DOLPHINS (4-2) at RAVENS (3-4)
Line: BAL by 3.
Cote's pick: MIA 20-16.
TV: 8:25 p.m. EDT, CBS/NFLN.
Week 8 kicks off with a Thursday nighter that should satisfy those in the mood for a low-scoring game between two lurching offenses and two teams trying to prove they're playoff-caliber against prevailing doubts about that. Week 8 also kicks off with an upset. "AAAWWWK!" Baltimore is favored less for the home field than for the recent series trend, with Ravens a nemesis that has beaten Miami in six of past seven meetings dating to 2008. Baltimore is not favored on merit. The fact they're favored at all verifies my latest column's point that Nobody Believes In The Dolphins. The sinking Crows are on a 1-4 skid because Joe Flacco has been close to awful and because a once-vaunted defense is dead-last in the NFL in stopping the run. And now the Crabcakers are beat up with injuries on both the offensive line and receivers corps. Contrarily, Miami has won three straight and brings a solid defense that should continue Flacco's woes. And if Jay Ajayi isn't the league's No. 1 fantasy running back this week, he's way up there. BAL coach John Harbaugh called Matt Moore a "great quarterback" to reporters on a conference call, presumably to muffled laughter. Moore isn't great, of course. But he's good enough. And probably better than Flacco right now. Meanwhile, Tony Romo will be up in the CBS booth predicting every play. Wish he'd been available this week to tell me who's going to win, but I'm on my own. Does this pick mean I'm sold on the Dolphins as a good team? No. Not as much as it means I think the Ravens are not right now.
