NFL Picks Week 8: Latest Odds, Over-Under Lines and Predictions

The biggest mistake that many handicappers make is overreacting to what happened last week.

If a team like the Kansas City Chiefs played well and broke a four-game losing streak against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first reaction is to say that head coach Andy Reid has this team playing good football once again and that the Chiefs are ready to go on a roll.

Here's the simple truth: The Chiefs have been struggling in every game since beating Houston in Week 1, and they limited their mistakes just enough so they could beat a Steelers team that was forced to play their No. 3 quarterback.

The Chiefs still have the same weaknesses in their secondary, they don't have their All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles and they are not the kind of team that can string points together when they go on offense.

While their frame of mind is a bit better after picking up their second win, don't believe for a second that the Chiefs are ready to turn their season around.

Kansas City plays the disappointing Detroit Lions in London Sunday, and while the Lions have just one victory, they still have a big-time passing attack with Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate making plays from the wide receiver position. Quarterback Matthew Stafford has his share of problems with picks and poor reads, but he has a strong arm and can get the ball to his big playmakers.

Detroit fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi Monday, per ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein, and replaced him with 31-year-old Jim Bob Cooter.

The Lions are six-point underdogs as they head to Wembley Stadium, according to Odds Shark, and that's just too many points. The Chiefs don't have enough playmakers, and while they may feel good in practice this week, they are still fundamentally the same team. 

They may pull out their second straight win, but it will come via a last-second score. We are guessing that score will not be a touchdown and the Lions will take advantage of the points they are getting to cover the spread.

Game	Line	Over/Under	Selection
Miami at New England	New England -9	51	Miami; Over
Detroit vs. Kansas City (London)	Kansas City -6	45.5	Detroit: Over
Tampa Bay at Atlanta	Atlanta -7.5	49	Tampa Bay; Under
San Diego at Baltimore	No line	--	San Diego
Minnesota at Chicago	Minnesota -1	42	Minnesota; Over
Arizona at Cleveland	No line	--	Arizona
Tennessee at Houston	No line	--	Houston
New York Giants at New Orleans	New Orleans -3	49	New York Giants; Over
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	No line	--	Cincinnati
San Francisco at St. Louis	St. Louis -9.5	39.5	San Francisco; Under
New York Jets at Oakland	Even	44	Oakland; Over
Seattle at Dallas	Seattle -6	40.5	Seattle; Under
Green Bay at Denver	Green Bay -3	45.5	Green Bay; Under
Indianapolis at Carolina	Carolina -7	48	Carolina; Over

Jets, Raiders will play old-school AFL game

The New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders franchises go back to the glory days of the American Football League. The AFL battled for recognition against the established NFL, and when that acknowledgment finally came as the two leagues announced their merger in 1966, the Jets and the Raiders were two of the league's glamour franchises.

At that time, the Raiders were led by a strong-armed quarterback named Daryle Lamonica, who went by the nickname The Mad Bomber. The Jets had perhaps the most colorful quarterback in either league in Joe Namath.

When those two teams got together, high-scoring games were the rule.

The Raiders and Jets have been through a lot of difficulty in recent years, but things are starting to turn around for both teams. The Raiders have a young quarterback in Derek Carr (24-of-31 for 289 yards with three TDs and no interceptions in Week 7) who is getting better each week, and he has a strong running back in Latavius Murray and a game-changing wide receiver in rookie Amari Cooper at his disposal.

The Raiders are coming off a 37-29 road win at San Diego in which they scored 30 first-half points. They also improved their record to 3-3 with the win.

The Jets dropped a tight 30-23 game at New England, but they have a 4-2 record and a productive offense with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback, powerful Chris Ivory at running back and a dominant playmaker in Brandon Marshall at wide receiver.

The oddsmakers have set the over-under mark at 44 points, and that is not enough. The total could easily reach 35 points by halftime, and the teams could soar past the total early in the third quarter.

Take the over in this game.

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Packers rate the edge in the battle of the unbeatens

The Sunday night game between the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High figures to be one of the two or three most compelling games of the season's first half. Both teams are undefeated to this point, and both teams are coming off a bye in Week 7.

Normally, when two high-level teams meet and both are rested, the edge should go to the home team—and there's little doubt that Mile High figures to be rocking and rolling in favor of the home team.

But there's one area where the Broncos just don't compare with the Packers, and that's the quarterback position. The Packers have the best quarterback in the league in Aaron Rodgers, and he is at the top of his game.

In Peyton Manning, the Broncos have a quarterback who ranks among the greatest the game has ever seen, but he no longer has the athleticism, arm strength and quick release to get the job done consistently.

Manning started to struggle down the home stretch of the 2014 season, but he was battling injuries and had a reason for his issues. Manning has been healthy this year, but his passes lack the zip to cause problems for opposing defenses. Manning has a 6.43 yards-per-pass mark and a 7-10 TD-to-interception ratio.

Rodgers has an 8.19 yards-per-pass mark and a 15-2 TD-to-interception ratio.

The Packers are laying three points on the road. That's not enough. The Broncos have a great defense, but if Rodgers doesn't lose his cool, he is not going to turn the ball over more than once. Manning no longer has the game to keep up.

The Packers will pull away in the second half and win easily.