Week 8 NFL Picks: Lions to Make Life Miserable for Cowboys, Redskins to Give Broncos a Game
It’s time to start getting desperate.
After another poor week of NFL pigskin prognosticating, NESN.com editor John Beattie is taking a different approach to his weekly picks. After falling to 20 games below .500 for the season, Beattie is trying something new this week. He made his picks for the week based on who he thought was going to win. Then, he just changed them all to take the opposite of what he thinks is going to happen. The reasoning? Actually thinking about things isn’t working out, so why not?
His picks partner, fellow NESN.com editor Mike Cole, is approaching things the same as usual this week, which probably means another awful showing.
Anyway, here are their picks. Proceed with caution.
All lines are from Bovada as of Thursday. If lines are off on Bovada Thursday, Yahoo! lines will be used for those games.
Panthers at BUCCANEERS (+7)
John Beattie: Panthers Bucs
Mike Cole: Panthers
Why: The Panthers have looked good against two bad teams in the past two weeks. They face a third bad team in Tampa and should be able to cruise. That being said, I’ll pick the Bucs. -JB
49ers at JAGUARS (+17)
JB: Jaguars 49ers
MC: 49ers
Why: Beattie is really throwing me off this week. -MC
Cowboys at LIONS (-3)
JB: Cowboys Lions
MC: Lions
Why: One has to assume that if the Bengals can put up 27 at the Lions, then the Cowboys offense can put up at least 30. I really like the Boys in this one, so I’m picking the Lions.-JB
Giants at EAGLES (-6)
JB: Giants Eagles
MC: Giants
Why: I honestly think the first one was the toughest for the Giants. Now that they have one win under their belt, I expect them to make it two against another NFC East also-ran in a game that too many people will be forced to watch. If that makes no sense, at least I’m getting six points. -MC
Browns at CHIEFS (-9)
JB: Chiefs Browns
MC: Chiefs
Why: The Browns are just too banged up to put up enough points to hang with The Chefs (great googily moogily). I see the Chiefs completely dominating this one so let’s go with the Brownies.-JB
Bills at SAINTS (Off; -11 1/2 on Yahoo)
JB: Bills Saints
MC: Saints
Why: The Bills are just so freaking bad. -MC
Dolphins at PATRIOTS (-7)
JB: Patriots Dolphins
MC: Patriots
Why: The Pats tend to spank the Fins and after a rough loss on the road look for Gronk and Tommy B to be fired up at home together for the first time this year.-JB
Jets at BENGALS (-7)
JB: Bengals Jets
MC: Jets
Why: The Jets actually have one of the league’s best rushing defenses, which means they can probably try and make Andy Dalton beat them. He probably will, but I say it’s by a field goal or two, not seven points. -MC
Steelers at RAIDERS (+3)
JB: Steelers Raiders
MC: Raiders
Why: The Steelers are putting together some decent football and the Raiders have no business getting below seven points. Going with Oakland.-JB
Redksins at BRONCOS (-14)
JB: Broncos Redskins
MC: Redskins
Why: Robert Griffin III finally looked like he did last year in their shootout win over the Bears, and now he gets to go up against the 32nd-ranked pass defense. It’s going to be a shootout in Denver, and it should be a close one. -MC
Falcons at CARDINALS (-2 1/2)
JB: Cards Falcons
MC: Falcons
Why: The Cardinals kind of hung with a couple of good teams over the last two weeks while the Falcons can’t really be relied upon. I like the Cards at home so let’s go with ATL. -JB
Packers at VIKINGS (+10)
JB: Vikings Packers
MC: Packers
Why: If the Packers had a healthy host of receivers, they would win this game by 50. They don’t have that, though, but they’re still good enough to cover this spread. The Vikings’ quarterback scenario is a mess, and Adrian Peterson is dinged up. What else do you need to know? -MC
Seahawks at RAMS (+11)
JB: Seahawks Rams
MC: Seahawks
Why: The Rams called Brett Favre this week. -JB
Last week:
JB: 5-10
MC: 6-9
Overall:
JB: 40-62-4
MC: 40-62-4
