NFL Picks 2019: Best Bets Against The Spread For Week 8 Include Jets, Dolphins, Bucs, Patriots

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets are candidates to pull off road upsets in Week 8. The Miami Dolphins might actually be competitive in a primetime matchup. The New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots should keep rolling as heavy home favorites.

There’s no such thing as a “sure thing” when it comes to gambling, but here are the five best bets against the spread for Week 8 of the 2019 NFL season. These are the betting odds from the Westgate Las Vegas Super Contest.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+2.5)

Ryan Tannehill put up big numbers in Week 7, winning his first start with the Tennessee Titans. Don’t expect the quarterback to be nearly as good when Tennessee hosts Tampa Bay Sunday.

Tannehill will come back down to earth after posting a 120.1 passer rating and throwing for over 300 for the first time in more than three years. He’s unlikely to go toe-to-toe with Jameis Winston and the Buccaneers, who lead the NFC with 28.8 points per game. The Titans rank 27th in points per game, and they haven’t even played a team that has a top-14 scoring offense. Tampa Bay’s offense gets derailed when they commit turnovers. Tennessee’s defense only has three interceptions in the last six games.

New York Jets (+6)

Sam Darnold and the Jets aren’t nearly as bad as they looked when they couldn’t score a point Monday night. There isn’t a major gap between New York and the Jacksonville Jaguars, giving the Jets a real chance to pull off the upset on the road.

Ignore the way any quarterback plays against New England’s historic pass defense. Darnold was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week just two games ago. Not only did Darnold throw for 338 yards with a 113.8 passer rating in a Week 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys, but the defense held Dak Prescott in check. New York is ninth in opponents’ yards per play. Gardner Minshew has regressed a bit, completing just 53.6 percent of his passes in his last four games.

New Orleans Saints (-10.5)

Keep picking the Saints until they fail to cover. New Orleans has won five straight games straight up and against the spread. There’s a good chance the streak continues at home against the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona is on a three-game winning streak of their own, but the Cardinals have beaten teams with a combined 3-18 record. Those opponents probably make up three of the NFL’s five worst defenses. New Orleans is seventh in total defense. No offense has really looked good against the Saints since Houston scored 28 points in the season opener. Drew Brees might be back under center. Teddy Bridgewater has been terrific, completing 69.7 percent of his passes as a starter.

New England Patriots (-13)

The Patriots have dominated almost every opponent, going 7-0 with six victories of 16 points or more. New England is going to have another easy win at home when they host the Cleveland Browns.

No offense has scored more than 10 points against the Patriots in a game this season. New England’s pass defense is playing at an all-time level with 18 interceptions and an opponents’ passer rating of 35.6. Baker Mayfield is first in the NFL with 11 picks, and he’s been especially terrible against good defenses. Cleveland has been outscored 94-29 in three meetings with teams that boast top-11 defenses. Mayfield has been sacked 12 times with 580 passing yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions in those three losses.

Miami Dolphins (+14)

The NFL’s worst team continues to be more and more competitive each week. Miami can certainly keep their “Monday Night Football” matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers within two touchdowns.

Pittsburgh is not currently built to blow out teams. Mason Rudolph is back at quarterback, averaging 178 passing yards per start. The Steelers haven’t scored more than 26 points in a game this season. The Dolphins have set a season-high in points in two straight weeks, losing by 11 total points. If it weren’t for some costly turnovers in the red zone, Miami might have actually beaten the Bills in Buffalo in Week 7. There won’t be a ton of points scored in this game, making it difficult for the Steelers to cover such a large spread.

Season Record: 13-20-2