For the gambling degenerates, here are my Week 8 NFL picks. To note, the team logos indicate who I think will win the game, not cover the spread. At the end of the picks, I'll note a few teams that I like based on the spread. Dolphins at Texans (-7.5): After a 3-0 start, the Dolphins have lost three of four. Conversely, after an 0-3 start, the Texans have won four straight. Give me the hot team. Eagles (-3) at Jaguars: If you think the Eagles are a mess at the moment, the Jaguars have been outscored 90-28 in their last three games, none of which were competitive at all. Offensively, Jacksonville is 29th in the NFL with 16.6 points per game (they're ranked 27th offensively in DVOA), and their once-fearsome defense is "just" very good (7th in DVOA), as opposed the swarming, ball-hawking, quarterback-punishing unit it was a season ago. But beyond the numbers, the Jags seem to be crumbling, as Doug Marrone benched Blake Bortles for Cody Kessler, and then went back to Bortles after the initial switch predictably did not go well. Jags players were also reportedly fighting among each other after their latest loss to the Texans. I'm sure James meant "argument," not "agreement." The disturbance likely wasn't. "HEY I LIKE YOUR SHIRT!" "OH YEAH? ME TOO!" The Jaguars do have the advantage of playing in London every year, in that they know how to prepare for that trip. In fact, they have won three games in a row in London, and put up 30-plus points in each of those games. Playing in London will be much more difficult of a game for the Eagles, in my view, than playing in Jacksonville, where half the stadium would have likely be overrun by Eagles fans anyway. This game is very simple. The Jaguars are nearly as injury-riddled as the Eagles, as they are missing their starting LT (and then subsequently their backup LT), their starting RB (around whom they are trying to build), and their top two (maybe three) tight ends. They also have a quarterback who isn't good in the first place, and now isn't playing well (even for him), and has to have shaken confidence. Traveling to London to play a game cannot be easy for a team doing it for the first time, but it's time that the Eagles suck it up and put a tough W on the board. If they can't take care of business overseas against this team, they should probably forget about being buyers at the trade deadline. Broncos at Chiefs (-10): I'm not a big fan of giving up double-digit points in the NFL, but I'm surprised this line isn't higher. Browns at Steelers (-8): Ben Roethlisberger is 22-2-1 against the Browns. He's 10-0 against them in Pittsburgh. Is that oversimplifying it? Yeah, probably, but I'm not inclined to pick against it. Redskins at Giants (-1): What?!? I mean... Huh?!? How in the hell are the Giants favored over a 4-2 team? Yes, please, I'll take the Redskins and a point. Like, seriously? This is really the line? Seahawks at Lions (-3): After a horrendous start to this season, the Lions have looked much better, and even have a pair of home wins against the Patriots and Packers. It's interesting that the Lions were buyers nearing the trade deadline, as they dealt for Snacks Harrison. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have been better than expected as well. They've won three of four, and are coming off their bye. Buccaneers at Bengals (-4.5): After a red-hot starts to the season, the Bucs and Bengals sort of settled back into "We are who we thought they were" kinds of teams. I do think the Bengals have the better overall roster here. Jets at Bears (-7): I'm tempted to take the Jets (+7), but I just can't trust a rookie quarterback against the Bears' pass rush, even if they've given up 69 points the last two weeks. Ravens (-2) at Panthers: After having watched the Panthers closely the last two weeks, I've come away unimpressed with their roster, overall. Cam Newton is excellent, and severely underrated, in my view, but he is a one-man offense, and this is not the same imposing defense they once were. The Ravens lead the NFL with 27 sacks, and the Panthers have had trouble giving Newton adequate protection. I like this matchup for Baltimore. Colts (-3) at Raiders: The Raiders are in full-on sell mode, and everyone there seems to be miserable under Jon Gruden. I'll take the team that actually likes their coach, even if they aren't very good. 49ers at Cardinals (-1): The Cardinals are the worst team in the NFL. They might be even worse than the Raiders. At least the Niners are somewhat competitive. Packers at Rams (-9.5): Uh oh. When Vegas starts favoring teams by almost double-digits over a team with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, you know they may be a juggernaut. Saints at Vikings (-1): OK, so this is the