Judging by my predictions last week, the NFL this season has been somewhat unpredictable.  A few highlights from my week 8 picks:

Colts +9.5 over Titans

What I said: Hard to take Indianapolis after they were crushed by the Saints

What happened: I took them, and they lost by 17

Giants -9.5 over Dolphins

What I said: Last time I took the Giants when they were heavily favoured at home, they failed to cover…

What happened: They failed to cover, I failed to learn my lesson

Saints -10.5 over Rams

What I said:   I’m not sure how high they would have had to make this line for me to take the Rams – maybe -20.5.

What happened: The Rams lost their starting Quarterback, Sam Bradford for the game, but beat the Saints by 10

In other games: the Cardinals had a big lead over the Ravens in Baltimore, but failed to hold on and lost by a field goal; the Bills won for the first time in five tries playing in Toronto, keeping the injury plagued Redskins off the scoreboard in a 23-0 win; Tim Tebow had another bad game but without the fourth quarter heroics – the Lions beating the Broncos 45-10, moving Detroit to 6-2 for the season; the Steelers dominated the Patriots, whose secondary could not contain any of Pittsburgh’s receivers in a 25-17 loss for New England; and the Eagles put in the kind of performance that shows why many predicted them as Superbowl favourites before the season, as they beat their divisional rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 34-7.  On Monday night, the Chiefs won their fourth straight game, having lost their first three, and now sit atop the AFC West with the team they beat, the San Diego Chargers.

This week sees several good divisional matchups across the league: AFC East contenders the Bills and Jets meet in Buffalo; the Steelers look for revenge for their week 1 loss against the Ravens in Pittsburgh; the New Orleans Saints hope to recover from their shock loss to the Rams, at home to the Buccaneers, who had a bye last week after their trip to London the previous Sunday; and in a battle of the Bad Quarterbacks, Tim Tebow’s Broncos face off with Carson Palmer’s Raiders in Oakland.  There is also a rematch of Superbowl 42, when the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots to spoil their perfect season; the Packers will look to continue their unbeaten season when they play the Chargers in San Diego – though Sports Illustrated jinxed Green Bay this week by putting them on their cover with a headline of “The Perfect Pack”; the 6-1 49ers come to the East Coast to play the Washington Redskins; and the Rams try to improve on last week’s surprise win over the Saints when they travel to Arizona to face the Cardinals.

Predictions:

Last week 6-7, somehow – having gone 1-5 in the early games; Season 61-55

Home teams in bold

Falcons -7.5 over Colts

Bills -1.5 over Jets

Texans -10.5 over Browns

Seahawks +12.5 over Cowboys

Chiefs –6.5 over Dolphins

Saints -7.5 over Buccaneers

49ers -3.5 over Redskins

Bengals +2.5 over Titans

Raiders -7.5 over Broncos

Chargers +5.5 over Packers (SI might jinx the Packers, I’m definitely not going to)

Rams +4.5 over Cardinals

Giants +8.5 over Patriots

Steelers -3.5 over Ravens

Eagles -6.5 over Bears