It’s Week Eight in the NFL, and Peyton Manning is competing with DeMarco Murray of all people for the MVP talk. We may also be about halfway to seeing both Rex Ryan and Rob Ryan fired from their respective teams. With that said, let’s dive into to Week Eight:
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons: Both of these teams were supposed to have great offenses this season, but unlike the Falcons the Lions have actually been able to win with their defense. The Falcons look worse than last year, and have yet to win outside of Atlanta. This game is in London and counts as a home game for the Falcons, but that’s good enough.
Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This will most likely be a sad game. Teddy Bridgewater had one good game, but that may be the only one we see out of him. The Bucs look just as bad as the Vikings this year, but playing at home in front of a still-passionate fan base they should be able to pull off the win.
Chicago Bears at New England Patriots: The Bears can’t win at home for some reason, but at least they’ve done pretty well on the road this year. The Patriots barely snuck by the Jets last Thursday Night at home, so unless they play better this week they won’t be so lucky. The Patriots could very easily be looking past the Bears to their matchup with the Broncos next week, so the Bears can definitely pull off the upset as long as the good Jay Cutler shows up.
St. Louis Rams at Kansas City Chiefs: Sure, the Rams are coming off a big upset over the defending Super Bowl champions, but that doesn’t make them good. It’s very unlikely that we’;; see another Rams upset this weekend, especially against a Chiefs team that’s very good at home. This isn’t a divisional game, so the Rams aren’t really a threat to Kansas City.
Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers: The Panthers are actually coming into this game with a better record than the Seahawks, sitting at 3-3-1. Both of these teams are starting to get desperate, so this should be a good game. Russell Wilson doesn’t play well on the road, and the defense hasn’t really shown up this season either so that’s not good news for Seattle. Cam Newton has a chance to silence his critics once and for all if he can pull off this win.
Buffalo Bills at New York Jets: Kyle Orton looked horrible last week, but the Bills still managed to pull off the win. Geno Smith actually looked pretty good last week, but the Jets lost in typical Jets fashion. The Jets are now 1-6. If these players actually want Rex Ryan to keep his job they better start playing like it. Unfortunately, they just aren’t good. Orton will probably pull this one out of thin air again, but a win is a win for Buffalo.
Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars won last week. Against Cleveland. I couldn’t believe it either. Miami also pulled off a win somehow in Chicago. Both of these teams looked horrible before last week, and they’ll be back to mediocrity this week. However, Blake Bortles has turned the Jags into a somewhat competitive team; so an upset win at home may be possible. But, they are the Jaguars; so let’s not get our hopes too high.
Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans: The Texans should have no problem winning this game. They could have beat the Steelers last week, but they self-destructed and gave up three touchdowns in a little over two minutes. The Titans are a bad team, and Zach Mettenberger—who the Titans announced will be starting this week—is a horrible quarterback. Even Ryan Fitzpatrick is better than him, and it’s still up in the air whether he’s actually a quarterback or not.
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals: Everyone has been betting on the Ravens this week, but that may not be the smartest investment. The Bengals have a horrible offense this year without A.J. Green, but they still have not lost a game at home this season or last season. The Ravens are sitting quiet at 5-2, but they haven’t shown much ability to win on the road yet. The Bengals can use this opportunity to take back control of the division.
Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals: Both of these teams look good at first glance, but if you look closely at the Eagles they could easily be 3-4 right now had a couple of plays not gone their way. The Cardinals on the other hand are flying high, and they need to keep winning if they want to knock off the Seahawks as division champs. At home, the Cardinals should have no problem taking down the Eagles.
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers really only won last week because the Texans imploded at the end of the first half. The Colts offense won’t do that, and the Colts defense won’t give up three touchdowns in two minutes. The Colts should have no problem running over the struggling Steelers.
Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns: Last year literally no one would have cared about this game. The Browns actually have some life in them this year even though they lost to the Jaguars last week, and the fan base is actually getting back into Cleveland football. The Raiders looked good against the Chargers, but they aren’t good. Derek Carr isn’t ready to go into Cleveland and win. They’d be better off just using this week as an extra week of preparation for Denver.
Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints: It’s desperation time in New Orleans. Drew Brees blew the game last week, so with the home crowd behind him in a primetime game he should have no problem coming back and getting the offense going again. Aaron Rodgers hasn’t done well on the road this year, and New Orleans is a very tough place to play. Look for the Saints to pull the upset.
Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys: Colt McCoy looked decent last week, and the Redskins actually won, but the Cowboys are 6-1 and look really good this year thanks almost entirely to DeMarco Murray. IF you’re expecting the upset of the year, you may want to look elsewhere. Probably not going to be a very good Monday Night game.