2012 NFL SEASON: WEEK 8

Now those were some good picks last week.

Ms. Roberts and I both had matching 12-1 records. I still trail her by 3 games, but hey almost perfect. The lone blemish on our record was the Bills losing by one to the Titans at home, but hey no one is perfect and this is a lot better than the disasters we have had in previous weeks.

I do expect a letdown because how can you top 12-1? An undefeated week… eh, probably not.

So, let’s look back at a fairly exciting NFL Week. 11 of 12 games were decided by 10 points or less and two games went to overtime.

First, the Cowboys finally won a game by defeating the Carolina Panthers 19-14. They proved again they can put together long drives, but they have to cap those drives with touchdowns. It’s driving me nuts. The Cowboys defense took another hit with losing linebacker Sean Lee for the season with a toe injury.

Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers… what is up with them? This was supposed to be the breakout team for 2012, but they are a mess. The after the loss general manager Marty Hurney was given the pink slip.

Once again, it goes without saying, the Carolina Panthers are playing like Sex Panther: they STINK!

In other games, the 49ers returned to their winning ways by relying on their defense to shut down Seattle’s quarterback Russell Wilson.

The Texans showed up against the Ravens and they were pissed off. Houston earned the franchise’s first ever victory against Baltimore with a 43-13 win. Where was this team last week? Well, Houston now owns the AFC’s best record.

Chris Johnson remembered that he played running back with 195 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Titans 35-34 win at Buffalo.

Not really a surprise here, the Colts beat the Browns. The return of Adrian Peterson continues as the Vikings beat the Cardinals 21-14 at the Metrodome. The Vikings are looking like a possible contender while the Cardinals have now lost three in a row after starting 4-0.

Robert Griffin III made his debut in the long Giants-Redskins rivalry, but Eli Manning pulled off the victory with a game winning 77-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Victor Cruz.

The Packers appeared to have continued their stride with quarterback Aaron Rodgers launching deep passes to wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb in their victory over the Rams. Cobb is currently replacing Greg Jennings as he is recovering from a groin injury (ouch!). Jennings opted for surgery, but says he will return during this season.

The most exciting early game was in Tampa between the Buccaneers and Saints.

That was one of seven touchdown passes in this game. Drew Brees has now thrown a touchdown pass in 49 consecutive games. There were a total of nine touchdowns in this game. There was a potential for a tenth as Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman led a last minute drive to send the game to overtime.

As shown in the video it didn’t happen. The Saints have now 2 in a row since that awful 0-4 start.

The two afternoon games featured the Raiders and Jaguars. The Jaguars suffered two injuries, running back Maurice Jones-Drew was seen on crutches after the game and quarterback Blaine Gabbert is out for the season with a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. Oakland sent the game to overtime and won 26-23 on a 40-yard field goal by Oakland kicker Sebastian Janikowski.

Oh and the Patriots and Jets renewed familiarities…

It appeared that the Patriots were going to run the Jets out of the stadium by starting the game with a touchdown pass from Tom Brady, a kickoff return for a touchdown, and a safety to build a 16-7 lead in the second quarter. Give the Jets credit for battling back.

After Nick Folk’s 43-yard field goal that tied the game at 23, Patriots returner Devin McCourty fumbled the ensuing kickoff (he had the kickoff return for a TD earlier in that game) and the Jets had great field position. Again, the Jets were unable to score a touchdown and had to settle for another Nick Folk 43-yard field goal.

And that is when Brady took over.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady put together a drive that put the Patriots in position to tie the game to send the game in overtime. And again, Brady put together another drive that gave his team the lead in the extra session.

The last play of the game was quarterback Mark Sanchez getting sacked and fumbling the ball and being recovered by Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovick to preserve the 29-26 overtime victory.

Sunday Night featured the Steelers playing in Cincinnati against the Bengals. The result was as expected: same old sorry Bengals. However, the Steelers have to work on limiting the number of drop passes. Not only will it cost them games, but it will drive fantasy players crazy.

Monday Night, yeah I watched the Debate. So what? But from what I saw in the highlights, neither offense was doing anything. The Bears defense bailed them out and they were a minute away from a shutout. Chicago still won the game 13-7, but a shutout is nice.

So Week 8…

The Ravens, Bills, Bengals, and Texans are on the bye.

The Vikings look to continue their perfect home record against the Buccaneers on Thursday Night. Over the last two seasons, home teams are 13-3 on Thursday Night.

Sunday at noon is the sixth installment of the NFL’s London Series. This time the New England Patriots take on the London Silly Nannies St. Louis Rams. Tom Brady is 2-1 lifetime against the Rams, including the win in Super Bowl XXXVI.

The Steelers host the Redskins. The Steelers will reveal their recent throwback uniforms:

Why don’t they bring back the Batman uniforms?

Other Sunday games feature the Panthers at Bears, Chargers at Browns, Seahawks at Bears, a wounded Jaguars squad traveling to Green Bay, an AFC East clash between the Dolphins and Jets, the Colts traveling to Tennessee, and the undefeated Falcons returning to the field to take on a below average Eagles squad.

The two afternoon games have the Raiders and Chiefs rekindling their long standing AFC West rivalry. And the other one has the Giants at Cowboys… The last time these two teams met was on opening night when the Cowboys spoiled the Giants Super Bowl Championship celebration with a 24-17 win. The Cowboys have never beaten the Giants at Cowboys Stadium and since 2006 the Giants have won 5 of the last 7 matchups when they’ve played at Dallas.

Sunday Night could be a cold one in Denver as temperature at kickoff is expected to be in the 40s and dropping, but the action will be hot between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.

Monday Night is an NFC West showdown in Phoenix between the Cardinals and 49ers. The Cardinals are now 4-3 after a 4-0 start while the 49ers are 5-2 and have had 11 days off since their last game.

WEEK 7:         12-1

TOTAL:         60-44

BREAKDOWN OF RECORD

	MONICA	NOON	3PM	NIGHT	HOME	AWAY	TV	≤ 8 PTS	OT
WK 7	12-1	7-1	2-0	3-0	8-1	4-0	6-0	10-1	2-0
TOTAL	63-41	35-20	13-14	12-10	39-19	21-25	26-16	31-31	5-4

The picks for Week 8 are below.

Kickoff Times are Central Time
Picks Indicated in BOLD
Sunday Day Games for the Dallas-Fort Worth Area are indicated with (DFW)

NFL 2012 Week 8 TV Distribution Map

BYE WEEK

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

THURSDAY NIGHT (10/21)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings, 7:20 PM NFL

SUNDAY (10/28) FOX DOUBLEHEADER

NOON FOX

Washington Redskins at Pittsburgh Steelers (DFW)

Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles

Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears

Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions

NOON CBS

New England Patriots at London Silly Nannies St. Louis Rams (London) (DFW)

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans

Jacksonville Jaguars at Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets

San Diego Chargers at Cleveland Browns

3PM FOX

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys (DFW)

3PM CBS

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs

SUNDAY NIGHT

New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos, NBC 7:20 PM

MONDAY NIGHT (10/29)

San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals, 7:30 PM ESPN