Three top picks for Week 8 NFL betting

Heading into Week 8 of the 2020 NFL season, a few things are becoming clear. The Kansas City Chiefs look like a team that could repeat as Super Bowl champions.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the NFL's only remaining unbeaten and the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Bucs are for real. Oh, and the NFC East might be the worst division in the history of the league.

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With all that in mind, here’s a look at Week 8’s best bets.

New England (+4) at Buffalo

Yes, the Patriots are struggling. After winning two of their first three games, they have now dropped three straight. Cam Newton may not be the guy at quarterback for the Patriots

Buffalo is 5-2, but the Bills have lost two of their last three and the lone win was a field goal-fest 18-10 win over the lowly Jets. 

New England has won the last seven in a row over Buffalo and owns a 35-4 record against the Bills since 2000. Sure, most of those wins were with a guy named Brady at quarterback, but don’t forget about head coach Bill Belichick.

The master has been very good to bettors over his career. Since 2004, Belichick is 163-106-9 ATS overall in the regular season. Breaking it down a little further, we find that Belichick-coached Patriots teams are 41-17 ATS after a loss.

Belichick is also 23-11-2 ATS as an underdog. What about his record as an underdog coming off a loss? Funny you should ask because the Master is 8-0 ATS. He's also 7-1 straight up in those games. Take the Patriots and the points.

Did you see last week's NFL Week 7 Best Bets? We went 2-1.

Indianapolis (-2.5) at Detroit

Lions fans are giddy now that their team has won two straight. However, they might want to take a look at who those victories were against - 1-6 Atlanta and 1-6 Jacksonville. 

While the Colts seem unimpressive even at 4-2, Indianapolis is a much better football team. The Colts are a top-5 defense, ranking second in both pass defense and total defense. Indy is third against the run (88.3 ypg) and fourth in scoring defense (19.2 ppg).

The Colts struggles are due to mistakes. QB Philip Rivers has thrown six interceptions and the Colts need work on third down and red zone offense. 

With last week off to work on some their shortcomings, the Colts are at least a field goal better than the Lions. Oh, and the Lions record in their last six home games? Yeah, 0-6.

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Pittsburgh at Baltimore (UNDER 46.5)

For fans of old school, physical, smash-mouth football, you’re welcome. Sunday’s Steelers-Ravens matchup pits two of the best defenses and running games in the league against each other.

Pittsburgh leads the NFL in total defense (286.3 ypg). Baltimore leads in scoring defense (17.3 ppg). The Ravens, with QB Lamar Jackson, lead the NFL again in rushing. The Steelers are a top-10 rushing unit.

The Steelers will force Jackson and Baltimore to beat them through the air. With a lack of big-play receivers, that isn’t likely. 

Bottom line . . . the Ravens-Steelers Total is headed Under 46.5 at our top online sportsbook. The Total has gone Under in 13 of the Steelers last 16 games. The Under has hit in five of the last six when Pittsburgh has played at Baltimore. 

Of the last ten Ravens-Steelers matchups, seven have produced 43 or fewer points.