Week 8 Picks

Bucs @ Cowboys (+1)
The wheels are starting to come off this Cowboys team. You know that's the case when I can confidently pick the 2008 Rams to beat them and not look foolish last Sunday. With Romo still out, along with their most explosive offensive player (Felix Jones), as well as a handful of other players. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay machine rolls on. No matter which washed-up QB they throw out there... he seems to perform. It's Jeff Garcia this time, and who knows... maybe he'll still have a chip on his shoulder about those comments Terrell Owens made about him a few years ago.
Adam's Pick: Tampa Bay wins, 28-20
Fantasy Love: Earnest Graham
Fantasy Hate: Terrell Owens

Redskins @ Lions (+8.5)
At this point in the season, I think it's time for Detroit to just get whacky. Put in Rudi Johnson as QB. Blitz 5 on every play. Call at least 1 flea-flicker and 1 reverse on every set of downs. Don't let a quarter go by without calling a hook-and-lateral. Do SOMEthing interesting, dudes! Meanwhile, Clinton Portis is running wild. Dude's got 818 yards and 7 TDs in his first 7 games. And I think he has a solid chance of getting to 1,000 yards today. Not on the season, just in this game. It's that bad in the land of Ford.
Adam's Pick: Washington wins, 35-10
Fantasy Love: Clinton Portis
Fantasy Hate: Rudi Johnson

Bills @ Dolphins (+3.5)
Wow, a lot of road favorites this week. But that's not that surprising when the home teams are Detroit, Miami, and Brokedown Dallas (you see what I did there? It's like the name of that movie, Brokedown Palace! Remember that movie? Oh man, whatever happened to Claire Danes anyway? Wasn't she in that horrible movie where Steve Martin sleezed on her? Man, that movie sucked...) Anyway, even though I think Buffalo is a very good team this year, this smells like an upset to me. The Bills play great fundamentals, and the Dolphins throw all that out the window this year. Mark it.
Adam's Pick: Miami wins, 24-21
Fantasy Love: Ronnie Brown
Fantasy Hate: Trent Edwards

Rams @ Patriots (-4)
So apparently my motivational post last week worked... or something. Seriously, Monday Night was the perfect storm of confidence... the offensive line playing with purpose against a team with no run defense. All of a sudden, it felt like they were doing a very good impression of last season, only with a focus on running instead of passing. Of course, losing Rodney Harrison hurts on D... but I actually have a lot of confidence in both James Sanders and Brandon Merriweather. The Rams have played with an amazing amount of heart since the coaching change, especially with their beat-down of the vulnerable Cowboys last week. But sadly, without Stephen Jackson, they're going to have a hard time getting any offense going.
Adam's Pick: Patriots win, 27-14
Fantasy Love: BenJarvis Green-Ellis
Fantasy Hate: Torry Holt

Chargers + Saints @ London (+1)
I hate to agree with Mike Ditka, but I really don't like sending teams to London in the middle of the season. Mostly because the traveling wipes a team out and gives them no chance to win the Super.... oh, nevermind. I do hate that because they aren't allowed to play a game opposite the Patriots, I won't be able to see this game (urge to order Direct TV... rising...). Anyway, this should be an exciting game, as long as there's better weather than last year's London game. Both teams have great passing offenses and suspect pass-D's. I'm not going to lie, my prediction has a lot to do with wishful thinking for my fantasy team that owns Drew Brees, Marques Colston, AND Jeremy Shockey. Please to be airing it out this week? kthnxbai.
Adam's Pick: New Orleans wins, 35-27
Fantasy Love: Drew Brees
Fantasy Hate: Ladanian Tomlinson

Cheifs @ Jets (-9)
Excuse me, I just threw up all over myself thinking about this game. The Cheifs are HORRIBLE, and the Jets just lost to Oakland. Seriously, as I'm typing this I look like Dee doing standup on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Let's keep it short and dry this time.
Adam's Pick: Jets win, 21-10
Fantasy Love: TOM JONES!
Fantasy Hate: Anyone on KC not named Dwayne Bowe or Tony G

Falcons @ Eagles (-6)
Matt Ryan and the Falcons have been a great story this year. If you had told people before the season that this would be an interesting game in week 8, most wouldn't believe it. But with the Eagles getting back Brian Westbrook and Kevin Curtis back, it's just going to be a bit too much. Still though, this should be a fun game to watch for anybody who gets to see it.
Adam's Pick: Philly wins, 28-24
Fantasy Love: Donovan McNabb
Fantasy Hate: Michael Turner

Cardinals @ Panthers (-2.5)
Ditto to everything above. After a few years of people saying "THIS IS THE YEAR FOR ARIZONA!" they've actually put together a solid season so far. At 4-2 they're in the driver's seat in the NFC West, which is *ahem* no small feat. The Panthers are looking legit at this point, and should be a top-10 team on everybody's board. Then again, all that means is they're likely to be a bottom-10 team in a few weeks. I still like them in this game, as they have the defense to contend with the Cards.
Adam's Pick: Carolina takes it, 28-21
Fantasy Love: Steve Smith
Fantasy Hate: Edgerrin James

Raiders @ Ravens (-5.5)
Tom Cable gets his first win... YAY! The Ravens went from a confident 2-0 team to a 3-3 squad that looks very much like they're QB and Head Coach are new to working at this level. I'm not down on the Ravens, I actually think they'll be at or above .500 on the season, but these are just the growing pains you go through most of the time when you have such inexperience at 2 key posts. They'll beat the Raiders though... the Raiders are still horrible.
Adam's Pick: Baltimore wins, 13-10
Fantasy Love: nobody
Fantasy Hate: everybody

Steelers @ Giants
Pregame shows keep talking about how Pittsburgh can't win this one because they don't have a running game without Willie Parker... but apparently they haven't been watching the work that Mewelde Moore has been doing in his absense. The Giants will either start the game without Plaxico or not see him at all this week. Either way, I see this is an AFC vs. NFC statement game that Pittsburgh comes out on top of.
Adam's Pick: Pittsburgh wins, 31-27
Fantasy Love: Mewelde Moore
Fantasy Hate: Brandon Jacobs

Bengals @ Texans
First thing's first... I want to say I'm glad Cedric Benson is getting a chance to be in the league again. That whole story of him and the boat this year was messed up, and I feel he got a bad deal on it. That being said, he still isn't a very good running back, and the Bengals will need a big game from Ryan Fitzpatrick to win this one. I don't see it happening. The running game of the Texans is coming on, and giving some good balance to that offense for once.
Adam's Pick: Texans take it, 27-14
Fantasy Love: Steve Slaton
Fantasy Hate: Cedric Benson

Browns @ Jaguars
I've probably been a little too high on the Browns this year and a little too low on the Jags. I'll bend and reverse those two this week.
Adam's Pick: Jax wins, 21-17
Fantasy Love: Jones-Drew
Fantasy Hate: Jamal Lewis

Seahawks @ 49ers
Hey what's up with cheese, anyway? I mean, what's it even made out of... HURGH! HUuGHH!
Adam's Pick: Seattle wins, 17-13
Fantasy Love: Maurice Morris
Fantasy Hate: JT O'Sullivan