Week 8 Picks + Confidence Rankings | NFL Pro

0:00 Welcome to the NFL Pros Game Picks for Week 8. Thank you for listening on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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0:10 Alright everybody, welcome to Week 8 of NFL Pros Game Picks. Trevor Sickum and Brett Coleman here with you guys as always. Brett, I'm not going to lie my friend.

0:21 I think this past.

0:22 Week in Week 7, it was like the Carolina Panthers, the Kansas City Chiefs, the second half of the Baltimore Ravens.

0:28 Just burn the tape.

0:29 Don't go back to it. There's nothing to learn. There's nothing to be drawn from.

0:35 Just burn it. Burn it and move on to Week 8.

0:38 What we do here on this show is we take our 10 most compelling games, the games that we want to talk about, and we will pick them here for you guys.

0:44 But not only will we pick the winners, we will rank them in terms of confidence.

0:47 And the reason why I set it up the way that I did, Brad, is because Even ranking these games in confidence. Not the best week for either of us, and I say that very kindly because I think that this was actually the worst week from both of us.

1:01 It was awful, and we knew it was awful while watching these games together. There was maybe 20 minutes on Sunday where I was semi-confident in what was going down, and then it all just.

1:14 It got worse from there. So, you know, it is what it is.

1:17 It's burn the tape kind of week to your point. And I feel like we have to address the elephant in the room, which is a lot of the comments that we got last week, which is that you have unfortunately received a much harsher hammer. from the minus 10 rule than I have so far this season.

1:36 So if anybody's listening to this and they're new here, what we're doing is we're ranking these games in confidence of 10 to one, the games that we think are most confident in the picks that we're making. And we implemented a rule, you know, a couple of weeks into the season and said, Hey, you know what? If we miss our 10 confident game, our most confident games, not only should we not get the opportunity to get those 10 points, we should be punished for it.

1:56 And you know what? That's a good call out by you guys.

1:59 Since then, The whole reason why we implemented this rule is actually because Brett missed two back-to-back weeks of his 10 pick. And we're like, all right, we need to be punished for this. And since then, basically all I've done is miss my 10 pick. So that's why we're retroactively going in. And so Brett, you're not only going to miss the 20... the two weeks that you.

2:17 Had right before we implemented the rule.

2:19 But just for fun, we also both missed our 10 confidence game in week one. So it's an extra minus 10. It's a minus 10 for me. It's a minus 10 for you. So technically on our total scores, you're going minus 30. I'm going minus 10, which brings our totals on the year before week seven. So prior to last week's games, you were up on me 177 to 168.

2:40 So quite a lot closer to than the Hail Mary strategy I feel like I had to go with last week.

2:47 And Brett, you earned, last week, 10 points.

2:54 Oh, God.

2:56 That's it. Barely into double digits.

3:01 How many games did I even get right? Like two?

3:04 You got Cincinnati and Baltimore right. You got New England and Chicago right. You got Green Bay and Detroit right. And you got Dallas and Philly. So you only got four games right.

3:16 You missed six.

3:17 Well, Trevor, you only did slightly better than me because you got 12.

3:21 Points, which is only two more than me. And if you count.

3:26 I did better than you?

3:27 You did better than me. Barely, but you did.

3:32 Bringing your entire season total, all including the minuses and the retroactives and everything like that, you are at 180 for the season.

3:44 Okay, so you're at 187. I'm at 180. We're back in this, baby. It's single digits once again. The contest is back on. Before we dig into these 10 games here for this week, which we said, we're burning the tape.

3:58 We're getting better.

3:58 It's going to be a lot better this week. We got to shout out some fans who have been Doing this along with us, we shout out to you guys. We get more entries every single week into this. So when we reveal the 10 games that we are picking, we want you guys to pick it and rank it in confidence as well.

4:12 And if you do good, you're going to get a shout out on the show.

4:14 Like Keegan, who scored 45 points last week. Crusher and Eric Tide also scoring 43 apiece. The New York Giants and the Houston Texans game. That was the big trap game. 107 of the 113 fans, that's 95% of you out there, picked the Houston Texans and only six picked the Giants.

4:38 J.J.

