Trav’s 2023 Week 8 NFL Predictions

Week 7 is in the books and we had another crazy weekend of football. My record was a disappointing 3-5 and my overall mark dipped to 42-26. The winning percentage took a nice hit as it dropped from 65% to 61.8%. Jacksonville defeating New Orleans last Thursday was my first loss. In a key NFC South matchup, the Falcons edged the Bucs and that was my second defeat. One of the biggest shockers of the weekend happened in Baltimore. The Ravens blew out the Detroit Lions 38-6 and that was the third loss. Pittsburgh put together enough offense to beat the Rams on the road 24-17. The final loss came on Monday Night Football, and this was a shocker to everyone. The Minnesota Vikings beat San Francisco after they forced Brock Purdy into 2 INTs. With the trade deadline looming, what teams will be making moves?

Speaking of moves, the Philadelphia Eagles have already made one by acquiring Kevin Byard from the Tennessee Titans. The Eagles secondary have been depleted and they added Byard who will help a lot. Speaking of the Eagles, they had an impressive second half on their way to defeating the Dolphins. In a shootout, the Cleveland Browns beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-38. Deshaun Watson went out early in the game and P.J. Walker relieved him and led the Browns to their 4^th victory. Buffalo went to Gillette Stadium and fell to the Patriots in an upset. Kansas City continued their winning ways by defeating the Chargers for their 6^th consecutive win. This week I’ll be selecting another 8 games with hopes of having a better week. Let’s go ahead and get things started.

We kick things off with the Thursday night game as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Buffalo to face the Bills. The Bucs are coming off a heartbreaking loss at home to the division foe Atlanta Falcons. The Bucs have lost three of their last four games after starting the season 2-0. Tampa is struggling to run the ball as they rank in the bottom for in the league. The defense continues to be one of the better ones in the league. Buffalo is coming off a tough loss against the Patriots. They have dropped two of their last three games. Buffalo needs a win seeing they’re one of the Super Bowl favorites in the AFC. Will Josh Allen and the Bills rebound against this tough Bucs defense? I’m picking the Bills to win convincingly on Thursday Night. Buffalo Win 31-17

The Los Angeles Rams will make the trip to Dallas to face the Cowboys. The Rams are coming off a tough home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the start of a road trip for Los Angeles where they play three of their next four games away. How will this Los Angeles offensive line hold up against the Cowboys front four? Can the Rams defensive front pressure Dak Prescott to force turnovers? With Dallas, they are coming off their bye week after defeating the Chargers on the road. Dallas brings in a top-5 offense and defense and should be energized after their bye. On the flip side, the Dallas offensive line will have to contain Aaron Donald. Despite having one of the best scoring offenses in the league, the passing game is still struggling. Either way, I’m picking the Cowboys to win this game. Dallas Win 30-20

We have a battle between two of the better teams in the AFC. The Jacksonville Jaguars will head to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. Jacksonville is starting to hit their stride after starting the season 1-2. The Jaguars are riding a 4-game winning streak. They have scored at least 23 points in those games and they’re averaging 29 points during that stretch. Travis Etienne has been remarkable over the last month. Will the Jaguars make it five in a row? Pittsburgh has one of the worse offenses in the league. Despite their offensive woes, they came into this game 4-2. They rank in the bottom five in rushing and lower fourth in passing, but the defense has been elite. The offense will need to score to keep up with the Jaguars in this one and I don’t see it happening. Jacksonville Win 24-20

We have a battle between NFC East foes in this one. The Philadelphia Eagles will head to Washington to meet the Commanders. The first game they played came down to the wire as the Eagles won in OT 34-31. After suffering their first loss, the Eagles looked impressive in their victory over Miami. Philadelphia has a banged up secondary, so they traded for All-Pro safety Kevin Byard from Tennessee. Can the Eagles contain the Commanders offense in this one? The Commanders have dropped four of five after starting the season 2-0. The frustration is growing as the defense is in the bottom four in scoring. Washington pushed the Eagles to the limit in their first encounter. This will go differently, and the Eagles should win in a more convincing fashion. Philadelphia Win 35-20

We have another great matchup in Week 8. The Cleveland Browns will make the trip to the Pacific Northwest to face the Seattle Seahawks. The big concern for the Browns is the health of Deshaun Watson. The team has won the last two games without him, but they are much better with him. Watson has the shoulder issue, but he was put in concussion protocol early in the last game. Will he be available for this game? Seattle enters this game just a half game behind the Niners in the AFC West. They should’ve beaten the Bengals a couple weeks ago, but they are looking great this season. They were without D.K. Metcalf in the last game, but they will need him for this one. This should be a tough one, but I’m going with the Seahawks. Seattle Win 27-23

We have a battle between two of the better teams in their respected conferences. The Cincinnati Bengals will head out west to San Francisco to meet the 49ers. The Bengals are coming off their much-needed bye week. Joe Burrow could use that time to devote to his calf injury. Cincinnati is finally hitting their stride after winning their last two games. Before that, Cincinnati was 1-3 and with a lot of questions about this season. San Francisco was heralded as the best team in the league about three weeks ago. They are now riding a 2-game losing streak after their Monday Night defeat to Minnesota. Deebo Samuel is expected to miss at least another week and the defense isn’t as dominant. This one is tough to pick, but I’m going with the Niners to win. San Francisco Win 28-24

We have the Sunday Night game as the Chicago Bears travel out west to Los Angeles to face the Chargers. Justin Fields will miss another game as he’s dealing with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. Tyson Bagent will be getting his second consecutive start for the Bears. In their win over the Raiders, Bagent looked comfortable and far from a rookie. This will be a much different environment being it’s on the road and on a Sunday Night Primetime game. The Chargers need a win as they enter this game with a 2-4 record. Justin Herbert is still dealing with a broken finger on his nonthrowing hand. The defense is giving up almost 26 points per game. This could be the game they get back on track. The Chargers defense will pressure the rookie and they should win. Los Angeles Win 34-23

We have the Monday Night game as the Las Vegas Raiders will head to Detroit to face the Lions. The Raiders are coming off an embarrassing loss on the road to Chicago. The loss to the Bears was bad seeing the Raiders defense was carved up by an undrafted rookie QB. Despite their 3-4 record, the Raiders are in second place in the AFC West. Davante Adams will need to be a focal point of the offense if they have a chance to win this game. Detroit is coming off an embarrassing loss on the road to the Baltimore Ravens. This was an unexpected blowout loss seeing the Lions are one of the better teams in the league. Having a Monday Night game in Detroit will be huge for the city and team. I’m expecting them to turn that loss around and win on Monday. Detroit Win 38-17

There we are my predictions for the 2023 Week 8 NFL season. What games intrigue you the most for the 2023 Week 8 NFL weekend? What do you think about my picks? Check out my top 5 teams in both conferences below. Leave some feedback below about anything NFL related or my 2023 Week 8 NFL predictions.