After a rough week going against the spread, let’s turn the page and figure out what’s good in the NFL this week. Here are the five best bets for Week 8.
Well, they all can’t be zingers. Week 7 and I did not get along. Sadly, I had my first losing week of the season, going 1-3-1 against the spread. When the only team that comes through for you is the Los Angeles Chargers, you know you’re about to have a bad time.
Taking the San Francisco 49ers, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Atlanta Falcons getting points were just terrible ideas. I would have loved to have seen the Jets upset the Miami Dolphins sans Jay Cutler, but I’ll have to settle for the push at +3.
Anyway, let’s just forget Week 7 even happened, on not. Either way, I’m going to try to make sense of some of these lines this week to give you the five I think are best. Again, it will be a tad more challenging than last week, as six teams will be on byes this week. So I only have 13 games to choose from, but I’ll do my best.
Here are the five best bets in my opinion for the Week 8 slate. All lines are courtesy of SportsBook Review.
Miami Dolphins (+3) at Baltimore Ravens
Yes, we’re going with an ugly Thursday Night Football game for one of my five best bets of the week. I’m taking the Miami Dolphins getting three points on the road versus the Baltimore Ravens. Somehow, someway, the Dolphins are finding ways to win with putrid offensive outputs. I think they’re going to do it against a Ravens offense that scares nobody in primetime on Thursday night.
One could argue that Miami might actually be better on offense with Matt Moore playing quarterback over Jay Cutler. Though head coach Adam Gase thought highly about adding Cutler into the fold once Ryan Tannehill went down for the season, it has to be Moore in this one.
Keep in mind that Moore is probably one of the four or five best backup quarterbacks in football. He is one of the few backup signal callers that can actually win a slew of games in a row. He played well down the stretch for Miami last year, as the Dolphins earned the No. 6 seed in the AFC at 10-6.
Frankly, Moore played great last season until he got beat up in the divisional round on the road versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. Taking the Dolphins getting points is more about how awful the Ravens offense is with Joe Flacco at quarterback. Miami has a bit of a pass rush, which does not bode well for an immobile Flacco in the pocket. Look for the Dolphins to improve to 5-2 with an upset win over the Ravens on Thursday night.