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NFL Week 8 picks, schedule, odds, injuries, fantasy tips
Eagles (4-2) at Bengals (3-4)
Eagles storyline to watch: The Eagles rushed the ball a combined 81 times over the past two games — 10 more than the next-closest team — for 385 total yards (192.5 per game). RB Saquon Barkley is second to only the Ravens’ Derrick Henry in rushing yards per game (109.7) and is coming off a 176-yard performance against his former team, the Giants. Cincinnati has yielded 136 rushing yards per game and has given up the second-most rushing first downs (65). — Tim McManus
Bengals storyline to watch: Cincinnati’s offense is looking to rebound after a rough couple of weeks. In back-to-back wins, the Bengals have scored touchdowns on 16.7% of their drives, which was half of the team’s rate from Weeks 1 through 5. Philadelphia’s defense ranks 10th in fewest points allowed per drive. — Ben Baby
Stat to know: Since 2022, the Eagles’ A.J. Brown and Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase are among the top four receivers in receiving yards after contact. Chase leads with 452; Brown has 394.
Fantasy X factor: Bengals QB Joe Burrow. He started the season with 8.0 fantasy points in Week 1 against the Patriots. Since then, he has averaged 21.2 fantasy points per game. The Eagles’ defense held Daniel Jones to 5.9 points in Week 7 and Deshaun Watson to 8.4 in Week 6, but it will face a tougher challenge against Burrow, Chase and Tee Higgins. See Week 8 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Eagles are 8-1 ATS in their past nine games when the spread closes between plus-3 and minus-3. Read more.
Cowboys (3-3) at 49ers (3-4)
Cowboys storyline to watch: The stench from the 38-point loss to Detroit still lingers despite having the bye last week. The Cowboys are in the playoff chase, but they don’t have good recent memories of their trips to Levi’s Stadium — two losses, including 42-10 last season. They are 3-1 after the bye under coach Mike McCarthy. After a bad loss and tumultuous bye week, they need this win badly. — Todd Archer
49ers storyline to watch: In three previous meetings with Dallas, the 49ers have flummoxed Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. Prescott has a QBR of 41.6 in those games, which is his worst mark against any of the 16 teams he has played at least two times over the past five seasons. The Niners have successfully forced Prescott into turnovers, intercepting him six times to just three touchdown passes. As always, the Niners will need to win the turnover battle to win this game, as the Niners are 3-0 this season when winning the turnover battle and 0-4 when tying or losing it. — Nick Wagoner
Stat to know: The Cowboys have been outscored by 42 points this season, which is the second-worst point differential through six games by a team .500 or better in the past decade.
Fantasy X factor: 49ers WR Jauan Jennings. Expect Jennings to see more targets without Aiyuk. We all remember his monster 46.5-point performance against the Rams in Week 3. While Jennings might not hit those numbers again, he’ll still be a key player in the 49ers’ passing game. See Week 8 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: This will be the 34th straight regular-season game the 49ers are favored in, which is the third-longest streak this century. Read more.
Giants (2-5) at Steelers (5-2)
Giants storyline to watch: The home/road split for QB Daniel Jones and the Giants’ offense is staggering this season. For some reason, they’re significantly more productive on the road, which WR Darius Slayton seems to think is a “coincidence.” No matter the reasoning, Jones has all six of his passing touchdowns on the road and all four of his interceptions at home. Perhaps fortunately for the Giants, this game is in Pittsburgh. — Jordan Raanan
Steelers storyline to watch: Playing with their fifth combination of starting offensive linemen in the win against the Jets, the Steelers passed their first test against a sack-happy front, and an even tougher challenge emerges in QB Russell Wilson’s second start. The Giants lead the league with 31 sacks, and Dexter Lawrence II, whom coach Mike Tomlin called “a problem,” leads all pass rushers with nine sacks. Wilson was sacked just once by the Jets, but the Giants will undoubtedly go after the veteran quarterback on Monday night. — Brooke Pryor
Stat to know: The Giants had 119 total yards in their loss to the Eagles, which is their fewest since their 1999 season opener at Tampa Bay.
Fantasy X factor: Wilson. The quarterback had a standout performance in Week 7, racking up 24.8 fantasy points. Pittsburgh’s offense appeared more balanced and effective with him under center. Wilson is poised for more success against the Giants’ defense, which allows an average of 18.6 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. See Week 8 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Steelers are 0-9 ATS in their last nine games when laying at least four points. Read more.
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles-Bengals Final Injury Report: Tee Higgins suddenly questionable to play
The Philadelphia Eagles issued their third and final official injury report on Friday in advance of their Week 8 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Eagles ruled three players OUT: Dallas Goedert, Mekhi Becton, and Byron Young.
Goedert is missing his second straight game. By not placing him on injured reserve last week, the Eagles seem to hope he’ll be back by Week 10 at the latest.
Becton did not practice this week while in the concussion protocol. He might be able to return in Week 9.
Young, who was a healthy scratch all season prior to somehow getting hurt in practice last week, [was] placed on injured reserve to open up a roster spot.
