Week 8 is here, and we’ve reached a strange inflection point. This might be the correct time to finally stop assuming that presumed powerhouse teams and their presumed powerhouse quarterbacks – hello, Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers, and Tampa Bay and Tom Brady – are going to turn their seasons around. It also might be time to start believing in some teams and quarterbacks who, shall we say, did not have a track record that warranted such belief before the season started. On that front, good morning to Daniel Jones and the 6-1 Giants and Geno Smith and the first-place Seahawks. Of course, we still need lighthouses to guide us, things we can count on, and so it goes that the Chiefs are quietly 5-2 after throttling San Francisco on the road. Through seven weeks, there are only seven teams with 5 or more wins, and three of them have only played 6 games. In other words, parity (read: mediocrity) reigns supreme, which one would imagine has the late Pete Rozelle smiling down in satisfaction. Week 8 brings games that looked like showdowns but now feel like reckonings; Tampa Bay plays host to Baltimore on Thursday, and the Packers travel to Buffalo on Sunday night. Speaking of the aforementioned Giants and Seahawks, they’ll do battle in what looks like the game of the week. I didn’t see that coming. Did you? Let’s get to the games.

Point spreads are from DraftKings.com and are current as of 11 a.m. Thursday.

NOTE: Pick with spread is in bold

Last Week: 5-9 (Season: 49-57-2)

 BYE: Kansas City, LA Chargers