The Guru Gridiron Report: Week 8 Bench/Start Defenses

Week 8 is the fictitious middle of the season week (17 totals weeks with the bye). Its a perfect point to not only gauge your team, but to figure out your chances of getting into the playoffs. If you are currently a long shot keep in mind that most teams still have a shot, so making the right moves now is critical in taking the necessary steps to getting a coveted playoff spot. Lots of players will be missing with the four teams on the BYE week; Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers , so check out our picks for week 8 and use the to the best of yours and our abilities.

DEFENSES AND YOU MUST START
We really like New England to bring the St. Louis Rams back to earth in week 8. We think Miami will upset Buffalo this week and if they do they will need a big contribution from their defense. Jacksonville is a must start against Cleveland this week.

Others: Washington, Houston, Philadelphia

Other DEFENSES To Consider Starting With Some Risk
You have to like Baltimore and Oakland hammering it out to a 13-10 game. There won't be to of flash and bang for your buck, but they should put up solid points. Carolina will give up points and yards to Arizona, but they should get a few sacks, INT, and fumble recovery and could score a TD. We are apprehensive about Arizona this week. They have a great matchup, but have failed to impress on the road. We won't start them because we'd like to see 1 game on the road they do matchup well.

Others: New Orleans, Dallas, Tamp Bay, Buffalo, Tennessee, Indianapolis

Please Bench These DEFENSES

Cincinnati, Detroit , St. Louis, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, NY Giants, San Diego, Atlanta

Sleeper Defenses

A great sleeper defense this week is San Francisco against Seattle. They are at home and eager to impress new head coach Mike Singletary. The NY Jets are facing the Kansas City Chiefs without a QB or Larry Johnson and they are coming off a loss and at home. This is a great sleeper start.

The True Guru