NFL Picks Week 8: Favorites Who Will Easily Cover Big Spreads

There are some big lines across the board in Week 8 of the NFL season, but some of them are not high enough.

While this season has featured tons of close games every week, the upcoming slate of matchups will have a new theme: blowouts. There are too many one-sided battles where the only question is how many points the team will win by.

These squads are already expected to win by a decent amount based on the spread, but they should go beyond even those projections with easy victories that cover the spread.

Note: All spread info courtesy of Vegas Insider as of Oct. 23.

Carolina Panthers (-6) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It is difficult to prepare for a Thursday night game due to the lack of practice time on a short week. Combine this with the fact that the Buccaneers will start a rookie quarterback making his fourth career start and a rookie running back making his first, and you have a recipe for disaster. 

Mike Glennon has looked solid in his first few games at quarterback for Tampa Bay, but he will be under pressure all day and will struggle against the No. 2 scoring defense in the NFL.

On the other side of the ball, Cam Newton should be able to torch a pass defense that has seemingly gotten worse every week this season. After slowing down Drew Brees and Tom Brady in the first few weeks, the Bucs have now allowed three touchdown passes in back-to-back games.

Even on the road, the Carolina Panthers should be able to get enough points while shutting down the defense to earn a blowout victory.

Kansas City Chiefs (-7) over Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns have kept the last couple of games close before fading late. The reason for that is quarterback Brandon Weeden, who continues to show why he is not a legitimate starter in this league. 

One of his biggest flaws is his inability to deal with pressure as it leads to a number of mistakes and turnovers. The problem is that this pressure will come throughout the game as the Kansas City Chiefs lead the NFL in sacks—10 more than the second-place team.

Justin Houston and Tamba Hali will be all over the second-year quarterback, and it will lead to a poor completion percentage and more turnovers.

Critics have been looking for reasons to doubt the Chiefs this season. However, another strong defensive performance will get the team to 8-0 on the year. 

New England Patriots (-6.5) over Miami Dolphins

Although the New England Patriots lost last week to the New York Jets, that likely only made them angry heading into this matchup against the Dolphins.

The team worked to get Rob Gronkowski involved in the last game, and he came through with eight catches for 114 yards. This success should be even greater against a team that has struggled mightily at defending tight ends this year. Only the Arizona Cardinals have allowed more touchdowns at the position.

Of course, Tom Brady should have an easier time finding all of his targets with more time in the pocket as Miami's pass rush is nowhere near as good as the Jets.

Protecting the quarterback has been a serious problem for the Dolphins as well. Ryan Tannehill currently leads the NFL with 26 sacks on the season, which is a list you do not want to top.

The Patriots will continue to exploit this and shut down the opposing offense for an easy win.

Away	Home	Spread	Pick
Carolina Panthers	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	CAR -6	Panthers
San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	SF -16.5	49ers
Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	DET -3	Cowboys
New York Giants	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI -6	Eagles
Cleveland Browns	Kansas City Chiefs	KC -7	Chiefs
Buffalo Bills	New Orleans Saints	NO -12	Bills
Miami Dolphins	New England Patriots	NE -6.5	Patriots
New York Jets	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN -6.5	Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers	Oakland Raiders	PIT -2.5	Raiders
Washington Redskins	Denver Broncos	DEN -13	Redskins
Atlanta Falcons	Arizona Cardinals	ARI -2.5	Cardinals
Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	GB -9.5	Packers
Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	SEA -10.5	Seahawks

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