Week 8: Good vs. Bad & Bad vs. Bad

Get excited for games like Brian Hoyer
and the Texans versus the Titans!

We're on the road in San Francisco this weekend, fresh off having watched USC pull out a close one at Cal.  It's always nice to get together and do these in person.

There are two types of games this week: blowouts of good teams vs. bad teams and coin flips between mediocre or bad teams.  It's probably not going to be the most exciting NFL slate.

Here are our NFL picks for Week 8:

Stally's Seven-Point Pick
@Atlanta over Tampa Bay

Stally: One of the best teams in the league at home against one of the worst teams in the league.  Um ... yeah.

Austen: No faults on this one. One team is good and the other is not. Tampa has some good pieces offensively for the future, but for now they are terrible.

Austen's Seven-Point Pick
@New England over Miami

Austen: Well, I already got this one right and I'm pretty surprised Stally did not take this game first overall. The Pats are rampaging through the NFL right now and until I see a chink in that armor, they are going to keep destroying teams.

Stally: I certainly had the Patriots with a lot of confidence, but not as much as Austen.  The Dolphins always manage to challenge the Pats, but not in this one.

Stally's Six-Point Pick
Seattle over @Dallas

Stally: The Cowboys are a mess.  They have no idea who's gonna throw the ball, they have no idea who's gonna run the ball, and that's being reflected in a four-game losing streak.  Enter the Seattle Seahawks. a Super Bowl contender desperately looking for momentum, that's starting to get it.

Austen: Dez Bryant might be back. That's the Cowboys only hope. If Bryant does not come back and immediately become the best player in this game, the Cowboys will lose, which is what I am counting on.

Austen's Six-Point Pick
Arizona over @Cleveland

Austen: Who will start for Cleveland at quarterback today? Who cares. They are still going to lose to one of the top team in the league. Home-field advantage does not mean squat when the talent level is so far in one team's favor.

Stally: The Browns two wins have come over Baltimore (1-6) and Tennessee (1-5).  They're bottom feeders, not the type that beats 5-2 contenders like the Cardinals.

Stally's Five-Point Pick
@St. Louis over San Francisco

Stally: I consider Colin Kaepernick to be one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.  He has zero ability to distribute the ball when he has his playmakers, and his two top playmakers, Carlos Hyde and Anquan Boldin are inactive this week.  The Rams should win big.

Austen: So the 49ers had the worst offense in the NFL before they lost Carlos Hyde to injury. What the heck is this team going to look like this week? It is not going to be good.

Austen's Five-Point Pick
@Carolina over Indianapolis

Austen: Yes, the Panthers are a surprise undefeated team, but they are playing well. The Colts have yet to play legit winning football all year. They are such a flawed team, I might not take them to beat anyone.  I'll take the Panthers 100/100 times this week.

Stally: My gut instinct was to keep picking against the Panthers until they lose and go for Andrew Luck's team.  But, Luck to T.Y. Hilton is the only thing the Colts have going.  At 6-0, I haven't been right once in picking Carolina to lose, so it's time to reluctantly climb on the bandwagon.

Stally's Four-Point Pick
Green Bay over @Denver

Stally: I keep picking against Carolina to lose because I couldn't keep picking against the Broncos when they played the Raiders and Browns (games they barely won).  I've been excited for Denver to lose all season and this is going to be a romp by the Packers.

Austen: Love it, we are all waiting for Peyton to fall in a game. This is the one.

Austen's Four-Point Pick
Cincinnati over @Pittsburgh

Austen: Big Ben is back! However, he is joining a team that has holes on both offense and defense. The Bengals might be the most balanced team in football and no one (not even Aaron Rodgers) is playing better than Andy Dalton at the quarterback position. I'm sticking with the talented Bengals and I'm not looking back.

Stally: Actually, Tom Brady is playing the best at the quarterback position right now, but that's neither here nor there ... Big Ben's return will make this a very competitive game, but it's gonna be tough to beat the Bengals.  Austen's right: Cincy is very balanced.  I'll pick them as well.

Stally's Three-Point Pick
@New Orleans over New York Giants

Stally: The Saints started off poorly, but have won two in a row and are gaining momentum.  The Giants are a front runner in a poor division, but they'll need to be better than that to win in New Orleans.

Austen: The Giants are bad; the Saints are bad. This game should not have gone this high. Either of these teams could totally destroy the other one and I would not even stop to look at the box score.

Austen's Three-Point Pick
New York Jets over @Oakland

Austen: There is definitely a big chance of an upset, but the Jets really need this win after a tight one with the Pats last week. Hopefully Chris Ivory is healthy enough to tear apart an improved, but still not very good Raiders defense. Should be a fun game to watch.

Stally: Everyone thinks the Raiders are a little worse than they actually are.  The Jets will be challenged, but really should win this one.

Stally's Two-Point Pick
Kansas City over Detroit (in London)

Stally: At publication, this game is about to go final.  I expected the Chiefs to beat a demoralized-looking Lions team.  I didn't expect it would be that much of a blowout.

Austen: I do like the Chiefs in this game, but it is mostly because Detroit is so bad. The Chiefs have one of the best home-field advantages, so it is a shame for them that they lose that to a game in London.

Austen's Two-Point Pick
Minnesota over @Chicago

Austen: I'm basically betting on Adrian Peterson having a field day, despite his many injuries. He's the main thing to like about either of these teams, so I'll side with one of the biggest game changers in the league.

Stally: This game could go either way, especially since it's in Chicago, but Minnesota is the better team and Adrian Peterson is definitely the game changer.  Agreed.

Stally's One-Point Pick
@Baltimore over San Diego

Stally: The Ravens are struggling to get anything going, but the Chargers are the least talked about bad team in the NFL at 2-5.  Baltimore wins this one at home.

Austen: Justin Forsett is going to have a big day and win it for the Ravens. The Chargers will not beat anyone until they get their run defense fixed.

Austen's One-Point Pick
@Houtson over Tennessee

Austen: I really did not want to have to pick this game, but somehow that's how the cookie crumbles. The Texans have possibly the best receiver in football, definitely the best defender in football, and somehow are still one of the worst teams in the league. Marcus Mariota is out for this one, so I sort of have to assume the Texans will take this game.

Stally: Austen already wrote more than necessary about this dismal game.  I have the Texans in a coin flip as well.