Week 8 NFL Game Picks: Who Takes TNF Heavyweight Fight? Bucs Fall in Division Standings?

 We are officially at half-way. After a slate of many blowouts last weekend, there are some matches this week that promise for close scores. Leading off this week is potentially the best TNF match of the season (Cardinals vs Packers), that game alone could go either way. Who wins that? And the other games?

Week 7 Predictions Record: 9-4
2021 Season Overall: 69-38

Thursday Night Football - Green Bay Packers (6-1) at Arizona Cardinals (7-0)

What a match-up. At this point in the season we rarely get a game between two teams with such great records. This game will prove to have massive playoff implications. The future NFC #1 seed could very well be on the line here. Both teams are banged up a bit coming in. Packers star WR Davante Adams will be out with COVID, that is a MASSIVE loss for Green Bay. Cardinals edge rusher JJ Watt will be out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. This will be a shootout between two star QBs with little defense being played. It could go either way so I'm gonna take the home team that is undefeated to this point and doesn't have arguably their best player missing. Still, could go either way.

The Pick: Cardinals 34, Packers 32

Carolina Panthers (3-4) at Atlanta Falcons (3-3)

A game between two mediocre NFC South teams. The Panthers continue to reel as they've dropped 4 in a row including an embarrassment to the Giants last weekend. Now questions are coming out on how committed to the job HC Matt Rhule really is. None of this bodes well for the Panthers. On the other hand, the Falcons are actually somewhat hot as of late. They've won 2 in a row and while they were against bad teams, the Panthers are not good either. Kyle Pitts has been coming into his own lately and should have another huge game at home. Unless you're a fan of bad football, you shouldn't be turning this one on.

The Pick: Falcons 28, Panthers 19

Tennessee Titans (5-2) at Indianapolis Colts (3-4)

This is actually a massive game in terms of the playoff picture. While the Titans have been on fire the past couple of weeks, so have the Colts all of the sudden. If the Colts can't win this one at home, their playoff hopes take a MASSIVE hit. They already have lost to the division leading Titans once within the first 7 weeks, if they lose the second, they will probably be too far behind to come back. As good as the Titans have been, the Colts are playing inspired football lately and I think Frank Reich's team will rally to win a nail-biter. Carson Wentz will have his best game as a Colt and bring the team crashing right back into the AFC South race. As good as Derrick Henry has been this season, so has Jonathan Taylor. I don't know if the Titans will have an answer for him.

The Pick: Colts 31, Titans 29

Miami Dolphins (1-6) at Buffalo Bills (4-2)

We have seen how this story unfolded already this season. The Bills back in the first few weeks of the season faced the Dolphins in Miami and shut them out. Now, the Bills look even better than they did then and the Dolphins somehow look even worse. This is not a trap game of any kind. The Bills will roll.

The Pick: Bills 33, Dolphins 12

Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) at New York Jets (1-5)

Another bad game. The Bengals are possibly the hottest team in the league while the Jets have argument to be made that they are the coldest. Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are lighting the league up right now and the Jets poor defense will have no chance to stop it. To make matters worse, unproven young QB Mike White will start under center for the Jets following Zach Wilson's leg injury last week. This has the makings of a blowout for the Bengals.

The Pick: Bengals 38, Jets 9

Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3) at Cleveland Browns (4-3)

The first match-up of the season for the old-time AFC North rivals. Both teams are similar in record to this point and still have real playoff aspirations. The Steelers are coming off a somewhat lucky win at home vs Seattle a few weeks ago before their bye. The Browns are coming off of a gritty 3-point victory over the Broncos last Thursday night. They were down over 5 key starters in that game. They will have almost all of them back for this one. The Steelers are pretenders to me while the Browns are contenders. At home with a much healthier lineup, expect the Browns to continue to get back on track with their second-straight win. 

The Pick: Browns 28, Steelers 15

Philadelphia Eagles (2-5) at Detroit Lions (0-7)

Not particularly an intriguing game here as well. While I think the Lions do have a shot to win this game as they have been pretty decent for a winless team as they ride stud second year RB D'Andre Swift, I don't see that win coming this week. The Eagles have been sort of a joke this year as they can never seem to make the right decisions or playcalls in big moments but I think that this game will serve as a good "get-back-on-track" kind of game. Is this the game Miles Sanders (or Kenneth Gainwell) finally gets involved in the offense? Or will it continue to be just the Jalen Hurts show?

The Pick: Eagles 24, Lions 16

Los Angeles Rams (6-1) at Houston Texans (1-6)

The Rams continue a nice stretch of games as they faced the winless Lions last week and now travel to Houston to face the 1-win Texans this week. Not much to be said here. The Rams offense has been rolling and expect another massive outing from Cooper Kupp. Matthew Stafford is getting very comfortable in this offense and the Texans are not going to have anything to stop him. To make matters even worse for Houston, arguably their best player, Brandin Cooks, now appears to be unhappy with the recent trading away of teammate (and friend) Mark Ingram. Things continue to worsen in Houston and that will continue Sunday when they lose bad.

