NFL Week 8 Lines: Living In A Fantasy

Chris Collinsworth, one of the few NFL analysts who's worth a damn, pretty much summed up the season this week on Inside The NFL. When you look at this week's games that don't involve either Indianapolis or New England, you're going to have a hard time finding one that matters. This is the dullest season in recent memory. The real Super Bowl is the AFC Championship, and only two teams are competing for the spot. Barring injury, everything is set. Then again, isn't this what fantasy football is for? So, this week I'll give my lines and points in short, and spend a little time talking fantasy.

Cleveland at St. Louis (CLE, -3) CLE 24, STL 20
Indianapolis at Carolina (Indy, -7) Indy 30, CAR 14
Detroit at Chicago (CHI, -5) DET 27, CHI 18
NY Giants at Miami (NYG, -9.5) NYG 35, MIA 17 (note: this game is in London)
Oakland at Tennessee (TEN, -7) OAK 17, TEN 14
Philadelphia at Minnesota (PHI, -1) MIN 21, PHI 17
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (PIT, -3.5) PIT 30, CIN 27
Buffalo at NY Jets (NYJ, -3) NYJ 20, BUF 14
Houston at San Diego --- no prediction due to no call yet of where the game is.
Jacksonville at Tampa Bay (TB, -3.5) TB 14, JAC 10
New Orleans at San Francisco (NO, -2.5) NO 24, SF 15
Washington at New England (NE, -16.5) NE 30, WAS 10
Green Bay at Denver (DEN, -3) GB 27, DEN 17

Ok, now some fantasy football. If you are really desperate, it wouldn't be a bad bet to pick up Sage Rosenfels against San Diego. First off, I don't believe the Chargers are still very good. Second, many Charger players have already told the media that the wildfires out there have them distracted. I know I'm advocating taking advantage of a natural disaster for gambling purposes, but what are you going do, start Quinn Gray? Also, even though Kenny Watson had a monster day last week, don't start him against the Steelers. In fact, take Pittsburgh's Najeh Davenport.

As far as trades go, I always have one rule I try to live by if at all possible: only trade with the bottom-tier teams. You won't be able to make a trade without helping out another team, so why would you want to help out a team who is already better than you? That goes both ways, too. If your season is pretty much done, don't make borderline trades with already good teams. Just accept the fact that you suck (or that you had too many Rams on your roster). Players to get are: Maurice Jones-Drew, Larry Johnson, John Kitna, Frank Gore, Dwayne Bowe, and Donte Stallworth. Players to trade are: Shaun Alexander, Kevin Curtis, Derek Anderson, and Calvin Johnson. You have to give a little to get a little. You might be able to talk somebody into an Alexander/Parker trade straight up, but probably not Reuben Droughns for MJD.