This article covers predicted NFL Top 5 Exciting Games Week 8 and top 5 upsets. Thursday Night Football on Fox is right around the corner on 10/28/21 and that means Week 8 is starting. Time to continue with a weekly cadence of highlighting the best games to watch. Also determining the potential upsets lurking below the radar. Hard part about doing this exercise in 2021, is trying to determine if any of the 2020 trends will continue. 2020 was the season of Covid-19 impacts, no fans in the stands and a surprising post season.
2021 Week 7 Picks Recap
Top 5 games to watch – 3/5 correct thanks to Tampa Bay, Tennessee and New Orleans
Top 5 upsets that could happen = 2/5 correct thanks to New York Giants and Indianapolis
Overall picks – 5/10 which makes me located right at the mean/median of this data set
2021 All Picks Recap
Top 5 games to watch – 21/35 correct
Top 5 upsets that could happen – 14/35 correct
Overall picks – 35/70 correct which makes me Even Steven in Seinfeld talk
NFL Top 5 Exciting Games Week 8
5. Green Bay vs. Arizona
Best matchup of the week is the Thursday Night game from State Farm Field in Glendale, AZ. Packers come in at 6-1 and they are winning with a highly polished offense and opportunistic defense. Cardinals are the only undefeated team in the NFL at 7-0 and they have been blowing teams out due to the high level of play by the their QB, Kyler Murray. The television announcers will be discussing injuries and Covid-19 impacts for both teams. J.J. Watt has most likely played his last game in 2021, pending a second opinion on his injured shoulder. Aaron Rodgers will be missing his security blanket, Davante Adams, due to Covid-19 protocols. Adams will be one of three WRs to miss this game for the Packers. Hoping for a similar game to the 2009 Wild Card round, when the Cardinals won 51-45 in OT. Must watch viewing during the World Series travel day.
Prediction: Cardinals are 6.5 point home favorites and the Packers have too many players injured/unable to play to keep up. Cardinals win this game by 7 points and will have the Rams breathing down their necks in the NFC West. Aaron Rodgers will tell Packer fans to “just relax” again due to having at least a two game lead in the NFC North. These teams will meet again in the playoffs.
4. Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland
Old fashioned AFC North matchup from FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, OH. Last time these two teams played each other, Browns won 48-37 in the 2020 AFC Wild Card round in Pittsburgh. That game was after the Week #17 matchup in Cleveland, that the Browns won 24-22 to qualify for the playoffs. Two straight loses to the same team ended a promising 2020 season for the Steelers. 2021 season has been inconsistent for both teams, due to key injuries (Baker Mayfield, Kareem Hunt and JuJu Smith-Schuster). The team that wins this game will keep pace with the Bengals and Ravens in the AFC North. Losing team will have a massive uphill battle to make the playoffs.
Prediction: Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is still angry about the sports reporter’s question of his name being linked to the USC head coach opening earlier this week. Tomlin’s response was real and to the point. His squad will carry that attitude onto the field this Sunday and win by 7 points.
3. New England vs. Los Angeles Chargers
East Coast vs. West Coast matchup from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. Having flashbacks to the 2006 AFC Divisional Playoff round game in San Diego, when a young Phillip Rivers was taught a big game lesson by Tom Brady. Hard to believe the Chargers were 14-2 in 2006 and undefeated at home until that playoff loss. 2021 game will feature two young QBs in Mac Jones (rookie) vs. Justin Herbert (second season). Herbert is already a budding star in the AFC and Jones will put all of his QB tools together in 2022. Enjoy this mid-season entrée that will be won late in the fourth quarter.
Prediction: Chargers are currently 5.0 point home favorites and will cover that line due to the home field advantage
2. Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans
2020 NFC Divisional Round playoff game rematch from Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA. Buccaneers are trying to show how focused they are on repeating as Super Bowl champions due to being in a pattern of blowout, close win, blowout. If that pattern holds this week, it’ll be a close score playing against the Saints. New Orleans seem to be getting used to Jameis Winston at QB, but they made a very quiet and smart trade acquisition this week bringing back Mark Ingram. Ingram was a huge voice in the locker room and on the field during the Saints Super Bowl winning season in 2009 and he’ll team nicely with Alvin Kamara. Saints might be modeling their offense to mirror the 2007 New York Giants, with a two-to-three head running attack of thunder and lightning.
