NFL Week 8 Best Bets: Top Picks for Sunday's Games

We're approaching the midway point of the 2026 NFL season as Week 8 gets rolling. Thursday Night Football saw the Packers edge the Panthers, and we now turn our attention to a huge slate of great matchups, including Ravens vs Bills, Chiefs vs Broncos and Bears vs Seahawks.

We've had four of our top NFL handicappers lock in their NFL best bets for what should be another crazy Sunday of NFL action. Let's break down our top predictions, while you can find out our expert NFL picks for every game this week and throughout the entire season.

NFL Week 8 Best Bet: Tennessee Titans vs Cincinnati Bengals Under 46.5 (-105)

Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.

The Titans head into Cincinnati hoping to keep pace with a Bengals offense that averages 27.2 points per game. More realistically, Tennessee may find itself closer to the 20.3 points that Cincinnati's defense allows on average. The Bengals will be looking to outperform Tennessee's defensive averages as well, but if the Titans stay true to form, Cincinnati could find itself working hard to reach the upper-20s. Tennessee's low-scoring offense, combined with a defense that has held every opponent between 20 and 27 points aside from the Giants, who managed just 12, are two major factors pointing toward a lower-scoring game and a total that stays Under.

The Titans sit at 1-6 and are far from a high-scoring team, while Cincinnati's defense isn't known for giving up many points. Tennessee's defense, however, has quietly been one of the more consistent units in keeping opponents in check. Through seven games, not a single opponent has scored more than 27 points against the Titans. In fact, six of those seven opponents finished between 20 and 27 points, with the lone outlier being the Giants, who managed just 12. That said, if there's a team capable of breaking that trend, it's Cincinnati. Joe Burrow and company can stretch the field as well as anyone, and their deep receiving corps is a threat to score from anywhere on the field. The problem for the Bengals is that Tennessee specializes in limiting explosive passing plays and defends the deep ball better than the league average, a matchup that could make sustaining long scoring drives more difficult than usual.

I see Tennessee putting up somewhere in the 16-19 point range, while Cincinnati gets held near the Titans' season-high allowed of 27 points, a number I believe they're likely to finish around. At first glance, 47 points doesn't seem especially high when you consider names like Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, and Ja'Marr Chase lining up on the same offense. However, Tennessee is likely to contribute only 14-18 points of its own, and if the Bengals are held slightly below expectations, the path to an Under becomes much clearer. It may be close, with the final total landing somewhere in the 44-47 point range, but I don't believe it will be enough to push this game Over 47. As a result, I believe we do exactly what we're looking to do here and cash the Under.

Pick and analysis from expert handicapper Aaron Taylor.

As well as our Titans vs Bengals pick on the side, you can also get Aaron's prediction on the total

NFL Week 8 Best Bet: Jacksonville Jaguars -10 over Indianapolis Colts (-108)

Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook and BetMGM at time of publishing.

The Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars will meet in an AFC South showdown this weekend, with one team in a much more favorable situation than the other. The Jags might be fresh off two weeks in London and a loss, but they’re also off a bye, meaning they’ll be recharged ahead of a true home game against a divisional foe. The Colts aren’t as fortunate. They haven’t had a bye, and they’re on a grueling stretch of games. This will be their fourth game away from home in five weeks, which includes a trip to London – after which they did not have a bye. They won’t have a week off until Week 11. 

To make matters worse, it seems that everyone on the Colts’ roster is on the trade block. They just traded one of the best offensive linemen in the league, G Quenton Nelson, to Seattle, which could be just the tip of the iceberg with a rebuild seemingly on the horizon. The loss of Nelson cannot be overstated, as it will give the NFL leader in turnover-worthy plays, QB Daniel Jones, even less time to process the field, while it will eliminate some of RB Jonathan Taylor’s running lanes. It’s already a bad enough matchup for Taylor and the Colts rushing offense; not having Nelson makes it even worse. For reference, the Jags lead the league in EPA per rush and rush success rate allowed per SumerSports.

On the other side of the ball, the Colts are pretty banged up in the secondary. Sauce Gardner was limited in practice on Wednesday, so it seems he will return, but how effective will he be? Fellow defensive back Justin Walley is questionable, and one of the depth pieces in Cam Taylor-Britt is on the IR, joining another corner in Cameron Mitchel and edge rusher Arden Key. I can’t imagine this is going to help a defense that is already outside the top 20 in scoring, EPA per play and success rate allowed. 

The Jags have absolutely owned the Colts since the pandemic. In fact, Jacksonville is 7-3 SU and 8-2 ATS against Indianapolis over their last 10 meetings. Given the situational advantages for the Jags, I don’t see that run ending this weekend. Obviously, this line is way over-inflated, but I’d argue it’s for good reason. Listen to this run of games: home loss to Baltimore, road loss at Kansas City in overtime, home win over Houston by two points, win over a third-string quarterback in London, immediately travel to Pittsburgh to play Steelers in a loss, blow a lead to previously winless Titans at home, and finally, a road loss last week at Minnesota in which the Colts were held to just 10 points and 218 yards. It could only be the Jags for me here.

