The final score of Monday night’s game between the Bears and Patriots was certainly a shocker, and it was refreshing to see both teams take multiple trips to the end zone in a primetime game.
Week 8 of the NFL season after Week 7 brought a handful of trades, some troubling injuries and two more wins for New York teams.
In today’s Winners Club you will find:
- Help from a fantasy opt-out cable
- NFL injury news
- World Series schedule, odds
- What are the Super Bowl odds?
- NFL Week 8 Betting Guide
RB Trades, WR Injuries Increase Importance of Waiver Wire
Days after the Christian McCaffrey trade shocked the fantasy football world — and opened the door for Carolina’s D’Onta Foreman and Chubba Hubbard — another running back is on the move.
The Jets sent fourth- and fifth-round picks to the Jaguars in exchange for James Robinson. It follows the devastating news that New York’s second-round pick Brice Hall tore his ACL Sunday against the Broncos and will miss the rest of the season.
This trade changes the backcourt dynamic for the Jets and Jaguars. Travis Etienne Jr., a 2021 first-round pick, is now the clear-cut RB1 in Jacksonville, and things have been trending that way for several weeks. It’s also good news for Robinson, a former undrafted player who has already built a nice career in the league. Robinson’s arrival reduces Michael Carter’s value in New York, as he was primed to get the lion’s share of the job after Hall went down.
It’s also worth noting before we get to this week’s release pickups that Mike Williams (ankle) and DK Metcalf (knee) both went down with injuries on Sunday. The Chargers have a bye this week (along with the Chiefs), so there will likely be more news on Williams’ status entering Week 9.
To help you navigate the free agent pool, Jen Piacenti has recommendations for players to take at each position and how much of your budget to spend to get them. And Matt DeLima also has a detailed waiver report for all the IDPers out there, plus more from DeLima in his Week 8 Dynasty Stock Watch.
Douglas DeFelice/USA TODAY Sports
Michael Fabiano has 10 fantasy takeaways from Week 7, Craig Ellenport weighed in on Josh Jacobs and Melvin Gordon in his fantasy piece, and I wrote about Austin Ekeler, Marquez Valdez-Scantling and Paris Campbell in Good News, Bad News.
More news of note: Sam Ehlinger will start at quarterback for the Colts in place of Matt Ryan for the rest of the season, PJ Walker has been named Carolina’s starting quarterback regardless of the status of Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold, Chargers All-Pro cornerback JC Jackson is out for the season due to a torn patellar tendon in the knee, Giants offensive lineman Evan Neal expected to miss 3-4 weeks with MCL injury and Bill Belichick says the plan all along was to have both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe play.
Astros heavily favored against Phillies in World Series
Philadelphia and Houston made it official on Sunday: The Phillies will represent the National League and the Astros support the American League in the World Series.
Before the season started, Houston had the third best odds to win it all at +900. The Philadelphia faithful have a much bigger payout — his +2,500 odds were tied for 13th best.
Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports
Heading into the series that begins Friday, the Astros are -250 favorites at SI Sportsbook and the Phillies are +150. The most likely outcome of the series is a 4-2 or 4-3 Houston win (equal to +350).
Below is the series schedule. Check back in Thursday’s bulletin for a more complete recap of the game.
- Game 1: Friday, October 28 at 8:03 PM ET in Houston
- Game 2: Saturday, October 29 at 8:03 PM ET at Houston
- Game 3: Monday, October 31 at 8:03 PM ET at Philadelphia
- Game 4: Tuesday, November 1 at 8:03 PM ET at Philadelphia
- Game 5: Wednesday, November 2 at 8:03 PM ET at Philadelphia (if necessary)
- Game 6: Friday, November 4 at 8:03 PM ET at Houston (if necessary)
- Game 7: Saturday, November 5 at 8:03 PM ET at Houston (if necessary)
Bills, eagles, class leaders above the rest
In a row, Buffalo, Kansas City and Philadelphia are the top three teams in the latest NFL power rankings and, not surprisingly, have the best Super Bowl odds.
The accounts were inactive this week, but can be found up to +275 favorites on SI Sportsbook. Essentially, the 5-1 Bills are in a tier of their own (at least from a betting standpoint), and then there’s a two-team tier of the 6-0 Eagles (+550) and 5-2 Chiefs (+650).
The next closest teams have twice the odds of Kansas City. With seven weeks behind us, here’s a look at the preseason Super Bowl odds for the best teams and where they stand now:
Buffalo Bills: +600 → +275
Philadelphia Eagles: +1800 → +550
Kansas City Chiefs: +900 → +650
San Francisco 49ers: +1400 → +1400
Minnesota Vikings: +3300 → +1400
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: +700 → +1600
Baltimore Ravens: +1800 → +1800
Dallas Cowboys: +1800 → +1800
Cincinnati Bengals: +2000 → +2000
Chargers in Los Angeles: +1400 → +2000
Los Angeles Rams: +1000 → +2000
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
In Other News
Aaron Judge’s Next Team Odds: The Yankees All-Star outfielder and AL MVP favorite made a bet on himself before the season rolled around for a huge payday. But which team will he land on? New York is the favorite to retain his services, but the Giants and Dodgers could also be against him.
NFL Week 8 Betting Guide: See what games are available for this week’s SI Sportsbook Perfect 10 contest and where the lines are with plenty of time between now and Sunday to make your selections and get in on the action.
Thanks for reading Winners Club! And don’t forget you can contact me at [email protected] for any fantasy or sports betting questions you may have.