4:39 McCarthy believers, shout out to you for getting the picks and the big points there. It cost fans 1,226 points combined, about 29% of everything that was dropped. So shout out to those guys that came in on the top of the leaderboard here last week. Last week was a tricky week and Brett We've got some tough matchups here this week as well, so let's get right into it. The Carolina Panthers and the Green Bay Packers. Thursday night football.

5:07 Who you got and where is it going to start your confidence list?

5:12 You could argue that the Packers should have won last week, and I would agree with that. They were on the wrong end of, let's just say, some questionable calls and leave it at that wasn't their best day as far as being on the right side of the refs. Not to mention two missed field goals. You know, they get a fourth down stop deep in Lions territory. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, whether special teams officiating, anything like that. They probably should have won that game, and yet they didn't. So taking that into account, I think this Packers team has been a lot better over the last month than what they were early on in the season. despite dealing with some pretty significant injuries, right?

5:56 You lose Edge Cooper for the season. You still don't have Micah Parsons back. Jonathan Gannon, I think, has called himself a really good defense despite those talent deficiencies. Jordan Love, I mean, I think he's been awesome this year.

6:09 Flat out awesome.

6:10 His receivers, whether it's Watson, Golden, they've been great. You know, you've had some inconsistent play up front. You've had inconsistent run game, to be kind about it. And yet this is still a really good team. Meanwhile, the Panthers, I'm not really sure what to make of them, because their defense is either playing entirely downhill on someone, and quite frankly, it's a really good defense, or they have weeks like last week, where they allow the Bucs to run damn near 80% of the time, and there's nothing they can do about it. And I never really know which version of this Panthers defense is going to show up. Now, the Bryce Young turnovers don't help, and so part of me thinks, okay, are the Panthers... Is their success entirely

6:53 dependent on Bryce Young being a top eight quarterback in the league? If so, that is a fine line to walk, especially against a Packers team that takes the ball away a lot and has their own superweapon at quarterback. So give me Green Bay here. I acknowledge the Panthers are a good team.

7:10 I really do.

7:11 But the matchup here is so favorable to Green Bay that I put this in my 10 spot.

7:19 Is that crazy?

7:22 Oh, a Thursday night football game at the 10 spot, man. I also took the Packers here, which, man, I almost feel bad. It feels a little disrespectful to Carolina that we're not split on this one, but I also took the Packers. This one's in my seven spot because it is coming off of a short week here where Carolina's really struggled. They have struggled to defend the run. And if you're going to open the door for the Packers offense to unlock something that they really haven't had the last couple of weeks or most of the weeks this season, and that is a good ground game now with Josh Jacobs back, I think this team is absolutely capable of continuing to play really well on the offensive side of the ball and to beat the Carolina Panthers.

8:06 I really do. I think it's going to be a close game. This is going to be a fun game, but.

8:12 Coming off of how Carolina struggled last week, it's got me worried on a short week, like how much outside of just looking in the mirror and saying, hey, we just have to play better up front and defend the run better. Outside of that, it's hard to think there's a lot of adjustments that can be made before they get to Thursday night. So the way that the Packers have really been able to take advantage of teams deep down the field specifically, and Carolina being banged up in the secondary, I'm also going to go with the Green Bay Packers here in this one. You got it at your 10 spot. I got it at the 7 spot here.

8:45 What about the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? We'll stay in the NFC South, and where do you have this matchup, and who do you have winning?

8:53 It's at my 4 spot, because I don't know how you could be that confident in any NFC South team from week to week.

8:59 At this point.

9:00 This game is also at my 4 spot. Oh, it is?

9:02 Okay.

9:03 So, we're... We're along the same lines of thinking as far as lack of confidence in it. I did choose Tampa Bay. I'm not that confident in it. But when Tampa Bay plays at their best, and they get the run game going, and Bucky is getting 11 touches on one drive and putting this team on his back, and Baker doesn't have to throw that much with an injured hand, and the defense gets multiple turnovers, which I don't remember the last time.

9:32 This Bucks secondary....

9:35 Got multiple turnovers in one game by jumping routes, and that's kind of a new thing for them.

9:41 Yaya Diaby finally got going.

9:43 Last week was the Bucs team that we thought we were getting back in August, and they really haven't shown up until right now. I question whether or not I should believe it without seeing it for multiple weeks, but at the same time, I don't really know what I'm getting for Atlanta either, because they also got four turnovers from the Niners, which helped them win that game, but are they going to get four turnovers every single week?