Prediction: Tampa Bay is currently a 5.5 point road favorite and they’ll cover that line winning by 9 points
1. Dallas vs. Minnesota
Has it really been thirty two years since the Cowboys traded Herschel Walker to the Vikings and then established the team of the 1990s with three Super Bowl titles in four seasons (1992, 1993 and 1995)? Since that trade was completed, the Cowboys have made the playoffs fifteen times, lost the NFC Championship in 1994 and won three Super Bowls. That leaves eleven of those playoff appearances to be loses in the wildcard round or divisional round. Vikings have made the playoffs sixteen times, lost the NFC Championship in 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2017 and never advanced to the Super Bowl. That leaves twelve of the playoff appearances to be loses in the wildcard round or divisional round This matchup isn’t the rubber game for the one sided 1989 trade, but it will be entertaining to watch. QB Dak Prescott is currently questionable to play for Dallas due to a strained calf.
Prediction: Vikings are current 2.5 point home favorites and are due for a big NFC win. Minnesota wins by 3 points whether Prescott plays or not.
NFL Top 5 Exciting Games Week 8 for Upsets that might happen
5. Jacksonville vs. Seattle
Trevor Lawrence vs. Geno Smith at Lumen Field in Seattle, WA. Seahawks are sitting at 2-5 for only the second time in the Pete Carroll coaching era in Seattle (2011 season). Legion of Doom is no longer the correct nickname for the Seahawks secondary, its simply Swiss Cheese due to being gouged for 281 passing yards per game. Jaguars will arrive fresh in the Pacific Northwest after breaking their twenty game losing streak in London during Week 7 and their rookie QB and WR corps will have a big statistical day, rain or shine. To quote Han Solo from Star Wars, “I have a bad feeling about this” will be the mantra of Seahawks fans until Russell Wilson is back in the lineup. Seahawks are currently 3.5 point home favorites, but they need to score TDs and not FGs to have a chance.
4. Carolina vs. Atlanta
Ugh….this matchup keeps coming back to me like a bad penny. Panthers have lost four games in a row due to an injured Christian McCaffrey and bad QB play from Sam Darnold. Carolina is now getting desperate due to being linked to Deshaun Watson trade talks for a new QB. Is anyone held accountable at the NFL level when QB trades don’t pay off and then plan B is implemented during the same season? Mind boggling how the Panthers are being run these days. Falcons have won back to back games and sit at a respectable 3-3 during a formal rebuilding process. Rookie Kyle Pitts will continue to improve at the TE position by leaps and bounds before this season is done. Falcons are current 3.0 point home favorites, but the Panthers will hang around in the second half to make this game uncomfortable for the home crowd.
3. New York Giants vs. Kansas City
Intriguing matchup when you peel the onion a couple of layers to see what is currently happening with both of these franchises. Giants are playing inconsistent and lousy football due to injuries, bad play calling and horrible drafting, but they managed to smoke Carolina 25-3 in Week 7. Chiefs fell to 3-4 after losing badly to Tennesse 27-3. Patrick Mahomes is saying all of the correct press conference quotes of “I’ve got to get better” to try and motivate his teammates. That approach may work, but the Chiefs keep running the same playbook they used in Super Bowl 55 against Tampa Bay. Mahomes literally runs around trying to be Superman every play and then their defense is non-existent. Kansas City is currently 9.5 point home favorites and should cover, but if the gap is 10 points or less against the lowly Giants, the Chiefs will continue to fall off the AFC cliff.
2. Tennessee vs. Indianapolis
This is a great matchup on paper due to how fast both teams are trending up as the 2021 season moves from October to November. Titans have been on a roll after back to back convincing wins over Buffalo and Kansas City. Mike Vrabel should start getting some positive media coverage about his skills at being a head coach. Another disciple from the Bill Belichick coaching tree. Colts have taken a few games to get warmed up with new QB Carson Wertz, but his chemistry with head coach Frank Reich is very noticeable over the last two games. Titans beat the Colts in Week 3 in a relatively close game 25-16. Colts are currently 1.5 point home favorites, but the Titans will work to win this game behind Derrick Henry’s power running game. Most teams will be dread playing the Colts down the stretch in 2021.
1. San Francisco vs. Chicago
Two teams that don’t know which QB to start in Week 8. Bears head coach Matt Nagy is in Covid-19 protocols, which may relax the entire team roster. 49ers have been lifeless during a four game losing streak and head coach Kyle Shanahan looks tired and frustrated. Bears have back to back losses, so something has to give at Soldier Field. Maybe the first tie game of the 2021 season or another OT game? 49ers are currently 4.0 road favorites, but the Bears might do their annual 1985 team impression and put together a complete game for 60 minutes. Keep an ear open about both Nagy and Shanahan. Nagy won’t be back in 2022 and Shanahan might have a new working address. Stay tuned to this blog for future information.
Same bat time, same bat channel next week. I’ll review the results of NFL Top 5 Exciting Games Week 8 and try again in Week 9.
Never walk away from the table when you’re on a heater in Vegas! Hope you enjoyed NFL Top 5 Exciting Games Week 8.
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