The Pick: Rams 30, Texans 10

San Fransisco 49ers (2-4) at Chicago Bears (3-4)

Trey Lance vs Justin Fields? Probably not. While Fields will start for the Bears, it will likely be Jimmy Garopollo again on Sunday vs the Bears for SFO. Both teams are in the midst of some great struggles. The Bears look like they are dead. Justin Fields was not ready to play clearly yet they keep trotting him out there and letting him make mistakes that only hurt his development. The Bears D will also be without Khalil Mack for this game and a few more at least as the star former DPOY rusher was placed on IR this week. The Niners clearly aren't the same team (even at decent health) that they were when they ventured to the Super Bowl two seasons ago. I don't see them winding up in the playoffs this year like I once did but I do expect them to win this game with relative ease.

The Pick: 49ers 26, Bears 17

New England Patriots (3-4) at Los Angeles Chargers (4-2)

A pretty fun match-up here if I do say so myself. While I'll come right out and say that I fully expect the Chargers to win this one, it will probably be pretty close. Bill Belichick's younger Pats squad has played great teams very close this season, but lost pretty much all of the games. The Chargers are coming off of a bye week and will be well rested and ready to battle. We saw them get thrashed by the Ravens before the bye, but we know they are a quality team and are unlikely to drop 2 straight here. Justin Herbert to Mike Williams will be back and better than ever in this one. 

The Pick: Chargers 29, Patriots 23

Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) at Seattle Seahawks (2-5)

Somewhat of an intriguing match between two teams that have a lot of losses. The Seahawks were doing fine until an injury to Russell Wilson derailed their season. They've lost 3 straight with Geno Smith at the helm and need a win desperately. You then have the Jags who have been terrible and a joking point for most of the season, coming off of their first win of the year before hitting a bye last week. I think this could be a close game, but I finally expect Geno Smith to lead the Hawks to a much needed victory as the 12s prove to be too much for a young Trevor Lawrence.

The Pick: Seahawks 19, Jaguars 17

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-1) at New Orleans Saints (4-2)

This one could be fun. It seemed like a forgone conclusion to many that the Bucs would run away with the NFC South this year after winning the Super Bowl last year and the retirement of Drew Brees. Nope. The Saints are back and in business. Sitting at a quality record of 4-2, the Saints look like a playoff team once again. If they win this game, they pretty much take over 1st place in the South for the time being. We obviously will have another game of these two later in the season, but both are almost equally as important. I think we could see a shootout in this one with a lot of passing by both QBs, however, Brady and the Bucs are too hot right now for me to be confident picking against them. The Saints *barely* beat the Geno Smith-led Seahawks on Monday, I can't take them over Tom Brady who is playing some of the best football of his 20+ year career.

The Pick: Buccaneers 34, Saints 31

Washington Football Team (2-5) at Denver Broncos (3-4)

Hmmm. This is so tough. Two of the coldest teams in football going head to head. I don't know who to take just because both sides have been so bad as of late. The Washington Football Team has been just terrible on defense. They suck. Their-thought-to-be elite defense has been one of the worst defenses in the entire league this year. The offense has not been much better under Taylor Heinicke and a largely disappointing Antonio Gibson. They meet Denver who sucks on offense and has a defense that is the definition of hit or miss. I think in a slight upset, the Football Team takes it just because I've seen a little more life out of their offense than Denver's. Don't take that as much of a compliment WFT fans...

The Pick: WFT 24, Broncos 20

Sunday Night Football - Dallas Cowboys (5-1) at Minnesota Vikings (3-3)

This is actually a pretty good prime-time game pick by the NFL. Two NFC teams who didn't make the playoffs last year but hope to make it this year (Dallas almost surely will). The Vikings have lost a lot of close ones this year and could very well even be 5-1 or even 6-0. The Cowboys are a top 3 squad in the league right with how well they are playing on both offense and defense. Both teams come in off a bye. While Minnesota is at home, I don't expect it to matter. This one will be close, but I have all the confidence in the world for Dallas to take the game. Kirk Cousins has been really good this year, but he is known for his poor prime-time play. Expect it to continue in a way as the Vikings lose. I anticipate Trevon Diggs to keep the INT streak alive as he gets primetime Cousins to face.

The Pick: Cowboys 31, Vikings 27

Monday Night Football - New York Giants (2-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (3-4)

It's almost like the NFL knew the Chiefs would be in their position that they are now when creating the schedule. In the midst of a terrible 7-game stretch, the Chiefs are seriously looking like they might not return to the playoffs. The defense has been awful and the offense is starting to look that way as well. Patrick Mahomes is coming off a game in which he didn't account for a TD and had multiple turnovers. The NFL wants him to get right. At home, primetime, against an awful team, the Chiefs should do just that. It might start out close but I don't expect it to remain the case. This will be a much needed victory for KC in which Mahomes returns to form.

The Pick: Chiefs 35, Giants 25