Too many big, beautiful boys are on the move for me to remain silent.

What I’m trying to say is A) forgive the hiatus and B) am I the only one losing their mind over the Seahawks’ and Bears’ big trades??

“Seahawks + Quenton Nelson = Super Bowl contender” probably sounds like an overreaction.

“Bears + Jeffery Simmons = huge threat in the NFC” might draw a similar reaction.

I don’t care.

Both Seattle (4-3) and Chicago (5-2) just made seismic moves, not only for their own hopes the rest of the way, but for the playoff picture as a whole.

Before I go any further, I should mention that the Bears gave up two first-rounders (in 2027 and 2028). The Seahawks gave up a third-rounder in ‘27 and a fifth-rounder in ‘28. Pretty all-in stuff, especially by Chicago.

Also, guess who headlines Monday Night Football to cap off Week 8? That’s right, it’s Chicago-Seattle in an absolutely must-see showdown, even if neither Nelson nor Simmons debut with their new teams until Week 9.

It’s not just the fact that Nelson — a first-team All-Pro guard in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and a second-team All-Pro in 2021, 2024 and 2025 — and Simmons (an All-Pro in his own right) are difference-makers, period.

Both moves are enormous bombshells because of the massive upgrades they represent — with all due respect, of course — over Seahawks guard Anthony Bradford¹ and Chicago DTs Grady Jarrett, Kentavius Street, etc.

If for some reason you’re not familiar with either Nelson’s or Simmons’ work, I’m disappointed in you, but we can fix that. Speaking of disappointed, whoever votes for the NFL’s annual top 100 survey let everyone down when they ranked both these guys outside the top 80 this year.

Oddsmakers haven’t exactly flown off the handle in response to these moves. It’s worth noting, though, that at FanDuel, the four teams that are 10-to-1 or shorter to win the Super Bowl include the Bills (+600), 49ers (+600), Seahawks (+1000) and Bears (+1000).

At DK, the six teams with the shortest Super Bowl odds include the 49ers (+580), Bills (+700), Chiefs (+900), Seahawks (+1000), Rams (+1100) and Bears (+1100).

Personally, I’d love to take a bet on the NFC Championship Game to feature Chicago and Seattle. Alas, I haven’t seen that market anywhere this afternoon. For now, the least we can all do, IMO, is take a long look at Seahawks over 10.5 wins (-105 at bet365) and Bears over 11.5 wins (+160 at DK).

Even in a deep NFC, Seattle with at least a functioning running game (rookie Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet should both provide a boost at RB soon, and they’ll be running behind a much improved front five) and Chicago with a suddenly stout D-line are as scary as anyone.

And yes, I’m aware how impressive the 49ers have been to date, how good the Lions are offensively and how dangerous the Rams could look down the stretch with a healthy Myles Garrett and/or Aaron Donald.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but please do as I say, NOT as I do, particularly when it comes to standalone (MNF or TNF) NFL contests …

In this case, I mean that we should all stay the hell away from Panthers vs. Packers (-3.5) tonight (spread via DK). Both these teams have some juice, but they’re also in bad shape on the O-line, and that’s probably an understatement.

The same Green Bay team that smacked the (shorthanded) Bears 31-7 in Week 5 and whipped Dallas 23-13 in Week 6 is coming off a disappointing 20-17 loss to Detroit. And the last time we saw the Packers on a Thursday night, they got thumped at home in Michael Penix’s 2026 debut for the Falcons.

The Panthers, on the other hand, followed up strong wins over Detroit and Philadelphia with a truly disgusting showing against the then-1-5 Bucs last Sunday.

Packers RB Josh Jacobs and/or Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard anytime touchdown plays will be hard to resist, though (sensible advice above be damned).

A couple other NFL Week 8 bets that I “love”*:

*”Love” is a strong word, because there’s not a can’t-miss bet in sight here

We’ve reached the glorious point in the college football season when you probably shouldn’t trust anyone.

Week 7, of course, featured massive upset losses by Georgia, Notre Dame, Alabama and Texas.

