NFL Picks Week 8: Updated Lines and Final-Score Predictions for All Games

Bettors will take notice that the NFL Week 8 offerings from Las Vegas are mostly a little too close for comfort.

Some call it parity, but for one reason or another, this season has not been kind to bettors or the house as upsets routinely pepper the schedule and throw everyone for a loop. Take the defending champs, for example, as the Seattle Seahawks lost two weeks ago at home and then went out and lost to the St. Louis Rams last week.

Funnily enough, that would seem an extreme example, but not this year. No team is undefeated, and only one team has failed to gain a mark in the win column.

So it goes for bettors. When it comes to some of the closer lines, as a wise man once said, tread lightly.

NFL Week 8 Picks Against the Spread

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Final Score Prediction	Reason
San Diego at Denver (Thurs., Oct. 23)	DEN -6.5	DEN	Broncos 34, Chargers 24	Peyton Manning is on fire, and San Diego's defense is too injured.
Detroit at Atlanta	DET -4	DET	Lions 24, Falcons 17	Detroit has one of the NFL's best defenses, which can make up for its offensive struggles.
St. Louis at Kansas City	KC -7	STL	Chiefs 24, Rams 20	St. Louis continues to fight and has the firepower to match Kansas City.
Houston at Tennessee	HOU -2	HOU	Texans 23, Titans 20	See analysis below.
Minnesota at Tampa Bay	TB -2.5	MIN	Vikings 17, Buccaneers 14	Tampa Bay is easily the worst team in the league.
Seattle at Carolina	SEA -4.5	SEA	Seahawks 27, Panthers 17	The Seahawks are going to come out angry and take advantage of a weak Carolina defense.
Baltimore at Cincinnati	EVEN	BAL	Ravens 30, Bengals 27	Cincinnati is a hobbled mess that hardly contained Baltimore in their first meeting.
Miami at Jacksonville	MIA -5	JAC	Dolphins 27, Jaguars 26	Jacksonville showed signs of life last week and has a potent offense when turnovers are limited.
Chicago at New England	NE -7.5	NE	Patriots 34, Bears 24	Tom Brady is going to have a field day against an injured Chicago defense.
Buffalo at NY Jets	NYJ -2.5	BUF	Bills 20, Jets 10	Actually, New York may be the worst team in the league.
Philadelphia at Arizona	ARI -2.5	PHI	Eagles 27, Cardinals 20	See analysis below.
Oakland at Cleveland	CLE -7	CLE	Browns 33, Raiders 20	The Cleveland offense will get back on track against a reeling Oakland defense.
Indianapolis at Pittsburgh	IND -1.5	IND	Colts 23, Steelers 14	No team can contain Andrew Luck but especially not a flag-happy Pittsburgh unit.
Green Bay at New Orleans	NO -1.5	GB	Packers 36, Saints 27	There is no stopping the Green Bay offense—not even in the Dome.
Washington at Dallas (Mon., Oct. 27)	DAL -9	DAL	Cowboys 40, Washington 20	This will prove yet another ugly prime-time affair as DeMarco Murray rolls.

Odds via Odds Shark as of 5 p.m. ET, Oct. 21. 

Analyzing Notable Close Spreads

Philadelphia at Arizona (-2.5)

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Those in search of offensive fireworks this week need not look further than the desert when the Arizona Cardinals play host to the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Well, possibly.

Chip Kelly's Eagles are known for a high-flying attack that ranks among the top 10 through the air and the top 15 on the ground. That said, quarterback Nick Foles has struggled mightily this year with 10 touchdowns to seven interceptions, and running back LeSean McCoy averages just 3.6 yards per carry and has surpassed 100 yards on the ground in a game just once.

OPP	CMP-ATT	YDS	CMP%	TD
vs. WAS	28-44	250	63.6	2
at OAK	22-31	253	71.0	2

In fact, it may be the Cardinals that do all of the scoring Sunday now that Carson Palmer is back under center. The former USC star has been a stud since his return from injury and gets to go against a defense that ranks No. 23 against the run and pass.

More impressive, though, is Palmer's defense, which ranks No. 1 overall against the rush, allowing just 72.5 yards per game.

Still, something feels a bit off about this one. None of Arizona's wins have been of the dominant variety this season. The pass defense is a sour spot, coming in second-to-last place overall. Philadelphia, meanwhile, changed up its preparation as of late, as captured by Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com:

Think that does not matter? The Eagles just beat the New York Giants 27-0. McCoy got his first game over 100 yards then. Foles struggled with turnovers again, tossing a pair of touchdowns and interceptions.

Holding a potent New York offense to no points and a 2-of-14 mark on third down is impressive. Right now, the Eagles seem to be on the upswing and get to encounter a weak pass defense.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Cardinals 20

Houston (-2) at Tennessee

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Two shaky quarterbacks with miserable defenses backing them face off when the Houston Texans visit the Tennessee Titans Sunday in a spread that is tiny for obvious reasons.

Houston was last seen taking a loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football and is led by Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has just eight touchdowns to seven interceptions this year. As John McClain of the Houston Chronicle points out, the showing was surely a sign of confidence for the Titans:

Those Titans have just two wins on the season, though, and last week took a loss at the hands of two-win Washington. There has been a revolving door at quarterback in Tennessee thanks to injury, with neither Jake Locker nor Charlie Whitehurst playing all that inspiring.

The deciding factor in this one, especially on a short week for Houston, will surely fall on the shoulders of the running game. That is nothing short of a good thing, though, with back Arian Foster averaging 4.9 yards per carry with 615 yards and five scores.

Tennessee gives up an average of 123.7 rushing yards per game, good for a bottom-10 rank. That means the Houston offense should see the field for most of the game, and when Locker or Whitehurst do take the field, a line that has allowed 18 sacks already will have a tough go of it against a defense led by J.J. Watt.

Neither team is going to light this one up, but the end result is quite obvious.

Prediction: Texans 23, Titans 20

Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).