Week 8 NFL Football Betting Preview by Vernon Croy

We’re almost at the halfway point of the season and it’s just starting to get exciting. Playoff races are starting to take shape and your favorite teams have established themselves as contenders or pretenders. There are a few key games this week that will help some teams in their conference races. So what should we expect from this week’s lineup of games as far as Free NFL Picks go? Here is what to watch for in Week 8.

Week 8 Best NFL Betting Picks

Denver vs. Baltimore (Baltimore -3). One of the best games of the week comes when Denver travels to Baltimore. The Broncos are putting their perfect record on the line against the Ravens and it could be their stiffest test to date. The Ravens still have one of the best defenses in the league and the Broncos offense will be tested greatly. If Kyle Orton can keep from getting picked off two or three times, the Broncos will have a chance to stay perfect. However, when you play at Baltimore, you know it’s going to be a tough game.

Cleveland vs. Chicago (Chicago -13.5). Let’s say a team just lost the previous week by over 30 points. Then let’s say that that team was now playing you and they were 13.5 point favorites against you. Your team would probably be in pretty bad shape. This is exactly the condition that the Cleveland Browns find themselves in. Things couldn’t get much worse for the Browns at this point. They’ve traded away all of their stars and are basically looking towards the future. The future just looks really far off at this point.

Houston vs. Buffalo (Houston -3). The Texans have had one of the best offenses in the league this year and quarterback Matt Schaub has been on fire. They took a bit of a hit last week when Andre Johnson was injured. His return is questionable for this week although the injury does not appear to be serious. The Bills have made the switch to Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback, which appears to end the Trent Edwards experiment. The Bills are hoping that last week’s win against the Panthers was not a fluke.

Minnesota vs. Green Bay (Green Bay -3). Although Minnesota won the first meeting between these teams a few weeks back, they are the underdogs in this game. Coming off their first loss of the season last week, the Vikings will try to get things back on track. Adrian Peterson is still the best back in the league and Green Bay’s defense can be ran on. This one will obviously have all the usual hype that comes with a Brett Favre game accompanied by the extra hype of him playing against the Packers and his understudy Aaron Rodgers. Look for a good game at Lambeau.

San Francisco vs. Indianapolis (Indianapolis -12). The 49ers have had a pretty good season so far, and they are trying to improve as they go. Michael Crabtree was recently inserted into the starting lineup and didn’t have a bad game for his first outing. They will also try Alex Smith as the starting quarterback again in what will presumably be his last chance to take the reins after being drafted #1 overall. For the Colts, they are still rolling along with future Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning at the controls. They are fresh off a beating of the St. Louis Rams and ready for more blood.

Miami vs. New York Jets (New York -3). The Dolphins are coming off of one of the most disappointing losses of the season against the undefeated New Orleans Saints last weekend. The Saints outscored them 22-0 in the fourth quarter after what looked like a surefire win at one point. With that being said, the Jets are no Saints. This should be a pretty even matchup between two decent teams. The Wildcat is in full force in Miami and Ricky Williams has experienced a rejuvenation in it. Mark Sanchez is trying to get things under control again in New York and this game will be a good place to start.

Seattle vs. Dallas (Dallas -9.5). There were a lot of questions floating around about the Dallas Cowboys before last weekend’s game. They were fresh off an overtime win in Kansas City and most people were calling for the coach’s head during the bye week. However, they proceeded to beat down the Falcons regain some momentum in the NFC East. The Seahawks have struggled to remain consistent so far and hope that they can get things going against Dallas.

Oakland vs. San Diego (San Diego -16.5). This looks to be the weekend’s biggest mismatch according to the line. The Raiders are still awful even though they managed to luck themselves into a win against Philly a few weeks ago. The Chargers looked good last week against the Chiefs. When you combine a good team and a bad team, you get a 16.5 point spread. However, that’s why they play the games. You never know when Oakland will pull another upset like they did against Philly.

Jacksonville vs. Tennessee (Tennessee -3). The Tennessee Titans are winless on the season and it is now Week 8. However, by some unbelievable turn of events, they are actually favored to win the game. Why is that? Oh, that’s right…they’re playing the Jaguars. The Jaguars aren’t great, but surely they should be favored over a winless team, right? This one should be a pretty close game between two struggling teams in the AFC South.

Carolina vs. Arizona (Arizona -10). This is a rematch from last year’s playoffs and the Panthers are hoping for a different outcome. In that playoff game, Jake Delhomme put up about 17 turnovers in what looked like a pretty lopsided affair. The Cardinals just got done beating the Giants who are actually a pretty good team. This one should be interesting.

New York Giants vs. Philadelphia (Philadelphia -1). As you can tell, this one should be a pretty close game. You’ve got two good quarterbacks in McNabb and Manning. You’ve got good young receivers in Jackson, Maclin, Manningham, Smith, and Nicks. If you are looking for Winning NFL Picks this could be an aerial assault for the ages so look into the Over.

Atlanta vs. New Orleans Saints (New Orleans -10). The Saints are one of the best teams in football at this juncture. They come in undefeated and just won in dramatic fashion against the Dolphins. Drew Brees is the best quarterback in the league and the Falcons will not be able to stop him. However, the Falcons are no slouches on offense either. They bring “Matty Ice” at quarterback as well as Michael Turner, Roddy White, and Tony G. This should be a fun one in New Orleans on Monday Night Football.

Check out Vernon Croy’s Expert NFL Picks for Week 8!

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