NFL Picks Week 8: Denver Broncos and 3 Hot Teams Ready for a Letdown

It's not too late to right the ship.  Entering Week 8, there is plenty of time for just about anyone to make a run at their division—unless you're the Vikings, because the Packers just aren't slowing down.

For some of the hottest teams in the league, the rise will stop abruptly this week.  The buzz will fizzle out, and they will be left regrouping on Monday.

Here are three teams that will hit that wall this week.

Denver Broncos vs. Detroit Lions

Tim Tebow is the main source of the buzz in Denver after posting the comeback win against Miami last week.  Let's be honest with ourselves, though, the fanbase Tebow carries with him would have created buzz whether they converted that late two-point conversion or not.

If they had lost in overtime, I believe it would be the same story.  For all Tebow does wrong, his followers will always relish in the good.  And for the Denver Broncos, having been 1-4 before the Tebow start, they were itching for some excitement either way.

The truth of the matter is that Tebow led two drives all game, and luckily they were playing one of the worst teams in the league.  This week will be much different against the Detroit Lions.

The Lions have lost two straight down-to-the-wire games against playoff contenders—something that Denver most certainly is not.  Detroit's defense will be a nightmare for Tebow, starting up front with the pressure and ending with the secondary, which despite two straight losses has held teams to 205 pass yards per game.

Both teams are pretty poor against the run, and it appears both teams will be without their feature backs. 

Denver may have been able to keep their young quarterback in striking distance against Matt Moore last week, but if Matthew Stafford is healthy enough to play, it will be a different story. And Stafford was in practice this week.

Tebow will face a much better team than he did a week ago for four quarters, and two drives may not get him halfway to where Denver will need to be to compete this week.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans

The Jaguars are feeling pretty good about themselves after holding a legitimate Super Bowl contender to seven points.  Let's face it, though—for some reason or another, the Ravens offense is just one of those groups that throw up a dud every once in awhile.

The Houston Texans, on the other hand, have proven that even without Arian Foster earlier in the year and Andre Johnson the past few weeks, they can score.  Against a solid Titans defense a week ago, the Texans racked up more than 500 yards of offense and 41 points.

The Jaguars have played two straight games compiling less than 210 yards of offense.  I would say that won't beat anyone, but then again there are the Ravens. 

That won't beat many more teams and certainly won't beat Houston.

Playing in Houston won't make it any easier on rookie Blaine Gabbert.  If the Jaguars faithful are expecting a midseason turnaround to take a run at a winnable division, they will need a lot more offense, and I don't see it coming out of the blue.

Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Diego Chargers

The Chiefs are playing very impressive football, winning three straight games.  It's even more impressive if you can recall how they came out and played their first two games.  Then they lost their biggest offensive weapon Jamaal Charles for the year—but here they are at 3-3.

After one of the worst two-game starts ever, the Chiefs find themselves just a game out of first place and have a shot at first-place San Diego this week.  The Chiefs' hot streak started with a three-point loss in San Diego, which was their first real sign of life.

Last year, the Chiefs were able to beat the Chargers in Kansas City, and there is surely a lot of hype around this game for the Chiefs. 

A win is a win in the NFL, no question about that. But I can't help but look at the three wins Kansas City achieved.  They beat Minnesota and Indianapolis, who combine for a 1-13 record, and then feasted on Oakland's backup Kyle Boller and a Carson Palmer fresh out of retirement. 

It didn't hurt that Darren McFadden went down right from the onset of the game, either.

This week they will play a healthy San Diego team that lost a battle in New York last week.  San Diego plays much better football all-around than Kansas City, and with Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson healthy they will be tough to stop. 

Even though all arrows point to a possible upset in Kansas City, I think the level of play here will be a lot different for San Diego than we saw last time they played the Chiefs.