Pick and analysis from expert handicapper Sam Avellone.

Don't forget to check out our Colts vs Jaguars prediction on the over/under too

NFL Week 8 Best Bet: Cleveland Browns +3.5 over Pittsburgh Steelers (-110)

Odds generally available at time of publishing.

Pittsburgh has won three straight since Cleveland edged it 27-24 on October 1, and the Steelers come home tied with the Browns at 5-2 atop the AFC North. Their latest win was a 16-10 slugfest against New Orleans at Stade de France, where Jaylen Warren carried 18 times for 101 yards and Aaron Rodgers moved past Peyton Manning for third on the all-time list with his 540th career touchdown pass. Cleveland, meanwhile, keeps living on the edge. Deshaun Watson threw for 308 yards in Nashville and ran in the go-ahead score with 4:34 left, and after the Titans tied it, Andre Szmyt won it with a 32-yarder on the final play. That makes five Browns wins this season, none by more than four points.

I'm taking the hook. This spread opened at Pittsburgh -4.5 at some books and has come down to -3.5, which keeps Cleveland on the right side of a field goal. The Browns' defense gives them a path to cover, ranking sixth in the league with 20 sacks. It sacked Rodgers five times and hit him 10 times in the first meeting, and Denzel Ward and Grant Delpit both picked him off. Pittsburgh's secondary is also banged up, as CBs Jalen Ramsey (wrist), Brandin Echols (hamstring) and Doneiko Slaughter (hamstring) all sat out Wednesday's practice. That could open things up for rookie WR KC Concepcion, who had eight catches for 129 yards against the Titans, and TE Harold Fannin Jr., who added six for 91 and set up the winning kick with a 36-yard catch-and-run.

There are reasons for caution. Cleveland is -13 in point differential despite its record, and the offense ranks 28th at 19.0 points per game and 30th on third down. The Browns' blocking is also in question, with RT Tytus Howard (concussion) and C Elgton Jenkins (knee) missing Wednesday's practice, while DE Jared Verse (knee), the centerpiece of the Myles Garrett trade, also sat out. In a game with a total below 40 between two defenses ranked in the top 10 in sacks, a field goal is the most likely margin. I'll take the extra half point with Cleveland.

Pick and analysis from expert handicapper Luke Lindholm.

Get more expert analysis in our Browns vs Steelers predictions

NFL Week 8 Best Bet: Philadelphia Eagles vs Washington Commanders Over 40.5 (-105)

Odds available at BetMGM and Fanatics Sportsbook at time of publishing.

The total is understandably low because it features the Philadelphia Eagles. That being said, the Commanders haven’t exactly thrived on offense, either. Although their rushing attack is surprisingly productive (4.6 yards per carry, 10th), another injury to Jayden Daniels created a carousel of starting quarterbacks since Week 2. In turn that’s created blatant inconsistency, interrupting the chemistry of their passing attack. Through six weeks the Commanders own a subpar 6.4 yards per pass (24th).

The good news is that Jayden Daniels has played well since he returned, giant arm-cast or not. The former LSU star is responsible for 612 yards and four touchdowns in two games back. On Sunday night he’ll battle a Philly defense that’s the worst in the NFL at getting to the QB (only on 3.17% of drop-backs), a startling and precipitous drop from their Super Bowl form a few years ago when they led the league. The Eagles’ run defense has been suspect, too, often combating an enemy that can control the clock with a lead. The Eagles allow 131.4 rushing yards per game (27th). 

The Eagles’ star running back Saquon Barkley looked like he was in pain and multiple points on Monday Night Football, but early reports indicate that he won't miss any additional time. Eagles starting receivers, DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks, are also trending in the right direction before Sunday. Tanner McKee, although far from Jalen Hurts and certainly not worthy of being a weekly starter, at least looked better in Week 7, too.

The Eagles will likely need to surpass 17 points for this total to go over, which we project they will do. We also think Daniels has a chance to display his best game in two seasons in an absolutely perfect spot.

Pick and analysis from pro NFL bettor Chris Farley.

Get NFL stats, trends and more in our full Eagles vs Commanders predictions for Sunday Night Football, with our expert on a red-hot 8-2 run with their 5-star best bets!

NFL Week 8 Picks

Find out our expert NFL predictions for every Week 8 matchup below:

• Browns vs Steelers predictions
• Titans vs Bengals predictions
• Ravens vs Bills predictions
• Falcons vs Buccaneers predictions
• Colts vs Jaguars predictions
• Cardinals vs Cowboys predictions
• Raiders vs Jets predictions
• Vikings vs Lions predictions
• Chargers vs Rams predictions
• Chiefs vs Broncos predictions
• Patriots vs Dolphins predictions
• Eagles vs Commanders SNF predictions
• Bears vs Seahawks MNF predictions