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In my predictions for week seven in the NFL, I had 9 correct and 5 wrong again, leaving the overall count at 60 right and 43 wrong for the season. Here are my week eight choices:

Buffalo at Kansas City – the Chiefs are looking more and more like the surprise team of 2010 that will win its’ division and get into the playoffs, while the Bills are still finding their way, trudging through an 0-6 season so far. Kansas City is usually tough to beat at home also. I think they will, by season’s end, finish first in the AFC West but the Bills will pull an upset and win their first game of the season this week.

Denver vs. San Francisco (in London) – this is technically a home game for the Niners, and after the pathetic showing by Denver last week at home, I have to believe there are issues in the Broncos’ locker room that have found their way to the field. San Francisco wins a sloppy game, and the Tim Tebow watch begins in Denver.

Jacksonville at Dallas – the underachieving Cowboys now have to regroup behind Jon Kitna at QB, and I believe they will. On paper, they are miles ahead of the Jaguars talentwise, and that talent will translate to the field for once this week and the ‘Boys will pull out a win.

Miami at Cincinnati – the Dolphins have reeled off a couple of impressive road wins this season, and I believe they are a tougher team, mentally and physically, than the Bengals.  Miami’s defense shuts down the Cincinnati attack enough to get another road win.

Washington at Detroit – Mike Shanahan has done a great job of returning the Redskins to respectability this year, but I still don’t completely believe in them yet.  The young Lions are starting to feel it and they’ll win with another impressive home field  performance  this week, behind their young returning QB, Matthew Stafford and a young, improving defense.

Carolina at St. Louis – the young Rams, predictably, have been inconsistent this season. This should be one of their “up” weeks, and they’ll beat the Panthers at home.

Green Bay at New York Jets – the AFC East, other than Buffalo, is the best division in the NFL this year, and the brash Jets may be the division’s best team. The Pack is banged up and put a lot of effort into beating Brett Favre and the Vikings on Sunday night, so I see the Jets winning this game rather handily.

Tennessee at San Diego – it’s more than just the usual slow start with the Chargers this season – this team just doesn’t appear to have the talent they’ve had in the past. I don’t believe either of these teams is a serious contender, but the Titans play tougher defense and can run the ball with Chris Johnson, so they’ll pull out a win on the road here.

Minnesota at New England – the Patriots win this game big no matter who is at QB for the Vikings, since Brett Favre seems lost and disinterested anyway. New England is re-tooling on the fly this season, and continuing to win, and this game will be no exception. Don’t be surprised if Deion Branch has a big role in the game plan, just to send Randy Moss a message.

Tampa Bay at Arizona – these teams appear to be going in opposite directions. Josh Freeman has been impressive guiding the young Bucs, while the Cardinals play musical quarterbacks. Tampa is the better of these 2 teams at this point, but I see them getting tripped up on the road in this game in a mild surprise.

Seattle at Oakland – the Seahawks are probably going to win the NFC West, but they’re due for a down week in their inconsistent season, and the Raiders are flying high after demolishing Denver. I like Oakland to win at home. The Raiders have to feel they are legitimate contenders to win their division, and unlike some perceived “better” teams like Dallas and San Diego, they are competitive in every game.

Pittsburgh at New Orleans – the Steelers may be the best team in the NFL right now. New Orleans has struggled, but with Reggie Bush due back from injury and the Saints needing this game to keep pace with Atlanta, I believe New Orleans will win at home. The quality of their opponent this week, and the prime time atmosphere of a Sunday night game, will awaken the Saints from their Super Bowl hangover and keep them playing at the top of their game.

Houston at Indianapolis – the Colts, like a lot of other teams in 2010, have struggled to maintain their past success rate this season. The loss of Dallas Clark for the season will slow the Colts’ offense, at least temporarily until Peyton Manning figures out how to adjust to it. I’m picking Houston to win a game that will be one of the franchise’s biggest victories in their short history.

