Week 8 Thursday Night Pick

Six takeaways from Week 7.

1. Patriots at Jets. Pushgate.

First of all I think the penalty should not have been called in that situation. Was it the correct call according to the letter of the law? Maybe. The NFL wants to protect it's players and that play could be dangerous if the defensive player pushes his own teammate into a semi-defenseless offensive lineman. I understand all of that. What I don't like is most (not all) Patriot fans are losing their minds blaming that one call for the entire loss? You do realize you were playing the Jets? The team you love to make fun of whenever you can. If you want to blame something for the loss blame the fact that you went 1-12 on 3rd down, or that you only had the ball for 23 minutes, or that Lord Brady got sacked 4 times, or that Lord Brady threw a pick six, or that you had 100 penalty yards, or that you let Chris Ivory run for 104 yards, or that you blew an 11 point lead. Bottom line is that the Jets deserved to win that game. Sure maybe not on that field goal but if you are the Patriots there are a ton of places to look to before you blame the refs.

2. I have no idea what to make of the Jets. NONE.

I write about the Jets pretty much every week because after each game I think I have them figured out. I'm finally going to admit I have no idea what the Jets are going to do from week to week. The Steelers made them look bad but then they bounce back and beat the Patriots. The defense is good. I know that. I think Geno has a lot of talent and could become a very good QB. I think I know that. What I don't know is which Geno will show up for each game. Good Geno or Bad Geno?

3. Are the Colts the best team in the league?

I would have said yes had Reggie Wayne not torn his ACL. But the Colts have put together an impressive resume of wins. They are the only teams to beat the Seahawks and the Broncos plus they went into San Francisco and handed the 49ers their only home loss. They have proven they can go toe to toe with everybody in this league. They seem to have the AFC South wrapped up so if they can find a way to fill in the massive void of injured Reggie Wayne, they could be a big threat come playoff time.

4. The Steelers might have a little life.

Two straight wins. They have cut their deficit in half and get to play the Raiders in Week 8. I'm not looking past the Raiders though because the Steelers always struggle against the Black and Silver. They lost last year and have lost 3 of 4 so next Sunday is no gimme. Anyways, the Steelers seem to have at least lifted themselves off the mat. Wins against the Jets and Ravens didn't seem to likely when they were sitting at 0-4. If the Steelers do make a little run this year, I have a feeling the one game that will cost them will be their loss to the Vikings in London. They needed to win that game. They should have won that game. If they had they'd be 3-3 right now. I'm not saying the Steelers are going to the playoffs, that's a long ways away but they have given me some hope that they get to 5-5 after their next four games (games in Oakland and New England, home against Bills and Lions). Then with six games left (Brownies twice), who knows what can happen? All I know is that Viking loss will end out costing them if they get close to playoffs.

P.S. I clearly just jinxed them. I'm regretting writing this already. Hello 2-5. Damn Raiders.

5. NFL Injuries

The NFL is a brutal game. This Monday, it was just name after name of players that got injured. Jay Cutler, Lance Briggs, Sam Bradford, Reggie Wayne, Doug Martin, Brian Cushing, Arian Foster, Jermichael Finley, and I'm sure there are more that I missed. The NFL has become a war of attrition at this point. If you look at every NFL team almost all of them have a key player lost for the year and it's only Week 8. We all think that the Seahawks, Broncos, 49ers are among the elite teams in the league but if last week taught us anything, injuries could be just around the corner.

6. Bears and Rams QB situation in the future.

Both Jay Cutler and Sam Bradford got injured last week. Cutler with a groin is out for 4 weeks, while Bradford will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Coming into this year we knew it was going to be a big year for both of these two to prove they could be the franchise QB's. Cutler will have to play great for DA BEARS when he comes back in four weeks in order to get a big payday like Tony Romo did last off-season. As for Bradford, he is still under contract until for next year but will the Rams try to get a QB in the draft now? It's possible since Bradford hasn't proven he's a special quarterback so far during his career.

Thursday Night Pick

Tonight would be a fitting time for the Bucs to pull out the Creamsicle jerseys

Panthers 31, Bucs 16 -- The Bucs are brutal. They just lost Doug Martin for the season. They are 0-6. Who knows how much longer their coach will be around. Ronde Barber picked the right time to retire. The Panthers have won two in a row and three out of their last four. Cam Newton has played well two weeks in a row now, completing 15 of 17 passes last week against the Rams. Their defense is one of the best in the league and I don't see how they could lose tonight. Panthers win and possibly win big. 

P.S. I like GIFs. (Taken from @CorkGaines and @CJZero)