10:09 That's a tough thing to really bank on as well. It's going to be a close game. Maybe it's cliche to say whoever wins the turnover battle is going to win this game, but I truly feel.

10:22 Like that's the truth here.

10:24 So I'm going to go Tampa Bay, but very narrowly, you could sell me on Atlanta, you could sell me on Tampa, but if I had to choose one, give me the Bucs, but I don't feel that good about it.

10:35 Well, you said you could sell me on the Falcons. I'm going to sell you on the Falcons.

10:39 I think the Falcons are going to win this game, and the reason why is because The book on Michael Penix right now is you've got to pressure him. Pressure him and you'll really be able to get after him. Well, the Buccaneers have kind of struggled with that. They've been very up and down this season at pressuring the quarterback.

10:52 Atlanta's offensive line has been a lot better. Do the Buccaneers have what it takes to defend B. John Robinson out of the backfield with their linebackers? And I just don't believe that they do right now. And when you look at how Mayfield played last week, and you kind of talked about there, and... To say that Mayfield didn't have to do much is putting it lightly. He had five passes that were past the line of scrimmage in that game, and yet they scored as much as they did, and they controlled it as much as they did against Carolina.

11:20 I don't think they'll have that same success on the ground or anywhere close to it. I'm going to take the Falcons in this game. I think the Falcons are the more stable team, to be honest with you, and I am one of those. Maybe I'm a little bit more cynical just because Tampa is my team, but I got to see it for multiple weeks here. Now, something that's good with them is their secondary is playing a lot better. McCollum's playing a lot better. Parrish has been playing well all year long. Tykee Smith got the pick last year. They didn't even have, or last game, they didn't even have Antoine Winfield Jr. So I think that things are kind of turning in the right direction in ways for the Buccaneers, but I got to see it.

11:54 I got to see it multiple weeks in a row, and I'm worried about how much they're really going to be able to pressure Pennix in this game. So give me the Falcons here in this one. What about the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills? Obviously a tricky game here because we're filming this in the middle of the week, right?

12:08 And we don't know exactly, you know, hard and fast, is Lamar going to play in this game? But it kind of felt like Lamar was close to playing last week.

12:17 And obviously he didn't.

12:18 Give it a go against the Bengals. But I think you got to feel kind of confident about.

12:22 Him playing in this game.

12:23 So if Lamar's in this one, or maybe you're even factoring the fact that he might not be in it, where is this on your rankings?

12:32 Honestly, I would choose Buffalo either way. I feel like Buffalo is the deeper team. I feel like they're the more complete team this year. I feel like they're the more reliable team this year.

12:44 Through Lamar, all things are possible. We know that.

12:47 He's a two-time MVP for a reason. Josh is also an MVP for a reason. I don't think either team wants this to be like week one last year. where it's just bombing it down the field and trading explosive plays, and it comes down to who has the ball last. I don't think either team wants to play that way. Both teams want to be able to control the trenches.

13:08 Both teams want to be able to run the ball, slow the game down, limit total number of possessions, and win on efficiency. It's just both teams are also capable of winning a shootout. But looking at the rosters as they stand now, I think the Bills have more weapons to work with. Their offensive line is less banged up.

13:24 Ioane has an MCL sprain, which doesn't help because he's been arguably their best offensive lineman this year. And all things being equal at the quarterback position, you just choose the infrastructure around the quarterback, which is offensive line, weapons, and how deep is each team in those categories. And I feel like Buffalo's deeper. So give me Buffalo in this game. I think if Lamar plays, it'll be razor thin.

13:47 It'll be really close. If he doesn't play, I don't think it'll be that close, but that's why I put it at the three spot is because if Lamar plays, there's at least a chance for Baltimore to win this game.

14:00 Yeah, I agree with you.

14:01 I think I'm just more confident in Buffalo overall for a couple of reasons. Not that Baltimore can't hang with them if Lamar plays. I think that you're totally right. But I just have more faith in a lot of different units along that Buffalo team than I do the Ravens, even when Lamar is out there. Now, it's a major difference of when Lamar is out there versus when he's not.

