There were some crazy games on Sunday, but not much chaos in terms of upsets.
Favorites did well. From the early London game through the end of the games in the 1 p.m. window, favorites went 7-0 against the spread. Underdogs then rallied to cover all four games in the late afternoon window, but only the Colts and Cowboys won straight up and they were both less than a field goal underdog. Favorites won and covered in all three Sunday night and Monday night games. Basically, if you somehow stayed alive in your survival pool until Week 7 and didn't take the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, you should have made it for another week.
Here are the five betting storylines for Week 8 of the NFL season, with odds from BetMGM:
Chiefs moving up
The Chiefs are 4-3. You won't find many teams who are barely over at this point in the season as high as the Chiefs in futures odds.
After a 31-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Chiefs are the Super Bowl favorites at +500. The Chiefs were behind the Bills last week but after Sunday they leaped over Buffalo, who lost two straight games before its Week 7 bye. The Chiefs are obviously the favorite to win the AFC, at +240. The Chiefs are -130 to win the AFC West even though they don't even lead the division. They're -130 to win the division and the 5-2 Broncos are +200. Patrick Mahomes is a significant favorite to win MVP at +150. Josh Allen is second at +400.
Here's the funny part. The Chiefs are now viewed, in the betting market and elsewhere, as the No. 1 team in the NFL and technically, if the season ended today they wouldn't be in the playoffs. Due to tiebreakers in the wild-card race, they would be the No. 8 seed. There's a lot of season to go, and the Chiefs are ascending. They're 10-point favorites over an injured Washington Commanders team in Week 8.
A wild Broncos win
Anyone who had the New York Giants on the moneyline for Sunday couldn't believe what they saw in the fourth quarter.
The Broncos trailed 19-0 to start the fourth quarter, and with six minutes left they were down 26-8. They also took a 32-30 lead with 37 seconds left. And somehow lost.
The Broncos' live moneyline odds grew to 30-to-1 at some books. They scored 33 points in the fourth quarter to take the win, one of the craziest in NFL history. How will the Giants react to a loss like that? They are 7-point underdogs at the Eagles, a team they just beat two weeks ago. The Giants are playing well. They've covered in three of four games since Jaxson Dart took over as their starting quarterback. But there's some hangover potential after a loss like that.
Broncos favored over Cowboys
The other side of the Giants-Broncos craziness is that the Broncos could use it as some positive momentum, especially for an offense that has struggled often this season. Of course, Denver used a lot of energy to come back and beat the Giants, right after playing in London, and that's a factor too.
The Broncos face a Dallas Cowboys team that is coming off a nice win against the Commanders and getting some (probably premature) buzz as a potential playoff team. The Cowboys' offense is great, but it goes against a very good Broncos defense this week. Denver's offense has been mostly bad but could get right against a terrible Cowboys defense. It's an interesting matchup, and the line to start the week is Denver -3.
An unusual line for Week 8
This won't happen often: A 1-5 team is favored by almost a touchdown this week over a 4-2 team that has won four in a row. Usually there's an injury involved from the 4-2 team in a scenario like that. In this case, it's someone coming back from injury for the 1-5 team.
Lamar Jackson should return for the Baltimore Ravens this week, and he could get some of his injured teammates back too. The Ravens, at 1-5, are 6.5-point favorites over the Chicago Bears. The Ravens are still respected in the betting market. They're still fifth in the odds to win the AFC. And oddsmakers are anticipating that their hot streak starts Sunday.
Can Steelers hang on?
The Steelers had a shot to take a four-game lead in the AFC North last week. Instead, they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals as a favorite and now they're barely favored to win the division over a Ravens team that is four games under .500.
The Ravens are favored by more than a touchdown in Week 8. Meanwhile, the Steelers are 3-point underdogs at home against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, in Aaron Rodgers' first game against the team he won four MVPs with. If the favorites win in both of those games, the Ravens will be just two games behind. That's a big reason they're +135 to win the AFC North, not far behind Pittsburgh at +125. That Steelers lead seems very tenuous.
