Brads NFL Picks Week Eight 2016
Brads Picks was 7-7-1 last week and is 62-44-1 on the season. Here’s the good, bad and ugly from last week. (Carolina and Dallas had a bye)
the good:
Giants 17, Los Angeles 10 – The game was played at Twickenham Stadium outside London. Anyway, the Rams jumped out to a 10 – 0 lead.
Cincinnati 31, Browns 17 – A.J. Green did a great job of reeling in a Hail Mary pass just before halftime. But even without it the Bengals were the alpha dog in this one.
Detroit 20, Reds 17 – Two under the radar teams. Reds might have won it had not RB Matt Jones lost a fumble inside the Detroit 5 yard line.
Kansas City 27, Saints 21 – Home field is an advantage. Saints had 6 more penalties than the Chiefs and two more turnovers, including a pick 6.
Buccaneers 34, San Francisco 17 – Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara wasn’t even half full.
Cheatriots 27, Pittsburgh 16 – Landry Jones replaced Ben the R at QB and the Steelers still made a game of it.
Denver 27, Texans 9 – Brock Osweiler was treated rudely by the crowd, which was rude of them. Broncos wouldn’t have made it to SB 50 without him. Texans lost by 18 but I don’t think there is a team in the NFL that could have won at Mile High last Monday.
the tie:
Arizona 6, Seaquacks 6 (OT) – Both teams made a FG on their first possession of OT so the game continued. Both teams missed short FGs in the last minute.
the bad:
Miami 28, Bills 25 – Miami formula for success – give the ball to Jay Ajayi. He gained 214 on 28 carries (7.6 per carry). This was the second week in a row Ajayi has rushed for 200 or more, making him just the 4th player since 1960 to accomplish that (O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell, and Ricky Williams are the others).
Bills gained 67 on the ground.
NY Jets 24, Ravens 16 – Joe Flacco threw two INTs and the Jets got ten points from them. Ravens gained a grand total of 6 (six!) yards on the ground.
Colts 34, Tennessee 26 – Andrew Luck threw a 7 yard pass to Jack Doyle with less than two minutes left for the final score. Colts have won ten straight against the Titans.
Chargers 33, Atlanta 30 (OT) – Matt Ryan and Phillip Rivers each had a TD and an INT. Chargers were down 17 at one point but ten points in the 4th sent the game to OT. A 42 yard FG gave the Chargers their first road win of the season. (In 4 tries).
the ugly:
Green Bay 26, Bears 10 (TNF) – Bears QB Brian Hoyer left the game early in the second quarter (broken arm) when the score was 3-3. Matt Barkley (4th round pick in 2013 out of USC) replaced him and was pretty ineffective.
But the real story of the game was Aaron Rodgers in the second half. He did get stripped of the ball in the third by rookie Leonard Floyd (who then recovered in the end zone) but otherwise Rodgers was impressive, throwing for three TDs in the second half.
Raiders 33, Jacksonville 16 – Both teams gained a total of 344 yards. Both QBs threw a TD pass but Derek Carr had no INTs while Blake Bortles threw two.
Philadelphia 21, Vikings 10 – Eagles defense forced 4 turnovers (one came right after the Vikings defense gave the Vikings the ball at the Philly 2 yard line, whereupon Sam Bradford threw an INT) and sacked Bradford 6 times. Eagles special teams scored a TD on a 98 yard kickoff return. Carson Wentz wasn’t so great against the Vikings D (2 INTs) but the Eagles don’t care.
This weeks games: off this week: Baltimore, NY Giants, Miami, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
the TNF game:
Jacksonville (2-4) at Tennessee (3-4) – Division game. Blake Bortles had a nice sophomore season in 2015, with 35 TDs and 18 TDs. But this year he has 9 of each. Titans have a much better defense, at least on paper. And they have a good run game. Last weeks loss may have been because they always lose to the Colts. Take Tennessee.
the 11:00 MDT games:
Washington (4-3) at Cincinnati (3-4) (London) – Reds CB Josh Norman suffered a concussion last Sunday and hasn’t yet been cleared. The Reds other top CB, Bashaud Breeland, has a lingering ankle injury that’s caused him to miss two of the last 4 games. Sounds like a big day for AJ Green. Take the Bengals.
