With that said, here are John Trifone's Week 8 NFL picks against the spread:
Carolina Panthers +1 over Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4 Units)
I’m going back to the well with the Panthers this week. After back-to-back losses, they have a road division game against the 2-4 Bucs. The division is still wide open, so if the Panthers are going to hang with the Saints, they need to win games like this one. Carolina put up only three points at Chicago, but get a much weaker defense this week. I expect a close game so I’ll take the point, but I like the Panthers to win outright.
Washington Redskins +2 over Dallas Cowboys (3 Units)
The Redskins are 0-2 in the division this year with both losses coming to the Eagles. They’re coming off a 10-point loss on Monday night, while the Cowboys are coming off a 40–10 thrashing of the winless 49ers. I expect most people will like the Cowboys here, but I think Washington bounces back and gets their first division win.
New York Jets +6.5 over Atlanta Falcons (3 Units)
The Falcons appear to be a lot more mediocre than they were last year. Whether that’s the play calling, scheme, or lingering injuries to guys like Julio Jones, they’ve been unimpressive this year, coming off perhaps their worst game yet against the Patriots. They had all the motivation in the world after last year's Super Bowl collapse, and they weren’t even competitive -- finally scoring a touchdown in garbage time.
The Jets, on the other hand, are coming off two straight close division losses, but have looked a lot better than expected. They lost to the Patriots by a touchdown and were one controversial call away from potentially pulling off the upset. I think they have a chance to win this game but like them to at least keep it competitive. I’ll take the 6.5 points at home.
- Note: All of our NFL picks against the spread will be centralized here.
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