third one-point road underdog I love this week. Am I being suckered here somehow? But seriously, the Saints are a far better team than Minny, and they're going to want revenge in the worst way against this team. Patriots (-14) at Bills: Tom Brady is 28-3 against the Bills for his career, and one of those losses was in a meaningless Week 17 game in which he stood on the sidelines for most of the game. Byes: Falcons, Cowboys, Titans, Chargers. • Picks against the spread: Redskins (+1), 49ers (+1), Saints (+1). • Eagles picks: 3-4 • 2018 season, straight up 61-45-2 (0.574) • 2018 season, ATS: 17-14-1 (.547) • 2017 season, straight up: 181-86 (0.678) • 2017 season, ATS: 36-32-2 (0.529) • 2016 season, straight up: 171-94-2 (0.644) • 2016 season, ATS: 41-34 (0.547) • 2015 season, straight up: 163-93 (0.637) • 2015 season, ATS: 46-30-2 (0.605) Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | @thePhillyVoice Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader<doc-sep>Week 8 has arrived and I am back in the saddle with Daily Fantasy Football (DFS) core and value picks. Thanks to fellow AthlonSports.com fantasy contributor Sarah Lewis for filling in for me last week and I hope you all saw success! Along those lines, she hit on two of her three value plays as Baker Mayfield and Tarik Cohen did very well (not so much for Taylor Gabriel unfortunately). Among her core, Adam Thielen and Zach Ertz were both awesome once again while Jared Goff was handcuffed by his own teammate (Todd Gurley). T.J. Yeldon was solid but not spectacular and Julian Edelman at least found the end zone to salvage an otherwise underwhelming performance. As for Week 8, we have another high-scoring week projected with six games over 50 and one very close at 49.5. Fantasy scoring and stacking options are here in full force. Green Bay at Los Angeles Rams — 56.5 Denver at Kansas City — 54.5 Tampa Bay at Cincinnati — 53.5 New Orleans at Minnesota — 53 Cleveland at Pittsburgh — 51 Indianapolis at Oakland — 50 Seattle at Detroit — 49.5 (Favored teams in bold) So let’s get into my Week 8 DFS Picks, shall we? If this is one of your first times playing DFS feel free to check out my "10 Tips to Win at DFS." As always any questions, arguments, or glowing praise can be sent to me via Twitter @fantsychillpony. Teams on bye: Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Week 8 Core Plays These will be my top plays for the Sunday-Monday slate of games. These are players who I will try to have in as many lineups as possible. If I can, I will use three or all four in one lineup. A reminder that for cash games going with an elite quarterback is typically recommended. If you go value at quarterback he MUST meet value for your loaded lineup to be worth it. QB: Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay at Cincinnati ($7,800 FanDuel/$6,000 DraftKings) Winston is in a fabulous matchup. We will see if he can repeat his last two weeks of fantasy production although it has come in dramatically different fashion. Winston didn’t have a TD pass in Week 7, but he finished with 365 yards through the air and ran one in for a score. The Bengals' secondary has been one of the worst in the league and Winston, Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson should be set for a solid week. Winston has been averaging 30.9 DraftKings points over the past two weeks so sign me up. RB: Kareem Hunt, Kansas City vs. Denver ($8,100 FanDuel/$7,100 DraftKings) Hunt has been crushing defenses the past three weeks, and now he gets the wonderful opportunity to face the Broncos at home. The Broncos are second to last in the NFL against the run (148.1 ypg) and Hunt is coming off a monster game against the Bengals where he had 141 total yards and three TDs. Hunt is on fire right now and he comes at a fair enough price in this matchup. I won’t tell you what to do but you can fit him and Todd Gurley in your lineups this week. WR: Adam Thielen, Minnesota vs. New Orleans ($8,800 FanDuel/$8,700 DraftKings) Thielen is playing on Sunday night, so keep that in mind, but he's been the best fantasy wide receiver this season and should be in line for another strong performance. He's had at least 100 yards in every game this season and he's scored in four straight as well. The Saints are near the bottom in passing defense (293.7 ypg) and Thielen has quickly established himself as Kirk Cousins' favorite target. Based on volume alone (averaging 13 targets per game), Thielen is worth the investment. WR: Demaryius Thomas, Denver at Kansas City ($6,300 FanDuel/$4,900 DraftKings) Someone has to get some yardage in Denver, and the Broncos will likely be playing from behind this weekend. Thomas should see plenty of targets Sunday (unless he's traded), especially