NFL Week 8

The Falcons are off this week, so I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Smos and Oilers both won last night. Sean Fleming was the Monster Performer (for the second week in a row) with 5 field goals and a fumble recovery. Our normal Smos group of 7 was down to 1 last night though, which kind of sucked since I couldn't punch dance, couldn't yell at the defence, and couldn't sing the fight song. Clearly, the 4 beers I had before the game were not enough for me to lose my inhibitions...I should have just kept drinking while I was there. Oh well, if I'm ever going to see a Falcons home game, it'll probably be by myself as well, and it's not as horrible as I thought it might be.

I also had 5 games right on my point spread ticket last week, meaning I'm 80 bucks richer. Woohoo!

Arizona at DALLAS: That Seattle game last week was vintage Bledsoe. Still, their defence was impressive against a very good Seahawks offence and the Cardinals should have their hands full this week. Boys by 14.

Chicago at DETROIT: Detroit's passing stats are a little misleading right now, and Chicago is one of the better team's against the pass. I don't know who to go with...both teams are such a mystery to me, so I'll just pick the home team in this case. Lions by 3.

CLEVELAND at Houston: Is this that magical week that the Texans finally get in the win column?? Even though this is a nothing game in the grand scheme of things, I had to take a good long look at it. Scoring offence: Browns 30th, Texans 31st. What concerns me is Cleveland's run defence...it's not good, and last week, the Texans put together a touchdown drive consisting of 13 run plays and 1 pass play. Domanick Davis, while ranked 14th in rushing yards, only has a single touchdown. Cleveland has only allowed 3 rushing touchdowns all season, and an average of 17.2 points a game. Houston still hasn't led in a game all season. Texans will win a game this season...it'll be against the 49ers in Week 17. Browns by 3.

Green Bay at CINCINNATI: Let's see if the Pack can do their magic trick again...make a 14 point lead disappear. And more injuries on offence for Green Bay this week...what a shocker. Carson Palmer looked almost human last week, but that was against the Steelers. Bengals offence will be too much for the Pack to stop. Bengals by 14.

JACKSONVILLE at St. Louis: Les Mouflons sure had a huge comeback against the Saints. This one lies solely on Byron's shoulders, as Les Mouflons have allowed 14 passing TDs on defence this season. The Jags will probably let Steven Jackson run all over them, but they've only allowed 2 rushing TDs all season. Jaguars by 3.

Minnesota at CAROLINA: A pretty flukey win by Minnesota last week, but now they're on the road to face the Panties, fresh off their bye week. Still, NFC North teams are 1-10 on the road, and I have to keep playing that stat. Panties control the ball possession with their running game and Minny's lack of run defence, but the Panties pass defence will let Minny get a few scores, especially if the Culcrapper days are over. Panties by 3.

OAKLAND at Tennessee: Air McNair is the likely start for this game. Raiders have lost two DBs to injuries, and the Raiders don't have a very good pass defence to begin with, but Drew Bennett being out as well kind of makes up for it. Randy Moss is questionable, but he wasn't supposed to play last week either. I noticed the Raiders haven't won on the road, but those losses were against New England and Philadelphia. Raiders by 14.

WASHINGTON at NY Giants: Washington is the only team with a winning record that's in the minus for giveaway/takeaway. Jersey/A's defence still gave up their standard 450 yards, but still won the game. Washington is #2 in total offence, Jersey/A is #31 in total defence. It also seems that Washington no longer has trouble turning those yards into points...Redskins by 7

Kansas City at SAN DIEGO: Philly sure did a great job of stopping LT, as he didn't even break double digit rushing yards. KC's run defence is statistically even better than the Eagles, and the Chargers run defence is better than KC's. So don't expect a whole bunch from Priest, Larry, or LT. This one's going to come down to who can exploit the other team's pass defence for more yards. I think it'll be the Bolts, since Trent Green is still not living up to expectations. Superchargers by 7.

MIAMI at New Orleans: Pepto Bismol Upset of the Week. The Marine Mammals and the Aints stack up pretty well against each other in the stats. In fact, I actually had to look at special team stats to decide this one. Seems Miami's quite good at returning punts, plus the turnover margin for New Orleans is not good at all. There's no real homefield advantage here, since this the first game for the Aints at Baton Rouge. Marine Mammals by 3.

PHILADELPHIA at Denver: What a meltdown against Jersey/A. If Denver can play their standard defensive game and not get all panicky and start blitzing like crazy like they did on Jersey/A's last possession, they'll be fine. Philadelphia runs such a predictable offense...Broncos might as well just leave their nickel and dime defences on the field the entire game. Unfortunately, that pass defence isn't good, and the Eagles have the top passing offence, just because they are so pass crazy. Eagles by 3.

TAMPA BAY at San Francisco: Lock of the Week. City of Tampa's turn to beat up on the 49ers, even if they are using Chris Simms. The 49ers are going to 3rd stringer Ken Dorsey. But forget about quarterbacks...either Carnell Williams or Michael Pittman will have big totals after this one anyway. Succaqueers by 21.

Buffalo at NEW ENGLAND: Can't bet against New England at home...Patriots like to throw the ball a lot, but Buffalo's ranked third against the pass. However, if the Pats are ever going to improve their rushing offence, now's the time...Buffalo is 31st in the league against the run. Patriots by 10.

Baltimore at PITTSBURGH: Baltimore now has the worst scoring offence in the league. Pittsburgh now has one of the best. That Baltimore defence can be pretty good, especially against the pass, and maybe they'll pick off a Ben wobbler or two. Or they would if Ed Reed was playing. Jamal Lewis sucks, he has one TD this season, and he's probably going to get embarrassed by an undrafted rookie in this game. Steelers by 13.