NFL 2012 Week 8 picks

I'm picking quite a few visiting teams, so my alternating good v poor weeks could come into play, and many of my picks lose.  I'll take that chance.

Thursday night:  Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings:  Here I definitely favor the home team.  The Bucs defense has looked suspect lately, while the Vikings' defense is toughening up (perhaps in preparation of playing the Bears).  When he is "on", Josh Freeman is a potent quarterback, but he is still inconsistent.  That's not to say that Christian Ponder is any better, but Minnesota has a much better running game, which might make the difference in this game.  VIKES, 27-24

Sunday early games
Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles:  It's here that the Falcons' unbeaten record could be jeopardized, especially if this is a close game.  The Eagles have won all but one of the close games they have played, although when they lose, they lose big.  They lose big because they have committed more turnovers than any other team this season, and the biggest offender is QB Michael Vick himself.  If Vick does not do a better job of protecting the ball, the Eagles are doomed, as you do not want to give the Falcons offense any advantages.  I think the Eagles will commit too many turnovers to win, and so it won't be close.  FALCONS, 24-16

Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears:  The best defense in the league against an offense struggling, and whose quarterback is losing confidence.  Watch for this game to potentially have the biggest margin of victory of the week.  BEARS, 26-13

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans: The Colts aren't playing great, but the Titans are playing abysmally, especially on defense.  That gives Andrew Luck and company a chance to score lots of points.  Could the Titans win at home?  Only if they straighten out their defense, and I don't think they will.  COLTS, 30-20

Jacksonville Jaguars at Green Bay Packers:  With Maurice Jones-Drew on the Questionable to Play list, and Green Bay's offense fired up again, I don't see the Jags winning this game.  The Jags already have the least proficient offense in the league when MJD was playing, and their defense is weak enough to allow Green Bay to score.  PACK, 31-16

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets:  Here's a home team who could win, but they are so messed up that they don't deserve to win.  Miami's defense is working, and I don't think Tebow will succeed on draws and running plays as much as he has.  Without his success to spell Sanchez, the Jets offense is weak.  DOLPHINS, 23-20

New England Patriots at St Louis Rams:  The Rams offense is struggling, but their defense is pretty good.  The question this week is, Are they good enough to stop the Patriots?  Brady and company are not scoring as much as they have in previous years, but they are capable of moving the ball in different ways.  That could confuse the Rams enough to give the Patriots a chance, but they start the second half behind the home team.  PATS, 27-24

San Diego Chargers at Cleveland Browns:  Brandon Wheeden has the Browns offense working, but the defense is still suspect.  Given what the Chargers are capable of generating on offense, that defense will put the Browns too far behind.  CHARGERS, 27-20

Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions:  Dare I go for four visiting teams in a row?  Perhaps, but I actually think Detroit can pull this one out.  Granted, their only score against the Bears was a "gimmee", but they were consistently getting better in the second half.  They may have had three red zone turnovers, but that was against a tough Bears defense.  The Seahawks defense is pretty tough, but not they don't cause as many turnovers as the Bears do.  Moreover, the Lions defense was good enough to stop the Bears from scoring in the second half.  If they do that against Seattle, the Lions will win with a fourth quarter surge.  LIONS, 26-20

Washington Redskins at Pittsburgh Steelers:  On paper, these two teams are fairly evenly matched.  On the field, though, the Steelers have an advantage.  RGIII is doing great things, but the Steelers defense know how to eye quarterbacks and predict what he's going to do.  The Redskins defense isn't strong, so this will be a game where Big Ben can get back on track.  Further, the return of Rashad Mendenhall has rejuvenated the Steelers running game, and they will ground out the yardage.  STEELERS, 27-23

Sunday late games
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys  Dallas knocked off the Giants earlier this season, so this is a vengeance game.  Few teams play vengeance games better than the Giants.  They have all phases of their team working, while the Cowboys are still inconsistent on offense; their best offensive performance of the season was their opener against the Giants!  Their second best performance was against the Ravens, but injuries were starting to affect their defense in that game.  I don't think Dallas can expect to do as well this week.  GIANTS, 27-17

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs:  The two worst teams in the AFC West, and two of the worst teams in the NFL, face off.  The winner of this game might be the team that makes the fewest mistakes.  For the season, Oakland has the edge in both offense and defense, but they also have plenty of costly penalties.  If the Raiders get careless, they could lose, but I'll pick them (yikes!  another visiting team!).  RAIDERS, 24-23

Sunday night:  New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos:  The Saints have won two in a row and seem to be righting the ship.  They also welcome back Joe Vitt from his bounty-gate suspension.  However, taking over as interim coach might upset the flow that the makeshift coaching staff had finally established.  Combine that with the difficulties of playing at Denver, and the recent success of Peyton Manning, and things don't look good for the Saints extending that winning streak.  BRONCOS, 30-26

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:  San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals:  This might be the visiting team I am most confident will win.  The quarterback issues make Arizona a poor pick, especially against the tight 49ers defense.  The 49ers offense is improving as well, and are likely to find holes in the Cards defense.  49ERS, 20-16