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The Spotlight NFL Week 8 Picks Against The Spread

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Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s spotlight NFL picks against the spread for Week 8 in the 2015 season.  At this point in the year it’s important to finally give up on some teams.  The Detroit Lions made the playoffs last year, this year they are a bad team, hell, they may very well be the worst team in the entire league (Jim Caldwell just isn’t a big time coach in this league).  Many people had the Ravens in the Superbowl (A move I didn’t understand at all by tbe way with the lack of talent around Joe Flacco and a subpar defense) but alas they are a bad football team who can’t get out of their own way. Oh and tom Brady is very good, actually he’s a freak of nature.  Unfortunately, my wifi in Dubai wasn’t great so I couldn’t get my pick in but you probably didn’t me to tell you that the Patriots were money in the bank by a touchdown this week.  Seriously though, through 7 games this season Tom Brady leads the league with an unhuman 20 touchdowns and 1 interception.  ONE FREAKIN INTERCEPTION THROUGH SEVEN GAMES!!!! Andrew Luck usually has more interceptions than that before halftime.  Andy Dalton is having a career year with a 14-2 TD-INT ratio and it looks simply mediocre behind the type of season Tom Brady is having.  So yes at this point it’s time to realize some teams just plainly aren’t any good and stay away from them while on the contrary leaning on the teams that are good  when all else fails.  With that said let’s get into this week’s top picks against the spread.

Top Picks For Week 8 In The NFL

1) Houston Texans (-3) over Tennessee Titans

Last week I underestimated the Titans (or more importantly over rated the Falcons) and it came back to bite me as the Titans hung in the game to lose by a mere field goal against an Atlanta team that was seemingly on cruise control.  Well with Marcus Mariota out again I’m going back to the well this week.  Zach Mettenberger just isn’t very good and we all remember the infamous “Selfie Sack” game the last time the JJ Watt met Zach Mettenberger and I expect that the Texans defense will have enough pride to win this one on their own without having to even talk about who’s playing quarterback for the Texans. Also don’t look now but by the end of the this week, with the Colts heading to Carolina (and Andrew Luck sitting on one win all season), the Texans can be tied for first place in the horrible AFC South.  They know that too, take the Texans by a field goal!

2) Cincinnati Bengals (0) over Pittsburgh Steelers

But Tommy, Big Ben is back this week.  I know I know and I also know that most money is pouring in on the Steelers this week and so does Vegas.  Look Big Ben is great and it can’t go without being mentioned that this will be the first week that the Steelers will be a full speed on the offensive side of the ball all season.  The Steelers arguably have the best back in the game in Le’veon Bell and the best wideout in the game in Antonio Brown (hope you fantasy players didn’t sell too low on him because he’s a must start once again).  Now that we got all of the due props out of the way, let’s bring in some reality.  Big Ben is likely going to be rusty and  the Steelers are welcoming in an undefeated division rival in the Bengals who have played the best team football on both sides of the ball than anyone else this season.  Add in the fact that the Bengals have had two weeks to prepare and it should be clear why I’m going the other way.

3) New York Jets (-2) over Oakland Raiders

As I always say I’ll never pick against the Jets and so because of that I hate touching their games period.  I’m also not huge on picking an east coast team traveling to the west coast.  That said, I’m riding Gang Green again this week and they’ve been good to us.  The Jets have played one bad game all season and came closer than anyone in taking down the champs last week.  It won’t be as easy for Derek Carr and company this week as it was in San Diego last week, not against that stout Jets defense.  The Jets need this game to stay ahead of the pact in the AFC wildcard picture by being that remaining non unbeaten team with less than three losses.  They can sweeten their position with a win here over Oakland.

4) Seattle Seahawks (-4) over Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys looked better last week with Matt Cassell under center and this week they get their stud wideout back in Dez Bryant.  I’m also not big on the Seahawks so I hate making a pick like this but I have a hard time believing that the Cowboys are going to have any luck moving the ball down the field against that Seahawks secondary.  The Hawks haven’t looked great but they’re still better than any backup quarterback.  The Cowboys need Tony Romo or this may end up being a lost season…if it already isn’t.

