NFL Week 8 Picks: Best Bets vs. the Spread

Hi! Do you enjoy football? How about winning money? If you answered yes to either or both of those questions, the following is in your wheelhouse. Here are the Smarter picks for Week 8 of the NFL season. These are against the spread, and the spreads and percentages are courtesy of Pregame.com.

Season Record: 11-10

Washington Redskins (+3) over CINCINNATI BENGALS

I see this spread and think…why? Cincinnati is in all caps because they’re the “home” team, but this game is in London. The ‘Skins have treated me well this year as underdogs, and it’s unclear why Cincy is considered better. They are 24th against the pass and 18th against the run, while Washington’s proven they can move the ball through the air, and look like they might have all-world tight end Jordan Reed back sooner than expected.

Cincinnati also might be ill-equipped to take advantage of Washington’s admittedly shaky D. They’ve scored 17 or fewer points in four of their seven games, and the combined record of the teams they’ve beaten (Jets, Dolphins, Browns) is 5-26.

Finally, this is not an “80/20” game, but it’s inching in that direction. Per Pregame.com, 73% of the action is on Cincinnati as of this writing.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (+2.5) over Kansas City Chiefs

This smells like a trap. Kansas City is a team everyone trusts, and no one wants to place faith in the Colts’ truly offensive defense. But I will, because I believe in Andrew Luck. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in football, and he routinely makes chicken salad out of chicken shit. He also might get WR Donte Moncrief back, which returns this passing game to one of the best in football.

On the other side of the ball, RB Jamaal Charles isn’t right, and won’t be getting a full workload. The Chiefs simply aren’t explosive enough to really take advantage of Indy’s weaknesses like other teams are. Couple that with the Colts being a home underdog, and this is a fun little play.

San Diego Chargers (+6) over DENVER BRONCOS

The Broncos are being bet heavily after harassing Brock Osweiler into one of the worst nights a QB has ever had, but there are red flags. For starters, RB C.J. Anderson is suddenly looking like he’s out, which is bad. Second, this offense still isn’t that good! They won’t be able to stick it to an extremely bendable Chargers rush defense without Anderson keying the attack, and QB Trevor Siemian is quietly facing a pass defense ranked in the Top 10 per Football Outsiders.

Now for the more anecdotal stuff. The Chargers’ 3-4 record is misleading, as they’ve really had some head-scratching metldowns late. If they keep their cool, they are one of the league’s better squads. They don’t get blown out; the margins of defeat in their four losses are six, four, one and three. Against the Broncos’ pedestrian attack, they can keep it close.