14:21 I mean, I think it was you who was highlighting this in the reaction show, or maybe it was in the preview show before the week. Tyler Huntley basically dead last amongst qualified starters in the NFL when it comes to air yards per attempt, and Lamar's first. So it's just a totally different offense. explosively and with potential when Lamar is out there but all that to say I mean give me the Buffalo Bills give me them at the five spots so I'm close to you here and I'm taking the Buffalo Bills as well I put them right in the middle I do have faith in this team and how well they are playing up front in the trenches on both sides of the ball and then of course the way that Josh Allen's played for the

14:54 majority of the year so give me Buffalo in this one although man Zay Flowers he's been taking advantage of a lot of different areas including obviously that linebacker level so we'll see how much Buffalo's linebackers are up to the task there. But if you shut him down, I think you got a good chance of winning this game.

15:11 The Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. What do you think about this one, Brett?

15:16 After Monday, I really want to believe in Dallas and that that's the Cowboys team that we've been waiting for this whole year where the defense plays better and the offense puts up almost 40 points. But I'm not sure how much credit I want to give them for that because this Eagles offense is so banged up and How much do you really expect out of the Tanner McKee experience?

15:36 No shade to Tanner McKee, but with an offensive line that banged up and Saquon coming off injury and less everything to work with, not to mention the offense wasn't that great even when they had their guys in, I don't know if I could really say, okay, the Dallas defense has turned the corner. And at the same time, We get something different from Arizona every single week, and they're a really plucky, hard-nosed team that even with a talent deficiency, they still do tend to make it difficult on the opposing team.

16:06 They do play tough even when they're overmatched.

16:09 I think the Cardinals special teams has every opportunity to flip this game, which they've done a couple times this year. Their defense is also way better. way more crafty than I think they're given credit for.

16:21 It's just the offense. You know, the Arizona offense is the issue.

16:23 Their offensive line, which we talked about in the reaction show, because of injuries, you know, you lose Paris, you lose Basantas before the season. Their offensive line hasn't been that great. And, you know, Jacoby throwing 45 plus times is not a winning formula for them. But if they have any success whatsoever running the ball and find any kind of balance on offense, I think their special teams and defense are tough enough. where they could legitimately make this a game and make it hard on Dallas because Dallas is also not really a balanced team in their own right. So I am choosing the Cowboys to win, but I only put it at the two spot because I feel like neither team is complete and both teams have their flaws

17:04 and those flaws kind of match up together to be a pretty close game.

17:11 So I also picked the Dallas Cowboys and you know what? It's worked out so well for me. So many times already this year. I put this at the 10 spot. Oh, Trevor. I put the Dallas Cowboys at the 10 spot once again.

17:26 Oh, God.

17:27 We've done this before, man.

17:29 I can't quit the offense.

17:33 We've done this like four times.

17:35 Points per drive, plays per drive, yards per drive. They're top three, if not number one in the NFL in all of these categories.

17:44 The name of the game is to just score more points than the other team. I don't care how bad a defense is. Just score 40.

17:51 They didn't do that yesterday.

17:54 But they were close.

17:55 Oh.

17:58 I'm taking, you know what? I'm doing it. I'm buying the offense again. I'm going back to it.

18:04 And if they burn me again, so help me. I will never pick the Cowboys at the 10 spot ever again.

18:14 But I'm taking the Cowboys at the 10 spot.

18:17 Oh, Trevor. Trevor, Trevor, Trevor.

18:20 That's what this show is for. Moments like that.

18:23 You're trying to get the first negative week. of the season you're close.

18:27 You're close i really am i really am true what happens first you get you get negative points or brian flores gets 100 blitz right.

18:38 It might be for flores he's because he was he's mighty close himself what was it last week against daniel jones 85 something crazy.

18:48 Okay, speaking of Minnesota, the Vikings play the Detroit Lions.

18:50 The Lions, they're coming off of a pretty thrilling win over the Green Bay Packers. And so you got another divisional opponent here with Minnesota.

18:58 What do you think about this game? Who are you taking in this one?

19:01 So I'm going Detroit because historically speaking, I know not immediate history, but historically speaking, Jared Goff has been one of the few quarterbacks that succeeded against Flores and all of his blitzes. In particular, you go back a couple years when Ben Johnson was there and they really leaned into under center heavy play action stuff to keep the linebackers in place so that Cashman and all of them couldn't expand out to the hook zones. Ben Johnson is no longer there, but I think the approach still holds up.

