NFL Week 8 picks, Vikings-Chargers preview and records that could fall

Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

We have Week 8 kicking off tonight in Los Angeles with the Chargers hosting Minnesota. Before this game starts, the Vikings might want to send a complaint to the NFL scheduling department for making them fly two time zones west on a short week. Although that might not sound like much, it’s the closest thing to a guaranteed loss that a team can be given on its schedule. 

Since the return of “Thursday Night Football” in 2006, there have been 21 instances of a Central/Eastern time zone team flying at least two time zones west for a Thursday game, and those teams have combined to go 4-17 straight up and 4-15-2 ATS. 

Will that trend hold up? In today’s newsletter, we’ll be making some picks for the game, plus we’ll be taking a look at five NFL records that could get broken before the end of the season. 

As always, here’s your reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. Let’s get to the rundown. 

1. Thursday night preview: Picks and best bets for Vikings at Chargers

For the fifth time this season, the Vikings will be turning their offense over to Carson Wentz, who will be Minnesota’s starting quarterback in Los Angeles. J.J. McCarthy practiced this week, but head coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t quite feel like he was ready to go. The upside for the Vikings is that Wentz is 7-0 all-time in Thursday games, which is the second-best record in NFL history, trailing only Josh Allen, who is 8-0 on Thursdays in his career. 

One potential problem for Wentz? Both of his starting tackles are questionable for this game (Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill). Not to be outdone, both of the Chargers’ starting tackles (Joe Alt and Trey Pipkins) are also questionable, so it could be a long night for both quarterbacks. 

Here’s one reason why each team should be feeling confident going into the game:

• Why the Vikings can win: The Vikings are 2-0 this year when they rush for at least 120 yards, so they’ll definitely want to get their rushing attack going tonight. The good news for the Vikings is that the Chargers have struggled to stop the run over the past few weeks. The Chargers have lost three of their past four, and in that span, they’ve given up an average of 145.3 yards per game on the ground. If the Vikings hit that number, there’s a good chance they’ll win. Vikings running back Aaron Jones (hamstring) is questionable, and if he can’t go, Jordan Mason will likely be the workhorse in the backfield for Minnesota. 
• Why the Chargers can win: The Chargers are 3-0 this year when Herbert has a passer rating of 100 or higher, which bodes well for Los Angeles, because the Vikings have given up an average passer rating of 101 to opposing quarterbacks this year. In Minnesota’s Week 7 loss to Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts had a perfect passer rating of 158.3. If the Chargers’ offensive line can give Justin Herbert time to throw, he should be able to pick apart the Vikings’ defense, but based on the health of the offensive line, that’s a big “if.”

You can get a full preview of the game from Jared Dubin.

If you’re thinking about betting on the game, here are a couple of props (odds via BetMGM):

• ONE RECEIVING PROP I LIKE: Keenan Allen over 4.5 receptions (-150): The Chargers have played seven games this year and Allen has gone over this total in six of them, including a Week 7 loss to the Colts where he caught a season-high 11 passes. Allen has been especially good at home: In his four games at SoFi, he’s averaged 7.5 receptions per game. 
• ONE KICKING PROP I LIKE: Will Reichard OVER 7.5 points (+100): This game is being played indoors, which I’m only pointing out because Reichard has been a scoring machine this year when playing indoors. Heading into Week 8, the Vikings have played three indoor games and Reichard has averaged 11.3 points in those games. The Chargers are also surrendering an average of 8.1 points per game to opposing kickers this year, which makes me feel pretty confident about this bet. 

If you’re wondering how my props are doing this year, I’m 17-15 (7-7 on kicker props and 10-8 on all other props). 

And now, it’s time for some picks. 

PICKS FOR ‘TNF’

Jared Dubin’s pick: Chargers 24-20 over Vikings
Pete Prisco’s pick: Chargers 28-23 over Vikings
Tyler Sullivan’s pick: Vikings 24-21 over Chargers
Jordan Dajani’s pick: Chargers 24-21 over Vikings
My pick: Chargers 31-24 over Vikings

We’ve got some more picks over on our CBSSports.com predictions page. 

