"Somewhere, George Halas Is Smiling"

Week 8 Recap:
vs. W/L: (8-6)
vs. Spread: (6-8)
vs. Aggregate: (8-6)

For The Season:
Vs. W/L: (75-41)
Vs. Spread: (62-54)
Vs. Aggregate: (59-57)

Vs. “The CBSSportsline Experts”:
PFN: 62-54-0
Richard: 60-55-0
Judge: 60-55-0
Madden: 60-55-0
Prisco: 57-58-0
“SpiN”: 55-60-0
Harmon: 55-60-0

It wasn’t much of a week for anyone who forecasts football games, as was evidenced by everyone’s results. As a result, we backed into the top spot in the standings. Maybe it’ll last, and maybe it won’t. Suffice to say, we won’t be predicting any Detroit wins anytime soon. It is the unpredictability of team performance that makes this endeavor fraught with risk, and one of the reasons why we write this page “for fun and amusement only”.

There were some interesting events in Week 8, starting with Coach Singletary’s ordering Vernon Davis off the field after the tight end committed a stupidly willful penalty by slapping an opponent’s face mask. If 49ers’ ownership is serious about winning, they ought to give Singletary every reasonable chance to grow into his position as a head coach, allowing for ups and downs along the way. There is no doubt that fostering an old school mentality in today’s NFL is not going to be an easy task. Part of the problem with drafting in the top-10 over several years is that guaranteed bonus contracts create an air of privilege among the few so blessed. These aren’t the sort of players Singletary wants in his locker room. Time will tell whether the players buy in or tune out, but the rookie coach should be applauded for trying to change the culture of losing.

Week 8 Game Balls: NY Giants, for their tough win in Pittsburgh. The key play of the game was when the Steelers’ long snapper was carted off with a leg injury. His replacement set in motion a series of errors that cost Pittsburgh a win.

Cleveland Browns: Coach Crennel’s team out played Jacksonville in every phase of the game to post a 23-17 win on the road.

Miami Dolphins: Yet another big win against a top dog. Buffalo was playing so well coming into this one; it’s hard to give them a mulligan.

New England Patriots: How does a team come away victoriously after getting outplayed? By playing penalty-free football, that’s how.