19:35 Where if they do a lot of their under center stuff and you're faking it to Jameer and then you're working Laporte over the middle, you're working Amon Ra over the middle. And Goff has just seen these blitzes so many times now where even if you're doing it a lot, it's still stuff that he's seen. And I don't think he's going to get flustered by it the same way that a lot of the other quarterbacks that the Vikings have played this year have gotten flustered by it. Because even if he gets beat, it's not going to rattle him and make him play like the younger Jared Goff that would get rattled. So I'm going to go Detroit here. Also, side note, if you're just looking at quality of quarterback in this matchup, Kyler Murray, while he has used his

20:14 mobility well this season as a passer, he's nowhere near Jared Goff. At this point, it's not even close. So even if you're just reducing it to who has the better quarterback by a long shot, it's got to be Detroit. And while I do have questions about the Lions defense, I have even more questions about the Vikings offense.

20:36 So I feel like that kind of cancels each other out. So give me Detroit. I put it at the five spot. Not super confident, but confident enough.

20:43 I'm also taking Detroit in this game and I'm putting it at the three spot because of the things that you listed about having worry about the offense. I just don't know exactly what the ceiling of this offense is right now. And if I had to guess, I'd say pretty low based on what we have seen so far. And right now I think that the Vikings are truly just succeeding off of other offensive coordinators and other opposing quarterbacks not being able to handle the Just the level of aggressiveness that Flores has. Now, he has basically everybody on that team playing at an incredibly high level. Everybody knows their role in a complex and aggressive and fast defense very, very well. And that is a hat tip

21:19 to him, no question about it. But you mentioned it. One of the quarterbacks that actually can go toe-to-toe with Flores because he's got the experience, he's got the games against him, everything.

21:29 Is Jared Goff.

21:30 And I think that the book on Jared Goff for a long time was you pressure him, you get him out of the pocket, you get him on the run, and he's just going to crumble.

21:36 He isn't this year. This is his best year.

21:39 When it comes to quarterback rating, EPA per dropback, total EPA, completion percentage, all of the success rate against pressure. And so I think that it's, it's less about like if Flores just goes, Hey, we're going to blitz you 80% of the time against Jared Goff. I like that for the Detroit Lions. Now I wouldn't say that against most teams, but for the Lions specifically, I would say that. So I'm taking Detroit here as well. It's only in my three spot because I think this is going to be, you know, two great, like one of the best offenses in the NFL and one of the best defense in the NFL going head to head. And I think it is a coin flip type of a result on that side of the ball. But, uh, Yeah, give me Detroit

22:21 in this one, and I'll have it at the three spot. Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pretty big game when it comes to the AFC North.

22:29 Do you have a leaning one way or the other? Who are you picking in this one?

22:33 Aaron Rodgers played a lot better last week. And I don't know if it was his best game statistically, but as far as just looking, like watching the game back on film, vibes-wise, that to me felt like the best he's looked as a Steeler.

22:50 Which I think is encouraging.

22:51 Not to mention, it's one of the five best offensive lines in football this year, and they're not five.

22:57 They're better than that.

22:59 You have an emerging super weapon in Jalen Warren, both on the ground and through the air. He's been incredible this season. And you have one of the premier matchup nightmares in the NFL. Maybe not statistically, but as far as if I'm a defensive coordinator, somebody who I just don't have an answer for, and that's Darnell Washington.

23:18 Right.

23:20 Add all those things together. Not that Aaron has.

23:23 To be, you know, 2011 Aaron Rodgers, but if he's the Aaron Rodgers from like a few years ago and he's just a solid starter plus great offensive line run game and, you know, the freaking Hulk and Darnell Washington and the defense played a lot better, too. Overall, I feel like that's a better team than Cleveland, even though Cleveland has some really exciting parts to it that I adore.

23:46 I love their young receivers. I think their defense has played well overall this year. I feel like Pittsburgh's more complete and therefore more likely to win this game. So I picked the Steelers and I put it at the nine spot.

24:01 Oh, OK.

