The Shohei Ohtani-inspired 2025 NFL Week 8 picks

Last Friday, when Shohei Ohtani turned the Championship Series into a religious experience – six scoreless innings, 10 strikeouts, three home runs, and a crowd staring up to the heavens – I thought baseball might be the only place where perfection seems possible. It isn’t a sport, it’s a mirage of what we wish we could be. And there I was, watching his brilliance and wondering what it must feel like to be good at something.

I’ve never known that feeling. In sports, I’m more enthusiasm than skill, more passion than precision. I’m the guy who runs with heart and finishes last, who throws a baseball like it’s a fragile ornament. I wasn’t any better in school. If excellence was a penthouse, I lived in the basement with the cockroaches of bad grades. I don’t play instruments, can’t sing, can’t dance, can’t iron without leaving scorch marks – and if you put me in front of a stove, someone’s getting hurt.

I’m not lucky with predictions either. Every week I study trends, yards, injuries, and all those advanced metrics with names that sound like Russian provinces – EPA, DVOA – yet my NFL picks end up like my life on the field: promising on paper, catastrophic in execution. Still, I keep making them. Because there’s something liberating about trying even when you know you’ll fail.

These days, I think most people don’t have hobbies not because they lack time, but courage. We’re terrified of being bad at something. We grew up in an era where everything is measured, posted, shared, compared. Running to clear your mind isn’t enough anymore – now you need a smartwatch, a photo, and the hashtag #RoadToMyMarathon. If you draw, you can’t just fill a sketchbook; you have to open an Instagram account. If you do yoga, touching the floor isn’t enough – you must do it with poise and serenity before the camera.

Ohtani, without meaning to, reminds us of the opposite. His monumental talent, his impossible duality, isn’t an insult to those of us who fail – it’s an invitation not to quit. He shows that greatness isn’t built from gifts, but from stubbornness. That we all have the right to try, even when the result is crooked. Watching him pitch and hit as if the game belonged to him doesn’t inspire me to be Ohtani; it inspires me to keep being me, but a little better than yesterday.

The problem isn’t being bad; it’s giving up before you start. You don’t need talent to enjoy something – only the willingness to fail and say with a shrug, “one more failure.” That’s what makes sports beautiful and, secretly, life itself.

So here are my Week 8 Picks, made in the same spirit with which Ohtani throws his first pitch: no guarantees, just faith. If I get them right, I’ll be the hero of my own delusions; if not, I’ll keep being that guy who still believes he’ll someday understand why the Bengals win when we all bet on the Steelers.

Because in the end, predicting the NFL – like living – isn’t about talent, it’s about trying one more time, even when you know you’ll probably fail again.

Game of NFL Week 8

Packers at Steelers (-3):

My NFL projection model has been working terribly, as I’ve already confessed, though in Week 7 I nailed 10 picks, including the Lions’ win over the Buccaneers when everyone thought Baker Mayfield’s MVP-like season wouldn’t derail in Motor City. I believed in Detroit and got my reward.

But that’s the past. The 2025 season hits its midpoint under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football, with a game tinged with revenge. Aaron Rodgers finally faces Green Bay, the franchise that gave him a name, a career, and a few wrinkles of drama. Pittsburgh arrives at 4–2, but despite having T.J. Watt, its defense shows plenty of holes in that so-called Steel Curtain.

In 230 regular-season games (223 as a starter) between 2005 and 2022, Rodgers piled up 59,055 passing yards and 475 touchdowns with the Packers. He also started 21 playoff games, throwing for 5,894 yards and 45 touchdowns, leading Green Bay to a Super Bowl XLV title after the 2010 season.

Now he’s with the Steelers, and reports suggest the front office wants to keep the veteran another year. If Rodgers wins, he’ll join the exclusive club of quarterbacks who have defeated all 32 NFL franchises – Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, the four modern evangelists of the arm. Green Bay arrives with Jordan Love playing the best football of his life in primetime, and Micah Parsons (yes, they’re using him as a hybrid defender) in full earthquake mode. Parsons had a career-high three sacks last week – his 16th game with at least two since entering the NFL in 2021.

But numbers aren’t everything. The look Rodgers gives when facing his past carries more weight than stats. Steelers 27–23 Packers.

Picks in a nutshell

Vikings at Chargers (-3.5): JJ McCarthy may return soon, but not this week against his old college coach.

Vikings 17–24 Chargers

Dolphins at Falcons (-7): Atlanta has more talent than its 3–3 record shows. Bijan Robinson is playing at MVP level.

Dolphins 14–28 Falcons

Bears at Ravens (-6.5): Lamar Jackson returned to practice this week. That’ll be enough for a small Baltimore victory.

Bears 10–27 Ravens

Bills (-7.5) at Panthers: The Bills never lose after a bye week under Sean McDermott.

Panthers 20–30 Bills

Jets at Bengals (-7): Joe Flacco still has a few wins left in him. The Jets are a plane without an engine.

Jets 17–26 Bengals

49ers (-1.5) at Texans: Houston’s offense is stuck in the mud. San Francisco grinds out a win without stars.

Texans 17–24 49ers

Browns at Patriots (-7): Drake Maye is the revelation of the season. Cleveland’s defense will test him, but he’ll survive.

Browns 21–24 Patriots

Giants at Eagles (-7.5): Philadelphia will be eager to avenge that loss to New York two weeks ago.

Giants 13–27 Eagles

Buccaneers at Saints (-4.5): Injuries have hurt Tampa’s receivers, but New Orleans lacks the firepower to beat them.

Buccaneers 27–24 Saints

Cowboys at Broncos (-3): Dallas is 3–0–1 when scoring 37 or more points, but Denver’s defense is too solid.

Cowboys 17–21 Broncos

Titans at Colts (-14): The Colts remain one of the AFC’s most legitimate contenders. That belief survives another week.

Titans 10–30 Colts

Commanders at Chiefs (-10): Jayden Daniels is out. There’s not much more to say about what’ll happen at Arrowhead.

Commanders 17–28 Chiefs

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