2. NFL trade deadline is coming: Players who could benefit from a change of scenery

The NFL trade deadline is officially less than two weeks away. It’s coming on Nov. 4, and since it’s right around the corner, Cody Benjamin decided to make a list of nine players who would benefit from a change of scenery. These are players who could definitely get traded over the next 12 days. 

Let’s check out three names on his list along with their possible landing spots: 

Jets RB Breece Hall
Possible landing spots: Bengals, Chargers, Chiefs, Texans
Cody’s take: Whereas Alvin Kamara is older and committed to the organization that drafted him, Hall feels much likelier to be on the move as a one-time ascending talent on an expiring deal. And that’s good news for him, because the Jets’ offense has been an absolute slog for most of his New York tenure. Even a half-season of service elsewhere could help him rebuild his market for 2026.

Ravens TE Mark Andrews
Possible landing spots: Buccaneers, Commanders, Panthers, Rams
Cody’s take: Baltimore might prefer to retain every proven weapon in hopes of salvaging an injury-ravaged season, but Andrews is no longer the steady playmaker that he once was, and Isaiah Likely is already here as the future at tight end.

Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers
Possible landing spots: Falcons, 49ers, Panthers, Steelers
Cody’s take: If there’s one pass catcher set to change teams before the deadline, it’s probably Meyers, who sought a trade even before the Raiders sunk to 2-5 on the season. He may not be a massive needle mover as a possession receiver, but he still offers valuable depth and solid hands.

If you want to see Benjamin’s full list of players, we’ve got that here. 

We also took a look at what teams should be buyers and which teams should be sellers at the trade deadline, and you can check out our full story on that here. 

3. NFL Week 8 picks: Eagles get revenge on Giants

Welcome to the part of the newsletter where we hand out picks. Every week, Pete Prisco, Jordan Dajani, Tyler Sullivan and I make them give me their picks. Last week, Jordan and I put the other two to shame by going 13-2 (Prisco and Sullivan fell asleep at the wheel and went 10-5). 

Anyway, if you’re new here, here’s how things work: I’ll give you one Week 8 pick from each writer and then link you to the rest of their picks for the week. That way, if you like their pick, you can click over and check out all their Week 8 selections. If you hate it, you can ignore the rest and move on with your life.

• Pete Prisco — Eagles (-7) 30-17 over Giants. “The Giants upset the Eagles two weeks ago, but this will be a much tougher task. They are playing consecutive road games, which is tough. And they have the Eagles’ attention after the upset. Look for Philadelphia to continue to play well on offense like they did in beating the Vikings on Sunday as they get revenge for the last meeting. Eagles take it.” Prisco’s full Week 8 picks are here. 
• Tyler Sullivan — Falcons (-7) 30-20 over Dolphins. “The Dolphins are allowing the most rushing yards per game (159.3) in the NFL, and now have to face Bijan Robinson. It could be another eye-popping statistical day for the Falcons’ backfield en route to a win and cover.” Sullivan’s full Week 8 picks are here. 
• Jordan Dajani — 49ers (+1.5) 23-17 over Texans. “Did you watch that Texans’ loss to the Seahawks on Monday night? What a pathetic showing from that offense. Seattle kept giving Houston chances to come back and win the game, but C.J. Stroud just couldn’t do anything. DeMeco Ryans as a head coach and a former linebacker had to be pulling his non-existent hair out.” Dajani’s full slate of picks will be released Friday, but here’s an early preview of his predictions.
• John Breech — Steelers (+3) 27-24 over Packers. “When this game kicks off, it will have been 2,012 days since the Packers drafted Jordan Love and Rodgers has definitely spent every second of every one of those days plotting his revenge. There is no game Aaron Rodgers has ever wanted to win more than this one, so I’m going to say he wins it.” You can find the rest of my Week 8 picks here. 

For more Week 8 NFL picks, you can check out our CBSSports.com picks page. 

4. Five NFL records that could go down before the end of the season

With the NFL season headed into Week 8, that means we’re about halfway through the year, which makes right now a good time to check in and see if there are any big NFL records that could go down this year. Jeff Kerr found a few that could be in danger of being broken. 