24:02 I also took the Steelers, but I put them at the six spot. I echo a lot of the things that you said. Although I do think this is going to be a close game to the end. We've seen how Deshaun Watson has played really well on those final potential game-winning drives. He's been very good at it this season. Ultimately, though, the reason why I went with the Pittsburgh Steelers is because I could not have been more impressed by their defensive front. last week in Paris against the New Orleans Saints.

24:27 I mean, they rendered that offensive line useless. Keanu Benton, Cam Hayward, obviously we know the edge rushers play well almost every single week, but then the guys behind, the defensive line's playing so well. I mean, Patrick Queen, the aggressiveness and the speed at which he was playing, and the same thing for Peyton Wilson. I mean, that whole front seven, For the Pittsburgh Steelers.

24:49 Was so stout.

24:51 And I think that that unit is on such a roll. They're going up against an offensive line. That is either playing inexperienced guys. I mean DeJuan Jones is somebody who doesn't have a ton of speed to him. The other guys are kind of new free agents that are there on the team. I think this Steelers defensive line is just going to be too much for them.

25:09 So give me Pittsburgh here. And give me them at the sixth spot. We've got a battle of LA. The Chargers. The Rams. Who's the home team? Who's to say? Playing in the same stadium here.

25:21 Who are you taking in this game here between the Rams and the Chargers?

25:27 If I pick the Chargers at this point, I would just feel stupid.

25:31 There's only so many times I can do it this year before I'm just asking for disappointment.

25:36 So I'm going to pick the Rams.

25:38 Coming off the bye.

25:40 Do you really think it matters?

25:42 Coming off the bye?

25:43 I'm just saying, coming off the bye.

25:46 They're starting all rookies on the offensive line.

25:51 It just hasn't been good this year.

25:53 Rookies coming off the bye, though. Rookies coming off the bye. I'm just saying.

25:58 The Rams are also banged up.

26:01 I mean, if we're talking about banged up offensive line versus banged up defensive line, this might be the game of the season as far as Players who were not slated to be starters in August starting against each other.

26:14 Yeah, truly.

26:17 And Devontae is hurt. And Stafford hasn't looked like Stafford this year. Puka's playing, he's gutting it out, but he's playing hurt. Neither one of these teams is really putting their best foot forward so far this season, even with the Rams coming off a win. We know this still isn't what the Rams were supposed to be. Their season's hanging on by a thread. So I am picking the Rams, but this is one of the few teams at this point that I would confidently pick the Rams against, just because the Chargers have been so bad this year.

26:52 And I do want to credit the Chargers' defense. They played as well as they could have. They're trying.

26:58 They're trying to keep their team in it every single week. But their offense has just turned the ball over so much. I still think, even with a bye week, I'm pretty sure their defense still leads the NFL in terms of drives that they've had to defend that have started in their own territory. Even with a bye week, I think they still lead the NFL in that stat.

27:17 So it's not the defense's fault. It's the offense's fault. But the offense still isn't good. So give me the Rams. I'm putting them at the sixth spot.

27:25 And I really think this might be the only team that I would put the Rams at the sixth spot against right now.

27:30 That's how concerned I am still about the Rams.

27:33 Yeah, I hear you. I'm taking the Rams and I put it at the eight spot. There's a lot of tighter matchups this week.

27:41 I think normally on.

27:44 Weeks where the matchups weren't as close, I think this is much lower on my list. But as we see it, one team is heavily motivated. The other team is the Chargers. And so I'm taking the team that's heavily motivated. I mean, if you drop this game and you're the Rams, what does the rest of your season look like? I mean, this would be a truly demoralizing loss for the Los Angeles Rams in this game. They are in a stretch that you and I have pointed out before. They have to win the majority of these games in this five-game stretch.

28:20 They already dropped the one to start the five-game stretch.

28:23 To the Cardinals.

28:24 They beat Vegas last week. I think that this one has to be a must win for them as well. So I'm going to take the Rams because they're the desperate team. And I'm going to put that at the eight spot. What about the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos? That's the next matchup we got here.

28:38 So the Broncos just had a good day offensively. And I think that's what a lot of people have been waiting to see is the Broncos having a good day offensively to go along with their defense has played well all year, even with their own injuries and everything like Broncos defense has been awesome. And the Chiefs are coming off a loss where not only was it a loss, it was a particularly bad loss. They got dominated. They didn't have a single snap in the red zone. That's the kind of domination we're talking about here. And so I think looking at recent trends of Broncos up, Chiefs down, you could argue, okay, Denver in this game.