The Bengals unexpectedly added starting wide receiver Tee Higgins to Friday’s injury report. He’s listed as questionable after suffering a quad injury in practice. If he can’t play, the Eagles can obviously dedicate more attention to stopping Ja’Marr Chase.
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys injuries: Micah Parsons, DaRon Bland ruled out vs. 49ers
Unfortunately, Parsons will not be available in this crucial game. After practicing before the bye week, DaRon Bland (foot) seemingly had a setback and sat out this week of practice before being ruled out. Linebacker Eric Kendricks (calf) practiced in a limited capacity on Friday, and his status for this week is questionable. Despite missing practice Friday, kicker Brandon Aubrey is expected to play. Caelen Carson is questionable.
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys fans overwhelmingly think team will lose against the 49ers
[T]he 49ers have beaten the Cowboys three times in a row, with two of those games knocking the Cowboys out of the playoffs.
Neither team is having a very good season so far, Dallas is 3-3 while San Francisco is 3-4. Injuries have played a large role in the struggles for both teams. Now we find out that neither Micah Parsons nor DaRon Bland will be available this week after there was hope they’d be back after the bye.
Last week responses to our question of confidence in the franchise going in the right direction was at a record low 3% affirmative. The bye week only moved that number to 4%. That’s a pretty brutal assessment of the job the front office and coaches have done.
The Cowboys are underdogs in this game by 3.5 points according to Fan Duel. We asked even before we knew for sure that Parsons and Bland would be out whether you thought Dallas would win the game. Only 14% of fans believe Dallas will win.
Behind the Steel Curtain
Steelers vs. Giants: 5 questions with the enemy ahead of Week 8
4. The leadership pairing of Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen made the playoffs in Year 1, but now it looks like they will have a second-straight losing season. Do you think these two are the ones to get the Giants back to their winning ways, or is their leash shrinking?
John Mara said this week that he still has faith in both and does not intend to make changes.That doesn’t mean the next 10 games can’t change that, but as of now they aren’t going anywhere.
I have respect for both men and I think they potentially could get this right. There have been hits and misses — honestly, too many misses — in their first three seasons.
Like it always does in the NFL, it is going to come down to whether they get the quarterback right. I will be shocked if they don’t move on from Daniel Jones after this year. If they get the successor right, they could be around a while. If they don’t, all bets are off.
5. The Steelers are the betting favorites this week (-6.5 on FanDuel). What’s your prediction for this game?
There is nothing that gives me optimism that the Giants can win this game. They have scored 10 total points the last two weeks. Well, there is the fact that the game is not in New Jersey — the Giants are 0-4 at home, 2-1 on the road. The Giants will play hard. I just don’t see how they win.
Big Blue View
Do the Giants have a Deonte Banks problem?
New York Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, a former NFL player and long-time coach, has twice taken cornerback Deonte Banks to task for lack of effort in recent weeks.
After Banks appeared to give little effort to chase down CeeDee Lamb after allowing a long completion that turned into a 55-yard touchdown in Week 4, Henderson voiced his displeasure to the media:
“Didn’t like it. Liked nothing about it,” Henderson said. “When your man catches the ball, you have break your legs, figuratively, to get him on the ground. And I thought there was room to do more. We expect that from him and he expects that from himself but in that moment he failed.”
This past Sunday, when Banks gave up pursuit of a scrambling Jalen Hurts, allowing the Eagles quarterback extra yardage, Henderson’s irritation was evident for everyone to see
Here’s a closer zoomed in look at Jerome Henderson not being happy with the effort of Deonte Banks on a Jalen Hurts 3rd down scramble pic.twitter.com/kvBxPHo8KQ
— Justin Penik (@JustinPenik) October 21, 2024
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NFL.com
Vikings LT Christian Darrisaw to undergo season-ending surgery on injured knee
The standout Vikings left tackle suffered a knee injury that will require season-ending surgery, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. The team officially placed him on injured reserve on Friday.
Darrisaw suffered the knee injury just before halftime of Thursday night’s 30-20 loss to the Rams and did not return. A subsequent MRI confirmed the severity of Darrisaw’s injury. Seven-year veteran David Quessenberry replaced him for the remainder of the game.
NFL.com
NFL fines Ravens LB Roquan Smith over $16K for hip-drop tackle that ended Chris Godwin’s season
[T]he NFL determined Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith performed a hip-drop tackle on Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin in Baltimore’s win and has fined the linebacker over $16,000, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
A hip-drop tackle is officially defined as when a player grabs a runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms and then unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.
The tackle resulted in a season-ending ankle dislocation for Godwin, who underwent surgery on the injured ankle this week. It also drew criticism of Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles, who had kept Godwin on the field in the final minute of a game his team was unlikely to win.
Discussion topics
After everything long time fans have been through for the last 25 years some peoples line in the sand now that we are getting good with some real hope is weird to me
If a name change is required to “bring joy” then this probably isn’t the team for you https://t.co/EYipxaqxCT
— Mark Phillips (@GoingCommander) October 23, 2024