Week 8 NFL Picks

On the day that I push myself and complete my first-ever half-marathon, it makes sense for me to push myself to bring back the NFL picks posts to the blog. The last three Sundays have been a bit busy for me so I haven't been able to post the picks but no worries, I have still been making picks and kept tabs on my season record.

After Week 3, I was 33-15, rather pedestrian but also makes sense considering it's tough to read teams early on in the season. But since Week 3, I have a 39-16 record picking games. There have been a lot of easy games to pick in some weeks, thanks to teams like CLE, STL, TB and KC. But some more tough games to pick this week and of course, I'm here to let you know where the great Gus Johnson will be spending his Sunday.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Houston @ Buffalo: HOUSTON - Ryan Fitzpatrick has done a great job leading the Bills to 2 road wins after Trent Edwards injury. But the Texans offense is in sync right now and the Bills defense won't be able to keep up with them.
Cleveland @ Chicago: CHICAGO - Thankfully for the Browns, the bye week is coming, giving them time to lick their wounds from what's been a tough first half. Meanwhile, the Bears get a chance to regroup after two tough losses. Even if Jay Cutler turns the bal over 3 times, the Bears should be victorious
Seattle @ Dallas: DALLAS - The Seahawks are coming off a bye week and a Week 6 game in which the offense mustered up just 3 points. Expect them to come out firing on all cylinders but Dallas' defense should bend and not break enough so that the Dallas rush attack can take advantage of a banged up Seattle defense.
St. Louis @ Detroit: DETROIT - Talk about the battle of futility. This represents St. Louis' best chance to get a victory this season. Meanwhile, Detroit gets Matthew Stafford back and has actually played well this season so picking them to win isn't as hard as you may think.
Denver @ Baltimore: BALTIMORE - There's no doubt now that Denver is for real. Kyle Orton just doesn't make mistakes and that Denver defense under Mike Nolan is stingy. But Baltimore is playing with some anger, having lost 3 in a row and knowing they can't fall too far behind the pack if they want to be playing past Week 17.
San Francisco @ Indianapolis: INDIANAPOLIS - San Fran's offense moved the ball much better under Alex Smith, who will get the start. But the problem for San Fran has been the defense as of late and now, they get to face one of the best offenses in the NFL. Peyton Manning should have a field day picking apart the young 49ers defense.
Miami @ NY Jets: MIAMI - Miami's wildcat package really confused the Jets when they played just 3 weeks ago. But since then, there's been a lot of trash talk about how the Dolphins won. But unless the Jets defense slows down the run game and prevent Chad Henne from throwing for 241 yds again, the Dolphins will sweep the Jets this season.
NY Giants @ Philadelphia: PHILADELPHIA - Both teams have been struggling the past few weeks but one team has to win this one. The Giants offense should be able to score with the Eagles but I see this one coming down to a final drive and Donovan McNabb leading the Eagles to victory with that dynamic pass attack against a weak Giants secondary.
Jacksonville @ Tennessee: JACKSONVILLE - Things will turn around in Tennessee soon enough but not this week. Jacksonville has found a pass attack to go with their run game and with Vince Young making the start, you can expect the Jags defense to force a couple turnovers that will play a factor in the game as well.
Oakland @ San Diego: SAN DIEGO - After an absolutely awful week from JaMarcus Russell last week, he's back starting under center and gets to play a Chargers team that is in desperate need of a win to stay in the playoff picture. That and the Chargers aren't gonna mess around piling up points in this one.
Carolina @ Arizona: ARIZONA - These are bad times in Carolina. Teams can simply load the box and force Jake Delhomme to make a play and as seen by his league-leading 13 INT, that's a winning strategy. The Cardinals are playing great football these days too, not just on offense either.
Minnesota @ Green Bay: GREEN BAY - Apparently, Brett Favre used to play in Green Bay. Well, with him or not, Green Bay isn't going to lose this division battle at home. They went down to the wire with the Vikes in the meeting in the Metrodome. This time, it's not as close as the GB running game opens up the passing game.

Monday, November 2
Atlanta @ New Orleans: NEW ORLEANS - Tough to think that with a loss, the Falcons fall to 4-3 but their schedule has been tough early on. For them to win, they have to slow down Drew Brees and that pass attack. But that's easier said than done. Look for Brees to light up the Falcons secondary just like Romo did against them last week.

WHERE'S GUS JOHNSON? - I hate it when they stick the great Gus on a terrible game because odds are, there will be no memorable calls. Well, that's the case this week as the Jags face the Titans. Of course, there's always a chance the game is close and GuJo gets to call the Titans first win (hopefully in dramatic fashion) but I just don't see that happening. I just hope he's calling the CBS Saturday Night Fights this Saturday because Gus doing MMA is about the best thing since sliced bread.

ENJOY THE GAMES EVERYONE!!!