29:13 But I just can't get over week one. I can't get over what we saw.

29:17 I can't get over how bad Bo Nix has been against blitzes this season.

29:21 And we know Steve Spagnuolo absolutely loves to blitz.

29:24 You know, the Broncos against press man coverage haven't exactly been great either. Just matchup wise and the stylistic matchup here, even if the Broncos tackled better than they did in week one, which it's almost impossible to be worse than they were in week one. I have to imagine they're going to tackle better. It's really not to me about, you know, Kenneth Walker versus Broncos defense. It's about Bo Nix versus Steve Spagnuolo. And I still just don't have confidence in that. Maybe he could prove me wrong. I fully welcome him proving me wrong. The last time we saw it, it was some of the worst tape of the season. And Bo Nix has had a lot of bad tape this season. That was still the worst, in my opinion. So give me the Chiefs here. I put

30:07 it at the seventh spot. I am fully acknowledging this could blow up in my face and we could be flooded with comments from Broncos fans saying, Brett, you're an idiot.

30:15 You're right. If they win this game, I'm an idiot.

30:18 But I really do need to see it before I believe it.

30:22 Well, I am taking the Broncos in this game. I'm only putting it at the two spot because... With them being at home, I think that that leans into it. Them being a different team than what we saw week one, I think that they're certainly the missed tackles. I mean, you cannot replicate the missed tackle rate that they had in that game. So it's going to be a lot better there. But I'm worried about how Nix is going to play against pressure with Steve Spagnuolo as the defense coordinator.

30:47 He's going to identify a lot of Nix's issues and really want to attack those as aggressively as he possibly can. But I feel as though you know, Denver's rolling certainly a lot more confidently than they were to start the season. I think they're a lot more ready for this one. If this is in Kansas city, probably feel a different way, but with this being in Denver, give me the Broncos.

31:06 Give me them at the two spot here. What about the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington commanders?

31:12 We got one in this game.

31:15 Let me ask you this.

31:16 Okay.

31:17 How many teams in the NFL would you pick the Eagles against right now?

31:22 Um, Not Washington.

31:26 Same.

31:26 Not Washington.

31:27 Not that I think Washington's like that good this year.

31:31 Yeah, right, right. The Eagles are in a free fall.

31:35 Yeah.

31:35 It's not entirely their own fault.

31:37 They couldn't be worse right now for the Eagles.

31:39 It feels like.

31:40 No.

31:41 And they know. They know what the rest of the season is. They're evaluating.

31:46 Right?

31:46 The entire point of the remainder of 2026 for the Philadelphia Eagles is.

31:52 We know what our problems are.

31:55 We are evaluating if you could be part of the solution. That's the only goal right now. If they win some games along the way, great. But they know they're not winning the Super Bowl this year. It's not going to happen. Meanwhile, Washington, everybody's kind of coaching for their lives right now. And everybody's playing for their lives. So if we're talking about motivation, Washington is incredibly motivated. But I also think Washington, even with their own talent deficiencies, and losing Terry for the season, I still... might take their remaining talent over the remaining talent that the Eagles have. That's how bad it is in Philly right now.

32:32 Jaden's had the big mental blunders that I think most people remember as the focal point this season. But Jaden has played really well when he has been out there. So if you take away those two mental missteps from him, you'd look at Jaden Daniels tape and be like, okay, yeah, outside of the injury, like Jaden's playing really well this season.

32:54 And I think that this game simply just comes down to, I trust Jaden at quarterback a lot more than whatever the Philadelphia Eagles feel is their best option at quarterback. And that's as simple as it is to me, especially with Washington hosting this one. You mentioned a lot of people in Washington are coaching for their jobs right now.

33:12 It's not like I think that Washington's a way better roster than Philly. But to me, they've got the most important position, and they've got it by a lot. So where did you have this one in the rankings?

33:24 I put this one at the eighth spot. And it's really more a reflection of the Eagles than the Commanders to me.

33:30 I thought this was going to be an opportunity for me to get a bunch of points on you here if Washington wins this game.

