NFL Picks Week 8: 4 Teams Guaranteed To Lose

No game in the NFL is a guarantee.

Case in point, the Monday Night Football game that just ended a few hours ago. The Jacksonville Jaguars were supposed to lose this game. There was no chance that they would defeat one of the top teams in the NFL in the Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens entered this game as the best defense in the NFL. They had the third-best rush defense in the NFL.

They ended up getting scorched by Maurice Jones-Drew for over 100 yards. More importantly, they lost the game 12-7.

Although there are no games that are guaranteed wins or losses in the NFL, there are games that are near locks as far as expected losers are concerned.

Take, for example, the Packers' 24-3 thrashing of the Rams a week ago, where the Rams entered as 14-point underdogs. That was the largest spread of Week 6.

As with every week, there are games that are expected to go down to the wire. Then there are the games that are expected to be blowouts.

These are the four teams that are guaranteed to lose in Week 8. Well, as close to being guaranteed as it can possibly get.

New Orleans Saints at St Louis Rams

The Rams may be the worst team in the NFL.

They entered Week 7 with a point differential of minus-115, which was the worst in the league. They have the second-worst defense and the worst offense in the entire NFL.

Sam Bradford was sidelined for the Week 7 beating at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys that saw DeMarco Murray set several Cowboys franchise records for rushing. Murray ran for over 250 yards. The Rams scored seven total points as a team and had a total of 265 yards of offense.

Basically, Murray was better than the entire Rams offense.

There isn't any official word on whether Bradford will start or not in Week 8; however, it shouldn't really matter whether it's Bradford or AJ Feeley. Both will struggle moving the chains with such a terrible offensive team.

The Saints have numerous weapons for Drew Brees to utilize. They just scored a franchise-record 62 points on the Colts, who are probably just as equally as bad as the Rams.

Don't expect 62 points for the second consecutive week, but don't expect a shootout either. This game should be over by the time the second half starts. The Rams shouldn't score any more than 14 points in this game and the Saints shouldn't score any less than 30.

Miami Dolphins at New York Giants

The Dolphins are a hopeless team.

After blowing a 15-point lead with just three minutes remaining in a game that saw the Broncos have a total net yardage of less than 10 yards passing entering the fourth quarter, the Dolphins are 0-6. They travel to New York to face a Giants team coming off a 27-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Miami did not fire Tony Sparano. Instead, they keep him for one more week.

Why? Because it's evident they don't care about winning. They care about losing to compete in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes alongside their fellow winless brethren, the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams.

The Dolphins can't move the ball. They scored a total of six points in the first half versus the Broncos where the Broncos punted every drive in which they didn't miss field goals. They repeatedly had great field position, yet seemingly squandered every opportunity to take control of the game.

Did I mention that they're starting Matt Moore?

The Giants aren't a great team. They have a great weeks where they beat good teams like the Buffalo Bills, but they also have their bad weeks where they lose to terrible teams such as the Seattle Seahawks.

It really shouldn't matter if Eli Manning throws three picks in this game; the Dolphins don't want to win and they won't win against a Giants team playing at home and looking to build momentum in their quest to win the division.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans

Can lightning strike twice?

It can, but it's highly unlikely.

As stated in the opening slide, the Jaguars just upset one of the top five teams in the NFL in the Baltimore Ravens. The defense held Joe Flacco to eight yards passing in the first half and the Ravens to seven total points in the game. They were averaging 29 points per game entering the contest.

Can the Jaguars do it again at Houston?

The answer is likely no.

The Texans have an explosive offense. Some people figured they'd lose to Tennessee because Andre Johnson is sidelined for several weeks due to injury and people love to push the panic button on teams that start off quickly such as the Texans, Raiders or Lions.

Which was for good reason because Tennessee has a lot of explosive offensive weapons outside of Kenny Britt such as...wait a minute, they don't have anybody either than Chris Johnson, who currently leads the worst rushing attack in the NFL.

Nonetheless, Houston defeated Tennessee 41-7, destroying any talk of them having any legitimate competition in the South for now.

It should remain that way after Sunday, when Houston blows out Jacksonville.

Blaine Gabbert has a long way to go, and Jones-Drew will not be able to carry the Jaguars enough to lift them to victory against a team that is very explosive offensively, with or without Johnson.

Cleveland Browns at San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco enters this game off of a bye after handing the Lions their first loss of the season in Week 6.

The Browns enter this game at .500 after having defeated the Seahawks 6-3.

Hey, a win is a win.

The Niners are not a perfect team. In fact, they have a couple of glaring weaknesses. One of them is their vertical game.

Alex Smith threw for 125 yards in the victory over the Lions. The Niners rank 26th in total offensive yardage, 30th in passing yardage and 32nd in passing attempts.

However, what has led to their success other than their second-ranked defense?

They have thrown the least amount of interceptions in the NFL. Smith has only thrown two interceptions. The Niners currently rank third in takeaway/giveaway differential of plus-8.

What do teams that are short on talent need to do in order to win games in the NFL? Keep the turnovers to a minimum.

The Miami Dolphins in 2008 did it with Chad Pennington when they were one turnover away for tying the NFL record for least amount of turnovers by a team in a single season. The Kansas City Chiefs of 2010 accomplished a similar goal with Matt Cassel.

The Niners are doing it right now with Smith.

Although the lack of talent and passing will catch up to the Niners eventually in the playoffs, they should have no problem dismantling a team that ranks 27th in total points and 24th in total yards.

Colt McCoy is a smart quarterback, but he lacks one too many physical tools in order to defeat a stout defense such as the Niners.