NFL: Week 8 tips: Rodgers or the Rams?

Week 8 is here! The NFL travels to London one last time for this season, after which the Chiefs receive Denver. Also: Rams vs. Packers and the Vikings welcome New Orleans for the playoff rematch. SPOX takes a quick look at all games of the coming matchday – including the forecast by NFL editor Adrian Franke, the Sunday games will be live on DAZN as usual in the RedZone conference; but due to the time change this week already one hour earlier!

Bye-Week: Falcons, Cowboys, Titans, Chargers.

Third game for Brock Osweiler, this time with a short week and away. The Dolphins should have problems with the Pass-Rush of the Texans, the injury of Albert Wilson hurts the Offense also schematically extremely. Houston, on the other hand, has its own problems when it comes to pass protection, but should still have more firepower and be able to defensively control the line of scrimmage.

Tip: Texans vs. Dolphins 23:10.

Back to Blake Bortles! After it was givenched on Sunday, Bortles starts again against the Eagles in London – which makes the Jaguars-Offense once again a wonder bag. It’s clear that Philly with the 4-Men-Rush can provide permanent danger, even if Derek Barnett now also fails. The Eagles Opense looks really good again at times, but then has regular sagging and loses the thread. A more constant run game could help here, maybe about Josh Adams? He had several good scenes against the Panthers. Against a Jaguars defense that was shaky at last, but is still occupied by top-class players, the task is not going to be any easier, Wentz should be under pressure more often again.

Tip: Jaguars vs. Eagles 23:27.

Denver has done a good job in this season’s first duel and was able to cause problems for Mahomes, especially without Blitzing. Both teams should have a lot of success against extremely susceptible run defenses, can the Broncos defend the Chief’s offense as well? Or does KC – via Watkins and Hunt – find better answers in passing? And vice versa: How much can the recently improved Chiefs-Pass-Rush Case influence Keenum?

Tip: Chiefs vs. Broncos 27:17.

Exciting duel. The Panthers come back with an impressive comeback win over the Eagles, while Baltimore missed at least the overtime against the Saints by a hair’s breadth. Problem for the Panthers: Baltimore should be able to put Newton – like the Eagles – under pressure while the Secondary is much stronger than the Eagles and that could be too much for a still shaky Panthers Passing game. Conversely, the question remains: Will the Panthers still find a constant pass-rush this season? You shouldn’t assume that this Ravens-Line is against it, and then Baltimore will also be able to play Big Plays this year.

Tip: Panthers vs. Ravens 20:26.

The Jets-Secondary is still in a bad state and therefore vulnerable – only: can Trubisky take advantage of that? Against the Patriots he was again extremely inconstant as a passer and had great interception luck several times. Conversely, the jets are presumably not the team that pushes Chicago 40 points in, even though the offense has had some significantly improved appearances in recent weeks. Can Vic Fangio, like Mike Zimmer last week, confuse Sam Darnolds Reads and force the rookie quarterback to make mistakes?

Tip: Bears vs. Jets 20:17.

After the massive disappointment in Kansas City, Tampa is a good opponent for the Bengals-Offense to get back on track. Cincinnati actually has a versatile offense, Dalton is strong against lightning and the Bengals can attack an opponent on all levels of the field. This should become clearer again against a Bucs Pass defense, which after a surprisingly good start against Cleveland fell back into well-known patterns. Can Cincinnati’s Pass-Rush finally register back at the same time?

Tip: Bengals vs. Buccaneers 30:20.

Difficult game to type. The Seahawks have found their rhythm in the run game impressively over the past weeks, and you can definitely run against Detroit – at least that’s how it has been so far. Damon Harrison was supposed to be an enormous upgrade here. However, the same statement also applies the other way round, Kerryon Johnson plays a really good rookie season and the run defense of the Seahawks has often been holey. If the Lions recall their potential in the passing game – and especially in the offensive line against the Seahawks’ pass rush Detroit should have the advantage on his side – that might make the difference.

Tip: Lions vs. Seahawks 27:24.

How long will Pat Shurmur’s patience with Eli Manning last? The season can confidently be ticked off as lost, and week after week Manning shows that he simply doesn’t read the field clean any more, that he hesitates in the passing game and that he gets huge problems as soon as pass rush threatens. The Monday Night Game against Atlanta was the best example, with slightly better QB-Play New York probably wins this game. Now a Redskins front is waiting, which should cause the Giants all sorts of problems, while offensively possibly at least one of the receiver duo Richardson/Crowder returns after injury.

Tip: Giants vs. Redskins 17:23.

Cleveland has been stagnating for several weeks now. The Pass-Rush is not as dangerous as it was at the beginning of the season, in the battered Receiving-Corps the Browns have massive drop problems and schematically Cleveland Baker Mayfield doesn’t help much. For the Steelers fresh from the Bye Week there should be several approaches, especially since Cleveland has also become vulnerable in the Run-Defense. The Browns should have no answers to JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown along with the tight ends.

Tip: Steelers vs. Browns 27:24.

With the trade of Amari Cooper and the injury of Marshawn Lynch, one has to ask oneself slowly but surely in Oakland: where is offensive production supposed to come from? That Derek Carr can’t suddenly carry this team should not surprise anyone – and even less surprising is that the defense doesn’t stop anyone. Against a Colts team that is getting better and better on the offensive and in which Andrew Luck plays harder from week to week, this indicates a further total bankruptcy.

Tip: Raiders vs. Colts 16:28.

The 49ers have the most dangerous offense from 21-personnel, the offense works through the running backs and tight ends in passing. The Cardinals have problems with screens and are vulnerable to run defense – so unquestionably an approach for Kyle Shanahan. But the most exciting question: What changes do you see in the desert after Mike McCoy was dismissed and Byron Leftwich takes over the position of Offensive Coordinator? Suspicion: Clearly more David Johnson in passing and significantly more outside-runs against susceptible Niners edges.

Tip: Cardinals vs. 49ers 23:20.

Great duel in L.A. The Packers should be able to contain the pass rush of the Rams at least a little bit, and then Aaron Rodgers against this Secondary is able to Big Plays. But at least as exciting: can the Packers stop the Rams-Offense with their complex, aggressive defense? Recently Green Bay regularly had (too) big problems on this side of the ball, you can’t afford such difficulties against the rams. Also in the pass rush, against one of the top lines in the NFL, Green Bay must come more from.

Tip: Rams vs. Packers 35:31.

The rematch of last season’s craziest playoff game promises to be drama this time as well: Saints-Defense has been improved recently, but should still have few answers to Diggs and Thielen. At the same time, the Saints’ pass rush could play a decisive role, with New Orleans having been strong early in the game against the Ravens and Minnesota’s line still being one of the worst. That leaves one question: Do the Vikings have answers to the current best QB/RB/WR trio of the NFL? And an important side question: how much does Xavier Rhodes have to deal with the ankle injury suffered in the Jets game?

Tip: Vikings vs. Saints 23:27.

Not exactly the most tempting primetime matchup this season. The Bills – again with Derek Anderson – simply don’t have a functional NFL opener, if LeSean McCoy fails due to his head injury, things get even worse. The best approach for Buffalo offensive, however, remains one way or another the Run Game. The Patriots on the other hand are finding their rhythm more and more offensively; even if the Bills-Defense has a better day than against the Colts on Sunday – and that’s to be expected – that’s not enough.

Tip: Bills vs. Patriots 10:30.