if Emmanuel Sanders is limited in any way. Thomas' price is low enough that even though he hasn't put up big numbers (one 100-yard game, two TDs thus far), he's worth the risk here. As impressive as the Chiefs have looked, the defense is second to last against the pass (316.6 ypg). If you want to build around Todd Gurley, Kareem Hunt and Adam Thielen, you should be able to add Thomas to the mix. TE: Ricky Seals-Jones, Arizona vs. San Francisco ($5,000 FanDuel/$3,000 DraftKings) Seals-Jones has a bruised forearm, but he's optimistic that he will be able to play Sunday. The Cardinals' offense has been putrid this season, so there isn’t much upside promise here, but there is the potential to meet value at least. If you play with the Sunday night game as part of the slate, New Orleans' Benjamin Watson is another cheap option. Value Plays of the Week Jameis Winston could also fit the bill as a value play or you can pay more for Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes. RB: Chris Carson, Seattle at Detroit ($6,300 FanDuel/$3,100 DraftKings) Carson is in a definite time share and that will certainly hurt his fantasy ceiling. The Lions have been giving up some yardage and fantasy points to running backs this season so the hope here is Carson touches the ball 10 or more times, gets 50 yards and a touchdown. That certainly is possible this Sunday. WR: Martavis Bryant, Oakland vs. Indianapolis ($5,300 FanDuel/$3,700 DraftKings) Amari Cooper's departure leaves Jordy Nelson and Bryant as the Raiders' top wide receivers. So by default, Bryant should see more targets. He hasn’t looked good this season, but maybe that will change with more opportunities. At this price he fills a roster spot and won’t sting your budget too bad. — Written by Chris Meyers, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network and a member of the FSWA. Meyers' work appears on many other sites, including socalledfantasyexperts.com. Follow him on Twitter @FantsyChillpony.<doc-sep>Need Fantasy Football lineup advice? Talk to CBS Sports on your Google Assistant to get insights on the best sleepers and to help decide between players. Just start with, "Hey Google, talk to CBS Sports." When it comes to contrarian plays in DFS it's important to remember these are only for tournaments. I think everyone knows that. But it brings up a second point. There's not a lot of purpose in looking for high-floor contrarian plays because high-floor plays aren't generally winning you any money. Which means you're chasing high-ceiling plays (often low-floor) that nobody else wants to play. This is why we don't load our lineup with these guys. The odds are not in their favor. But when they hit, it's a beautiful thing. As always, I'm using ownership projections from @UFCollective. You can get their full projected ownership here. Derek Carr LV • QB • 4 Projected FD Ownership 2% Projected DK Ownership 2.15% View Profile It's not near as outlandish as it sounds. In fact, Derek Carr's ownership almost tells the story itself. Jordy Nelson (10 percent) and Martavis Bryant (eight percent) are both relatively popular options. Jared Cook (10 percent) is projected to be the third-most popular tight end. How do you think those guys are getting the ball? Now, about that upside. Remember Week 4? At home, he threw for 437 yards and four scores against a good Browns defense. This is a better matchup against the Colts and there's little chance the Raiders defense is slowing Andrew Luck down. I expect a shootout. Adrian Peterson DET • RB • 28 Projected FD Ownership 2.21% Projected DK Ownership 2.47% View Profile How often do I get to pick Jamey Eisenberg's Start of the Week as a contrarian play? Adrian Peterson has at least 90 rushing yards in three of his last four games and he's already topped 20 PPR Fantasy points twice this season. The Giants were a mediocre run defense before they traded away Damon Harrison and now they'll be without middle linebacker Alec Ogletree as well. Peterson should run right through this defense. Tyler Lockett SEA • WR • 16 Projected FD Ownership 3.72% Projected DK Ownership 4.25% View Profile There's some pretty serious risk with Tyler Lockett any given week now that Doug Baldwin is back. But the Lions' secondary is not good and their run defense just got better with the addition of Harrison. Lockett already has four plays this season of at least 39 yards and a pair of touchdowns over 50. He's a boom-bust receiver that could meet value on any given play. George Kittle SF • TE • 85 Projected FD Ownership 5.56% Projected DK Ownership 5.01% View Profile George Kittle should never be contrarian. Not with his involvement in this offense. He's scored at least 12.9 PPR Fantasy points in five of seven games this year. He's topped 20 in two of his last four games. Kittle is one of the top five tight ends in the league and this is a slate without Zach Ertz (London) or Rob Gronkowski (Monday night). Travis Kelce is rightfully considered the chalk in Week 8, but Kittle is a great pivot. So who should you sit and start? And what shocking QB could win you Week 8? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy football rankings for every single position, and see which shocking QB finishes in the top 5 this week, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.<doc-sep>