5) Minnesota Vikings (-1) over Chicago Bears

This was real close to being my lock of the week but it is a bit of a trap game and I’ve always been a bit of a fan of Jay Cutler especially off a bye.  The Vikings have been flying under the radar but actually having a pretty good season with a 4-2 record, if the season ended today they’d actually be in the playoffs.  That said both of these teams have pretty poor offenses ranked 28th for the Bears and 30th for the Vikings.  The Vikings have been getting it done the same way they have for years, they ride or die with Adrian Peterson.  When he’s on the field, he’s the best player on it and this week will be no different.  I like the Vikings to run away with this one.

6) IF YOURE DESPERATE- San Diego Chargers (+4) over the Baltimore Ravens

Two teams that are under achieving big time but I try to give you 7 games every week and I didn’t get my Chiefs pick in on time so here it goes.  I’m back to the well one last time by believing in Phillip Rivers in Baltimore.  The Chargers just have more weapons on the offensive side of the ball (to the point that they lead all of the NFL in total offense, though they’re usually playing from behind so take that with a grain of salt) and the Ravens have no business being favored by more than a field goal.  The Ravens, seriously, are one Josh Brown made field goal away from being still winless, that’s how bad they’ve been.  Expect the Chargers to keep it close and may even win the game outright.

7) LOCK OF THE WEEK: New Orleans Saints (-3) over New York Giants

I’ve been pretty big on Eli Manning this year as honestly save for two fourth quarter collapses in the first two weeks of the season, the Giants could be 6-1 this season.  That said, I hate this spot of them this week.  The Saints are finally starting to find their groove and WhoDat Nation can feel it.  It’s only a field goal and I love the Saints at home here.  I haven’t lost a single Lock of The Week through the first 7 weeks of the season and I don’t expect it to be this week.  Eli Manning doesn’t play particularly well at the Superdome and this week will be no exception.

That’s going to do it for me for now but I will be back in the middle of the day to review the big Sunday Night Football matchup a bit later on so stay tuned for that.  Until then, let’s make some money!

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The Spotlight Picks Against The Spread for the NFL Week 7

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Top of the morning to you everyone…well I guess really it’s good evening to most of my readers and followers but I’m coming to you live from the United Arab Emirates.  Ever since I met my girlfriend, over 3 years ago, she has been talking about going to Dubai and so this year I finally made it happen.  With Dubai being a solid 8 hours ahead of us New Yorkers, the time change has really been killing us.  We sleep when we can for a few hours here and there but we usually aren’t tired until around 6 or 7 AM and then have trouble getting up any earlier than 3 pm…I say this but it really is only our second night here so hopefully it’ll get better.  In any event, tonight I fell asleep aroun 3 Am only to wake up a few hours later a bit after 5.  After tossing and turning for almost an hour, I threw in the towel and decided to come provide you guys with  the picks you’ve come to depend on each week on thedailyspotlight.com.

One thing that’s really interesting is that the NFL really isn’t much of an entity at all here in the middle east.  There is much more of an emphasis on Soccer and Rugby (and WWE for that matter but that’s another blog for another day) then the sports we follow in the states.  This is to the point that until moments ago I hadn’t even known the Royals won the pennant and that was only because I flipped over to espn to find the updated NFL injury report.  Now that I do have that report, what a segue way this is, let’s finally get into the reason you’re all here your top NFL picks against the spread.

Now it took until week 6 but we finally did hit double digits in losses on the year when I took two losses with both the Ravens ( who we can officially right off as a bad football team for 2015) and the Arizona Cardinals (who I can’t lie really surprised me in a bad loss last week to a number three quarterback).  Regardless we are still rolling after a 5-2 week 6 bringing our total up to 34-11 on the year.  I’ll be honest being on vacation, I considered taking this week off but my goal is to bring you winners every week and so I’m going to try to do just that yet again.  This is a tough week so proceed with caution but let’s hope Dubai brings us luck.  The picks for Week 7 in the NFL…

Cleveland Browns (+7) over The St. Louis Rams

On a tough week this game immediately jumped right out at me.  The Rams play hard for Jeff Fisher, no doubt, they are usually in ever game right down to the finish and often play up for division games.  But this isn’t a division game…and I can’t recall the last time the the Rams blew anyone out.  On the other side of things you have a Browns team that despite a 2-4 record has played every game close and almost beat the undefeated Broncos last week.  Josh McCown is playing at an elite level and always gives his team a chance.  Remember, I don’t picks underdogs that I think have no shot to win.  Don’t be surprised if the Browns do just that.

