Week 8 starts with a pivotal Thursday night matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Chargers with both teams looking to bounce back after touch conference losses in week 7. Still no JJ McCarthy for Minny, but Mr. 420 aka Justin Herbert (he threw for 420 yards last week) will be taking on Carson Wentz.

With Jayden Daniels ruled out this week, the Chiefs-Commanders game has become much less interesting on Monday night. However, the biggest game of the entire weekend is on Sunday night when Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers host Rodgers’ former team, the Green Bay Packers. Two teams looking to get their 5th win of the season and cement themselves as top tier contenders in their respective conferences. I’ll be tuning in with popcorn in hand.

Only one other game in week 8 features a team with more than 2 wins taking on a team with at least 4 wins, meaning there will surely be upsets. Any. Given. Sunday. The Carolina Panthers, who are 3-0 at home, host the Buffalo Bills in another battle of teams trying to get their 5th win. A win for Bryce Young and Carolina would mark their 4th in a row and put the Panthers in a position to contend for the NFC South.

The SuperContest Picks & Why:(49ers +1.5 at Texans)I’m a big fan of 49ers rookie Mykell Williams, my preseason pick for DROY, and he’s been pushed into more playing time with the injury to Nick Bosa. The Niners offense has looked good with Christian McCaffrey leading the way. The Texans have struggled against teams over .500, give me San Fran.

(Bears -6.5 at Ravens)Lamar Jackson might return this week, so that makes this difficult. But the Ravens defense is still among the worst in the league, and the Bears have some confidence heading into this matchup.

(Panthers +7 vs Bills)The Panthers are undefeated at home so far this year, and they host a Bills team that has struggled at times. Carolina currently boasts a top 10 defense by all measures. Despite Bryce Young‘s status in question, I think the Panthers can keep this game close against a team many predicted to get to the Super Bowl. (Buccaneers -4 at Saints)I think the Bucs bounce back after a letdown performance last week. Losing Mike Evans for the remainder of the regular season is a huge blow, but Emeka Egbuka and Baker Mayfield should do enough against the 1-6 Saints.

Two words:

. What can you say about this guy, man? Anyone writing him off doesn’t know anything about football. I think they smash their way back to their fourth consecutive Super Bowl. They may not lose 2 more games this season.

at Chargers

vs Jets

at Texans

at Ravens

vs Dolphins

vs Bills

at Eagles

vs Browns

at Saints

vs Titans

vs Packers

vs Commanders

I’ll use these blogs to keep track of my 2025 picks. If you’re using this for g*mbling advice, focus on the SuperContest 5. Best of luck to all those using these or fading me.

Disclaimer: I’m not the best pick-maker the word has ever seen, but I do have a winning record over the 2023 & 2024 seasons of 261-227-15. You can see where we are so far this season. The SuperContest games will have a *

I will not be picking any Broncos games this year as another FYI.