33:38 I got them at the ninth spot.

33:40 So we're similar.

33:41 So I got them at the ninth spot.

33:43 Oh, we both just do not believe in Philly at all whatsoever, which of course, even Philly fans don't believe in Philly right now. Yeah. But from the universe, that just means that, you know, what happens Philly is going to win by 30. Last game is the Chicago bears and the Seattle Seahawks.

33:58 What a game.

34:00 This is a potential NFC championship type of game here with Seattle and Chicago matching up. We got one in this game and where you got it in the confidence rankings.

34:11 So if, If I recall correctly, we both have this at the one spot. You are correct. Do we not?

34:18 Yes, yes, you are correct.

34:20 So this game's not going to do a whole lot of damage to either of us, which means we get to watch.

34:25 It stress-free, which is awesome.

34:26 Thank goodness, thank goodness.

34:28 I picked the Bears.

34:31 And not that I feel amazing about it, because I put it at the one spot, but I feel like.

34:38 The general theme of the picks this week... And it's.

34:42 Really the foundational pillar of analysis that we all fall back on when we don't know what to really expect. It's who has the better quarterback. Because both these teams have great coaching staffs.

34:55 And I think.

34:57 Offensively versus defensively, trench talent versus trench talent, this is one of the more even matchups of the week. And sometimes when you have very evenly matched teams, the only thing that really can move the needle is is quarterback play. And not that I think Sam has been gross this year. He certainly hasn't been as good this year as he was the last couple years. Going back to the Minnesota year and then his first year in Seattle. The turnovers have been an issue. The accuracy has been an issue.

35:28 Decision making has been an issue. He hasn't been horrible, but he hasn't been good either. Meanwhile, Caleb, I think has been amazing this year. So if the one thing in an evenly matched game in terms of total roster talent, coaching staffs, whole kit and caboodle, if the one thing that can really move the needle, 3-4% in your favor is who has the best quarterback.

35:53 That's Chicago.

35:54 So give me the Bears, as reductive as it is, as cliche as it is, sometimes when you watch football, that's just what it is. Who has the best quarterback that can make three more plays than the other guy?

36:06 That's Chicago right now.

36:08 I'm taking Seattle just because of how good they looked last week against the Kansas City Chiefs.

36:12 But I will say this.

36:14 I know Seahawks fans won't agree with me here. The season gets a lot more fun if Chicago wins this game. Because if Seattle wins this game, you know, it's back-to-back weeks where Seattle was kind of like back against the wall a little bit. Had a few weeks there where they didn't look so good. But then it was like, okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

36:34 But we're locking in. And they beat the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears. So throughout the entire rest of the season, I think when we talk about Super Bowl favorites or who's the best in the NFL, especially with the Seahawks trading for Quentin Nelson, a lot of people are just going to go, yeah, but when the Seahawks are locked in, I mean, like, that's just the best team in the league. Whereas if they lose to Chicago, like if Chicago beats them here, I think it opens up a lot of stuff. Okay, well, Kansas City lost to Seattle, but Seattle lost to Chicago, and you get to kind of like have this fun game with the best teams in the NFL, and there's a lot more parity there.

37:08 With it.

37:08 And then Vikings fans are going to say, yeah, but Chicago lost to us.

37:13 But that's the thing is that if Chicago wins this game, I think you open up the parody of who it really is the best team in the NFL, who is the Super Bowl favorites, who do you feel the best about any given Sunday. And I think Chicago and Seattle are two of those teams, but I'll take Seattle here. because with how much they really locked in against the Chiefs, I think they're going to continue to be locked in at home against Chicago.

37:37 And so I just can't wait to watch this one.

37:39 I'm glad that we've got it both at the one spot here, and I'm glad that we're both a little bit different on what is an incredible game. Those are our game picks. Like we said at the top of the show, we would love to hear yours. Those are the 10 games that you choose from. Don't just pick the winner, but in the comments section, Rank them in order of confidence. And we keep score of all of this as we have the last couple of weeks. And if you're the top scorer every single week, we'll give you a shout out at the show next week.

38:04 So appreciate everybody watching. Enjoy the games. And we will indeed see you next week.

38:08 Thanks for listening to our Week 8 Game Picks. Listen to NFL Pro on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.