In Week 8, reigning Big 12 champ Texas Tech, then-No. 2 BYU and then-No. 11 Tennessee all went down, as did then-No. 15 Iowa and then-No. 16 USC. All five of those upsets came against unranked foes.

The only ranked-vs.-ranked game this weekend is No. 17 Florida vs. No. 3 Georgia (-12.5) in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic. No, as far as I know, the title for this year’s meeting between the old SEC rivals is not a John Oliver bit, but — apparently — a real name that people are expected to say??

I digress, but I like Florida (+12.5) on the spread. The Gators can hang with the best teams in the country, as they showed in wins over Ole Miss and Texas. Florida might not be a popular pick, however, especially among any fans who watched this team against Mizzou (MIZ 45, UF 17) or South Carolina (USC 38, UF 19).

That being said, I think WR Vernell Brown III (probable) and QB Tramell Jones Jr. (questionable) will help the Gators keep this game close (assuming, of course, that both are close to 100%). If it’s Aaron Philo under center, I’m probably staying away or taking the other side. TBD …

Florida lost big to Georgia in 2023 (43-20) and 2024 (34-20), but last year’s game was tight (UGA 24, UF 20), and I just refuse to lay 12.5 with Georgia against a squad that is coming off a massive upset win at Texas, followed by a well-timed bye.

Expect a much better performance from Georgia than what we saw in its shocking Week 7 loss to Auburn, but not a blowout. Also, this is a great example of a case where a first-half underdog is almost impossible to resist, if you’re into that.

Now, let’s get a little weird. I also like:

Indiana (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) hasn’t been able to pull away from any Big Ten opponent besides Rutgers, and Minnesota (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) is as stout defensively as any team the Hoosiers have faced. I don’t know what happened to the Gophers D vs. Mississippi State and Purdue, but I trust this team to keep Saturday’s trip to Bloomington competitive.

With Chip Kelly running a run-heavy offense that is delighting every college football nerd (and more importantly, absolutely cooking), Aidan Chiles and the Wildcats deserve our respect.

Are we sure they’re not better than Boise State, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Nebraska and/or Illinois? Each of those teams either beat Oregon or kept it close, and the Ducks without Dante Moore should scare absolutely no one.

I never thought I would be saying the above (and certainly not the following) before this season got underway, but …

Give me the Wildcats — who are 6-1 overall, with 5 blowout wins, a 3-point W over Michigan State and a close loss at Indiana — in Eugene?! …

While my credibility is riding on Northwestern football, I’ll just point out that Northwestern is currently +460 to make the CFP at FD 👀👀👀👀.

The Wildcats’ post-Week 9 schedule (vs. Iowa, @ Ohio State, @ Minneosta, vs. Illinois) is too treacherous for me to call that price irresistible. But I want to note right now that those CFP odds are going to look very different if the Wildcats pull off the upset this weekend …

One last thing on Northwestern-Oregon: Chiles has recorded at least one rushing TD in literally every game this season. With that in mind, the question is whether the move on the player props front is Chiles ATD, Chiles first TD or Chiles 2+ TDs??

I said we were going to get weird, didn’t I? For better or worse, that’s not going to stop with the “NW to the CFP” talk.

If you haven’t seen Army (I haven’t, either, but that’s about to change), you might not know that their QB, Cale Hellums, has already run for 16 (!!) touchdowns.

Hellums has run for the first TD of the game in three of his team’s last five games. So, whenever those first TD markets get posted for Army-Memphis, you know where to look.

Also, even as someone who’s bet on Memphis every week this season (I might have a problem), I love Army +6 on the spread.

Let’s bring this home with the only silver lining for miles for those who let NC State football affect their happiness².

Staying with dudes who dominate plum scoring opportunities, NCSU’s Will Wilson (8 rushing TDs this year on 42 carries, after scoring 10 times on 43 carries in 2025) remains a high-value ATD bet this weekend against a Cal team that has allowed at least 39 points in three of its last four games.