Jaguars vs. Seahawks Week 8 Picks: Upset Brewing

Jacksonville is a dangerous 3.5-point underdog in Seattle on Sunday. Find out why we're backing the road team in our Jaguars and Seahawks picks for Week 8.

The Seattle Seahawks are in trouble. Three straight losses and an injury to Russell Wilson have brought their record down from 2-2 to 2-5, which is the worst in the NFC West. The mountain is going to be a tall one to climb and falling to Jameis Winston and the Saints, who scored 13 points on Monday night, seems to paint a picture of where things are at the moment.

The only thing lower than that may be losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are 1-5 straight up with only a last-second win over the Dolphins in London to their name. That was the last time we saw them, so technically Urban Meyer and Jacksonville could build a winning streak with a win over Seattle. The offense has certainly picked up enough over the last few games, where Jacksonville (a 3.5-point underdog this Sunday) has averaged a respectable 20 or so points per game.

Here are my picks and predictions for the NFL Week 8 matchup between the Jaguars and Seahawks (odds via DraftKings; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Jaguars at Seahawks Week 8 Game Info

Date/Time: Sunday, October 31, 4:05 p.m. ETTV: CBSLocation: Lumen Field, Seattle, WAWeather: 56 degrees, sunny

Jaguars vs. Seahawks Odds

This spread opened up at Seattle -3.5, and despite the fact that the SBR consensus shows 62 percent of the wagers coming in on Jacksonville, this line has remained frozen at 3.5.

There has been a similarly-slanted number of wagers coming in on the Over, which has pushed the total from an opening of 44 to 44.5 points.

Jaguars vs. Seahawks Picks

Jacksonville +3.5 (-110) (?????)Over 44.5 (-110) (???)

SEE ALSO: Rams vs. Texans Week 8 Picks

Jaguars vs. Seahawks Predictions

Jaguars +3.5 (-110)

Call me crazy, but I see the Jaguars winning this thing outright. Since Geno Smith has taken over, the Seahawks have averaged just 15.6 points each week, throwing for 169 yards and a touchdown per game. That makes it tough to exploit this Jaguars’ secondary, which has allowed the second-most yards per contest on average.

Instead, the Seahawks will likely try to run (as they historically have), which should find them no joy. Jacksonville has allowed just 3.8 yards per carry this year, and it’s a big reason why the team has been run on the fourth-least amount in football.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, are beginning to find it offensively. They love to throw — ranking 12th in Pass Play percentage — and Trevor Lawrence is beginning to heat up with back-to-back games of at least 270 yards. Jacksonville is looking imposing on the offensive end, and the Seahawks possess one of the worst secondaries in all of football, ranking 25th in DVOA against the pass. They also love to blitz, which should give Lawrence the chance to get outside the pocket and use his speed. We're backing the Lawrence-led Jags as short road dogs in our Jaguars and Seahawks picks for Week 8.

Over 44.5 (-110)

I think the Jaguars could straight-up explode offensively here against one of the league’s worst defenses, considering it seems they’ve been on the brink of a breakthrough for quite some time now. Lawrence is on fire, so why would you think otherwise?

As bad as Smith has been, though, this Jaguars defense has been just as bad in the secondary.

Seattle could easily find 17-20 points, which I believe would be enough to hit the Over on this Week 8 matchup.

SEE ALSO: Week 8 Expert Betting Picks