Picking Football Games, Week 8

Last week, because stupid Geno Smith decided to get sacked twice instead of throwing one measly completion for like three yards, I ended up losing my fantasy game by half a point!  And I was only playing Geno Smith because it was the Chargers' bye week, so I couldn't use Justin Herbert!  But don't worry, I'm not mad at all about it!

At least I correctly predicted that the Saints would win that game.  And that the Packers would beat the Cardinals on Thursday night (although, who possibly could've seen that last-second interception coming?).  So at least I've got my picks going for me.  And I've actually been surprising myself this season with how often I've gone with my gut and ended up being right.  Not always (see: the Giants last week), but a lot.  Let's see if it continues after I already got the big one for this week...

Thursday Night: Green Bay (Win)

Panthers (3-4) at Falcons (3-3): Carolina-Will Atlanta fans have double the reason to celebrate on Halloween night?  Frankly, I think the Braves' chances of closing out the World Series are better than the Falcons' chances here.  Yes, they come in on a two-game winning streak.  But those games were against the Jets and Dolphins!  Granted, the Panthers looked like complete trash last week against the Giants.  There's something I like about them in this matchup, though.

Dolphins (1-6) at Bills (4-2): Buffalo-When they met in Miami in Week 2, the Bills pitched a 35-0 shutout.  That was the first of six straight losses for the Dolphins, who actually beat New England in their opener.  And, frankly, things are just getting worse for Brian Flores' crew.  They came back from London, had the game against the Falcons won, and Atlanta kicked that last-second field goal.  It doesn't get any easier with a trip to Buffalo (although they do host Houston next week).

49ers (2-4) at Bears (3-4): Chicago-This one is actually in the 1:00 window, so you don't have to hear me complain about the NFL choosing it as a national game.  They both badly need a win if they want to keep pace in divisions that are looking like they could become runaways.  Even if the divisions are out of reach, they're both in the mix for the third wild card, though.  And a 4-4 record at midseason would keep the Bears very much in the thick of things.

Steelers (3-3) at Browns (4-3): Pittsburgh-Oh, the crazy AFC North!  The Steelers are in last place, but only a game and a half behind the first-place Bengals.  The Browns, meanwhile, are currently holding the third wild card.  That's the last time these two rivals met.  In January in the wild card game.  Neither team can forget what happened, even if the Steelers might want to.  Pittsburgh will have revenge on its mind.  That's why I'm going with the Steelers.

Eagles (2-5) at Lions (0-7): Philadelphia-Do I think the Lions will go 0-17?  No I do not.  Do I think this is one of their best chances to get a win?  Yes I do.  So why am I picking the Eagles then?  I'm not entirely sure.  I just think this isn't the week for Detroit.  The Lions will go into their bye at 0-8, then come out of it and shock somebody for win No. 1.  It just won't be the Eagles.

Titans (5-2) at Colts (3-4): Tennessee-If the Colts have any hopes at all of winning the AFC South, they need to at least split with the Titans this season.  That's what happened last year, when they both won on the road (and it was the Colts' loss to Jacksonville that gave Tennessee the division).  Both teams are different this year, obviously, and frankly, the Titans are just better.  They'll go to 6-2 and take a three-game stranglehold on the division.

Bengals (5-2) at Jets (1-5): Cincinnati-Ladies and gentlemen, the Cincinnati Bengals are for real!  That was as big a statement as they could possibly make last week and it has them, at least for now, sitting atop the AFC North.  So this isn't just your regular "who cares?" Bengals-Jets game.  Cincinnati's relevant, which means they can't sleep on a game like this one.  It actually matters.  They need to show up and play like it.

Rams (6-1) at Texans (1-6): Rams-Green Bay did the Rams a huge favor on Thursday night.  There's obviously still a lot of season left and Arizona still currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.  But they know that the division is suddenly back up for grabs.  They also know that they need to seize the opportunity that they're being presented this week and take care of a Texans team that they're significantly better than.

Patriots (3-4) at Chargers (4-2): Chargers-Some of the talk about how great the Chargers are definitely quieted down after they got thumped by Baltimore before their bye week.  And you know they're eager to get back on the field after having two whole weeks to think about that clunker.  I'm curious to see how they respond.  And how they deal with a Patriots team that ran up the score on the Jets last week to the tune of 54-13.  You don't have Brady anymore, guys!  Save some of the touchdowns for other games!

Jaguars (1-5) at Seahawks (2-5): Seattle-The Seahawks do have a few things going for them right now.  Seattle is so excited about the Kraken that people aren't paying as much attention to the fact that they suck as they otherwise might.  They're also not playing on prime time for the first time in a month.  Those three straight prime time games were great exposure...but they went 0-3 in them!  Now it's back to Sunday afternoon, where they can hopefully go unnoticed.  Finally, they're playing Jacksonville.  The Jaguars finally stopped their 20-game losing streak.  Now it's time for them to start another one.

Washington (2-5) at Broncos (3-4): Denver-Remember when Denver started the season 3-0?  That was when they played the Giants, Jets and Jaguars all in a row.  Then they had a four-game stretch where they played Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Cleveland and lost them all.  Which tells you Denver is beating the teams it should beat.  Washington falls into the category of a team the Broncos should beat.  Especially in Denver.

Buccaneers (6-1) at Saints (4-2): New Orleans-It doesn't have quite the same gusto this season with Brees retired, but Bucs-Saints is still a matchup worthy of its billing.  Especially after last season's three meetings, when New Orleans swept Tampa in the regular season (embarrassing the Bucs on that Sunday night), only to have Tampa Bay win the game that mattered most in the Divisional Playoffs.  This season, the shoe's on the other foot.  The Saints are doing the chasing.  They'll either make things a lot closer with a win here or start making their travel plans for Wild Card Weekend with a loss.

Cowboys (5-1) at Vikings (3-3): Dallas-There's a big asterisk hanging over the Sunday night affair, and that's Dak Prescott.  As we've seen, the Cowboys are a much better team with their quarterback than they are without him.  So, Dak's health could be a huge factor in this game.  If he doesn't play or does but isn't 100 percent, don't be surprised to see the Vikings pull the upset.  If Dak's his usual self, though, Dallas goes to 6-1.  Also, I've gotta say, you had a chance to have the Raiders and their scary fans play on Halloween night and you didn't take it?  Come on NFL!

Giants (2-5) at Chiefs (3-4): Kansas City-Maybe Kansas City just isn't as good anymore.  That's really the only explanation I can think of as to why they still haven't clicked yet.  And teams can't have learned that much from watching the game tape of the Super Bowl no matter how many times they watch it!  The Giants are also better than their 2-5 record, as evidence by what they did to Carolina last week.  Whenever the Chiefs are down, though, they take it out on their next opponent.  Especially if it's somebody they know they should beat.  Like the Giants.

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 9-4
Overall: 74-34