The Doc has killed it the last two weeks on his top three plays, going 6-0. You know what that means of course, it’s time to go 0-3 to balance things out (I’m joking. Partially).
There is something about this week that makes it tricky. Of the 13 games, 6 of them have lines greater than 8. That means there’s a lot of mismatches. It also makes it tough to pick because backdoor covers will likely be in full effect. We can’t tell you who will get backdoor covers, but we’ll make our picks based on the biggest mismatches.
Here are Doc Brown’s picks for week 8, along with some analysis below:
(ATS = Against the Spread, SU = Straight Up)
The Doc has liked New Orleans the entire season and has been going against the Rams most of the year, so this is the perfect storm. The Saints may have the best offense in football (including Green Bay), and the Rams have by far the worst offense. It’s even more pathetic with A.J. Feeley at quarterback. New Orleans is due for a let down, and the Rams can’t continue to be this bad, but the Saints should keep it rolling.
The Dolphins are another team that has been stinking up the joint all year. They’re more capable than Indy or St. Louis, but they’re one of those squads that finds ways to lose games. Matt Moore is not a trustworthy quarterback and he’ll have a difficult time against the Giants’ disruptive line. They’ll also be facing the best offensive they’ve seen in a month, and I think the Giants will find it easy to score.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned this year it’s that the Browns offense is bad. They’ve only scored more than 17 points once all year. They really struggled against decent defenses like Oakland and Seattle the last few weeks. San Francisco has one of the best defenses in the league, so this is a bad recipe for Cleveland. I think they struggle to crack 10 points. I’m not confident San Francisco scores more than 17 points against the Browns, but I don’t see Cleveland scoring more than 10. That’s what we’re banking on.
A few other words on the lines. Even with Santana Moss out and John Beck at quarterback, I like the Redskins getting six. The game is in Toronto, so the Bills don’t have the true homefield advantage they enjoy in Buffalo. I don’t think Buffalo is six points better than the Skins on a neutral field; Washington has a good defense.
Speaking honestly, Tim Tebow was a disaster most of the game last weekend in Miami. He’s going to have a rough time against Detroit’s defense. Tebowmania will come to a crashing halt Sunday against the speedy Lions line.
