NFL mocks Writers Pick All Week 8 Games vs the Spread
Today, Reggie and I make are week 8 picks vs the spread. I have struggled the last few weeks after a simmering start to the season, hopefully things will turn back around this week.
Date & TimeFavoriteSpreadUnderdog
10/30 1:00 ETAt Tennessee-8.5Indianapolis
10/30 1:00 ETAt Houston-9.5Jacksonville
10/30 1:00 ETAt Carolina-3Minnesota
10/30 1:00 ETNew Orleans-13.5At St. Louis
10/30 1:00 ETAt Baltimore-12.5Arizona
10/30 1:00 ETAt NY Giants-9.5Miami
10/30 4:05 ETAt Buffalo
(Toronto)-5.5Washington
10/30 4:05 ETDetroit-2At Denver
10/30 4:15 ETNew England-3At Pittsburgh
10/30 4:15 ETAt San Francisco-8.5Cleveland
10/30 4:15 ETCincinnati-2.5At Seattle
10/30 8:30 ETAt Philadelphia-3Dallas
Monday Night Football Point Spread
10/31 8:35 ETSan Diego-3.5At Kansas City
Reggie’s picks
Spread Winner
Colts Titans
Jax Houston
Car CAr
NO NO
Bal Bal
NYG NYG
Was Buf
Det Det
NE NE
SF SF
Sea Sea
Dal Phi
KC SD
Jesse’s picks
Let’s get back on track this week after some abysmal weeks to find my former glory. I usually struggle at the beginning of the season and get hotter as the season goes along, but this year has been just plain bad. Although I nailed my lock of the week and have moved to
Tennessee at Indinapolis
I honestly thinking that I have lost every single game I’ve picked for the Titans this year and haven’t done much better with the Colts. This week though, I’m hoping that will change. I just can’t trust the Titans and the Colts are going off an absolutely miserable performance. The Colts shouldn’t win this game, but I really hope they can cover the spread or Jim Caldwell should start looking for a new job.
Jacksonville at Houston
Houston is a heavy favorite in this game, but I think they can handle it. Teams often come out with inspired performances on Monday Night Football, but I will not be the least bit surprised to see the Jaguars come out flat on Sunday. It’s rough with Andre Johnson still being out and the Texans being a very inconsistent team, but I’m going to take the Texans to cover the spread and buck the trend.
Minnesota at Carolina (-3)
I really love Carolina as the underdog, but I’ll still take them to cover the spread as favorites vs the Vikings here. First the Vikings will be playing outdoors and secondly Christian Ponder’s NFL Debut was overrated. Sure he played well, but the Packers have been one of the league’s worst pass defenses this year, despite all of their defensive talent. What worries me about this game is that the Panthers have young, unproven talent at the defensive tackle position who are getting their first taste at Adrian Peterson on Sunday, a nightmare matchup. Peterson could easily ruin this game for the Panthers. Still, I’ll continue to insist that the Panthers are the team to watch for in 2013, not quite good enough yet to win too many games, but they should handle bad teams and scare good teams.
New Orleans (-13.5) at St. Louis
The Rams are awful. Injuries have made their average secondary abysmal. The Saints passing offense on the other hand is excellent, the Rams also happen to play in a dome where the Saints are excellent. Eventually the Rams will put up an inspired effort and give a good team a scare, but I don’t think it’s going to be this week. I’ll take the Saints to cover the 13.5.
Arizona is -12.5 at the Ravens
The Ravens are like the Cardinals. One week they are great, the next they are awful. Hopefully the Ravens are angry after their embarassing lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars and will take it out on the Cardinals. Also as a Ray Rice fantasy football holder he has a huge game.
Miami Dolphins (+9.5) at New York Giants
The Giants are typically awful at covering the spread as heavy favorites, and in fact the last time they were they lost the game to the Seahawks. But this time they are coming off a bye week, and have been really good after the bye recently under Tom Coughlin, and second they are the healthiest they’ve been all year. It’s also possible that Vontae Davis will this game with an injury, meaning that Hakeem Nicks could be poised for a huge game.
Washington Redskins (+5.5) at Buffalo Bills (in Toronto)
The Bills are also coming off a bye and should win this game vs the skidding Redskins, but I think it’s going to be close for a couple of reasons. First, is the fact that the Bills really struggle to hit the passer and will let anyone move the ball on them, and second the Redskins defense is really quality. The Bills could struggle to move the ball, though they usually move the ball with ease and the Bills defense isn’t good enough to completely shutdown the ailing Redskins even though they are without both Santana Moss and Tim Hightower. Give me the Redskins to cover the 5.5 at Buffalo, it doesn’t help that this is Buffalo’s “home game” in Toronoto.
Detroit Lions (-2) at Denver Broncos
The Lions have lost the last two games and the Broncos looked rejuvenated at the Dolphins in Tim Tebow’s first home game of the season. But the Lions are at least 5 points better than the Broncos (add 3 points to the home team) and should show it on Sunday. Give me the Lions to win by more than 2 points at Denver.
New England (-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers
For whatever reason the Patriots own the Steelers even in Pittsburgh, I’ll pick that trend to continue becuase I’ve been completely unimpressed with the Steelers this entire season.
Cleveland +8.5 at San Francisco 49ers
People are starting to catch on that the 49ers are actually a good football team. I think they are a team that will win most of its games by not many points though, which makes me nervous with such a big point spread. The Browns aren’t that good, but they could put enough together to cover 8.5 points as long as they don’t play the way they did vs the Seahawks last week.
The Bengals (-2.5) at Seattle
The Bengals are the leagues most underrated team. No one still thinks this team is any good, but they are. They have a very good defense and quality young offensive talent. One more quality wide receiver, a better, running back, and some interior offensive line upgrade and this team could win the division next year. I think the Bengals will soundly beat the Seahawks in Seattle by more than 2.5 points.
Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (-3)
What a good quality game this could be tonight. The Eagles are amazing after the bye week under Andy Reid and are playing for their season tonight at home vs the Cowboys. I’ll take the Eagles to win by more than 3 points vs the Cowboys tonight.
San Diego Chargers (-3.5) at Kansas City Chiefs
As we’ve seen a few times this year, teams playing on Monday night in prime really up the intensity sometimes. The Chiefs are playing well their last three games and really picking up momentum. The Chargers on the other hand can’t get out of their own way. At some point the Chargers will start playing out of their minds, I just hope it isn’t this week when I pick the Chiefs to cover.
Lock of the week
I’ll think, like pretty much everyone else, the Saints will blow out the Rams on Sunday and cover the hefty point spread. The Rams secondary has been awful this year, and that’s not going to improve playing the Saints.