NFL Best Bets Week 8

Sportsbooks took a beating in Week 7, as NFL bettors had by far their best week of the 2025 season. The Los Angeles Rams easily cruised to a 35-7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the London game, and the six favorites that kicked off at 1 p.m. ET also won and covered the number by the NFL betting odds. Denver and Green Bay rallied to win to keep moneyline parlays and teasers alive, and both home teams easily won and covered on Monday Night Football. Will the bad luck for the sportsbooks continue in Week 8?

Los Angeles Chargers -3 vs. Minnesota Vikings

Although the Los Angeles Chargers still don’t have much of a home field advantage in SoFi Stadium, they are a much better team than the Minnesota Vikings. The Chargers have been moved to the backburner of contenders after losing three of their last four games, and they lost their two previous home games by double digits. However, they haven’t had their starting tackles for most of that stretch, after veteran Trey Pipkins III was injured in the loss to Washington in Week 5 and Joe Alt (the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft) was hurt in the loss to the New York Giants in Week 4.

Those injuries have forced the Chargers into starting Bobby Hart for the last two weeks. Hart is not a serviceable replacement at either tackle position, and he started just one game since the conclusion of the 2020 season before being forced into action. Even though Hart didn’t have an awful PFF grade following last week’s loss to Indianapolis, his presence affects what the offense can do without Pipkins or Alt. Fortunately for the Chargers, both Pipkins and Alt are listed as questionable for Thursday Night Football, so the hope is that one of the regular tackles can suit up.

The Chargers’ defense should be much better against Carson Wentz after some shaky performances the last few weeks. Wentz’s limitations are well-known, and he is not as likely to punish the Chargers’ linebackers for their coverage failures. Wentz ranks 26th in the NFL in QBR, and he is currently dealing with a shoulder injury. Additionally, the former Philadelphia Eagles’ signal caller has been sacked multiple times in each of his four starts this season, so the Chargers should be able to create some havoc plays.

Philadelphia Eagles -7 vs. New York Giants

The Philadelphia Eagles had their worst performance of the season against the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football just two weeks ago. The Giants dominated the Eagles on short rest, as rookie running back Cam Skattebo ran for three touchdowns in the 34-17 loss. Now, these NFC East rivals will meet just 17 days later in the City of Brotherly Love.

Jalen Hurts quieted a lot of critics following his performance against the Minnesota Vikings last week. Hurts threw for a season-high 326 yards and three touchdowns to finish with a perfect passer rating. It was his first 300-yard passing game since Week 3 of last season, and he did it without being a running threat. Hurts finished with negative rushing yards for the first time since his rookie season back in 2020, and his longest run on the day was for just one yard.

Conversely, the New York Giants are reeling after falling to 2-5 in an utterly soul crushing way. The Giants looked set to pull off a major upset against the Denver Broncos in the MIle High City but allowed the Broncos to score 33 points in the fourth quarter to escape with a 33-32 victory after a last-second field goal attempt. Kicker Jude McAtamney was a convenient scapegoat after missing two extra points in the loss, and he was subsequently waived, so it looks like veteran Graham Gano will return from injured reserve.

The Giants are 0-4 on the road so far this season, and all three of their previous losses came by double digits prior to last week. They are pretty banged up on defense with four of the eight linebackers in their two-deep listed as questionable along with two of their starting defensive backs. Philadelphia certainly has some revenge on its mind after its poor performance in the Big Apple earlier this month, so the Eagles should romp by double digits in the rematch.

New Orleans Saints +4.5 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This is a tricky spot for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers are coming off their worst offensive performance of the season in a 24-9 loss against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. They are looking ahead to the bye week in order to get healthy, but they suffered a big blow after it was reported that future Hall of Fame receiver Mike Evans broke his collarbone in the defeat. 

Evans is the heart and soul of this team, and it won’t be easy to replace the 12-year veteran considering the Bucs’ injury woes at receiver. Jalen McMillan is on injured reserve, Chris Godwin Jr. has only played in two games this season since suffering a broken fibula and a broken ankle in Week 7 last season, and standout rookie Emeka Egbuka is dealing with a strained hamstring that he has not been able to adequately rest.

New Orleans is 1-6 and looks like one of the worst teams in the NFL. However, the Saints have improved over the last three weeks, leading to a win over the New York Giants, and respectable losses against the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears.

Turnovers killed the Saints last week in their loss to the Bears. Spencer Rattler threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, and those mistakes led to 10 points for Chicago in the first 20 minutes. However, the New Orleans’ defense put together a solid performance for the third straight week, allowing just 166 yards on 39 plays in the first half before wearing down a bit in the second half.

As long as Rattler doesn’t turn the ball over, the Saints can hang around and keep this a close, low-scoring game thanks to an underrated defense. All three of New Orleans’ home losses have been by a single score, so this is a game that bettors should consider teasing too.