NFL Picks, Week 8

Before I get into this week's picks, I need a minute to talk about this year's newest NFL trend...teams turning into the University of Oregon and having a different uniform for every game!  It's seriously becoming the NBA with the amount of different jerseys and helmets each team is wearing.  Throwbacks are always welcome.  Pat the Patriot and Bucco Bruce will always have a place.  These alternate ones though?  Each new one is worse than the last!

Where do I start?  There are so many bad ones, it's hard to pick.  There's that all-brown monstrosity Cleveland wore.  The Chargers' all-yellow getup.  The Dolphins' homage to the Miami Marlins.  The Lions with that ridiculous blue helmet!  Purdue, I mean the Saints, and whatever that was in Week 1.  They at least make those horrible all-white ensembles some teams have slightly more tolerable.  Anyway, now that I've gotten that off my chest, on to the picks!

Thursday Night: Chargers (Win)

Dolphins (1-6) at Falcons (3-3): Atlanta-Atlanta is turning back to Kirk Cousins this week.  Talk about a quarterback carousel!  That lack of consistency is one of the issues that plagues this team, which looks phenomenal one week, then completely lost the next.  The good news for the Falcons is they're playing a Dolphins team that's as lost in the wilderness as they are.  Expect changes in Miami after (or maybe during) the season.  As for the Falcons, they'll somehow claw their way back over .500 with a win here.

Jets (0-7) at Bengals (3-4): Cincinnati-Trading for Joe Flacco might've saved the Bengals' season.  Because, after that win over Pittsburgh, there's suddenly a real chance.  They don't leave Cincinnati for a month.  They're in the middle of a three-game homestand heading into their bye.  Talk about favorable scheduling!  I was talking with some people this week about when the Jets' first win might come and how many they'll ultimately end up with.  It won't come here.  But, the good news is, they can't lose next week!  (It's their bye.)

Browns (2-5) at Patriots (5-2): New England-Mike Vrabel's really got the Patriots rolling!  They've won four straight and just swept a three-game road trip.  Now, their first home game since Week 4 is against a Cleveland team they should beat easily.  Although, both of New England's losses this season were at Foxboro, including against the Raiders in Week 1.  So, they need to take whatever's been working on the road and translate it into home success if they want to maintain this good start.

Giants (2-5) at Eagles (5-2): Philadelphia-It was just two weeks ago that these two met on a Thursday night and the Giants shocked everyone by blowing out the Eagles.  It looked like that just might be the game where the Giants turned the corner.  Then they went to Denver.  Philadelphia knows all about the Broncos and the fourth quarter.  They rebounded from those back-to-back losses by going into Minnesota and winning last week.  It wasn't pretty, but it got them back on track.  And you know this is a revenge game for them.  Especially since that 34-17 loss at MetLife Stadium is still fresh in their memory.

Bills (4-2) at Panthers (4-3): Buffalo-Did any team need their bye as much as the Bills last week?  They were 4-0 and the last undefeated team in the NFL.  Then they lost two straight and suddenly found themselves in second place.  We'll see if the bye week fixed the problems that New England and Atlanta exploited.  This won't be an easy game, either.  The Panthers have won three straight and are over .500 for the first time in forever.  Sure, two of the wins were over the Dolphins and Jets, but they've been tough at home all season and that seems unlikely to change against Buffalo.

Bears (4-2) at Ravens (1-5): Chicago-I can't believe I'm picking Chicago on the road against Baltimore, but here we are.  It's been that kind of a season for the Ravens.  Everything that can go wrong has.  They have no Lamar Jackson and a porous defense.  The Bears, meanwhile, have won four straight after starting 0-2 and suddenly look like a very legitimate wild card contender.  They haven't exactly played the toughest schedule so far (their schedule is incredibly backloaded), but they should pick up another win here.

49ers (5-2) at Texans (2-4): San Francisco-Like their friends in Baltimore, the Texans are just having one of those seasons.  The 49ers had one of those seasons last year.  But, in true San Francisco form, they've bounced back nicely, and are a surprising 5-2 despite having so many injuries.  The Rams and Seahawks are both off this week, so that three-way tie will be broken with San Francisco either a half-game up or a half-game down and in third place.

Buccaneers (5-2) at Saints (1-6): Tampa Bay-Well, Tampa finally lost.  It took going to Detroit for it to happen, and they were completely outclassed by the Lions.  Their division lead is now down to only one game, but they're still the best team in the NFC South by a wide margin.  They've got a tough stretch coming up after their bye, so it's imperative they take care of business in New Orleans.

Cowboys (3-3-1) at Broncos (5-2): Denver-Suddenly, Denver is the comeback team!  Last week was the Broncos' second crazy fourth quarter comeback to win a game they had absolutely no business winning.  And it's got them at 5-2 when they could (and maybe should) just as easily be 3-4.  Why should we expect that to stop this week?  After all, both of the comebacks came against NFC East opponents.

Titans (1-6) at Colts (6-1): Indianapolis-Daniel Jones and the Colts just keep winning.  And you can't use, "Yeah, but they play in the AFC South" as the reason when they've only played one division game so far.  This is their second, as they complete the season series with the Titans.  The Colts blew them out in Nashville in Week 3.  Why should we expect things to be any different a month later?  Indianapolis is flying high, especially after a dominant road win against a good Chargers team.  Now they get, arguably, the worst team in the league at home.

Packers (4-1-1) at Steelers (4-2): Pittsburgh-Aaron Rodgers is a confusing individual.  He considered Week 1 a "revenge" game even though the Jets really did nothing to him except give him everything he wanted (he also technically wasn't cut since his contract expired).  Meanwhile, he holds no ill will towards the Packers even after whining his way out of Green Bay three years ago.  This is his first time facing the Packers since.  It would certainly be different if this game was in Lambeau, but you know he'll still get all sentimental about it.  And he'll probably have a great performance in a Steelers victory.

Commanders (3-4) at Chiefs (4-3): Kansas City-Don't worry, America!  It was just a one-week break.  The Chiefs are back in a national window!   I kid, of course, but this is the Chiefs' seventh game out of eight either in prime time or the 4:25 doubleheader slot.  It's like the NFL's obsession with putting the Jets in prime time last season.  Anyway, they look like they, just maybe, have finally gotten it going after that shaky start.  As for Washington, I have no idea what's going on, so I won't even venture a guess!

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 12-3
Overall: 72-36