NFL Picks Week 8: Kansas City Chiefs and More Teams That Will Surprise

Here's a look at three NFL teams that are primed to surprise some people in Week 8.

Kansas City Chiefs

After their 28-0 drubbing of the Oakland Raiders, the Chiefs are suddenly one of the hottest teams in the NFL. And this comes after looking like quite possibly the worst team in history after the first two weeks.

But suddenly, despite all their injuries, they have a Monday night matchup with San Diego that will decide the AFC West leader. 

The Chargers already knocked off Kansas City in Week 3—and early lines have San Diego as a three-point favorite—but Kansas City should ride their current momentum to another win.

The Chiefs have been winning with defense and a dominating running game, so don't expect the recent Monday Night Football stinkers to come to an end with this one. Something like 17-14 looks likely, especially with Philip Rivers struggling so mightily of late.

Minnesota Vikings

The early lines also have the Carolina Panthers as three-point favorites, but Christian Ponder is about to turn Minnesota back into a winning team.

The switch from Donovan McNabb to Ponder has ejected life into this team, and they nearly pulled off the upset of the year over Super Bowl champion Green Bay in the rookie's first career start last week.

Despite what you think of Cam "the Man" Newton, Carolina still isn't quite to the status of Green Bay. Even though Minnesota has to travel on the road in this one, I like them to pull off the upset.

The Panthers are incredibly inept at stopping the run and Adrian Peterson is pretty darn good at running. He should have a big game and Ponder should actually be able to extend drives and get AP some extra carries.

Minnesota has been in every game this year sans Week 6's tilt with Chicago. Roll with the Vikings straight up here.

St. Louis Rams

The line has yet to come out on this one, but it will probably favor the away Saints by quite a few.

NFL contenders don't often lose focus, but if they did it would likely come after a 55-point win. The Saints just thrashed the Colts and now they get another winless team in the Rams.

They better be careful, though. 

The Rams are at home, their pass defense is much better than Indy's and Sam Bradford has the ability to move the ball against New Orleans; especially with his new toy Brandon Lloyd.

Of course, if Bradford doesn't get the start, all bets are off. But if he does, watch out for a big upset here.