Packers vs. Panthers odds, picks, NFL Week 8 prediction: Best bets, player props for Thursday Night Football

The NFL can be very weird, and that's evident with Thursday Night Football this week. The Panthers are 3-3, but they're first place in the NFC South. Their TNF opponent, the Packers, are 4-3 but are last in the NFC South. That's tough. Each side enters Week 8 coming off a loss with Green Bay losing by three to Detroit and madman Dan Campbell while the Panthers are fresh off a shellacking at the hands of the previously underwhelming Buccaneers. The Packers are favored by 3.5 in the latest Panthers vs. Packers odds. Get a $55 bonus after $25 in trades by claiming the latest Kalshi promo code CBSSPORTS55 here:

Lambeau Field should be ROCKING on Thursday night too, with the home game coming less than 24 hours after the Brewers won the first World Series in the history of the franchise. The Venn Diagram of Packers fans who are also Brewers fans (and vice versa) is basically two concentric circles, so I'd expect a very, very rowdy crowd in Green Bay on Thursday night. Wager on the NFL with the latest DraftKings promo code and get $200 in bonus bets and 3 free months of NBA League Pass:

Best bets for Thursday Night Football

Over 46.5

I was very tempted to take the Packers here, with the Brewers providing a major lift for the home team and the Panthers missing some key players. Those include their best offensive lineman in Damien Lewis and their best pass rusher in Jaelen Phillips. But I'd rather bank on another prime-time shootout happening here with two very questionable defenses in play. The Packers and Lions should have scored 60 points last week, but the two coaches decided to get hyper aggressive with fourth-down decision-making. This matchup favors both offenses: the Packers should be able to run and score on the ground, and the Panthers should be able to answer with Bryce Young and the passing attack. I think one of these two teams drags the other into a shootout and we see the ball getting tossed all over the place on Thursday night. 

Thursday Night Football player props

Savion Williams Over 23.5 receiving yards (-113)

Savion Williams returned from injury in Week 6 and was immediately a pretty crucial piece of the passing attack, especially relative to all the weapons the Packers have at Jordan Love's disposal. Williams has seven targets in two games and games of 32 and 47 yards on the season. He's not going off for 100 yards here without breaking a big catch, but he's also going to be in the mix for several receptions, and the targets he's getting should equate to about 10 yards per catch or longer. As such, this number just looks too short.     

Josh Jacobs Over 2.5 receptions (-118)

The Packers run game has been pretty terrible all season, and while I'm very tempted to take Jacobs' Over rush yards here against a Panthers run defense that can be very vulnerable, I'd rather attack what we saw from them last week, which was using Jacobs heavily in the passing attack. Jacobs ended the game against Detroit with seven targets, five catches and 55 receiving yards. He looked like a very different and more explosive player in the pass game. I don't think LaFleur will ignore that and expect Green Bay to lean into it. Bet on NFL player props and more at BetMGM using the BetMGM bonus code CBSSPORTS for up to $1,500 in bonus bets:

Thursday Night Football anytime touchdowns

Tetairoa McMillan (+185)

It's tough to know exactly who to target with the Panthers passing attack between Tet and Jalen Coker, but McMillan has been the more reliable option in the passing game over the course of the season. He only has two scores on the year but they came in a massive prime-time matchup against an NFC North opponent with a weak pass defense. Hello, similar matchup! I think Tet gets back in the end zone on Thursday.   

Christian Watson (+145) 

Watson has taken a bit of a back seat the last two weeks to Matthew Golden in the Packers passing attack -- it seems like a focused effort to get Golden really going in his second season after Watson started the season on fire. With Golden banged up and the Panthers vulnerable on the back end, plus the Packers at home in prime time, this feels like a beautiful spot to get Watson running hot again, whether it's on a deep shot or with some red-zone targets. 

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