Week 8 features two games between teams with winning records (Cleveland at Seattle and Jacksonville at Pittsburgh), the top two picks in this year's draft (C.J. Stroud at Bryce Young), and a whole lot of quarterbacks who make Kirk Cousins and his durability look not so bad.
Mark Craig's Week 8 NFL picks: Is a shuffle ahead in the NFC North standings?
The Vikings have a chance to put some distance between themselves and division rivals chasing them, while the Lions are looking to rebound.
October 27, 2023 at 2:58PM
Here are six games to watch:
VIKINGS
Vikings (-2½) at Packers: Time to underthink this and take the better team with the better quarterback. Vikings 24, Packers 21
AROUND THE NFC NORTH
Bears (+8 ½) at Chargers: The Bad News Bagents were a good story that ended when Brian Hoyer flew back to Vegas with an 0-16 record since 2017. Chargers 31, Bears 17
Raiders (+7 ½) at Lions: It's OK, Detroit. You can open your eyes. The Ravens aren't trading Lamar Jackson to the Raiders. Lions 38, Raiders 17
LOCK OF THE WEEK
Ravens (-9 ½) at Cardinals: Sorry to keep picking on you, Arizona, but you're kinda consistently just not good enough. Ravens 40, Cardinals 20
UPSET OF THE WEEK
Rams (+6½) at Cowboys: The guy who picked the Lions to beat the Ravens in Baltimore last week could not be reached for comment at this time. Rams 31, Cowboys 28
GAME OF THE WEEK
Jaguars (-2 ½) at Steelers: Good luck betting against Mike Tomlin when he's favored to lose. Steelers 23, Jaguars 21
SEASON RESULTS
Season record straight up/against the spread: 23-19; 20-22.
Upset special: 2-5.
Lock of the Week: 7-0.
Vikings: 3-4.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
