NFL 2025: Week 8 Picks

After week after week of hard-hitting, high stakes matchups, Week 8 has a lot of interconference matchups and some heavy favorites: eight of the week’s twelve matchups have one team favored by 6.5 points or more.

That’s not to say Week 8 doesn’t bring intrigue, but rather to set the expectations that some teams are pulling away (or fading away) early, and we’ve gotten to the point in the season where “good teams” are supposed to win their games, almost as if it’s business as usual.

Drake Maye and the New England Patriots are favored by just over a touchdown to defeat Dillon Gabriel and the Cleveland Browns, which would secure New England a 6-2 start to the season. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills and touchdown favorites on the road against a surprising 4-3 Carolina Panthers team, and the Bills haven’t gotten a win since Week 4.

Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are favored by a touchdown at home against Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants, although the Giants did take the Week 6 Thursday Night Football matchup against Philadelphia.

Okay, now on to the better games: the four games where oddsmakers have the spread and less than four points. C.J. Stroud and the 2-4 Houston Texans are favored by 2.5 points over the 5-2 San Francisco 49ers at home. Now, the 49ers have dealt with injuries all season, but they also just keep finding ways to win, thanks to a deep roster of professionals.

Speaking of injuries, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are hobbled as well, especially on the offensive side of the football. Week 7’s injuries included perennial Pro Bowler Mike Evans, and quarterback Baker Mayfield is asked to work with less and less every week. Still, Tampa Bay is a 3.5-point road favorite against the struggling New Orleans Saints, and I’m not sure the game will be quite that close.

Last, we got the Sakmann Sports Game of the Week: Dak Prescott and the 3-3-1 Dallas Cowboys travelling to take on Bo Nix and the 5-2 Denver Broncos (read more about that one in-article) and the Sunday Night Football matchup: with the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers having Aaron Rodgers face off against Jordan Love his old Green Bay Packers team, who are technically the NFC’s best at 4-1-1.

Read on for my 2025-26 NFL Week 8 Picks, and if you’d like to debate or discuss any picks, join the conversation with @SakSports on Twitter/X, on Facebook, or by commenting directly on this post!

Picks Record

Week 1: 10-6

Week 2: 13-3

Week 3: 11-5

Week 4: 10-5-1

Week 5: 5-9

Week 6: 9-6

Week 7: 11-5

Overall Record: 69-39-1 (64%)

Week 7 had a pretty strong showing. I’m not sure why I picked the Chargers over the Colts, but most of my other beats were just toss-ups.

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Thursday Night Football

Minnesota Vikings (3-3) at Los Angeles Chargers (4-3): Chargers win 27-20

**SEE ALSO: Post-Week 7 Power Rankings**

Sunday Games

Miami Dolphins (1-6) at Atlanta Falcons (3-3): Falcons win 27-13

New York Jets (0-7) at Cincinnati Bengals (3-4): Bengals win 20-13

Cleveland Browns (2-5) at New England Patriots (5-2): Patriots win 24-16

New York Giants (2-5) at Philadelphia Eagles (5-2): Eagles win 26-14

Buffalo Bills (4-2) at Carolina Panthers (4-3): Bills win 30-17

Chicago Bears (4-2) at Baltimore Ravens (1-5): Ravens win 23-22

San Francisco 49ers (5-2) at Houston Texans (2-4): 49ers win 24-22

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2) at New Orleans Saints (1-6): Buccaneers win 20-16

Sakmann Sports Game of the Week Dallas Cowboys (3-3-1) at Denver Broncos (5-2): This is one of three games in Week 8 that features a combined eight wins between the two teams. There’s honestly no telling what to expect: Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos are coming off a 33-32 win over the New York Giants where they scored all 33 points in the fourth quarter. Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are coming off a 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders, and their offense has been churning. Still, the Cowboys are 3-3-1 for a reason, and have experienced up-and-down play. If this game becomes a shootout, Dallas might win another high-scoring thriller. But if Denver’s defense can hold the Cowboys under 30 points (24 and under, even better) then this should be the Broncos fourth home win in as many as games this season. Broncos win 27-24

Tennessee Titans (1-6) at Indianapolis Colts (6-1): Colts win 33-16