500 here. Although the Hawks just lost to a worse team than Carolina a week ago in St. Louis, I have more faith in the defending Super Bowl champs than I do in a Panthers team that has a lot of issues on the offensive side of the ball.
My Call: Seahawks 20, Panthers 16

Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals
Uncertain is the status for star wide receiver A.J. Green in this one. Cincinnati badly needs him if they are going to beat the Ravens for the second time this season. Week 1 in Baltimore seems like a while ago now. For now, I am going to say Green plays and due to their desperation, eek out a very close win over Baltimore. If that changes though, I'll probably change the pick.
My Call: Bengals 24, Ravens 23

Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville picked up its first win of 2014 this past week against the Cleveland Browns while the Dolphins will look to keep the good times on the road going; coming off of a 13 point win in Chicago. I think Miami does just that. They kept a Bears offense that features many weapons down and should be able to do the same against a lesser Jaguars offense.
My Call: Dolphins 21, Jaguars 13

Chicago Bears at New England Patriots
Funnily enough, it may be a good thing for the Bears that this game is on the road given that all their wins have come away from Soldier Field. Will Gillette Stadium agree more with them? I think it could, but I just don't trust Jay Cutler over Tom Brady. Just can't trust an inconsistent team in general. Bears will play better than they did against Miami but come up short.
My Call: Patriots 31, Bears 21

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
Percy Harvin is a Jet after a trade with the Seattle Seahawks and they get to host a beat up Bills team that lost their top two running backs in Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. That certainly doesn't help an already below par Buffalo offense. In what should be a low scoring affair, I'll take the Jets at home. Maybe it'll be Harvin that wins the game late?
My Call: Jets 14, Bills 13

Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals
Somewhat of a homecoming for Eagles QB Nick Foles. Although he wasn't raised in Arizona, he started his college career in the state (at Arizona State) and finished it (at Arizona) there as well. Although I could definitely see Carson Palmer throwing a deciding interception, I'm gonna take the Cardinals because of their defense. Arizona takes over in the 2nd half after a tight first half and then holds off a late Eagles rally with a big defensive stop.
My Call: Cardinals 27, Eagles 24

Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns
Although Oakland has been playing a bit better these last couple of weeks, they're still not very good. This may be one of their better shots at getting a win the rest of this season. Do they? Probably not. It won't be pretty, but I think the Browns find a way and make up for an embarrassing loss to the Jags.
My Call: Browns 23, Raiders 16

Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh saved their season against Houston on Monday night by scoring 24 points in under two minutes to go into the halftime break during a 30-23 victory. That's the momentum they will look to keep up against a high powered Colts offense led by Andrew Luck. I think the Steelers offense will make things interesting, but that Luck outduels Roethlisberger.
My Call: Colts 30, Steelers 27

Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints
Drew Breeks vs. Aaron Rodgers? Sign me up. This will be a fun game where I could see the last team that has the ball will win. In just about any other situation, I would go with a Green Bay team that's playing so much better. But the Saints need this game considerably more and are at home on Sunday night. Because of that, I'll tentatively go with them.
My Call: Saints 38, Packers 37

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
Losing on opening week at home to San Francisco sure wasn't a sign of things to come for the Cowboys in 2014. At least not so far as since then, they've won six straight. My guess is they'll make it seven in a row. Their schedule does get a bit tougher these next few weeks, but a game at home against a banged up Washington squad that's not playing well should keep the good times going for at least one more week.
My Call: Cowboys 28, Redskins 14