The SB Nation NFL panel is back with another round of picks for Week 8. A few crucial divisional games are on the docket as the season approaches the midway point.
Thursday Night Football features an AFC East clash between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. The Dolphins have been playing much better football under interim coach Dan Campbell, but our experts favor the Patriots to stay undefeated, with only PFT Commenter picking the Dolphins. (And it turned out to be a big, big Patriots win).
The NFL heads back to London for another low-impact game between two disappointing teams, with the 1-6 Detroit Lions facing the 2-5 Kansas City Chiefs. The Lions shook up the coaching staff during the week, firing offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and two offensive line coaches. The most interesting part of this game is that Detroit's new OC is named Jim Bob Cooter. Kansas City is the slight favorite on the panel.
The biggest game of the 1 p.m. slate takes place at Heinz Field when the 4-3 Pittsburgh Steelers host the 6-0 Cincinnati Bengals. Pittsburgh has somehow survived without Ben Roethlisberger, going 2-2 in his absence and staying alive in the playoff race. Roethlisberger is tentatively expected back this week, but his status remains uncertain. Hence, there's no consensus on who will win, with an even 4-4 split on the board.
The Dallas Cowboys switched to Matt Cassel as their starting quarterback, but they lost their fourth straight game and are fading in the NFC East. Things won't get any easier when the Seattle Seahawks come to AT&T Stadium. Seattle is coming off a convincing win over the lowly San Francisco 49ers and looks to get its season back on track after a 2-4 start. Not surprisingly, the Seahawks are the heavy favorite, with only David Fucillo (a 49ers fan, we should add) picking Dallas.
Sunday Night Football is a clash of titans between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers. This promises to be a classic battle between a high-flying offense and hard-nosed defense, although there's a stronger consensus than you'd expect. Most of the experts expect Denver to pick up its first loss here, with a 6-2 advantage to the Packers.
Here are your weekly picks. Note that these are straight-up, not against the spread:
| Week 8 | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark |
| MIA vs NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | MIA | NE |
| DET vs KC | DET | DET | KC | KC | KC | KC | DET | KC |
| TB vs ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL | ATL |
| ARZ vs CLE | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ | ARZ |
| SF vs STL | STL | STL | STL | SF | STL | STL | STL | STL |
| NYG vs NO | NYG | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
| MIN vs CHI | CHI | MIN | MIN | MIN | MIN | MIN | CHI | CHI |
| SD vs BAL | BAL | BAL | SD | BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL | BAL |
| CIN vs PIT | PIT | CIN | CIN | PIT | PIT | CIN | CIN | PIT |
| TEN vs HOU | TEN | TEN | HOU | HOU | HOU | HOU | TEN | HOU |
| NYJ vs OAK | NYJ | NYJ | NYJ | OAK | NYJ | NYJ | OAK | NYJ |
| SEA vs DAL | SEA | SEA | SEA | DAL | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA |
| GB vs DEN | GB | DEN | GB | GB | GB | GB | GB | DEN |
| IND vs CAR | CAR | CAR | IND | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR | CAR |
Records to date
| Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark | |
| Last week | 9-5 | 7-7 | 8-6 | 10-4 | 10-4 | 9-5 | 11-3 | 11-3 |
| To date | 62-43 | 67-38 | 58-47 | 67-38 | 68-37 | 62-43 | 61-44 | 65-40 |
Our panel consists of: David Fucillo, SB Nation's fantasy guru; Danny Kelly, SB Nation NFL contributor; PFT Commenter, SB Nation's hot takes expert; Joel Thorman, SB Nation NFL blogs manager; Matt Ufford, editorial producer; Ryan Van Bibber, SB Nation's NFL editor; and Stephen White, retired NFL defensive end and SB Nation NFL contributor.
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SB Nation presents: Any NFC East team can win the division. Here's how.