Eighth Week of Competitive Football Predictions

Through seven weeks of predictions, I have a 187-70 record. That's not bad, but the distribution is mediocre. I'm 95-23 on picking high school games and 37-10 picking college games. Those are good records. My NFL record is just 55-37 through six weeks, and I was a pedestrian 8-6 this season. One of the issues is that normal NFL trends aren't holding up so far this year- it's a strange football season. Just 10 teams have a winning record, and 14 are at .500 or above. A whopping 18 teams have a bad record right now. Some teams- I'm looking at you Seattle and Baltimore- have been huge disappointments. Teams like Kansas City, San Diego, and Detroit have been impossible to pick right. So, i'm struggling.

Anyway, here's this week's picks:

NFL

• Seattle 24 San Francisco 20
• Buffalo 27 Jacksonville 14
• Detroit 27 Minnesota 21
• Indianapolis 31 New Orleans 24
• Pittsburgh 17 Kansas City 10
• Miami 17 Houston 7
• New England 31 New York Jets 10
• St. Louis 27 Cleveland 10
• Atlanta 31 Tennessee 14
• Washington 17 Tampa Bay 14
• San Diego 34 Oakland 17
• New York 27 Dallas 21
• Philadelphia 27 Carolina 24
• Arizona 24 Baltimore 17

Lots of dangerous games in this bunch. There are too many teams I can't figure out. I keep waiting for them to get it together, and they don't.

College

• Temple 27 East Carolina 20
• Pittsburgh 34 Syracuse 20
• Penn State 24 Maryland 20
• Ohio State 45 Rutgers 14
• Lehigh 24 Fordham 21
• Holy Cross 42 Lafayette 10
• Moravian 27 Franklin & Marshall 14

Not many gimmes to pick. Temple keeps winning, but they scare me. Pitt looks good now, but scared me earlier. Penn State could definitely make me look bad. Just a tough week to pick.

High School

• Liberty 35 Easton 14
• Parkland 28 Freedom 21
• Bethlehem Catholic 42 Stroudsburg 35
• Nazareth 42 Whitehall 21
• Central Catholic 35 Northampton 14
• Emmaus 35 Pocono Mt. East 14
• East Stroudsburg South 21 Allen 7
• Pocono Mt. West 21 Dieruff 14
• Pleasant Valley 21 East Stroudsburg North 20
• Saucon Valley 63 Bangor 0
• Salisbury 28 Catasauqua 0
• Southern Lehigh 28 Northern Lehigh 21
• Northwestern 35 Palmerton 7
• Notre Dame 35 Palisades 14
• Wilson 21 Pen Argyl 14
• Belvidere 28 Pingry 21
• Phillipsburg 28 Hunterdon Central 27
• Warren Hills 21 Somerville 14

This should be an interesting week.