Traina's Weekend Blitz: NFL Week 8 picks – FOXSports.com
Welcome to another edition of “Weekend Blitz,” a column that will appear on FOXSports.com each Friday during the football season. Consider this one of your must-read features as you wrap up the week and head into a Saturday and Sunday filled with pigskin. We’ll be giving out NFL picks, possibly some college football picks and plug some of the best content from the world of sports and pop culture.
Please come back every Friday, check FOXSports.com/Buzzer or follow me, @JimmyTraina, on Twitter.
If you’ve been following this column all season long, you know it’s been a bunch of .500 weeks. Last week was no different. We went 2-2 and the season record now stands at 17-15-1.
We absolutely hate the board this week, but we managed to find three games we like. Still, proceed with caution. This has been the hardest week to handicap all season.
THE PICKS
STEELERS -1.5 VS. BENGALS: Pittsburgh managed to not go in the tank when Ben Roethlisberger got hurt in Week 3 against the Rams. Now comes the perfect storm on Sunday: Big Ben returns in a home game against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers need to get wide receiver Antonio Brown going. With Roethlisberger back and the combination of backup QBs Michael Vick and Landry Jones a memory, that will happen Sunday. Yes, the Bengals are 6-0, but keep this in mind: In Cincy’s last 10 visits to Pittsburgh, the Bengals are 2-8 against the spread. Lastly, Andy Dalton is 2-6 in his career vs. the Steelers.
SEAHAWKS -6 AT COWBOYS: Seattle’s defense is not what it once was, but we have to believe it can feast on Matt Cassel and Darren McFadden. And here’s the thing: While the Seahawks defense has had some bad moments (blowing a big lead at Cincinnati, unable to stop Cam Newton and the Panthers), they’re still giving up the third-fewest yards per game (294.1) in the NFL. We can’t see this Cowboys team putting up many points, even if Dez Bryant returns for this game. Since leaving New England, Cassel’s record as a starting quarterback is 24-34.
BRONCOS +2.5 VS. PACKERS: Something has been off with Green Bay the past few weeks despite the undefeated record. The offense has missed Eddie Lacy and Davonte Adams, who have both been dealing with injuries. Those issues will be a problem on Sunday night when the Packers face the top-rated defense in the NFL. Much has been made about Peyton Manning’s regression, but we have a hunch the old man puts on a vintage performance in prime time against the guy who is probably the second-best QB in the league behind Tom Brady.
OTHER ITEMS
* Vegas had a very good September when it came to the NFL.
* That’s a long time.
* Happy (NSFW) Halloween fron Larry David.
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