After putting on quite a performance in Baltimore last week, Ryan Fitzpatrick, in the eyes of at least some fans, has emerged as possibly being “the guy” to lead the Buffalo Bills out of the losing wilderness they’ve been in for a decade. The Bills’ front office, and coach Chan Gailey, have to be pleased with the way the entire offense has improved since Fitzpatrick took the reins from Trent Edwards. Whether or not the team gets the top pick in the draft, and whether they decide to use that pick to draft a “franchise” quarterback or not, will depend on how the rest of this season plays out. In fact, the remainder of the season will pretty much make the decision for them. If they wind up with the top pick, it will mean that Fitz’s play leveled out as the season went on, and he looks like the “career backup” that is the description that he’s had up to this point. If he continues to improve and the offense thrives and the team starts to win, it’ll mean that the draft pick the team winds up with won’t be a top 5 pick anyway, so the front office can concentrate on finding some impact defensive players. There’s also the possibility that the offense thrives, Fitzpatrick puts a stranglehold on the starting job, and the defense continues to be awful, resulting in a lot of 38-35 losses, and the Bills still wind up with the NFL’s worst record. In that case, the scouts will need to find the next Bruce Smith instead of the next Jim Kelly, or they could trade the pick to accumulate extra picks to shore up the roster. Fitzpatrick, a Harvard graduate who certainly is intelligent enough to run an NFL offense, has had ups and downs since regaining the starting job he actually won last year, but one thing is certain. His play has raised the level of play of the rest of his offensive teammates. Since he has been put in the lineup, the play of the offensive line has been better – or has he made them look better by making better decisions, getting rid of the ball quicker and avoiding sacks? The receiving corps, which looked weak at the start of the season, is suddenly making all kinds of plays. Lee Evans had one of his most productive games in years at Baltimore, Roscoe Parrish’s speed and talents are being utilized again and Stevie Johnson, who looked lost at the start of the year, is an emerging star. David Nelson has made big plays in limited playing time, and even the tight ends have been used in the offense – something the Bills never seem to do. The running game, expected to be the featured part of the offense, has been effective when used, and should be even better when opponents have to respect the pass. Even with an 0-6 record, the rest of the season will be interesting in Buffalo as the Ryan Fitzpatrick story plays out.

Fitzpatrick’s situation got me to thinking about players throughout the NFL’s history who’ve risen from obscurity to stardom at the QB position over the years. For every top draft pick superstar like Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and Phil Simms, there’s a rags to riches story like Jim Plunkett, Rich Gannon, John Unitas or Mark Rypien, players who came off the scrap heap, or were considered “career backups”, who made the most of an opportunity to lead a team to a championship. There are 2 examples from the 1960s that mirror Fitzpatrick’s NFL career so far.

In the mid-1950s the NFL draft was 20+ rounds long, and Bart Starr was an afterthought 17th round draft pick out of Alabama in 1956 by Green Bay. When Vince Lombardi took over the Packers in 1959, he played Babe Parilli and Lamar McHan at QB with mixed results, and threw Starr in occasionally but was unimpressed with his play. Starr wasn’t a physically gifted athlete and was on the shy side. His best asset was intelligence, and when Lombardi tired of the mental mistakes being made by the other QBs, he gave Starr his opportunity, then committed to him as the permanent starter. Five championships, and 6 title appearances in 8 years, were Lombardi’s reward for trusting in Starr.

Dr. Frank Ryan, a PHD in mathematics, kicked around the NFL for 4 years as the Rams’ backup QB before being traded to Cleveland in 1962. Ryan, like Starr known for his smarts rather than his athletic ability and considered a reserve QB at best, was acquired by the Browns to back up starter Jim Ninowski. But when Ninowski broke his collarbone Ryan was forced into the lineup. He slowly gained the confidence of his teammates and the coaching staff and wound up keeping the starting job for 6 years before being forced to retire because of injuries. He threw for 25 touchdowns with 13 interceptions in 1963, and in ’64, led the NFL in TD passes and guided the Browns to a surprise 27-0 win over Don Shula’s heavily-favored Baltimore Colts in the league title game.

Bart Starr (left) and Frank Ryan.