NFL Picks Week 8: Complete Score Predictions and Updated Game Lines

The Denver Broncos were the first team to make bettors happy in Week 8. A 14-point victory on Thursday Night Football was enough to beat the San Diego Chargers—and the spread. That was only an appetizer, as there will be plenty more opportunities to get the best of Vegas oddsmakers with 14 more games on the week's slate.

We may be in for a few surprises in Week 8. After all, there are plenty of wild cards that will be coming into play. Will Zach Mettenberger ignite the Tennessee Titans offense? Do the Washington Redskins have a shot with Colt McCoy at the helm? Will the Buffalo Bills offense collapse without Fred Jackson or C.J. Spiller in the fold?

As we impatiently await some more compelling action on the gridiron, let's predict each impending game's final score and provide an answer to those three burning questions.

Matchup	Game Line	Winner and Score
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons	DET -3	Lions, 27-17
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals	Even	Ravens, 30-26
Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB -2.5	Bucs, 23-20
Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers	SEA -5.5	Seahawks, 31-27
Buffalo Bills at New York Jets	NYJ -3	Jets, 20-13
Chicago Bears at New England Patriots	NE -5.5	Patriots, 34-24
St. Louis Rams at Kansas City Chiefs	KC -8	Chiefs, 24-23
Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars	MIA -7	Dolphins, 31-16
Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans	HOU -3	Titans, 23-20
Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals	AZ -1	Cardinals, 30-27
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers	IND -3	Colts, 27-20
Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns	CLE -7.5	Browns, 26-24
Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints	NO -1	Packers, 38-28
Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys	DAL -10	Cowboys, 30-16

All game odds courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of October 24.

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans (+3)

Wade Payne/Associated Press

Mettenberger, the Titans' sixth-round selection in 2014, will make his first career start Sunday against the Texans. Tennessee's offense has been listless this season, as neither Jake Locker nor Charlie Whitehurst proved to be a long- or short-term answer.

The rookie isn't taking the situation lightly. He shared his feelings during a press conference, via Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com, "No matter who that guy is at the quarterback position, it's his team. I've got to step in and take control. I've done that this week, being vocal, making sure we're in the right calls, being on the same page. Absolutely, this is my team now."

With speedy wide receivers Kendall Wright, Justin Hunter and Nate Washington at his disposal, Mettenberger will get plenty of opportunities to showcase his big arm with throws down field. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, that plan is already in place:

It won't be an easy start against a Houston defense featuring arguably the best defensive player in the league in J.J. Watt; however, Mettenberger has all the tools to severely test the Texans' 26th-ranked pass defense.

This one will remain close for the duration, but Mettenberger will provide a late-game spark leading to a game-winning field goal and an upset victory in front of the Titans' home crowd.

Prediction: Titans 23, Texans 20

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (-10)

Mark E. Tenally/Associated Press

Once quarterback Kirk Cousins was benched in Week 7 due to excessive turnovers, McCoy entered the game and engineered a victory for Washington. He put together an impressive performance, completing 11 of his 12 passing attempts for 128 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions for a passer rating of 138.9.

While McCoy's 70-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon looked great on the stat sheet, the end result of that play was due to the effort of the wide receiver—not the quarterback. McCoy hit Garcon on a nine-yard curl route, and the speedy receiver made several defenders miss on his way to the end zone. The quarterback's remaining 10 completions went for a total of just 58 yards.

That performance didn't quite make a believer out of head coach Jay Gruden, via Around the NFL:

Sure, he was efficient, but that just won't get it done against a Cowboys defense that's only giving up 230.4 passing yards and 21.0 points per game. Making matters worse, Dallas is no stranger to putting massive points on the board, averaging 28.0 per game. That's not good news for Washington's 26th-ranked scoring defense.

McCoy had his moment in the sun in Week 7 against Tennessee, but we should expect his upcoming Monday Night Football performance to resemble more of his career 76.1 passer rating in a game dominated by the Cowboys.

Prediction: Cowboys 30, Redskins 16

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (-3)

RICH SCHULTZ/Associated Press

Both the Bills offense and the Jets offense will be taking on new looks in Sunday's AFC East clash. New York will be tinkering with its new weapon in Percy Harvin, and Buffalo will be searching for answers in the backfield during the absences of running backs Jackson and Spiller.

According to an interview with Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News, Anthony Dixon explained that he and Bryce Brown will split the workload out of the team's backfield, "Me and Bryce are going to do it together as a combination. That's pretty much how we're going to get it done. We're going to compete this week and see who's got a feel for the plays that [offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett] wants to run, and then on Sunday, we're going to go with it."

Head coach Doug Marrone doesn't expect much to change in terms of the team's game plan, via the Bills' official Twitter account:

That will certainly be a daunting task for both running backs against a Jets run defense that's only allowing 88.0 yards per game to opposing ball-carriers while being complemented by a less-than-threatening quarterback in Kyle Orton.

Meanwhile, we have a Jets team coming off a close road loss to the New England Patriots. New York's offense moved nicely in Week 7, as quarterback Geno Smith began to show some confidence in the pocket. With Harvin now at his disposal, along with Eric Decker, Jace Amaro, Jeremy Kerley and a sound running game, he has all the more opportunities to succeed.

Expect to see Smith take a nice step forward on Sunday, defeating a Bills team that has a difficult time establishing a balanced offense.

Prediction: Jets 20-13