Locks and Shocks: Week 8

Each week Dan Barber, Fergus Head, Reece Mowlem and Owen Turner pick one team who is a lock and certain to win their game and one team who will cause a shock and win their game despite being the underdog.  Below are this week's picks.

Dan Barber
Lock: BENGALS over Colts
Andy Dalton will carve up a questionable Colts secondary that just lost their exciting rookie safety Malik Hooker for the year. I expect A.J Green to have an explosive day, while Mixon also finds productivity in the ground game. An easy victory for the AFC North outfit.
Shock:  BILLS over Raiders
And thus my streak has ended. Getting to the 5-game streak appears to be a bit difficult over here at the FDP. Despite coming off an emphatic win over the Chiefs last week, I expect the Raiders to struggle against a Bills team that has been tough on defence through the first half of the season. I expect low fantasy outputs from all Raiders players, and I expect this game to be very low-scoring indeed. I'm even going to suggest a score: 12-10 in favour of the Bills.

Fergus Head
Lock: EAGLES over 49ers
Eagles pummel a useless 49ers team. NEXT.
Shock: BUCCANEERS over Panthers
Buccaneers win a divisional showdown against a bloke who can't stand behind a plinth without getting in trouble. The panthers are taking a down turn after some early season hype and the Bucs start to find the promised form.

Reece Mowlem
Lock: VIKINGS over Browns
I know, I know, I've taken the easy road with this one.  However, it is the only game that I can confidently call one way or the other.  The Browns shall lose once again and people will start to wonder if an 0-16 season is on the cards.  If so, I think Sam Darnold might elect to stay at college for one more year.
Shock: JETS over Falcons
The Falcons are low on confidence after a crushing defeat to the Patriots in last week's Super Bowl 51 rematch, a game in which they struggled on both sides of the ball.  On the flip side, despite also losing in week 7, the Jets have looked like a strong outfit at home so far this season and I can see them taking advantage of a struggling Atalanta side.  That Jets defence is sneaky underrated.

Owen Turner
Lock: SAINTS over Bears
Still 100% in the lock column despite the Titans running it eery close requiring overtime to overcome the lowly Browns. Moving onto this week I'm taking the Saints over the Bears. Chicago hasn't asked Mitch Trubisky to do much since he bacame the starter. Last week he shockingly on completed four passes the entire game!!! Yet still, the Bears have won their last two games through their defense and controlling the clock rather than putting pressure on the rookie to put up points. There is absolutely no way that strategy holds up in the Superdome against Drew Brees and a surging New Orleans squad, at home, who have won their last four. Saints all day long.
Shock: LIONS over Steelers
Back on track as well with shocks last week thanks to a dazzling performance from Derek Carr in a thriller against the Chiefs. This week we're going with the Lions to knock off the Steelers. Two bad losses for the Lions going into the bye week, but look for Matthew Stafford to bounce back against the Steelers defense. Said defense actually allows the fewest passing yards per game in the entire NFL, but look more closely at the opposition they've faced and you'll see that's a bogus statistic. (Hint, other than Alex Smith two weeks ago, the best QB they've played has been Andy Dalton)... I have faith in Matt Stafford whereas I currently have little in the Steelers. There is a general bad vibe around the team at the moment, mainly with the whole Martavius Bryant trade fiasco. I'm betting on that translating into a poor performance, in a tough environment on the road. So unless they can get Le'Veon Bell going against a stout Lions defensive front, I'm giving the Steelers the L.