Two months into the season and we have some surprises and a few letdowns. Week 8 of the NFL AFC West gives us a couple of interesting match ups. Among them is my pick for Game of the Week, Seattle at Oakland. It will be interesting to see how Oakland plays against the Seahawks after last week’s blowout win. I don’t think that Seattle is as good as it looks, and I’ll even be brave enough to say the Raiders are a bit better, but the Seahawks have had a few breaks in their favor.
Before we jump into this week’s previews, let’s look at this week’s AFC West leaders.
San Diego’s Phillip Rivers still remains the division’s passing leader with 2,344 yards, while Oakland’s Darren McFadden leads all running back with 557 rushing yards, and Denver’s Brandon Lloyd leads receivers with 709 yards receiving.
Defensively, the Broncos DJ Williams has 63 tackles, while the Chargers Shaun Phillips has seven sacks, and Chargers Antoine Cason, is the divisions leading Interceptor, with two.
Here I take a look at the matchups, giving you some early insight that will help make your 2010 NFL wagers winners.
SUN, OCT 31 TIME (ET)
Buffalo at Kansas City 1:00 PM CBS – the Chiefs are off to their best start in five years with a 4-2 record, whereas Buffalo is suffering a tough season and has yet to post a win. KC will be looking for its fourth straight home win since 2003, and is a favorite heading into the matchup. The lowly Bills will try to prevent their worst start in 26 years, but that may rest in the hands of the defense. They have been outscored 198-121 on the season, and not being able to stop the run is mostly to blame. Buffalo has allowed 175 yards a game to rank last in the NFL. It’s a low scoring offense that takes itself out of games by allowing too many. Meanwhile, Kansas City leads the league in rushing with 177 a game, that’s a dangerous combination- a team who runs against a team who can’t stop it. This one is a given for KC to win.
PREDICTION: Chiefs
Tennessee at San Diego 4:05 PM CBS – San Diego’s Phil Rivers continues to be a one man wrecking crew as he works towards 3,000 yards and has 13 touchdowns thus far. Unfortunately, a receiving crew that is falling short wastes much of his ability. Antonio Gates is still nursing a toe injury and isn’t at full strength. Mike Tolbert and Ryan Matthews are a middle of the pack rushing duo on a team that ranks 17th. The defense has been great despite the record, ranking 1st in opponent air yards and 4th in ground yards. If only they could score, the record would look a lot different. Not mention the turnovers they have given up, 18, more than all of 2009. the Titans meanwhile lack the QB and wall of defense, relying on an 8th ranked rush and manage to rank 1st in the south with a 5-2 record. That’s where the Chargers should be. On paper, you want to give it to San Diego, but it isn’t going to happen.
PREDICTION: Tennessee
Seattle at Oakland 4:15 PM CBS- The Raiders had been treading water most of the season, and while I thought they had a small chance against Denver, but I didn’t think it would go like that. A 59-14 win where nearly everyone touched the ball. Oakland has been a strong team on defending against the pass as Kyle Orton found out the hard way. Despite the showing, we need to remember that’s not the team that Oakland is. Expect a strong defense and nowhere near that level of offense. The Seahawks stumbled a bit after the season opener, but look back on track with two straight wins, including last week’s 22-10 win over Arizona. The Seahawks are pretty mediocre everywhere, save one thing — opponents only rush for 77.5 yards a game (2nd). That’s the one spot Oakland usually excels at and it will be negated this week. They are riding a high, but it won’t last long against the 1st place ‘Hawks.
PREDICTION: Seattle
San Francisco at Denver 1:00 PM CBS-San Francisco is having a dismal season with a 1-6 record, but the defense is middle of the pack and there is some hope with QB Alex Smith. He has over 1500 yards and nine touchdowns on a breathless offense. But guess what? He hurt his shoulder and will now miss two or maybe even three games, so it actually did get worse in San Francisco. Denver doesn’t do many things well, but Orton has guided them to two wins with over 2,000 yards of passing. Those passes don’t mean they score often; averaging 17 over the last three games. Amazingly, that will be enough to beat San Francisco for their third win.
PREDICTION: Denver
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