2007 NFL Week Eight Predictions

by Napoleon15

This article has been cross-published from my blog at napoleon15.blogspot.com. There's nothing that says I can't plagiarize myself!

My Denver Broncos shocked me by winning last week --- against Pittsburgh, no less. Jay Cutler had a fairly good performance, the defensive line actually generated some pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, and the defense forced three turnovers. Still, the defense failed to hold the Steelers down, yielding a fourteen-point rally in the fourth quarter before Jason Elam kicked another game-winning field goal. As much as I enjoyed the victory, I recognize that the Broncos are still not very good right now. At least they're improving, though. We'll see how they follow that up this week.

Another thing that amazed me was the way Tom Brady shredded Miami's defense, throwing for no less than FIVE touchdowns in the first half! Then, he came off the bench late in the game and threw another touchdown. This guy is amazing. So too, for that matter, is Randy Moss, who had at least two spectacular catches in heavy traffic.

I also have to mention the Indianapolis Colts, who are close to the Patriots' level of play right now. That means there are two super-teams in the NFL right now, with everyone else way down on the list somewhere. I was beginning to think the Patriots were inevitably going to cruise past everyone else and claim another Super Bowl title. I still think the Patriots will win the Super Bowl, but Indianapolis will give them a tough fight for it. It should be interesting down the stretch, as these two fierce rivals battle it out.

I did pretty well again last week picking games, as I finished with a 10-4 record, to improve to 65-38 on the season. Here are my predictions for this week.

Indianapolis Colts 34, Carolina Panthers 13. The interesting matchup here will be Julius Peppers versus Peyton Manning. As we all know, Peyton sometimes gets nervous when guys get up in his face, and Peppers will certainly do that.

Chicago Bears 34, Detroit Lions 31. Brian Griese has been fairly good for Chicago since taking over from Rex Grossman. He ought to keep Chicago in the game until late, and then rally them for a victory.

Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Cincinnati Bengals 24. Cincy is improving, but the Steelers want to avenge last week's defeat at the hands of Denver. The Steelers are a better team and probably more motivated.

New York Giants 34, Miami Dolphins 17. This game will be played in London, of all places. The change of scenery won't help Miami, though.

Minnesota Vikings 27, Philadelphia Eagles 20. The Vikes gave Dallas an unexpectedly tough battle last week, and ran all over Chicago the week before that.

Cleveland Browns 31, St. Louis Rams 20. Cleveland is perhaps only one of three Ohio teams that could beat St. Louis right now. The other two? The Cincinnati Bengals and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Tennessee Titans 27, Oakland Raiders 14. Any explanation needed? Tennessee is simply better.

Buffalo Bills 23, New York Jets 20. Who's worse here? At least give Buffalo credit for knocking off Baltimore last week.

San Diego Chargers 27, Houston Texans 10. I hope Houston pulls off the upset, but I don't see it.

Jacksonville Jaguars 24, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21. This is a tough one. I'm taking Jax simply because the AFC is better than the NFC.

New England Patriots 34, Washington Redskins 13. Is there a defense out there that can stop Tom Brady?

New Orleans Saints 21, San Francisco 49ers 19. I think the Saints are recovering from their early meltdown.

Denver Broncos 27, Green Bay Packers 24. I hope I don't jinx them, but I'm going with the Broncos at home.