Week 8 NFL Picks

KNOCKOUT POOL/ESPN.com ELIMINATOR CHALLENGE

We made it 7-for-7 last week with a win for Minnesota over Arizona. There are about 10,000 left in the ESPN.com Eliminator Challenge, but we are one of those 10,000.

This week’s pick: Green Bay defeating Jacksonville

When Green Bay gets rolling, they are a good pick.  When they play at home against a Jacksonville team that is going to miss its best player, RB Maurice Jones-Drew, it is as close to a lock as possible.  The only question is whether we want to use Green Bay now instead of later in the season.  But, there were no picks I felt nearly as good about compared to this game, so it will be the Packers.

PAST PICKS

Week 1: Houston (W vs. MIA)

Week 2: N.Y. Giants (W vs. TBY)

Week 3: Chicago (W vs. STL)

Week 4: Baltimore (W vs. CLE)

Week 5: San Francisco (W vs. BUF)

Week 6: N.Y. Jets (W vs. IND)

Week 7: Minnesota (W vs. ARZ)

GAME PICKS/ESPN.com PIGSKIN PICK ‘EM

Here are the game picks for this week.  We also have a “Sports With the StatMan” entry in the ESPN.com Pigskin Pick ‘Em for games against the spread.  We talk about the local games and the three of the other most important games, our “Big Games”, on our weekly This Week in Fantasy Sports segment on Saturdays, but we pick every game, every week here on the blog.  Here they are:

LOCAL GAMES

Last Week: 2-0 straight up, 1-1 against the spread

Season: 17-8 straight up, 15-9-1 against the spread

Week 8 Picks:

New England vs. St. Louis (in London) – Straight Up: NE, Against the Spread: NE (-6.5)

N.Y. Giants at Dallas – Straight Up: NYG, Against the Spread: NYG (-1.5)

Miami at N.Y. Jets – Straight Up: NYJ, Against the Spread: NYJ (-2.5)

Atlanta at Philadelphia – Straight Up: PHL, Against the Spread: PHL (-2.5)

BIG GAMES

Last Week: 3-0 straight up, 1-2 against the spread

Season: 18-4 straight up, 13-9 against the spread

Week 8 Picks:

Washington at Pittsburgh – Straight Up: PIT, Against the Spread: WSH (+5.5)

New Orleans at Denver – Straight Up: DEN, Against the Spread: NO (+6.5)

San Francisco at Arizona – Straight Up: SFO, Against the Spread: ARZ (+6.5)

OTHER GAMES

Last Week: 7-1 straight up, 6-2 against the spread

Season: 32-25 straight up, 26-31 against the spread

Week 8 Picks:

Tampa Bay at Minnesota – Straight Up: MIN, Against the Spread: TBY (+6.5)

San Diego at Cleveland – Straight Up: SDG, Against the Spread: SDG (-2.5)

Indianapolis at Tennessee – Straight Up: TEN, Against the Spread: TEN (-3.5)

Jacksonville at Green Bay – Straight Up: GBY, Against the Spread: GBY (-13.5)

Seattle at Detroit – Straight Up: DET, Against the Spread: DET (-2.5)

Carolina at Chicago – Straight Up: CHI, Against the Spread: CHI (-7.5)

Oakland at Kansas City – Straight Up: OAK, Against the Spread: OAK (+1.5)

START ‘EM/ANTI-START ‘EM/ESPN.com GRIDIRON CHALLENGE

We are participating in the ESPN Gridiron Challenge on ESPN.com.  The object is to pick the best team possible with a $50 million salary cap.  However, we are adding another wrinkle.  The object of the ESPN.com is to buy low and sell high and the more you accomplish that, the more money you get in your salary cap.  My goal is to put together a nine-man unit (2 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF) that is better than another nine-man unit at a similar price.

So far this season, my nine-man squad is 2-5 against a comparable squad:

Week 1: Head-to-Head – L, 107-124; By Position – 2-6-1

Week 2: Head-to-Head – L, 73-98; By Position – 3-6

Week 3: Head-to-Head – L, 103-139; By Position – 3-6

Week 4: Head-to-Head – L, 105-118; By Position – 4-5

Week 5: Head-to-Head – W, 110-56; By Position – 7-2

Week 6: Head-to-Head – L, 98-127; By Position – 2-6-1

Week 7: Head-to-Head – W, 119-80; By Position – 6-3

TOTALS: W-L: 2-5, PF: 716, PA: 732, By Position: 27-34-2

Here is the Week 8 entry in the Gridrion Challenge, our “Start ‘Em” team, along with our comparable “Anti-Start ‘Em” team, which is our opponent for the week:

(all dollar figures in millions)

Start ‘Em Team	POS	Anti-Start ‘Em Team
Peyton Manning DEN ($7.0)	QB	Andrew Luck IND ($6.3)
Ben Roethlisberger PIT ($6.2)	QB	Alex Smith SFO ($5.4)
LeSean McCoy PHL ($7.4)	RB	Michael Turner ATL ($6.8)
Alex Green GBY ($4.4)	RB	Jonathan Stewart CAR ($5.6)
Antonio Brown PIT ($6.0)	WR	Steve Smith CAR ($6.1)
Malcom Floyd SDG ($5.8)	WR	DeSean Jackson PHL ($6.0)
Anthony Fasano MIA ($4.9)	TE	Brent Celek PHL ($5.4)
Mason Crosby GBY ($3.5)	K	Alex Henery PHL ($4.3)
New York Jets NYJ ($4.5)	DEF	Kansas City Chiefs KCY ($3.8)
$49.7 million	TOTAL	$49.7 million

Catch me on "Sports With The StatMan" on Wednesdays at 11pm ET and Saturdays at 11am ET. We'll break down these picks and look ahead to next week on our This Week in Fantasy Sports segment, Saturday morning at 11am ET.