Who are today’s NFL winners and losers?
Expect Aaron Rodgers to go off on the Vikings tonight. Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE photograph
Week 8 is upon us already … and what does that mean for all NFL fans? Well, it means we’re halfway through the schedule, one that has brought a season of expectations, surprises, joy and disappointment.
For instance, consider our Green Bay Packers. We’ve seen the emergence of Eddie Matthews, Jarrett Boykin, David Bakhtiari, Micah Hyde. We’ve seen the re-emergence of Johnny Jolly and James Starks. We’ve been shocked at the number of injuries once again on this team … injuries to important players: Randall Cobb, James Jones, Bryan Bulaga, Casey Hayward and of course, most recently Jermichael Finley.
And the season is only half over!
There will much more to come as we head toward December and the playoffs in January.
In the meantime, here are my selections for the here and now … this weekend’s games.:
San Francisco at Jacksonville: Unless the 49ers and Colin Kaepernick fall completely off the wagon today, this should be an easy win for SF. In fact, it should be a blowout.
Cleveland at Kansas City: The Chiefs should run their record to 8-0 with this home defeat of the Browns who have been taking a headlong dive back to reality. Andy Reid will continue his team on a roll and the KC defense will make mincemeat out of the Browns.
Miami at New England: This one might be closer than expected, but I just can’t see Tom Brady letting this one slip. The Pats should keep their offense rolling and get just enough defense to get the win at home.
Buffalo at New Orleans: Yes, the Bills have a solid defense, but not nearly enough to slow down the Drew Brees-led scoring machine that the Saints put on the field every week. Playing at home is a plus for the Saints who will run away with this one.
Dallas at Detroit: This features two evenly-matched teams that should battle it out. While the Lions will score some points today, so will the Cowboys as Dez Bryant and Calvin Johnson try to outdo one another.
New Your Giants at Philadelphia: Hmmmm … should we toss a coin for this one? The Giants have trouble on the road and the Eagles don’t play very well at home lately. I think the Giants will have more defense than the Eagles have offense today. The Giants win another bad game between two bad teams.
Pittsburgh at Oakland: Ben Roethlisberger should have a big day against a not very good Oakland team. The Steelers are starting to turn things around and they continue it today.
Atlanta at Arizona: While the Cardinals defense is better than most believe, the Falcons will finds enough offense today to nip the birds in the southwest.
Washington at Denver: Peyton Manning is going to come out mad after the debacle in Indy last week. Expect him to go off badly on a poor Redskins defense. Denver wins big in this one on their home turf.
Green Bay at Minnesota: Greg Jennings might have a couple of catches and Adrian Peterson might even reach 100 yards at home, but Aaron Rodgers will be too much for the 29th rated Vikings pass defense. The Packers roll out of Minnesota atop the NFC North with a big win over the Vikings.
Seattle at St. Louis: When you’ve got the Rams reaching for help from Brett Favre, you know they are in trouble. Expect this to be ugly. In fact, you might as well get ready to turn the channel early.