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XFL Week 8 Odds and Picks: San Antonio Brahmas vs. Houston Roughnecks Targets Include Landen Akers, Max Borghi, and Deontay Burnett

If you’re looking for Week 8 XFL San Antonio Brahmas vs. Houston Roughnecks odds, picks, and predictions for this pivotal Sunday matchup, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve analyzed each team’s highest-probability game scripts to assess the most likely outcomes, including which players are in line to thrive more than anticipated or fall short of expectations.

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Brahmas vs. Roughnecks Week 8 Odds and Betting Lines

The following odds and betting lines for the Brahmas vs. Roughnecks are as of the evening of Thursday, April 6, and come from DraftKings Sportsbook. Clearly, they’re subject to change. That said, barring an unforeseen injury to a significant starter, we should assume that these lines will remain largely intact.

  • Point Spread: Brahmas (+5)
  • Moneyline: Brahmas (+175), Roughnecks (-205)
  • Over/Under: 40 (-110)

Brahmas vs. Roughnecks Picks and Predictions

Full disclosure, as always: I had my worst performance of the season last weekend, going 1-3 on point spreads and moneylines, as well as 2-2 on over/unders. I had been 23-9 on combined point spreads and moneylines since Week 3. No excuses. Week 7 upended my thinking on a lot of these teams, forcing me to challenge long-held assumptions as we near the end of the regular season.

And two of those assumptions are tied to this South Division faceoff — a surprisingly important contest that might determine which team reaches the postseason.

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That seems like an odd statement, given how the Roughnecks were once 4-0, while the Brahmas continue to languish with an offense that’s scored 16+ points only once all year.

But with Houston on the verge of losing its fourth straight matchup, San Antonio could climb within one game of the division’s top spot. All they need to do is defeat the plummeting Roughnecks.

If you’ve been following the XFL closely all season, you know the deal. If not, here’s a brief lead-up to this Week 8 collision, and what we might expect in a game that wasn’t supposed to be this important.

Houston was an overrated undefeated team through Week 4. They’d vanquished the Guardians (twice), Renegades, and Brahmas while averaging a blistering 30.5 points and surrendering only 13.8. Yeah, that’s dang good. And again, it’s merely deceptively good.

Because then their schedule got much tougher, as they faced the three best teams in the North Division, each of which is presently 5-2 or better. Houston fell to Seattle, DC, and St. Louis, yielding an average of 27.3 points while garnering only 18.3 points per game.

During this stretch, they benched slumping star QB Brandon Silvers and lost No. 1 WR Jontre Kirklin for the season. Max Borghi went from “great” to “injured” to “just okay.” The once-vaunted defense looked middling at best.

Out of the ashes, they’re hoping recently installed QB Cole McDonald can be meaningfully better than Silvers (that remains to be seen, although McDonald is off to a decent start). They’re also hoping that their defense can clamp down on arguably the league’s worst offense.

Doable? Absolutely. But San Antonio’s defense is top-notch. So I’m expecting a pretty low-scoring affair, as is customary when the Brahmas take the field. Special teams might play an outsized role in this one, and a recently activated receiver (Landen Akers) could be a difference-maker.

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While the Brahmas have cycled through four quarterbacks, the return of Landen Akers gives them the No. 1 WR they’ve been missing all year. He earned four of his team’s nine receiving first downs last weekend while netting a 6-75 receiving line. San Antonio receivers aren’t supposed to catch 6+ passes for 75+ yards. They’re not even supposed to clear 4-50.

But perhaps this offense is turning a corner. Maybe Akers can continue to help elevate Kurt Benkert or whichever QB they start on Sunday. And with their backfield limping to less than 3.3 yards per carry, their best chance of keeping pace (aside from their stellar D) is to push the ball through the air and hope to break through.

  • Recommended Point-Spread Bet: Brahmas (+5)
  • Recommended Moneyline Bet: Roughnecks (-205)
  • Over/Under: Under 40 (-110)

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