NFL Week Eight Arrives

The Patriots had a far more competitive game vs the Bears than anyone likely expected, and concern about the Patriots defense have led to rumor of a trade for Patrick Peterson from the Cardinals



The NFL's eighth week arrives, so we try again with picks even though for the year we're not that great - about .500 -



Texans over Dolphins - Miami will be without Ryan Tannehill and ex-Texan Brock Osweiler will start.   Osweiler's regression as a quarterback has been striking as his replacement, Deshaun Watson, is steadily improving and the Texans have won four straight coming in.



Eagles over Jaguars, London - There has been a ridiculous controversy where Colin Kaepernick suck-ups have been demanding the Jaguars sign Kaepernick even though Bortles has as many wins this year alone as Kaepernick had his final two playing seasons.  The Eagles for their part aren't better off, after blowing a 17-point lead to the Panthers.


The other subplot here is Jaguars owner Shad Khan has withdrawn a big to purchase Wembley Stadium - a sign the Jaguars see there isn't a future in permanently moving to London.


Chiefs over Broncos - Denver played tough vs Kansas City the first time, expect the same here.



Browns over Steelers - This is a risky pick given the Steelers' turnaround in recent games, but the Browns are well ahead of where they were in 2017 and their comeback to the tie in Week One indicates they're no longer afraid of the Steelers.


Bears over NY Jets - The Jets' poor performance against the Vikings is a bad sign after back-to-back wins.   Sam Darnold was not prepared for the cold day and the Bears are coming off a bitter loss.



Redskins over NY Giants - The Giants still played respectably in the Monday Night loss at Atlanta, but it now seems they are in rebuilding mode with the trade of serially-immature defensive back Eli Woodard - aka Eli Apple - to the Saints.    The Redskins meanwhile are 4-2 and that should get better with this matchup.



Panthers over Ravens - Both teams have four wins but while Cam Newton and Joe Flacco both have eleven touchdowns, Newton got his scores with 94 fewer passes.   The Ravens have been uneven in their last three games at 1-2 vs Carolina's 2-1 in that same span.


Bengals over Buccaneers -  After getting obliterated in prime time the Bengals right now don't look like potential division champs but they get a Bucs team that changed quarterbacks and needed overtime to beat the Browns.


Lions over Seahawks - The Lions now appear to be slowly buying into Matt Patricia, this as the Seahawks come in and both teams are winners of three of their last four games.  


Colts over Raiders -  The Raiders now appear in true teardown and rebuild mode as Jon Gruden continues to remove players he inherited and the Colts come in off a needed win and averaging 32 points scored in their last four games.


Cardinals over Niners -  The Josh Rosen experiment is off to a terrible start, but his first win was at San Francisco, which still has yet to see any winning out of C.J. Beathard, this despite a 62% completion rate to Rosen's 55%.


Rams over Packers - The Packers and Aaron Rodgers - perennially overrated.   The Rams - right now it's hard to see who will stop them.  


Vikings over Saints -  Drew Brees' career struggle against the Ravens nearly saw at least an overtime game, and his recent struggle against the Vikings comes to mind as the Saints march into the New Humphrey Dome and in Kirk Cousins a quarterback who's actually thrown for more yards and touchdowns than Brees.  



Patriots over Bills -  Rookie quarterbacks usually struggle, and this stat illustrates the lopsided nature of this matchup - Josh Allen has fewer touchdowns this season (two) than Tom Brady had vs. the Bears (three).     The fact Brady's loudmouth wife Gisele will take over Brady's normal spot with Jim Gray on the Westwood One halftime show is almost more interesting than this matchup.



So it goes for Week Eight.