Week 8 NFL Recap and the Mid-Season Lady Blitz Football Awards

Hoo boy.  This week's post is going to be a little bit of a shot in the dark since I only got to see 1.5 games or so (Giants-Cowboys and 49ers-Cardinals).  But as the wise Alanis Morissette once said, life has a funny way of helping you out, meaning I am thrilled that I was able to miss the Saints' woeful performance in Mile High on Sunday night in order to see a fantastic Primus concert in 3D.  Needless to say I stopped checking the score well before they got to "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver." 

In a bit more brevity than usual, here is your Week 8 Recap.  I'll also feature a big idea, team and/or player each week to keep things interesting.  This week: The Mid-Season Lady Blitz Football Awards. But first, the good stuff:

Week 8: The Good Stuff

• Doug Martin's Breakout Performance - I admit that in the slog of the week to week, sometimes I get sucked into the gambler's fallacy that the week before is indicative of how a team will perform during the next game.  I firmly believe the Bucs are better than their record, and they showed it with a smash mouth performance against the surging Vikings on Thursday night.  It was a team effort with big offense and big takeaways, but special props go to rookie RB Doug Martin who earned over 200 all-purpose yards and 2 TDs on the night.  It's still a little early to say whether Martin can sustain success, but he certainly looked the part under the bright prime time lights.
• Hotlanta - It's hard to give credit to your arch-nemesis, but this one has a little bit of a smug factor for me. I rolled my eyes this past week when pundit after pundit (and Vegas) picked the Eagles to crash the Falcons' undefeated record simply because Andy Reid was previously 13 - 0 after bye weeks.  Yes, Atlanta's had some ugly wins in the past month, but Andy Reid's stat was and is now meaningless when you look at what these two teams have actually brought to the field this season.  To be clear, I think the '72 Dolphins will be uncorking the champagne yet again at some point in this regular season, as the Falcons are still fallible.  But they are truly on a path to break out in the NFC in a big way this postseason.  They are certainly in good company with their win-loss and scoring records.

• Nailed It!: My Best Week 8 Prediction - While not a blueprint of what I predicted, I give major props to the Miami Dolphins for continuing to make Rex Ryan look very stupid:
• "You've got a winning formula [for the Dolphins] at the Meadowlands: 1) shut down Shonne Greene early and often; 2) force Mark Sanchez to throw his way into disaster; 3) wear down the Jets defense with Reggie Bush before letting Ryan Tannehill loose.  Never thought I'd say it but I got big hopes for these Dolphins, at least this week."

Week 8: The Bad Stuff

• The Big Chokes - Hey, I'm not particularly complaining because these two teams' collapses kept me from going sub-0.500 in my picks again, but how about the Panthers and the Cowboys on Sunday?  Carolina had Chicago backed into a seemingly unwinnable corner on Sunday afternoon when they headed into the 4th quarter at 19 - 7.  But somehow they wound up throwing the ball with the lead in the waning minutes.  With Cam Newton.  Against the most dangerous secondary in the NFL.  For a pick six.  Talk about devastating for a team that was firmly in control for 56 minutes or so.  The Cowboys, on the other hand, absolutely deserved to lose on Sunday and found a way as to do so only the Cowboys can.  I'm not sure how much more proof Dallas needs to fire Jason Garrett after two years of miserable close losses that can be tied directly to his horrible play-calling.  (If I were a betting lady, I'd guess it has something to do with Garrett's hand-puppet status with Micromanager of the Universe himself Jerry Jones).  But somehow after 6 turnovers and an incredibly poor decision not to go for the first down on a 3-and-1 in the final minute, they were still just a Dez Bryant fingernail away from beating the Giants.  This, my friends, is evidence of a just God.

