There are five teams entering Week 8 of the 2018 NFL season with at least five wins. That bodes well for their playoff hopes as since the current postseason format was instituted in 1990, 80 percent of teams to start 5-2 or better played extra football. Eight of the nine last year did so.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The team with the most wins (7) and fewest losses (0) is the Los Angeles Rams as they look to get halfway to a perfect regular season. The Rams play in one of the marquee matchups of Week 8 in hosting Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, who are 9-point underdogs. Rodgers has never been larger than an 8-point underdog in a game he has started in the NFL. Green Bay comes out of its bye and has won seven of its past nine in that scenario.
The Kansas City Chiefs (6-1) have the AFC’s best record and best point differential at plus-78. They host the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The Chiefs had to rally from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit in Denver a few weeks ago, but K.C. is a 10-point favorite in this one. The Chiefs have won and covered six straight in this AFC West rivalry.
One storyline so far this season has been the incredible number of overtime games – at least one every week. This all got started Week 1 when the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns tied 21-21 in Cleveland. That was the first of four OT games played already by the Browns. Pittsburgh is an 8-point home favorite in the rematch. Cleveland has lost 14 straight in the Steel City by an average of about 12.7 points.
Perhaps the most remarkable ending to an NFL playoff game occurred back in January when the New Orleans Saints lost in the divisional round at the Minnesota Vikings on the “Minneapolis Miracle.” Those division leaders meet Sunday night at U.S. Bank Stadium again, with the game a pick’em. The Saints are 3-7 ATS in the past 10 vs. Minnesota.
Week 8 ends with an apparent mismatch as the New England Patriots are 14-point favorites at the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. The Bills again have to go with veteran journeyman Derek Anderson at QB, while the Patriots have some guy named Tom Brady. Hence the spread. Buffalo has lost 18 of its past 19 as a double-digit dog – but that win came earlier this year at the Vikings.
