The NFL Blog: 2012 Week 8 Betting Lines

Last Week: Vs. Spread: (8-5); Straight Up: (12-1)

Season: Vs. Spread: (58-44-2); Straight Up: (62-42)

Week 7 Review: It was a nice bounce-back week for me. I’m glad my “favorites heavy” hunch paid off, particularly in terms of picking winners. 

I’ll never complain about going over .500 ATS, but I was close to having a really good week. I thought Jim Harbaugh’s decision to forgo the safety and take immediate possession of the ball instead made complete sense. It still annoyed the hell out of me though. That game was the first of three “bad beats” I would have during the week. 

It actually started on San Fran’s final possession. The Niners played ridiculously cautious inside the red zone, basically not even trying to score a touchdown and being content to take a 7-point lead. I needed them to win by more than 7.5. 

Then the safety out of nowhere on a questionable chop block call appeared to have given me a miracle cover. But Harbaugh figured out that the quickest way to end the game was to decline the penalty because it had been 4^th down. That was rough. 

I thought I had the Bills pick right as well, but the Titans scored on 4^th down to change that outcome. 

Finally, when I picked the games early last week I had Detroit at +5.5 for MNF. They lost to the Bears by 6, so again I got beat by a half point. What really sucks is if I had gotten my lines just a few hours later I would have had the Lions +6.5. 

So in the end I was three rather fluky things away from going 13-0 straight up and 11-2 ATS, which I’d have to think would rank up there as one of my best weeks ever.  

Week 8 Preview: This is another week with a messed up schedule. The Patriots and Rams will be playing that idiotic game in London. There is one additional game this week (14 in total) with just 4 teams on bye instead of 6, but once again there are just 2 games saved for the late slot on Sunday. Hopefully both games will be competitive again like they were last week. 

There are several games this week which are close to “pick em” status. 5 of the 14 games this week have 1-point spreads. On the other hand, 6 of the 14 games have spreads of at least 6 points. 

As for my picks, I’m definitely going with more underdogs this week, at least ATS. I’m also going with 8 road teams ATS this week which could be dicey. As always, I’ll be hoping to avoid disaster.  

Thursday Night’s Game

Tampa Bay (+6.5) @ Minnesota

Pick: Vikings cover

Sunday’s Early Games 

Jacksonville (+12) @ Green Bay

Pick: Packers cover

Miami (+1) @ New York Jets

Pick: Jets cover

San Diego (-1) @ Cleveland

Pick: Chargers cover

Indianapolis (+3.5) @ Tennessee

Pick: Titans win but Colts beat the spread

New England (-7) vs. St. Louis (London)

Pick: Patriots cover

Atlanta (+1) @ Philadelphia

Pick: Eagles cover

Carolina (+9) @ Chicago

Pick: Bears cover

Seattle (+1) @ Detroit

Pick: Lions cover

Washington (+5) @ Pittsburgh

Pick: Steelers win but Skins beat the spread

Sunday’s Late Games

Oakland (+1) @ Kansas City

Pick: Raiders pull off the upset

New York Giants (-1) @ Dallas

Pick: Giants cover

Sunday Night’s Game

New Orleans (+6) @ Denver

Pick: Broncos win but Saints beat the spread

Monday Night’s Game

San Francisco (-6.5) @ Arizona  

Pick: Niners cover