Two Ugly NFL Sides to Back for Week 8

As we head towards the midpoint of the NFL season, there are now clear signs on who is good, who is mediocre and who is just flat out bad. There is no more guessing on the good and bad teams from week-to-week. 

This week’s schedule features several elite matchups – in particular during the early kickoff slate — that can have major divisional and conference implications. But who really wants to focus on those games? Not me. That’s why we are talking about two of the uglier games from this week’s slate: Raiders vs Jets and Falcons vs Buccaneers.

Raiders vs Jets:

Play: Jets -1.5

Who really wants to back the Jets after losing to the pitiful Miami Dolphins as favorites last week? It’s definitely not pretty. I’m not an Aaron Glenn guy. Who really is though? He makes questionable coaching decisions, his defense is not good and he just lost to the Dolphins. Glenn is not a good head coach.

But what’s also not pretty are the Las Vegas Raiders — who have lost four straight games and are heading to another bad season.

This is just a tough spot for the Raiders. They are coming off playing four straight tough games, having to travel across the country and have a struggling defense. Kirk Cousins is playing well considering all the factors, but his defense has allowed up at least 30 points in four straight games. 

While the Jets won’t blow you away offensively, Geno Smith has been efficient this season. He’s completing 70 percent of his passes, has 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions on the season. He has also been one of the better deep ball throwers. The Jets also have a plethora of weapons either in the run game — with Braelon Allen and Breece Hall, who might be returning this week — or in the passing game. The Raiders allowed 656 rushing yards in October. 

The Jets are not a great football team and have some defensive injuries that worry me. However, the Raiders simply can not stop a nose bleed right now. With how efficient Smith has been this season, the Jets can put up points against a leaky Raiders defense.

Falcons vs Buccaneers:

Play: Buccaneers -2.5 

Another game between two middling teams, but at least this one has massive divisional implications. Atlanta is 3-4 and Tampa is 2-5 so it doesn’t make sense that this game would matter much for the playoffs, but because both teams play in the NFC South, this game has a ton at stake for the divisional standings. 

Tampa Bay has won two of its last three games after a poor start and Baker Mayfield getting injured. With Mayfield returning last week, the Buccaneers demolished the Panthers 43-13 while Mayfield only threw for 64 passing yards. It did not matter how healthy he was because Tampa Bay’s run game gashed Carolina and its defense locked up Bryce Young and the Panthers. 

Trusting Atlanta to win back-to-back weeks after a great victory over San Francisco last week is asking for trouble. Part of that victory a week ago had to do with it being a bad situational spot for the 49ers and how many injuries they had on the offensive side of the ball. Credit to the Falcons for taking advantage of that.

The Buccaneers are finally starting to get healthy, especially at quarterback, and have an elite defense to really slow down Michael Penix and Bijan Robinson. Tampa Bay is third in the league in total defense and second in rushing defense, which will be key against Robinson. Atlanta, on the other hand, has a significantly weaker defense, especially against the pass, and faces injury questions in the secondary. 

As Mayfield continues to get healthy, the Buccaneers will continue to lean on the run game but there should be opportunities available for some explosive plays later in the game. It’s just hard to trust Penix against an elite defense on the road when we have already seen him struggle against pressure this season. Tampa Bay is the side this week.