Record: Most receiving yards in a season
Record-holder: Calvin Johnson with 1,964 in 2012
Possible record-breaker: Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Smith-Njigba is on a historic pace heading into Seattle’s bye week, as the Seahawks receiver leads the league with 819 receiving yards. … He’s on pace for 1,989 receiving yards, which would surpass Johnson’s mark by 25. Five 100-yard games and an average of 10 targets per game have certainly helped.

Record: Highest completion percentage in a season 
Record-holder: Drew Brees with 74.4% in 2018
Possible record-breakers: Drake Maye or Jared Goff. This one will be tough to break, but both Maye and Goff are within range. Maye leads the NFL in completion percentage (75.2%), the third-highest mark through seven games in league history. Goff is second in the league (74.9%). It’s still early in the season, and one bad game could drop either passer behind Brees’ mark, but both have gotten off to historically efficient starts.

Kerr took a look at a total of five records that could go down, and you can check out his full list here. 

5. Aaron Rodgers could become fifth QB in NFL history to beat all 32 teams

Aaron Rodgers claims he’s not out for revenge this week when the Steelers face the Packers, but he could make some NFL history. 

Over the course of his career, Rodgers has beaten 31 of the NFL’s 32 teams. There’s only one team left for Rodgers to take down and that’s the Packers. If Rodgers can lead the Steelers to a win over Green Bay, he’ll join Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre as the only quarterbacks in NFL history who have beaten all 32 teams. It’s among the most exclusive clubs that a quarterback can join, and Rodgers could have his membership by the end of the weekend. 

Rodgers is one of four active quarterbacks who has beaten 31 of the NFL’s 32 teams. Here’s a quick look at the other three: 

• Patrick Mahomes (hasn’t beaten the Chiefs). Mahomes won’t be able to join the club unless he leaves Kansas City. 
• Russell Wilson (hasn’t beaten the Seahawks). With Wilson getting benched in New York, it seems unlikely that he’ll ever take down the Seahawks unless he can find a starting job somewhere else next year. 
• Matthew Stafford (hasn’t beaten the Steelers). The Rams aren’t scheduled to face the Steelers this year, so the only way he’ll get to 32 this season is if the Rams face (and beat) Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.

As for Rodgers, he was asked about facing his former team in his weekly press conference.

“I don’t have any animosity toward the organization,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “Obviously, I wish that things had been better in our last year there, but I have a great relationship with a lot of people still in that organization, and this is not a revenge game for me. I’m just excited to see some of those guys and be on ‘Sunday Night Football.'” 

Rodgers can try to say it’s not a revenge game this week, but it’s definitely a revenge game. Rodgers also said Pittsburgh’s Week 1 game against the Jets wasn’t a revenge game, but then after Pittsburgh won, it was pretty clear that there was some revenge involved. I fully expect to see a similar reaction if the Steelers win on Sunday night. 

6. Extra points: Jayden Daniels out against Chiefs

It’s been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Jayden Daniels out for Week 8 showdown. The Commanders QB, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury, has been ruled out of Monday’s game against the Chiefs. Marcus Mariota will start in his place. This will mark the third time this season that Daniels has missed a game, and the Commanders have gone 1-1 without him this year. You can read more about his injury here. 
• Lamar Jackson returns to practice. After missing two games, Lamar Jackson has finally returned to practice, which is a good sign that he might be able to play this week against the Bears. Jackson has been out since injuring his hamstring in a Week 4 loss to the Chiefs. At 1-5, the Ravens have their work cut out for them if they want to get back in the playoff race, but with Jackson on the field, that will certainly be possible. We’ve got more details on his return here. 
• Pro Bowl Games will be part of Super Bowl week. The Pro Bowl is returning this year, and it will be held in the Bay Area. The Pro Bowl Games will be headlined by an AFC vs. NFC flag football game that will take place in San Francisco on Tuesday, Feb. 3, which is five days before the kickoff of Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. You can read more about the Pro Bowl here. 
• Pro Football Hall of Fame trims candidate list down to 52. The Hall of Fame’s initial nominee list of 128 players has been trimmed down to 52. Eli Manning and Drew Brees are some of the big names who could be inducted. The list will be cut down to just 25 semifinalists in five weeks. There are four players who will automatically advance to the final 15 after being named finalists last year and those four are: Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri. You can check out the full list here.