As we approach nearly two months of regular season action, Week 8 of the NFL NFC West gives us a couple interesting match ups. Among them is my pick for Game of the Week, Seattle vs. Oakland, just because I was shocked by the score of the Raiders game last week. I know they will not be doing it again, but I think they are better than people have given them credit.
Despite the 49ers dismal season, Alex Smith was the best QB in the division before a shoulder injury. He had thrown for 1,554 yards. Steven Jackson continues to be a rushing threat for St. Louis with 617 yards, breaking Eric Dickerson’s franchise record. Patrick Willis, for San Francisco, is the division leader on sacks with 58 while James Hall from the Rams has grabbed 6.5 sacks to pace the group.
Now let’s take a quick look at each NFC West Week 8 match up’s.
SUN, OCT 31 TIME (ET)
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 was some hope with developing QB Alex Smith; unfortunately his 1,500 yards and nine touchdowns will be missed for a few weeks as he hurt his shoulder and will now miss two to three games. 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, but amazingly that will be enough to beat San Francisco without Smith, for their third win and first at Wembley Stadium.
PREDICTION: Denver
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 I didn’t think it would go like that; a 59-14 win where nearly everyone touched the ball. The Raiders will play with a renewed energy, but they are not the team we saw last week. The secondary has been a strong defending against the pass as Kyle Orton found out the hard way. Expect a strong defense and nowhere near that level of offense of last week. The Seahawks stumbled a bit after the season opener, but appear to be back on track with two straight wins, including last week’s 22-10 Arizona win. The Seahawks are mediocre everywhere, except in the area the Raiders excel –holding opponents to just 77.5 yards rushing a game (2nd). The Riaders are riding a high, but it won’t last long against the 1st place ‘Hawks.
PREDICTION: Seattle
Tampa at Arizona 4:15 PM FOX- Tampa squeaked out an 18-17 win against the Rams last week to push their record to 4-2. The team has been good against the pass ranking sixth in the league, but constantly struggles to score. Three of their wins now have been by three points or less. The defense will not last a season under that pressure. Arizona lost to Seattle, 22-10, and has played to a 3-3 record, which looks better than their numbers. They rank at the bottom in both rushing and passing, and the defense isn’t much better. A few breaks along the way have put them in second place. QB Derek Anderson has thrown all of three touchdowns and their leading rusher and receiver have two each. Back up QB Max Hall has none. Neither team makes me run to the TV, but if I’m going to watch, I expect a Tampa win.
Prediction-Tampa
Carolina at St. Louis 1 PM FOX- Carolina got its first win of the season last week against the arguably worse San Francisco 49ers. Of course, two equally bad teams will play a close one, as Carolina won it 23-20. The team doesn’t do much on offense, but it does know how to block a pass, ranking 4th in the league. QB Matt Moore has four touchdowns, which speaks volumes of the offense’s ability regardless of how many passes they knock down. The Rams are middle of the road just about everywhere, and they have ended up with a middle of the road record of 3-4. The defense is equal on the ground and air, so will look like a brick wall against the Carolina attack. The team usually will amount close to points of its own, which may just be a blowout this week.
Prediction- St. Louis
Click Here for more Free Expert NFL Football Picks
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.