Week 8 lands on Halloween, and the schedule has plenty of tricks, even without the Saints in the mix. New Orleans is on bye after last week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first-ever NFL game in Paris, France, a result that fit the season the Saints are having far too well. Their struggles have been the most unsettling part of the year so far, and now the franchise gets a chance to sort things out before things get even spookier.
The rest of the board is packed with tight calls, ugly matchups, and a few road teams that should be feeling good about themselves. After going 8-6 last week, the slate opens on Thursday night with Carolina heading to Green Bay, and the pick leans Panthers. The Panthers were “slaughtered by Tampa at home on Sunday,” but are expected to bounce back in primetime at Lambeau with a 23-20 win.
Sunday starts with Baltimore at Buffalo, a game that should have the Bills sweating. The Ravens are expected to make life miserable, but Buffalo is still projected to survive at home, 34-33.
Cincinnati then keeps rolling after a dominant win in Baltimore, with the Bengals beating Tennessee 40-20. Dallas, meanwhile, is tabbed for another swing in the wrong direction, as Arizona is picked to win its first game of the season outside of Los Angeles, 26-19.
Minnesota’s trip to Detroit comes with a bold call: the Vikings are forecast to stay unbeaten, and remain unbeaten in the NFC North too, with a 24-17 win. Jacksonville is also expected to handle business, taking advantage of Indianapolis’ slide in a 30-18 victory.
Later in the afternoon, Las Vegas is picked over the Jets in a matchup featuring former Saints assistant coaches Klint Kubiak and Aaron Glenn, with the Raiders seen as the team further along in its rebuild. Cleveland then gets the nod in Pittsburgh, where the Browns are expected to control the game from start to finish and punish the Steelers’ trouble running and stopping the run, winning 27-6.
Tampa Bay gets another close one in the books against Atlanta. Even with the Buccaneers sitting at 2-5, the read here is that they’re playing their best football of the season right now, and they edge the Falcons 26-25 at home. The Rams are also projected to take care of business, with the “Super” Rams finally winning back-to-back games by beating the winless Chargers 33-13.
Denver’s home date with Kansas City shapes up as one of the sharper picks on the slate. The Broncos are picked to avenge their Week 1 loss by shutting down the Chiefs’ rushing attack, using a plan similar to Seattle’s and winning 21-17. New England closes out the day with a comfortable road win over Miami, as the Patriots are forecast to follow the Dolphins’ first victory of the season with another familiar loss, 36-19.
Sunday Night Football brings a matchup nobody should feel great about: Philadelphia at Washington. The Eagles’ season is described as a frighteningly bad one, while the Commanders have been just as underwhelming, but the home team is still given the edge in a 23-21 finish.
The week’s headline game comes Monday in Seattle, where Chicago and the Seahawks meet in what’s labeled the Game of the Week. It’s set up as a slugfest between NFC contenders, and the Bears are picked to come out of it with a 21-20 road win.
In Other News...
Tyrann Mathieus Frustration Just Raised A Bigger Saints Roster Question
After the loss to Pittsburgh, the Saints found themselves dealing with more than just another frustrating result. Tyrann Mathieu made his irritation plain, pointing to the offensive lines inability to help in the run game and tying it to the bigger roster sacrifices he has made in recent seasons to give New Orleans more flexibility.
The running attack never got going, with the Saints finishing with just 18 rushing yards on 17 carries and the line creating no room before contact. For a team trying to make every roster decision count, that kind of production only sharpens the questions around how much support the offense can realistically expect up front. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Hit A Trade Deadline Crossroads With Bigger Stakes Than One Move
With the trade deadline approaching, the Saints find themselves in an awkward spot: close enough to a reset to consider selling, but still under pressure to show progress in a season that has not gone the way anyone in the building wanted. The roster has already been part of deadline chatter before, with previous moves involving Rashid Shaheed and Trevor Penning serving as reminders that New Orleans is willing to make decisions with both the present and the future in mind.
Now the focus shifts to whether the front office tries to create more flexibility by moving veteran pieces, even as the coaching staff and general manager Mickey Loomis are feeling the heat if the season does not stabilize. Davon Godchaux has emerged as the likeliest name to watch, with Justin Reid and Cesar Ruiz also mentioned as possible options, which tells you the Saints are not just deciding on one deal but on what kind of message they want to send about the rest of the year. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Bye Week Mock Draft Shows Where This Roster Needs Help
The bye week gave the Saints a chance to step back from the week-to-week grind and look at the bigger picture, and one of the cleaner ways to do that is through a mock draft simulator. Pro Football Focus used that exercise to map out some of the roster help New Orleans could be chasing next spring, with the focus squarely on how the current struggles have exposed several needs that still have to be addressed.
The exercise also brought a handful of prospects into the conversation, each with a different path to fitting what the Saints are trying to build. The evaluations were all based on scouting work rather than anything official from the team, but they did underline just how many spots remain in play as New Orleans heads into the next phase of roster building. [Read more 🡒]