• The Saints' Altitude Sickness - To rip off something my buddy Erin said this week, New Orleans fans should take a page from Al Gore and blame this one on the altitude because there was no silver lining in Denver on Sunday night.  I had to look back to the annals of Wikipedia to confirm the last time the Saints lost this badly, and the winner goes to: a 2008 loss of 7 - 30 at the Carolina Panthers, who were--surprise, surprise--coached by John Fox at that time.  Fox's plan on Sunday night exposed the Saints at their worst, which is when Drew Brees gets shut down and the defense and run game have no answers.  If the Philadelphia Eagles were taking notes for next Monday night, there's no need to bench Michael Vick the way the New Orleans defense is playing.  But hey, Primus was a lot of fun.
• Shanked It!: My Worst Week 8 Prediction - It was another mediocre week of picks in Lady Blitz land, so I have plenty of fodder to choose from.  So I'll pick the one that I even knew I should have gotten right since these are always the most frustrating kinds:
• "Cleveland has a lot of reasons to win this game: the off-field distractions for the Chargers, the timing advantage of playing an early EDT game, Brandon Weeden's continued improvement week to week.  I hope it happens, but good teams find ways to win consistently and the Browns aren't quite there yet."

Week 8 Feature: The Mid-Season Lady Blitz Football Awards
This week, we welcome the moment to zoom out a little bit and reflect on the good, the bad and the Romo in some mid-season awards reflective of everything we've learned (and haven't learned) this season:

• The Most Nailed It! Teams - In terms of my prediction accuracy, it doesn't get better than the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars, both of whom I've picked perfectly (7 - 0 each) since the start of the season.  I've also picked the Jets correctly 7 times, but I shanked it when they stomped the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 and they haven't had a bye yet.
• The Most Shanked It! Team - The Pittsburgh Steelers are in sole possession of this, um, prestigious award after I finally got the Eagles right without really meaning to on Sunday.  I have only picked the Steelers correctly 1 time this entire season.  Even my coin toss prediction of the Redskins this past weekend was no match for the fightin' bumblebees.
• Biggest Bear - How can this not be William Perry, you ask?  Because I'm talking about which team's stock has gone down the most since the start of the season.  From the standpoint of my own preseason predictions, few teams have disappointed more than the Carolina Panthers and the Kansas City Chiefs so far this year, both of whom are sporting nasty 1 - 6 records (the win of which they owe entirely to the sad, sad Saints).  The Panthers are going through some growing pains as Cam Newton learns what it's like to struggle and lose, but the Chiefs in particular are beyond hopeless.  In fact, they haven't led a game in regulation time at any point this season.  That's incredibly hard to do unless you've already got your sights [understandably] set on Geno Smith.
• Biggest Bull - On the upside, we've seen some teams rise to the occasion in a big way this year.  The top 7 - 8 teams are no surprise, but I continue to credit the Minnesota Vikings for refusing to be the hunted for the most part this year.  They have a tough schedule ahead, so I am doubtful they'll still be in the playoffs conversation by the time the dust settles, but the Vikings have had some very respectable wins up to now.  Honorable mention goes to the Miami Dolphins, who are certainly in the postseason mix the way the AFC is going these days.

• The Lady Blitz Kiss of Death - This special honor goes to the team or player I've jinxed beyond repair with my vote of confidence.  Midway through 2012, that distinction goes to poor Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens.  Flacco was looking really solid in his complementary style of football through four weeks as I so gushingly mentioned right here.  Then he worked his way to a QB rating of 37 on average (out of 100) over the next three weeks, bottoming out at a 0.3 rating--which I didn't even know was possible--against the Houston Texans.  Yikes.  The defensive injury woes and pass-happy playcalling from OC Cam Cameron certainly haven't helped, but I fear my blogging praise has sent Joe Cool into a real tailspin.  I'm so sorry, Jeanie.
• My Super Bowl Mulligan - At the start of the season, I predicted the Packers to edge out the Ravens in the Super Bowl.  Current-record-wise, that's technically still very possible at this point, but neither team is playing dominantly on a consistent basis right now.  If I had a Super Bowl Mulligan today, I'd like to change my order to the 49ers with a side of Texans.  Neither team looks flawless through eight weeks, but they both show the kind of tenacity and balance that can carry them past a lot of other good teams in January.  And as the (baseball and football) Giants constantly seem to remind us, it's all about getting hot at the right time with the right talent.