NFL Odds Week 8: Early Locks and Best Bets on the Schedule

Believe it or not, we're already closing in on the 2023 NFL season's midpoint. If there's one thing we've learned through the first seven weeks, it's that games can be incredibly unpredictable.

Did anyone see the Baltimore Ravens completely dominating the red-hot Detroit Lions on Sunday? How many folks expected to see the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts engaging in an offensive track meet of a game? Who expected the New York Giants to win their second game of the season while scoring a mere 14 points?

The Week 8 slate features many more games that could go in a variety of directions. However, a select few do have some enticing early lines.

Check the latest lines at DraftKings.

If we learned one thing about the Colts in Week 7, it's that the Gardner Minshew-led offense isn't as bad as many might have expected. Minshew did have his second consecutive four-turnover game—and Indy ultimately lost—but the Colts racked up 456 yards and 38 points against one of the top defenses in the NFL.

Jonathan Taylor is looking more like the player he was in 2021, and the Colts appear to have found a gem in rookie receiver Josh Downs.

Indianapolis should again be able to find offense at home against a solid defensive unit. The New Orleans Saints, meanwhile, have struggled to find any semblance of offensive consistency.

The communication between Derek Carr and Saints receivers has been lacking, and Alvin Kamara has seemed like his only reliable target. New Orleans does have 10 days to try getting things right, but the Colts should gain some confidence from their close loss to Cleveland—and perhaps a little anger from some very questionable late calls.

Expect another close game at Lucas Oil Stadium, with the Colts getting the victory this time.

It's not quite safe to say that the Philadelphia Eagles are back, but after seeing Philly play arguably its best game of the season against the Miami Dolphins, the Eagles do again look like title contenders.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a knee injury during the win and played the second half wearing a brace, but it doesn't appear to be serious.

"I'll be fine," Hurts said after the game, per Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.

What isn't fine is the Washington Commanders offense. Washington mustered a mere seven points against the New York Giants on Sunday, and quarterback Sam Howell was sacked another six times. He's now been sacked 40 times through seven games, and it's impossible to sustain drives at that rate.

The Commanders are converting just 29.4 percent of their third downs.

The first meeting between these two teams was close, with Philly winning 34-31 in overtime. However, the teams have largely gone in opposite directions since then, and the Eagles should win the rematch much more convincingly.

The Denver Broncos defense finally showed signs of being competent against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. However, there's a big difference between containing Jordan Love and slowing Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes and the Chiefs offense had arguably their best game of the season in Week 7, racking up 483 yards and 31 points. The Kansas City defense was once again solid, holding the Los Angeles Chargers to just 17 points.

It's the defense that presents big problems for Denver. Russell Wilson struggled to get the passing game going against the Chiefs in Week 6, and we're unlikely to see the script change this week.

The Broncos have been just good enough to beat legitimately bad teams. Against playoff contenders like Kansas City, Miami and the New York Jets, they've been embarrassed. Denver lost each of those matchups by no fewer than 10 points

Round 1 of this matchup yielded a double-digit victory for the Chiefs. The Broncos will have the benefit of home-field advantage in the rematch, but the outcome should be very similar.

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