With the unfortunate passing of Era Sports writer Andrew
Waterman earlier this week, the folks in the Sports department have
decided that we should not allow the tradition of his NFL picks
column to fade away.

We will miss Andy’s football picks in the Saturday morning paper
and his insight on the local motorsports scene throughout the
summer.

I’ll be carrying on his NFL picks column and while I cannot say
how my selections will compare to Andy’s experience at this, I can
say that my column will not be nearly as funny as Clarkie’s college
football prognostications.

The game to see in Week 8 is clearly the Colts at the Patriots
on Sunday Night Football.

Hopefully this contest will live up to the hype. At the very
least, it’ll be a primetime game worth staying up late to watch.
We’ll all be bleary-eyed Monday morning, but there’ll be plenty of
time to nap between work and Monday Night Football.

Here are my picks for Week 8.

ATLANTA AT DETROIT – Michael Vick is playing like one of the top
quarterbacks in the league right now. As long as Alge Crumpler is
there to catch what Vick puts up the Falcons should roll. ATLANTA
28-17

MIAMI AT CHICAGO – I do not like the Dolphins’ chances. The Fins
are struggling and they’re not going to get things figured out
against the 7-0 Bears. CHICAGO 44-10

GREEN BAY AT BUFFALO – Hot or not? Green Bay is hot, Buffalo is
not. The Bills’ defense must crack down on the Packers’ running
game and J.P. Losman needs to exploit the Pack secondary. It will
be interesting to see how Lee Evans responds to the blanket
coverage of Packer cornerback Al Harris. GREEN BAY 24-21

CINCINNATI AT BALTIMORE – The Ravens are playing well at 5-2,
but I like Carson Palmer and the Bengals to come out on top in this
one. CINCINNATI 28-20

DALLAS AT WASHINGTON – I’m not yet convinced about Tony Romo’s
ability to be consistent as a starting QB, but the potential is
certainly there. Look for the Cowboys to sweep the season series in
this big NFC East rivalry. DALLAS 24-10

NEW ORLEANS AT TAMPA BAY – This will be a tough road game in
Tampa for the Saints. The Bucs will take advantage of the home
field for the upset win. TAMPA BAY 20-17

KANSAS CITY AT ST. LOUIS – The winner of this game comes away
with the best record in Missouri . Who cares? KANSAS CITY
34-28.

HOUSTON AT NEW YORK GIANTS – Best of luck to the Texans on the
road, but no. NEW YORK GIANTS 31-7

TENNESSEE AT JACKSONVILLE – Tennessee started the season 0-5,
but have won their last two. You have to root for Vince Young.
TENNESSEE 21-20.

MINNESOTA AT SAN FRANCISCO – Maybe the ghosts of San Francisco’s
glory days will help out with the Niners sporting their throwback
unis this week. Probably not. The Vikings aren’t so good either,
but Brad Johnson will always give his team a chance to win. VIKINGS
17-14.

CLEVELAND AT SAN DIEGO – The Chargers will win this one easily.
SAN DIEGO 30-3.

DENVER AT PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers
cannot get things going and it won’t be fun trying to right the
ship against the Broncos’ D. This is a must-win game for the
Steelers. DENVER 21-10.

INDIANAPOLIS AT NEW ENGLAND – This pick makes me ill. Which
quarterback do you think studied harder this week? A piece of
advice for the Pats: Give the ball to Laurence Maroney/Corey Dillon
and pound the Colts’ weak run defense. INDY 34-24.

OAKLAND AT SEATTLE – The Seahawks are without Matt Hasselbeck
and Shaun Alexander. I don’t think Oakland is as bad as their
record (2-5) and maybe Randy Moss will decide he feels like playing
on Monday Night. At any rate, it should be fun listening to Tony
Kornheiser’s barbs and Joe Theismann’s lectures for Moss. OAKLAND
24-13.