Charles Curtis USA TODAY Week 7 is in the books and Week 8 is here, so For The Win 's Charles Curtis and Steven Ruiz return to make their NFL picks. All odds courtesy USA TODAY Sports. Week 7 recap Charles: 8-6-0 (Season: 49-52-4) Steven: 10-4-0 (Season: 56-45-4) Steven: Charles: AN OVER .500 WEEK LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Dolphins at Texans (-7.5) Steven: Texans The Dolphins are still missing their starting quarterback (Ryan Tannehill) and will be playing without their two best receivers (Albert Wilson and Kenny Stills). And they're going on the road in a short week. Charles: Dolphins Deshaun Watson isn't healthy, and that will be a factor in a short week. Yeah, I know Brock Osweiler will start for the Fins. Eagles at Jaguars (+3) Steven: Eagles I'm not buying into the London Bortles thing. The Eagles defense will give him fits, and you can run on the Jags D. Philadelphia will get its running game going and that will open up things for Carson Wentz. Charles: Eagles Not taking the bait, Vegas. I can't bet on Blake Bortles the "home" underdog in London, especially when the Eagles defense can match the Jags'. Jets at Bears (-7.5) Steven: Bears I think we'll see the Bears defense get back on track and bait Sam Darnold into a few mistakes. The offense may not score as many points as it has in recent weeks, but it won't have to in order to cover this spread. Charles: Bears The offense is clicking even if the defense has given up 31 points in two straight games. That group won't have a problem against Sam Darnold. Bears by 10. Redskins at Giants (PK) Steven: Redskins Don't really get this line. The Giants are a mess on both sides of the ball after the two trades. The Redskins should be able to run the ball now that Snacks Harrison is gone. When Washington's run game gets going, it usually leads to a W. Charles: Redskins Will the Giants make more trades by the time this game is played? Don't let what happened last week fool you - the Skins' defense is better than the Falcons'. Browns at Steelers (-9.5) Steven: Steelers The Browns are starting to fall apart with Hue Jackson openly questioning Todd Haley's offense. The Steelers have been slowly getting better every week but haven't really put together a complete game. We'll see it this week at home. Charles: Browns These two teams tied the last time they met, and although the Steelers were a road team for that matchup, I think this game will be close even with Big Ben at home. Seahawks at Lions (-3) Steven: Lions I've been riding the Lions' bandwagon these last few weeks and it keeps paying off. No need for me to change now. In a Schottenheimer vs. Patricia matchup, I'm taking the latter every time. Charles: Lions A battle of the 3-3s! The Seahawks have shown signs of life in the last three games before the bye week - a blowout of the hapless Raiders and two close ones against the Rams and Cardinals. The Lions come off an emphatic win against the Dolphins, which makes this game a bit of a coin flip. So I'll lean toward the home team. Broncos at Chiefs (-10.5) Steven: Chiefs This is a no-brainer for me. Andy Reid will have learned a lot from the first matchup and get his offense rolling earlier in the game. I could see Kansas City winning this by 20. Charles: Chiefs Kansas City is perfect against the spread this year. I see no reason to think the Broncos will keep this one close, and their offense isn't good enough to keep up with Patrick Mahomes. Buccaneers at Bengals (-4.5) Steven: Buccaneers The Bucs defense already looks better in the post-Mike Smith era, and the passing game continues to shine. If Jameis Winston avoids turnovers, Tampa Bay might even win this one straight up. Charles: Bengals Here's your shootout of the week and I don't have a clue here. If the Bengals' defense wasn't struggling, I'd think Andy Dalton and Co. would run away with this one. But then I also think the Bengals' defense should be better. Ravens at Panthers (+1) Steven: Ravens The Panthers remain too committed to the run, and it's just way too hard to run on this Baltimore defense. Carolina will be held under 20, and the Ravens offense will hit on a few big plays.