Not a very good week last week for some of us but we’ll rebound this week. (Everyone who picked Jacksonville to win the game, raise your hand.) There are some intriguing matchups this week but the last two games on Sunday, Patriots/Steelers and Cowboys/Eagles are the big draws. We’ll also find out how the Lions rebound from adversity and whether Tim Tebow was a half game fluke last week.

The featured games this week are Jaguars @ Texans, Lions @ Broncos, Patriots @ Steelers, and Cowboys @ Eagles.

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NFL Week 8 2011 Picks

Straight Up

MATCHUP	Vegas Vinny	BostonMac	RJ	Burton	Actual
Cards @ Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens
Jaguars @ Texans	Texans	Texans	Texans	Texans
Vikings @ Panthers	Panthers	Vikings	Vikings	Panthers
Colts @ Titans	Titans	Titans	Titans	Colts
Dolphins @ Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants
Saints @ Rams	Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints
Lions @ Broncos	Lions	Lions	Broncos	Broncos
Redskins @ Bills	Bills	Bills	Bills	Bills
Bengals @ Seahawks	Bengals	Seahawks	Seahawks	Bengals
Browns @ Niners	Niners	Niners	Niners	Niners
Patriots @ Steelers	Patriots	Steelers	Patriots	Steelers
Cowboys @ Eagles	Cowboys	Eagles	Eagles	Eagles
Chargers @ Chiefs	Chargers	Chiefs	Chiefs	Chargers
Prev Week	7-6	8-5	10-3	10-3
Overall	71-32	65-38	66-37	59-44

Against the Spread

MATCHUP	Vegas Vinny	BostonMac	RJ	Burton	Actual
Cards @ Ravens (-13)	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Cards
Jaguars @ Texans (-10.5)	Texans	Texans	Jaguars	Texans
Vikings @ Panthers (-3.5)	Panthers	Vikings	Vikings	Panthers
Colts @ Titans (-9)	Titans	Colts	Titans	Colts
Dolphins @ Giants (-10)	Giants	Giants	Giants	Giants
Saints @ Rams (+13)	Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints
Lions @ Broncos (+3.5)	Lions	Lions	Broncos	Broncos
Redskins @ Bills (-4.5)	Bills	Bills	Bills	Redskins
Bengals @ Seahawks (+1)	Bengals	Seahawks	Seahawks	Bengals
Browns @ Niners (-10)	Niners	Browns	Browns	Niners
Patriots @ Steelers (+2.5)	Patriots	Steelers	Patriots	Steelers
Cowboys @ Eagles (-3.5)	Cowboys	Cowboys	Eagles	Cowboys
Chargers @ Chiefs (+3.5)	Chargers	Chiefs	Chiefs	Chargers
Prev Week	4-9	6-7	7-6	9-4
Overall	53-48	52-49	55-46	50-51

Locks of the Week

Vegas Vinny: (2-5, Balance=$610) By now, you’ve heard the stat that Andy Reid is 142-0 following the bye week. This is true. Andy is undefeated when he gets 2 weeks to prepare for a game that usually requires 1 week to prepare for. (Well, except for that pesky Super Bowl game but that’s another story.)

Anyway, trends are made to be broken. Unless you’re talking about the roulette wheel, in which case the gambler’s fallacy comes into play. However this isn’t about stats and odds, and fancy learned terms from not-real-America fancy colleges. This is about a football team that seems to have a lot of momentum (1 game?) because Rex Grossman decided he wanted to hand out Christmas presents early.

A week off and a gifted win seems to have everyone forgetting about the fact that the Eagles FO was playing fantasy football with the owners money. (Right, Asante?) They played it so poorly that they forgot to draft individual defensive players and now have no linebackers or safeties. I guess Howie and Joe were too busy looking at sack stats.

Unless Tony Romo pulls a Rex Grossman (and that is infinitely possible), the Cowboys offense is gonna run roughshod over the Eagles D. Maybe Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, and DeSean Jackson can keep up. But I’m betting $110 to win $100 on the Cowboys (+3.5) that they can’t.

BostonMac: (3-4, Balance=$985)I’ve got an upset special for a lock this week. Christian Ponder and Adrien Peterson brought some life to the Minnesota offense last week, while (as Vin put it) Salty McNabb stewed on the sidelines. The Vikings damn near knocked off the high and mighty Green Bay Packers with their rookie quarterback and otherworldly running back. Meanwhile, the Panthers finally got over their hump and actually won a game instead of pulling a backdoor cover. I’m looking for Carolina to take a step back this week, especially since playing John Beck and the Redskins in Week 7 is akin to playing dodgeball against a group of blind kids. Since the other guys are stepping it up this week (with RJ putting an un-RJ-like $330 against his Pittsburgh Steelers), I’ll goose-step along with the crowd and put $220 to win $200 on MINNESOTA (+3.5).

RJ: (2-4, Balance =$1,035) Back in Week 5, Burton and I were tripping over ourselves to pick against our own teams for our LOTW. Burton won in a landslide, picking his tired Falcons to get crushed by the Packers. I predicted my Steelers would continue their buffoonery against the Titans, but I didn’t put my money up like Burton did. I didn’t feel it.

Well this week, I’ve got great reason to not just feel it, but to know it. To own it. Pittsburgh has played great since my rant, but many flaws remain. Those happen to be flaws the Patriots will exploit. The Steelers haven’t been getting enough pressure on the quarterback, and the best they bring will be from the outside. The Patriots offensive line rarely allows Brady to be pressured from his blindside. The Steelers last year dropped more guys in coverage and will probably do the same this year. Problem for the Steelers is they have no answer for Hernandez or Gronkowski. Also, that opens up things for Benjarvus Green-Ellis Von Trapp or whatever his name is. Maybe I’m “buying” this one for the Steelers, but I don’t think the reverse jinx works. The Patriots (-2.5) are too much for the Steelers. $330/300.

Burton: (4-3, Balance =$1610)