NFL Week 8 Picks: Upcoming Odds and Predictions for Full Schedule

We're almost completely through the first seven weeks of the 2016 NFL season. After the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans play on Monday night, it will be time to officially turn the page over to Week 8.

It's been an exciting and unpredictable ride so far this season, and Week 7 brought no exceptions.

The Philadelphia Eagles managed to knock the Minnesota Vikings from the ranks of the unbeaten this past week, while the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals battled to a draw. The Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders won blowout victories, while six contests were decided by a touchdown or less.

What kind of action will next week's slate of games bring? Well, that's exactly what we're going to examine. We will be looking at the early lines for all 13 contests—courtesy of Odds Shark—and making our predictions against them. We will also take an in-depth look at some of the more intriguing matchups looming on the schedule.

NFL Week 8

Day, Time (ET)	Game	Opening Line	Prediction
Thur. 8:25 p.m.	Jacksonville at Tennessee	TEN -3.5	TEN
Sun. 9:30 a.m.	Washington at Cincinnati*	CIN -2.5	WAS
Sun. 1 p.m.	Arizona at Carolina	Even	ARI
Sun. 1 p.m.	Oakland at Tampa Bay	TB -1	OAK
Sun. 1 p.m.	New England at Buffalo	NE -4.5	NE
Sun. 1 p.m.	Detroit at Houston	HOU -2.5	HOU
Sun. 1 p.m.	Kansas City at Indianapolis	KC -2.5	KC
Sun. 1 p.m.	Seattle at New Orleans	SEA -3	SEA
Sun. 1 p.m.	NY Jets at Cleveland	NYJ -2.5	CLE
Sun. 4:05 p.m.	San Diego at Denver	DEN -6	SD
Sun. 4:25 p.m.	Green Bay at Atlanta	ATL -2.5	ATL
Sun. 8:30 p.m.	Philadelphia at Dallas	DAL -5	DAL
Mon. 8:30 p.m.	Minnesota at Chicago	MIN -4	MIN

Matchups to Watch

Joel Auerbach/Associated Press

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans

Week 8 will kick off on Thursday night when the Tennessee Titans host the division-rival Jacksonville Jaguars. While this might seem like a groan-worthy matchup at first glance, there are a few reasons why this game could actually be quite a bit of fun.

The biggest reason is that the race in the AFC South is still tight, and this game will be important. The Titans and the Indianapolis Colts each sit at 3-4, while the Jaguars hold a 2-4 record. The division-leading Texans are 4-2 but could drop to 4-3 with a loss to Denver on Monday night.

This means that whichever team wins on Thursday will pull a bit closer to the top of the division. The Titans will have an opportunity to even their record after hitting the speed bump that was Indianapolis this past Sunday.

"We had been kind of going in a good direction the last few weeks," Titans linebacker Derrick Morgan said, per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. "We just let them do too much offensively, moving up and down the field."

Tennessee may have an easier time preventing the Jaguars from moving up and down the field this week. Jacksonville is ranked 27th in total offense with an average of 324 yards per game. If the Titans can limit what Jacksonville does offensively—and continue running the football well—they'll have a good chance of coming away with a win here.

Jacksonville is allowing an average of 109.8 yards rushing per game. The Titans are rushing for an average of 143.4 yards per game on the ground, the third-most in the NFL.

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The New England Patriots have been scary good since the return of quarterback Tom Brady in Week 5. The team has won all three games with Brady under center by at least 11 points, and now they turn their attention to the Buffalo Bills.

Buffalo, you may remember, embarrassed the Jacoby Brissett-led Patriots in Foxborough the week before Brady returned. The Patriots will undoubtedly be looking to return the favor in Buffalo this coming weekend.

Of course, the revenge angle isn't the only reason this game will be interesting to watch. While the 6-1 Patriots have control of the AFC East, the 4-3 Bills are not drastically far behind. The problem for Buffalo is that Sunday's loss to the Miami Dolphins dropped the team to 1-2 in the division, as Pats Pulpit's Rich Hill noted:

The Bills know that Sunday's loss hurts their chances in the AFC East. After the loss, Buffalo linebacker Lorenzo Alexander explained how the team needs to bounce back, via the team's official website:

"

We have to—like I said—regroup, look back at the film and see where we could tighten up and continue to learn and continue to get better, because we have a great team coming in here next week in the Patriots, so we can’t sulk on this loss. We have to figure out what we did wrong, move on and get ready for them.

"

If the Bills can rebound against the Patriots this weekend, then they'll be right on New England's heels in the division race. Buffalo will be sitting at 5-3 with two head-to-head wins over the 6-2 Patriots. It's not going to be easy, though, because Brady is a world above the quarterback Buffalo bested in Week 4.

Since returning, Brady has passed for 1,004 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. The Bills will need to be nearly flawless, and they may have to do so without star running back LeSean McCoy.

McCoy attempted to play with a hamstring issue against the Dolphins, but was forced to leave after aggravating the injury. NFL.com's Michael Fabiano shared the thoughts of many Buffalo fans on Sunday:

We should know in the coming days just how serious the issue is now. If McCoy cannot go this week, the Bills will be facing this tough challenge without their top offensive weapon.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Sunday's nightcap features a classic NFC East battle between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. This is an interesting matchup because the 5-1 Cowboys and the 4-2 Eagles are jockeying for position atop the division.

A winner here earns the first head-to-head tiebreaker.

This matchup is also interesting because it pits Philadelphia's emerging defense against rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott and efficient rookie quarterback Dak Prescott, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport:

Prescott has played at an incredibly high level this season, especially during the team's five-game win streak. So far, he has completed 68.7 percent of his passes, has 1,486 yards passing and has tossed seven touchdowns with just one interception.

However, Philadelphia seems to have a knack for getting efficient quarterbacks to make mistakes.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford came into Sunday's game with the Eagles with no turnovers. He was sacked six times by the Eagles defense and threw his first interception of the year while losing two fumbles.

We'll find out on Sunday if the Philadelphia pass rush—which is rated third overall by Pro Football Focus—can force Prescott into making mistakes as well. If it can, the Eagles will have a decent shot of walking into AT&T Stadium and stealing a victory.

If the Cowboys take care of business at home, it should help confirm that this Dallas team is a legitimate title contender.