NN prediction contest Week 8: Can the 49ers finish the season sweep against the Rams?

Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers have dominated Sean McVay’s Rams in the regular season, but McVay has the lone postseason head-to-head win after last year’s NFC Championship game. With the Rams at 3-3 and the 49ers at 3-4, neither team is where they wanted to be at this point in the season. Can the Niners sweep the regular-season series for the fourth consecutive year?

Due to our sponsorship with Tallysight, we have to pick every game. But, as usual, we’ll narrow it down to six for you at the bottom. Odds for all the games are available on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Ravens over Bucs: Short week, roll with QB and coaching. Despite Baltimore’s flaws, I give them the edge over Tampa in those categories.

Jaguars over Broncos: This’ll be Nathaniel Hackett’s final game as Broncos head coach.

Eagles over Steelers: The Eagles will falter at some point, but I don’t think it’ll be the Steelers who take advantage.

Saints over Raiders: Two bad teams, so I’ll take the Saints home-field advantage at +100.

Jets over Patriots: This is a defense-first matchup without a good quarterback on either side. While Belichick is a legend, I’m rolling with Saleh.

Falcons over Panthers: The Panthers could beat the Falcons this week and make me rethink how I feel about them, but I view their win over Tampa as a fluke until they back it up.

Titans over Texans: I was planning to always pick the underdog in this division, but at -130, the Titans talent advantage is enough for me to make that pick against the Texans.

Seahawks over Giants: GENO!

Colts over Commanders: I’m not big on picking Sam Ehlinger, but we already did this with Taylor Heinicke.

Bengals over Browns: The Bengals are headed back in the right direction, and I don’t think the Browns will have the firepower to keep up offensively.

Bills over Packers: Seeing Aaron Rodgers at +300 or better odds are tempting, but he’s not the same caliber of player he was last year and the Bills are a juggernaut.

Cowboys over Bears: I loved what I saw from the Bears on Monday Night against New England, but on a short week, against a great defense, this is a tough task. Even with Dallas at -425, I’m rolling with the favorites.

Dolphins over Lions: The Lions offense has fallen off a cliff over the past two weeks, and that tends to happen with Jared Goff. I think they bounce back a bit this week back home against the Dolphins, but Miami still should win easily.

Cardinals over Vikings: The gap between these two teams on paper is smaller than their records suggest. With DeAndre Hopkins returning, I like the Cardinals chances of pulling the upset on the road, particularly at +155.

49ers over Rams: I don’t feel great about this pick, but the 49ers early-season struggles make them look like a talented mess. The Rams have been far more consistently mediocre. That could be a sign the Niners are being poorly coached, and things are going to go downhill from here, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt this week.

BYE: Chargers, Kansas City

Marc’s prediction record:
Week 1: 7-8-1
Week 2: 9-7
Week 3: 7-9
Week 4: 9-7
Week 5: 8-8
Week 6: 8-6
Week 7: 9-5
Overall: 57-50-1

Here are the six games for this week’s contest:

Broncos @ Jaguars, 6:30 AM Pacific (in London, England)

Raiders @ Saints, 10:00 AM Pacific

Patriots @ Jets, 10:00 AM Pacific

Titans @ Texas, 1:05 PM Pacific

49ers @ Rams, 1:25 PM Pacific

Giants @ Seahawks, 1:25 PM Pacific

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.