NFL Week 8 Picks: Matchups Guide, Advice and Early Score Predictions

Wide receiver Steve Smith was released by the Carolina Panthers in 2014 after a 13-year career. The Baltimore Ravens picked him up in the offseason, which was convenient for Smith because he would get a chance at revenge against his former employer in Week 4.

Sure enough, Smith posted one of his best all-time games as he caught seven passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-10 victory.

Did Smith's anger towards his former franchise fuel a dominant outing, or was it a mixture of Smith's skillset and the Panthers' struggling secondary? Maybe it's a bit of both, but sometimes, pregame narratives come to fruition.

Here's a look at some Week 8 NFL picks alongside two narratives that could come into play.

Week 8 Odds and Predictions

Miami Dolphins at Houston Texans: HOU 17, MIA 9

Philadelphia Eagles at Jacksonville Jaguars in Wembley Stadium, London: PHI 17, JAX 13

Baltimore Ravens at Carolina Panthers: BAL 19, CAR 13

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers: PIT 34, CLE 13

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs: KC 34, DEN 24

New York Jets at Chicago Bears: CHI 27, NYJ 13

Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions: DET 27, SEA 24

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cincinnati Bengals: CIN 31, TB 28

Washington Redskins at New York Giants: WAS 20, NYG 17

Indianapolis Colts at Oakland Raiders: IND 24, OAK 20

Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Rams: LAR 38, GB 31

San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals: ARI 27, SF 20

New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings: NO 31, MIN 28

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills: NE 34, BUF 10

New England at Buffalo: Rob Gronkowski Returns Home, QB Tom Brady's Career-Long Dominance over Bills

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski grew up in Williamsville, New York, which is roughly a 20-minute drive from New Era Stadium, the home of the Buffalo Bills.

Gronkowski has played in Buffalo seven times, and these are his stats, per Pro Football Reference: 44 catches, 730 yards, seven touchdowns.

That's a really good year for a tight end, and yet Gronk has pulled that off in less than half a season's worth of games.

The ninth-year pro has amassed fewer than 94 yards just once during that span, and in that outlier, Gronk still caught four passes for 54 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The issue is that Gronkowski missed his Week 7 game at the Chicago Bears with back spasms, although Michael Giardi of NFL Network offered some encouraging news moving forward:

If Gronkowski is good to go, look for him to give the Bills some problems.

The same could be said for quarterback Tom Brady, who is 28-3 lifetime against Buffalo. One of those losses comes with an asterisk, as Brady sat a portion of a Week 17 game against the Bills in 2014 with the team having already clinched the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed. Brady's other defeats came in 2003 and 2011.

For his career, Brady has 68 touchdowns (and just 22 interceptions) alongside a 64.36 percent completion rate and a 101.1 quarterback rating.

The Pats are massive 13.5-point favorites over the Bills, per OddsShark. That spread may not even consider New England's dominance over Buffalo as a factor: The Pats are rolling thanks to four straight wins, while the 2-5 Bills are reeling following a 37-5 loss to the two-win Indianapolis Colts.

Buffalo is dead last in the NFL in points per game with 11.6, and starting running back LeSean McCoy is currently in the concussion protocol. Starting quarterback Josh Allen is already out with an elbow injury, and backup Derek Anderson is taking his place.

Basically, nothing is going in Buffalo's favor for Monday, which could foreshadow more doom.

The London Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have played one "home" game in London for each of the past five seasons and will do so again in 2018 when they host the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The Jags dropped their games in 2013 and 2014, but Jacksonville has exploded offensively in its past three London contests, scoring 34, 30 and 44 points in a trio of victories. Their most recent win was a resounding 44-7 game over the Baltimore Ravens, who went a respectable 9-7 in 2017 and finished sixth in fewest points allowed despite their crushing defeat.

Jacksonville's offensive explosions in London have seemingly come out of nowhere, as the Jags have averaged 23.5, 19.9 and 26.1 points per game from 2015-2017, respectively.

Is there something to it? Perhaps. The Jaguars franchise is now used to yearly London trips, so team staff likely have the logistics down to a science, which can only help the players. Although there is plenty of roster turnover in the NFL, many Jags (minus some rookies and other offseason additions) have taken part in at least one London game, so this isn't their first rodeo either.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles have never played in London, so they need to figure out the best course of action in their preparation for the game.

Does that affect their performance? It might, but more concerning may be the Jags' recent slide, as the team has been outscored 90-28 in three straight losses. The Eagles haven't done well either after starting 3-4, but they've lost all their games by one score. They're in better shape than Jacksonville going into this game, and the guess here is an Eagles win despite the Jags' potential London advantage.