Week Eight

After this weekend of NFL action, the regular season will be two months down with two months to go. That means two things. One, its time for the Brett Favre retirement talk to start up again. And the second is it’s time to determine which teams are for real and which one’s are worse then Charles Barkley’s golf swing. To do this, I have broken down all 32 teams into three levels. Level I is for teams whose playoff chances are completely gone and should start looking forward next season. Level II is for teams where there are still some doubts, but if everything goes their way, they have a chance of playing deep in to January. And then there is the few, the proud, the Level III squads. These are the elite teams who are fighting only for first round byes in the playoff brackets.

Level I
Miami- Maybe Daunte Cullpepper over Drew Brees wasn’t such a good idea.
Buffalo- Dick Jauon isn’t the coach for a team with no quarterback
Cleveland- The Browns have played in some close games, but lack experience to finish them off.
Houston- Now starting at running back for your Houston Texans…Wali Lundy.
Tennessee- Vince Young looks like the real deal, but unfortunately, he can’t play corner.
Oakland- Al Davis has yet to realize that it’s not 1977 anymore.
Washington- So much off-season spending, such a little amount of wins…again.
Green Bay- Maybe the Pack should stop hiring coaches named Mike.
Detroit- New coach, new QB, but still the same old Lions.
Tampa Bay- Who was that idiot who picked the Bucs to be in the Super Bowl?
San Francisco-If you can name more then five people on the ‘Niners, give yourself a round of applause.
Arizona- He may be a horrible coach, but at least Dennis Green’s press conferences are entertaining.

Level II
NY Jets- They may end up as the worst ten win team in league history.
Cincinnati- When this team gets all their guys off of injuries and suspension, watch out.
Baltimore- How can a team’s defense be so good while the offense is so bad?
Pittsburgh- They may need another huge December run to make the playoffs this year.
Jacksonville- How do you hold the Steelers and Jets scoreless and allow 27 to the Texans?
San Diego- Maybe the leagues most talented team, but something isn’t right out there.
Kansas City- I think Larry Johnson is going to have another HUGE second half. Philadelphia- They are a 17 point comeback and two last second field goals from being un-beaten.
Dallas- The talent is there, but can this team make it to December 1 without killing each other?
Minnesota- Underrated QB, solid D and great home field will make the Vikes tough to beat.
Carolina- The best team in the NFC when healthy, but that’s a big ‘when’.
Atlanta- Mike Vick’s proving he can throw, but can the Falcons defense stop the opposing QB?
St. Louis- With such a bad division, all the Rams have to do is win some big road games down the stretch.
Seattle- Even without Alexander and Hasselback, the ‘Hawks should win the NFC West.

Level III
New England- The Pats have three tough games the rest of the season (At Minnesota, home vs Indy and Chicago)
Denver- They may not have the big names, but I think the leagues best D lives in the mountains.
Indianapolis- For Peyton and Co., the big question is can they come up big during playoff time.
Chicago- The Bears can’t afford another Rex Grossman performance like his one on Monday night.
NY Giants- The G-Men have no weak areas on offense, but their secondary needs some serious help.
New Orleans- The best story in the NFL is also one of the un-stoppable offenses.

On to the picks. After another so-so Sunday last week, I’m 63-37 over the entire season, which isn’t great. Before the season began, I told myself that anything less then a 70% winning percentage would be unacceptable. Considering I’m now at 63%, I’m going to need some big weeks pretty soon.

My picks in bold

Jacksonville at Philadelphia

Atlanta at Cincinnati

Arizona at Green Bay

Houston at Tennessee

Seattle at Kansas City

Baltimore at New Orleans

Tampa Bay at New York Giants

San Francisco at Chicago

St. Louis at San Diego

New York Jets at Cleveland

Indianapolis at Denver

Pittsburgh at Oakland

Dallas at Carolina

New England at Minnesota


I’m remarkably still alive in the survival pool, though I should have been killed long ago. Twice I’ve chosen teams that have gotten their only win of the year the week I chose them. The Colts had to claw out a victory versus the Titans when I picked them. And the Eagles needed a second-half choke job by the Packers to get the win. So with the Cardinals, Ravens, Dolphins, Eagles, Colts, Broncos and Patriots all used up, I’ll take my beloved Bears to beat the 49ers this week.