Green Bay (4-2) at Atlanta (4-3) – Green Bay last played on TNF. Atlanta had to go to OT last week and lost to the Chargers. Atlanta started 5-0 a year ago, then finished 8-8. They started strong again this year but have lost 2 in a row. That’s got to be in their heads, and playing against a Packers team that seemed to get their offense together (meaning Rodgers) is probably not the best deal. Could go either way but I’m taking the Packers.
New England (6-1) at Buffalo (4-3) – Division game. Bills beat the Cheaters in Week 4, but that was with an injured rookie at QB. Cheaters have Brady back so take them.
NY Jets (2-5) at Cleveland (0-7) – Browns have had lots of problems at QB this year. First, Robert Griffin went down, then veteran backup Josh McCown suffered a broken collarbone in Week Two. Rookie Cody Kessler (USC) has played well, but he’s out with a concussion. But McCown was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and will likely start. Rookie Kevin Hogan (Stanford) was decent last week in relief of Kessler, if you don’t count his 2 INTs.
Meanwhile, the Jets gave up on Ryan Fitzpatrick a week ago and started Geno Smith, who promptly got injured. Fitz played a decent game (9-14-120-0 and a TD). He’s taking a lot of credit for the win, but when your D holds the oppo (Ravens) to just 6 yards rushing and intercepts Joe Flacco twice and when your ground game churns out 155 yards, maybe Fitz should just STFU. I’m betting the Browns get their first win of the season.
Detroit (4-3) at Houston (4-3) – Houston played on MNF, getting trounced at Mile High. But they’re 4-0 at home. Detroit has won their last three, but all were at home, by a combined 7 points. Still, Matt Stafford is playing well, Brock Osweiler is not. There seems to be a disconnect between Os and HC O’Brien (they had a shouting match a couple weeks ago). Guess I’ll take Houston at home.
Kansas City (4-2) at Indianapolis (3-4) – Colts have Andrew Luck and not much more. But that’s often enough. He’s having, by some accounts, the best season of his career. Chiefs had an easy win in Oakland two weeks ago (26-10), then struggled at Arrowhead against the Saints (27-21). Guess I’ll take the Colts at home.
Seattle (4-1-1) at New Orleans (2-4) – Seaqwacks offense wasn’t very impressive a week ago at Arizona, but the Cardinals have a good defense. Saints don’t, but they do have a very good offense, especially in their home dome. I’m taking the Saints. Russell Wilson is still a bit gimpy with an ankle injury.
Oakland (5-2) at Tampa Bay (3-3) – Raiders are 4-0 on the road this year – they won at Jacksonville last week and stayed on the east coast for this one. Bucs were at San Francisco last week and enjoyed an easy win. I dunno – go with the Road Warriors and take the Raiders?
the 2:05 MDT game:
San Diego (3-4) at Denver (5-2) – Division game. Broncos lost at San Diego two weeks ago, 21-13. But Trevor Siemian was limited after suffering a separated clavicle two weeks earlier. He’s pretty good now. Unfortunately, Broncos have lost RB CJ Anderson for a long time, maybe the season, with a torn meniscus. Rookie RB Davontae Booker has been playing real good though. Kapri Bibbs will be his backup. I expect a close division game but take the Broncos at Mile High.
the 2:25 MDT game:
Arizona (3-3-1) at Carolina (1-5) – The last time these two met was January 24 at Carolina in the NFC Championship game. Cardinals got pounded 49-15. Carolina had a bye last week, but after getting rid of two starting CBs earlier, they have no real defense. Carson Palmer has been playing poorly this year, but can he and the Cards defense get a little payback here? Put a nickel on the Cardinals.
the SNF game:
Philadelphia (4-2) at Dallas (5-1) – Division game. Dallas was off last week.
This is the first time since 1970 when the combined win percentage of opposing rookie QBs was .750 or better. Carson Wentz has cooled off a bit but has completed 64 percent of his passes with 8 TDs and 3 INTs. Dak Prescott has completed 69 percent of his passes with 7 TDs and just one INT.
Considering that Dallas had the week off, they have a great O line and are at home. You gotta take the Boys.
the MNF game:
Minnesota (5-1) at Chicago (1-6) – Division game. Bears last played on TNF, so they had a mini bye. They lost Brian Hoyer for the season but it looks like they’ll get Jay Cutler back. But take the Vikings.