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Week 8 once again treated us to a lot of close calls and heartache. We lost two games by a mere half-point, and Brett Favre's pick-six certainly didn't help us against the spread. We ended up at 7-7 for the week against the spread, though when the added points were taken out of the mix, our 9-5 record was a bit less frightening. Still, we're very scared this week. We have a sneaking suspicion some of these teams might show up Sunday wearing some sort of disguise. Of course, that's probably just Halloween paranoia seeping into our subconscious, but as Freddy Krueger taught us, if you die in your dreams, you die for real. So to help us battle the forces of evil in our nightmares, we're going to delve into a little amateur dream interpretation in order to help us sort out this week's matchups. Lie back, relax, and try to remember your dreams. We'll take a look at an online dream dictionary here and see what those images are really trying to tell us. Week 9 is getting sleepy … very sleepy …

Tale of the Tape
Week 8, Straight Up: 9-5 (Overall: 64-52)
Week 8, Versus the Spread: 7-7 (Overall: 57-59)

Sunday, November 2

Jets at Buffalo (-5½)

"To see a jet flying overhead in your dream, signifies of bad news from distant friends or misfortune in business." -- With the Jets far from home, expect some bad news and lots of misfortune in the form of more Brett Favre interceptions, as the Buffalo Bills get back on the winning track.

Prediction: Bills by 4

Detroit at Chicago (-12½)

"To dream that you are being pursued or attacked by a bear, denotes aggression, overwhelming obstacles and competition." -- With Matt Forte in the backfield, prepared to run all over the Lions, the Detroit defense will have little capability of fending off such an attack.

Prediction: Bears by 23

Jacksonville at Cincinnati (+7½)

"To see a jaguar in your dream, represents speed, agility, and power." -- To see David Garrard and Maurice Jones-Drew in the opposing backfield represents yet another long day of losing football for the Bengals.

Prediction: Jaguars by 10

Baltimore at Cleveland (-1½)

"To see a raven in your dream, symbolizes betrayal, disharmony, misfortune, and death." -- When the Browns go up against the dreary Joe Flacco, they'll end up weak and weary, and the disharmony in their locker room will rear its ugly head again.

Prediction: Ravens by 3

Arizona at St. Louis (+2½)

"To see a cardinal in your dream, represents vitality and happiness. It also may mean first place or your position in the front." -- And if you look at the NFC West standings, you'll see why we pick Arizona to win this contest. That Kurt Warner certainly wears his vitality well.

Prediction: Cardinals by 14

Houston at Minnesota (-4½)

"To see a Viking or sailor in your dream, signifies you may be ready to venture into deeper waters." -- It's time for Minnesota to venture into the world of possible playoff contenders. Adrian Peterson may not be rushing for 200 yards a clip these days, but he's certainly got his sea legs under him.

Prediction: Vikings by 2

Green Bay at Tennessee (-6½)

"To see titans in your dreams, indicates that you have the power to make things happen. Be in control of your own destiny." -- So far, so good. Tennessee may not make it through the rest of its schedule unscathed, but it is truly in the driver's seat. Expect LenDale White to make things happen for the Titans in the red zone.

Prediction: Titans by 11

Tampa Bay at Kansas City (+8½)

"The pirate may symbolize freedom and one who chases new adventures and takes riskier ventures." -- These Buccaneers are going on the road, in a new place, and certainly losing to the Chiefs would be a huge embarrassment. It's a good thing they will have the freedom to move the ball however they choose.

Prediction: Bucs by 18

Miami at Denver (-3½)

"To dream that you are riding a dolphin, represents your optimism and social altruism." -- Call me an optimist, then, because I'm riding Chad Pennington this week. Hopefully, I won't end up all wet.

Prediction: Dolphins by 2

Dallas at Giants (-7½)

"A giant may be symbolic of an issue or feeling that is dominating you." -- Dallas may feel like the defending Super Bowl champs are dominating them on both sides of the ball this week, especially if Jason Witten isn't around to help them out in the already downtrodden passing game.

Prediction: Giants by 12

Philadelphia at Seattle (+6½)

"Eagles indicate self-renewal. You will struggle fiercely and courageously to realize your highest ambitions and greatest desires." -- With the return of Kevin Curtis and Brian Westbrook to the lineup, the Eagles are reborn. This will result in Seattle struggling mightily to keep pace.

Prediction: Eagles by 11

Atlanta at Oakland (+2½)

"To see a falcon in your dream, suggests that you are focused in your goals and aspirations." -- Matt Ryan has a singular focus: get the ball to Roddy White. So far, this has been a winning obsession, and we don't think it changes versus the Raiders.

Prediction: Falcons by 7

New England at Indianapolis (-5½)

"A colt in your dream suggests that you are feeling awkward and insecure." -- To expect the Colts to win, even at home, is asking a lot. I'd like to pick them, but I'd feel far too awkward against a Patriots' team that still seems to find a way to win more weeks than not.

Prediction: Patriots by 1

Monday, November 3

Pittsburgh at Washington (-2½)

"Native Americans appearing in your dream signify a need to be in more control of your surroundings." -- What that means to us is that the team that can better hold on to the ball will win this contest. We're thinking that will be the Steelers, especially if Clinton Portis is suffering any ill effects from his Week 8 injury at all.

Prediction: Steelers by 1

The ESPN Eliminator requires that you make one and only one pick each week. You win and you live to pick again. You lose and it's all over.

In Week 8, we once again came within one pick of perfection, with the Niners and their DEFCON 1 status letting us down. (That will teach us to put our trust in Vernon Davis!) For the second straight week, we scored 14 out of a possible 15 points, and improved our approval ratings another three percentage points, up to 75 percent for the season.

Week 9 is the midpoint of the season, and reader Charlie from Miami asks, "Do you think you need to start incorporating the 0-fer effect. I tend to shy away from picking undefeated teams as well as teams playing no-win teams. I base this on the assumption that no one is going 0-16 or 16-0 and the further we get the more likely the upset is to occur … and less likely to be predictable." It's a good point, Charlie. Even though the Patriots were the exception last season, running the table, at some point you just know that the Titans are going to stumble, and that the Bengals and Lions are going to beat somebody. It's the reason why I sometimes shy away from selecting the team I think has the absolute easiest matchup for one I feel a little bit less confident in.

This week is a perfect example. I love Chicago to beat Detroit, and yet there's something that simply doesn't feel right about making them my top pick even if I could (which I can't because I used the Bears already at DEFCON 5). It's the same weird feeling I get with the Bucs against the Chiefs this week. Even though the fact the Eagles are flying cross-country again makes me like them less than the Bucs and Bears, I'm still going with them as my top pick, because I just don't get the same heebie-jeebies with Philadelphia this week. Sometimes you go with your head. Sometimes you go with your gut. And since I'm about to treat my gut to lots of Halloween candy this weekend, I'm not going to make it angry by not listening to it in Week 9. Here's the full selection rundown:

DEFCON 5: Eagles
DEFCON 4: Bucs
DEFCON 3: Bears
DEFCON 2: Cardinals
DEFCON 1: Jaguars

Good luck to all of you, and remember, if you want to have a successful week of picks, try to dream about tea -- or drink some warm tea -- or maybe sleep with a golf tee? I don't know, this whole dream-interpretation thing is a bit sketchy to me.

AJ Mass is a fantasy football, baseball and college basketball analyst for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.