Ramblin’ Fan’s NFL Picks and Predictions: Week 8

With week 7 in the books its time to review our NFL picks and look forward to week 8’s picks and predictions.  Week 7 was pretty much a disaster here at Ramblin’ Fan, both for our picks and our beloved St. Louis Rams.  In week 7 we went an abysmal 7-8 with our NFL picks so hopefully we can improve on that in week 8.  This week features yet another NFC West division matchup in primetime television as the Seattle Seahawks head to the Gateway city to take on the St. Louis Rams on Monday Night Football.  The 49ers will be in London where they will be taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Arizona Cardinals will be hosting the Atlanta Falcons.  Thanks for reading our weekly NFL picks article and as always Go Rams!!!

Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (TNF).  The Panthers will travel to take on the Bucs on Thursday Night Football in an NFC South showdown.  This game means very little in terms of playoff implications as it is highly unlikely the Panthers will unseat the Saints in the NFC South and the Bucs are still winless.  The dirtiest most low class team in the NFL travels to take on the dirtiest most low class coach in the NFL, so there is one story line.  Panthers win 20 – 10.

Dallas Cowboys @ Detroit Lions. The Cowboys and Lions can both put points on the board in bunches, so this could be a good old shootout at Ford Field.  I am going to lean towards the home team on this one, as these teams are remarkably similar when matched up on paper.  When in doubt always go with the home team, especially if that team has the best receiver in the NFL.   Lions win 31 – 27.

Cleveland Browns @ Kansas City Chiefs. The Browns have fallen back to earth a little bit since their 3 game winning streak on the heels of the Trent Richardson trade.  With back to back losses to NFC North teams they have the unenviable task of traveling to take on the NFLs last remaining unbeaten team.  The Chiefs are far from perfect and they will lose eventually, just don’t expect it to come against a team starting Jason Campbell at quarterback. Chiefs win 17 – 6.

Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots. The Patriots lost to the New York Jets amid some “officiating controversy” last weekend.  If the officials that were at the Rams Panthers game had been at the Patriots game they would be all anyone had talked about.  The Dolphins have dropped 3 straight games since their 3-0 start and young QB Ryan Tannenhill has struggled in the process.  The Patriots defense will look to confuse Tannenhill and keep the Dolphins losing streak going.  Gronkowski looked good last weekend against the Jets, expect Brady to force feed him early and often against the Dolphins.   Patriots win 24 – 21.

Buffalo Bills @ New Orleans Saints.  The Bills will travel to the Super dome to take on the Saints who are coming off their bye week following the heartbreaking loss to the Patriots.  The Bills offense will struggle to keep pace with the high octane Saints, even though Thad Lewis has been impressive in his run as the Bills QB. In the end the Saints offense will stack big play upon big play while the defense makes enough stops to get the victory.  Saints win 35 – 20.

New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles.  Now that the Giants finally have their first win of the season I can stop picking them “because they have to win eventually”.  The Giants looked like the lesser of two evils on Monday Night, and it wasn’t be a wide margin.  Whoever happens to play quarterback for the Eagles should be plenty comfortable as the Giants have zero pass rush.  If the Giants receivers hadn’t dropped so many passes on Monday Night I may be tempted to go with the Giants here.   Eagles win 28 – 21.

San Francisco 49ers @ Jacksonville Jaguars (London). The 49ers have rattled off 4 straight wins since their loss to the division rival Seahawks.  The trip to London should be enjoyable for both teams, while the actual game will probably only be fun for the 49ers.  The 49ers have a great ground game and should be able to impose their will on the league’s worst run defense.   49ers win 38 – 10.

New York Jets @ Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets had a dramatic victory over the division rival Patriots last weekend and will be looking to string together back to back wins for the first time this season.  The Bengals on the other hand are hoping to get their 4th win in a row and maintain their division lead.  Oh if you haven’t heard that AJ Green guy is pretty decent, he may have a good game here.  Bengals win 27 – 14.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Oakland Raiders. The Steelers are on  a 2 game winning streak following their bye week and an 0-4 start.  The Raiders are hoping for similar post bye week success, perhaps they figured out that offensive line during their time off?  Terrell Pryor has certainly added excitement to Raiders games this season and he should give them a good shot at taking down their long time rivals.  Raiders win 24 – 13.

Washington Redskins @ Denver Broncos. The Redskins took down the Chicago Bears last weekend in an absolute shootout in the Nation’s capital.  The Broncos suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts.  RGIII continues to round into form this season, but I expect a big bounce back game from Peyton Manning in this one as the Broncos help improve the Rams draft positioning.   Broncos win 42 – 31.

Atlanta Falcons @ Arizona Cardinals. The Falcons snapped their losing streak against the Bucs last weekend without superstars Roddy White, Julio Jones and Steven Jackson.  SJ39 is hopeful that he can return to the fray against a familiar foe this weekend as the Falcons travel to take on the Cardinals.  If Jackson is healthy and ready to go he should help provide the Falcons with the balance they will need to overcome a tough Cardinals defense.  Carson Palmer has been a turnover machine this season so this may be a good chance for the Falcons to right the ship. Falcons win 27 – 21.

Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings (SNF). The Packers may finally have a running game with Eddie Lacy averaging over 4 yards per carry this season.  The Packers have had multiple injury issues but with Aaron Rodgers under center they have a clear advantage over the Vikings who may have to go back to Christian Ponder at QB this week.  Adrian Peterson has over 500 yards and 5 TDs on the season, but has been relatively ineffective over the past couple weeks as opponents have loaded the box to stop the run. Packers win 31 – 10.

Seattle Seahawks @ St. Louis Rams. With Sam Bradford on the Injured Reserve list the Rams are going to be very hard pressed to score points against a very tough Seahawks defense.  The Rams special teams has shown improvement over the past few weeks as they have limited the penalties that plagued them early, and Johnny Hekker and Young GZ have continued their excellent play and it may be up to them to provide the Rams with scoring opportunities.  The Seahawks offense hasn’t been very impressive so far this season, but Marshawn Lynch should provide a good test for the Rams run defense.  Seattle’s offensive line is still a bit of a patchwork unit, so the Rams might be able to pressure Russell Wilson early and often but if they don’t get him down with the initial rush big plays will be the result.  As much as I want to believe the Rams have a legitimate shot in this game I just don’t see it without Bradford behind center.  Seahawks win 35 – 12.

NFL Week 8 Matchups

Pick

Panthers @ Bucs (TNF)

Panthers

Cowboys @ Lions

Lions

Browns @ Chiefs

Chiefs

Dolphins @ Patriots

Patriots

Bills @ Saints

Saints

Giants @ Eagles

Eagles

49ers @ Jaguars (London)

49ers

Jets @ Bengals

Bengals

Steelers @ Raiders

Raiders

Redskins @ Broncos

Broncos

Falcons @ Cardinals

Falcons

Packers @ Vikings (SNF)

Packers

Seahawks @ Rams (MNF)

Seahawks

Last Week

7-8

Overall Record

64-43