Sowers Sets Radford Record, NFL Week 8 Picks & More
Maxton Sowers led Radford to a team first place finish at the Roanoke Invitational Saturday, Oct. 19 with a 24:34.6 8K, a new school record.
Sowers finished 5th overall behind four “unattached” runners. Charlie Dance (24:48.8/7th), Asrael Cabusoa (24:49.8/8th), Clay Kelly (25:12.5/15th) and Liam McDonald (26:06.4) completed the scoring for Radford.
Next up, for Radford will compete in the Big South Conference Championship hosted by Charleston Southern, Nov. 1. Charleston Southern was predicted to be the top team during the preseason and remains the heavy favorite for the upcoming championship meet. Radford placed 4th in the 2023 championship and was predicted in the preseason to finish fourth again this year.
The HOTPO staff is scheduled to cover the conference championship in-person and will bring you all the news that’s fit to print.
Week 8 Picks
Baltimore Ravens (-9) at Cleveland Browns: Baltimore isn’t perfect defensively as they have given up 31 points to Tampa Bay, 23 to Washington and 38 to Cincinnati over the last three weeks, all wins. Cleveland hasn’t scored 20 points in a game yet this year and is now missing their starting QB Deshaun Watson. This could get ugly early. – RAVENS
Tennessee Titans at Detroit Lions (-11.5): Similarly, Tennessee has scored more than 20 points once this year. Detroit is coming off another big 31-29 victory over Minnesota and is plowing through good teams. This, also, looks like a massacre in the making. – LIONS
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans (-5): Indianapolis QB Anthony Richardson completed fewer than half his passes (10-24) last week in a 16-10 win over Miami. The Colt defense also looked incredibly adept at missing tackles. Houston lost a disappointing game to Green Bay 24-22 and will be looking to right the ship at home. – TEXANS
Green Bay Packers (-4) at Jacksonville Jaguars: Jacksonville got a 32-16 victory over a bad New England team last week, but hasn’t beaten a good team yet this year. They even have two unsightly losses to bad teams – Miami and Cleveland. Green Bay is a good team and they need this game to keep pace in the hyper-competitive NFC North. – PACKERS
Arizona Cardinals at Miami Dolphins (-3.5): Four of the six experts in an article by Keven Lerner of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel predicted Miami to win this one due to the return of Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa from a concussion. The Dolphins have the 4th best defense overall, but the 17th ranked rushing defense with the Cardinals bringing RB James Conner (4.6 Yds/Att) and QB Kyler Murray (9.0 Yds/Att). Arizona is coming off a short week following a Monday night 17-15 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, so there is reason for the experts to think Miami can get this one. – CARDINALS
New York Jets (-7) at New England Patriots: After an embarrassing 32-16 loss to Jacksonville in London last week, New England coach Jerod Mayo said, “We’re soft across the board,” according to Sophie Weller of A to Z Sports. After an embarrassing 37-15 loss to Pittsburgh, New York, at 2-5, still has a 47 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to Justin Fried of The Jet Press. I keep expecting to see the Aaron Rodgers of old and this might be the week we finally see it, since the Patriots have the 25th ranked defense (23rd against the pass) and are apparently “soft.” – JETS
Atlanta Falcons (-2.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This is a critical NFC South matchup that can go either way and the Pewter Report’s Bailey Adams provided all the details you need to make this pick. Atlanta lost 34-14 last week to Seattle, but you may be able to pin that on three QB Kirk Cousins turnovers. Tampa Bay lost QB Baker Mayfield’s top two targets Monday in a 41-31 loss to Baltimore – receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin – and that has to be too much to overcome in a short week. – FALCONS
Philadelphia Eagles at Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5): This is a fascinating matchup between two talented teams that need to string together some wins to get into a playoff position. Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts hasn’t thrown for 200 yards in three straight games and will be hard pressed to mount a comeback if the Eagles fall behind. Cincinnati has two excellent receivers and the last time Philly played a team with two excellent receivers, their secondary got torched in a 33-16 loss to Tampa Bay. – BENGALS
New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Chargers (-7): New Orleans is in a free fall having lost five straight and the last two by 23 and 24 points. While the Los Angeles offense can’t seem to get out of neutral, the defense is excellent. That defense should feast on a Saints offense that has been seriously degraded by injuries. – CHARGERS
Buffalo Bills (-3) at Seattle Seahawks: Seattle is a hard team to call. They lost two straight at home to the New York Giants and San Francisco then go on the road to blast Atlanta. Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle highlights that while the Seahawks have the top-rated passing offense, they will be missing WR DK Metcalf and the Bills have an excellent trio of cornerbacks. – BILLS
Chicago Bears (-3) at Washington Commanders: Washington QB Jayden Daniels sustained a rib injury last week and it is not clear whether he will play Sunday. Backup QB Marcus Mariota replaced Daniels and played very well (18/23, 205 Yds, 2 TD, 0 INT) in leading the Commanders to victory over an abysmal Panthers team. The 5th rated Chicago defense is a different challenge entirely for whichever quarterback ends up playing. – BEARS (BUT, if Daniels is healthy enough to play, I may switch this pick at game time.)
Phew, those were some games that required serious thought. Let’s coast a little bit and take a breather.
Carolina Panthers at Denver Broncos (-10): Hello, survivor pool contestants! – BRONCOS
Kansas City Chiefs (-9.5) at Las Vegas Raiders: Swifties have another Best Day. – CHIEFS
Alright, good break there. Picking it back up.
Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers (-4): This is a matchup of teams that were supposed to be good, but are falling short so far this year. San Francisco has endured many significant injuries on the offensive side of the ball and the body count keeps rising with WR Brandon Aiyuk now out and TE George Kittle, WR Deebo Samuel and WR Jauan Jennings all currently questionable. That is a lot of missing parts against a Dallas team coming off a bye week. – COWBOYS
New York Giants at Pittsburgh Steelers (-6): Well, well, well Pittsburgh QB Russell Wilson started for the first time this season against the Jets and played pretty well in a 37-15 victory. That was a surprise. New York QB Danny Jones played so ineffectively that he got benched during their 28-3 loss to Philadelphia. That was not a surprise. – STEELERS
Grab Bag
Spectacular time of year for sports fans with the World Series, pro and college football at full tilt, and the NHL and NBA seasons opening. Check your local listings and keep your head on a swivel.
NBA, Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks, Friday, 7:30pm ET, ESPN: Indiana got started with a 115-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons Wednesday. Their second game of the season is a rematch of their chippy Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup of the spring.
World Series Game 1, New York Yankees at Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, 8pm ET, FOX: Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post provided an excellent article highlighting five keys to the series. This is a classic matchup (if you like the well-monied, big city, front-runner magnates) with the Dodgers sitting as the slight favorite. New York has an edge in starting pitching so I am surprised Los Angeles is the initial favorite.
College Football, Notre Dame vs. Navy at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Saturday, 12 pm ET, ABC: #12 Notre Dame owns this series, 80-13-1. The last victory for #24 Navy was in 2016. This Navy team absolutely has a shot to win.
College Football, Washington at Indiana, Saturday, 12pm ET, Big Ten Network: Indiana (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) will be hosting ESPN College Game Day prior to the game, but QB Kurtis Rourke will not be playing due to a thumb injury. Sophomore Tayven Jackson starts in his place.
NHL, Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7pm ET, Monumental Sports Network: Washington is off to an unexpected hot start (5-1, 10 pts, 3rd in Metropolitan Division). It is shocking to see so many new players gel so early in the season. A trip to Tampa will be a good test of how real this early surge is.
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