San Diego Chargers (-3) over Oakland Raiders

Talk about a team that shouldn’t be 2-4, how about the San Diego Chargers who have lost some real heartbreakers.  Phillip Rivers proved last week that on any given Sunday (great movie), he can compete with any quarterback in the league, even Aaron Rodgers in Lambeau, in what was arugably the best game of the 2015 season.  Now the Chargers have the Raiders coming to town with the season on the line and I like their chances.  Only a field goal, roll with it!

Dallas Cowboys (+3.5) over New York Giants

I was finally starting to believe in the New York Giants last week and then…bad Eli showed up!  Scratch that! Terrible Eli showed up.  Now the Cwobys come to town off their bye and it’s officially the Matt Cassell era in Dallas.  The Cowboys now know that Dez Bryant is probably one more week away and if they can just tread water until then the division is right there for the taking.  Will Matt Cassell fair better than Brandon Weeden?  Well he can’t fair much worse.  When a player has lost that many starts in a row, that losing stigma has to project in his confidence and in his leadership.  Cassell won’t fight Tony Romo for his starting job, but he’ll do enough to hang onto it until he’s ready.  Cowboys will rally around their new QB and may steal one at Metlife.  (Note: This was my final pick of the week. I was prepared to go Bills but they just have too many injuries so the Cowboys were my backup pick, take that for what it’s worth)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3.5) over Washington Redskins

In a tough week, a lot of my picks here are being determined by that extra half a point.  The Redskins looked awful last week against the Jets in a game I watched all 60 minutes of.  The Jets are ight years better than the Bucs but the Bucs have some talent, in particular, on the offensive side of the ball.  Coming off their be this gives Mike Evans and Doug Martin a chance to get healthy and Lovie Smith a chance to get Jameis Winston two weeks of preparation.  Kirk Cousins just isn’t the answer at quarterback for the Redskins and if this becomes a close game, I’m going the other way almost every time.

Kansas City Chiefs (-1) over Pittsburgh Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger is officially out on Sunday which means that Landry Jones will be in at quarterback and the reason this line is so low is because Landry Jones looked pretty good in a shocking win over the Cardinals last week.  Don’t get me wrong, Landry Jones gives the Steelers the best chance to win in Big Ben’s absence but also understand that the reason he looked so good last week was because he was playing a team that spent all week preparing for Mike Vick.  Andy Reid should have the Chiefs prepared for the rookie quarterbac who has the uneviable taks of heading to Arrowhead.  If the Chiefs can’t find a way to win this week, they may no win a game the rest of the season.

Atlanta Falcons (-6.5) over Tennessee Titans 

Well you knw it was going to happen that at some point the Falcons were going to flirt long enough with dangers in the fourth quarter to not allow Matt Ryan to pull out a comeback for the win and that happen last week at the Superdome.  Honestly, that loss was probably the best thing that could have happened to the Falcons and the worst thing that could have happened to the Titans.  This should light a fire under the Falcons collective asses as they now had 10 days to think about it.  To make matters worse for the Tennessee Titans, they’ll be starting the selfie loving Zach Mettenberger at quarterback.  Forget all this talk about a trap game, Falcons should win this one running away,

LOCK OF THE WEEK: New York Jets (+10) over The New England Patriots

What were you expecting something else.  Call me a homer, call me whatever you want but I’m taking my New York Jets in Foxboro this week.  This should be a tight division game between two teams with one loss between them and this line is just plainly disrespectful.  If you don’t think the Jets and their number one defense smell blood and want to take down the undefeated champs then you got another thing coming.  I won’t say the Jets are going to win but damn it I don’t think that defense will let them get blown out.  I’d understand 7 but 10 really is a slap in the face.  I’ll be rooting for them and maybe this is a heart pick but the Jets are my lock of the week and I haven’t lost one of those yet!

That’s going to do it for me but be sure to give me a follow over on twitter @TommyOnTheSpot which is where I’ve been dong my picks the last few weeks and where I make many announcements on this site.  Also I always welcome your feedback either in the comments section below or via email at thedailyspotlight2@gmail.com, I respond to all questions so send them in.  Until next time, best of luck everyone.