Most of week 8 is in the books and it started back on Thursday night with a game between the Rams and Vikings. After starting the year 1-4 it was very easy to dismiss the Rams and look past them especially with how injured they were. But with both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back – they looked like a completely different team against the Vikings as these two would go on to combine for 12 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown. The Rams would go on to win with a score 30-20 and their outlook is a lot different than it was a few weeks ago. Their upcoming schedule isn’t easy – but if they can go 3-1 in their next 4 games – they can make some noise especially with what’s been a down year in the NFC West. I don’t think it’s crazy to say the Rams can make the playoffs. For Minnesota I have a lot of concerns. There will be a full video on the Vikings later this week – but this game didn’t come down to a facemark not getting called. Minnesota had 14 points and 140 yards of offense in the first quarter and in the remaining 3 quarters had 6 total points and 136 yards of total offense. That’s not going to get it done against any decent team. And unfortunately for the Vikings they lost pro bowl left tackle Christian Darrisaw for the year and this was never supposed to be a Super Bowl for Minnesota – but after starting 5-0 – their outlook is very bleak at this point in time. They will still probably make the playoffs, but I don’t think they’re going to be a serious contender by any means.
The Lions absolutely throttled the Titans with a score of 52-14 and I think this game was a good representation of the direction of where each franchise is headed. Pretty much every Lions offensive skill position player scored in this game and despite the Lions putting up 52 points – believe it or not they did not have 100 yards passing as a team. And the Lions offense was on the field for less than 25 minutes of this game and had less than 250 yards of total offense. The Loins defense and special teams really stepped up in this game and the Lions are the first team since the 1955 Bears to put up 50+ points with less than 100 passing yards. To do that in today’s era is insane and they’re simply an elite football team. Tennessee is now 1-6 and there’s not a lot to say positively. The only thing I can muster is Calvin Ridley had a good game and had over 110 yards in the first quarter – but this a bad football team. And I’m at the point where I wonder if Brian Callahan is going to make it to his second season as the teams head coach. There’s a major difference between the 2021 Lions and the 2024 Titans despite the records not being that far apart. The Titans don’t have the type of fire the 2021 Lions did and it shows every Sunday. And this is a big issue for them.
The Atlanta Falcons improved to 5-3 after a 20 point loss in week 7 and this was in a game where Kirk Cousins threw for over 275 yards and 4 touchdowns. They are now 4-0 in the division and a win certainly is a win – but I do have a lot of concerns with this defense. And I think Jesse Bates deserves to be in the defensive player of the year conversation because of the impact he makes every single Sunday. He is truly phenomenal. Kyle Pitts also had one of the best games of his career – although I don’t think he will let up when he comes close to his next touchdown. Atlanta’s next two games are home against Dallas and at New Orleans and they can be 7-3 through 10 games. Despite being down Chris Godwin, and Mike evans – Baker Mayfield still threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns and did everything he could to give his team a chance to win. My major concern heading into the season with the Bucs wasn’t that that they didn’t have talent on the roster – my concern was with head coach Todd Bowles and this game is why. Clock management in this game from Bowles was horrible and the defense was also bad as they allowed an average of 6.6 yards per play and allowed not one but multiple 25+ passing yard touchdowns and this is why I think the Bucs ceiling is limited. They’re a talented roster, but the coaching will always limit this team.
Arizona stunned Miami with a last second field goal and won 28-27 in Tua’s return and somehow someway the Cardinals are 4-4. It was great to see both Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison go for over 100 yards and I was so glad to see Marvin have a great game after several down weeks. This was also pretty easily Kyler’s best game since the Rams game back in week 2 and after starting the year 2-4 – the Cardinals are back to .500 and they’re next two games are home against the Bears and home against the Jets. I don’t think they’re serious contenders because the defensive roster isn’t all that talented – but I think they can be a frisky team down the stretch and 6-4 is not unreasonable for them. Miami is now 2-5 and I’ll just get to the point. They’re done. They’re not a serious threat and even if somehow someway they win 8 of their final 10 games and sneak into the playoffs at 10-7 – they’re not a serious team. They blew a 2 possession lead with less than 9 minutes to play and in the 4th quarter – Arizona had 2 70+ yard drives that resulted in points. The Dolphins are done and they’re in a very tough situation which is a tremendous understatement.
The Green Bay Packers escaped Jacksonville with a 30-27 win and I think this game is a good example as to why teams invest in backup quarterbacks. We of course wish the best for Jordan Love and hope he – and everyone else who got hurt this week the best moving forward – but Malik Willis did his job and kept the Packers within half a game for the NFC North race. The play to Jayden Reed at the end was extremely clutch and that is an example of what good teams do. They find a way to win. And the game next week against the Lions is going to be one of the best games of the year and could be the difference between the number one seed – and the number 5 seed. The Jags defense has allowed 30 or more points in 4 of their last 6 games and I don’t care who the quarterback is – you’re not going to win many games like that. There’s no real takeaway for the Jags as they sit at 2-6 other than I think it’s clear they’re going to have a new head coach and GM this offseason. The offense when it’s clicking is very fun to watch – but the defense constantly fails them. There’s no revelation – the Jags simply need more talent on this roster.
The Colts fell to 4-4 with a 23-20 loss to the Texans and why I think this loss is frustrating is because – like all of their other losses so far this year – they’ve been winnable. Even this game was winnable despite Anthony Richardson going 10/32 and going 2/15 in the first half – and no that’s not an exaggeration. And for Colts fans – yes I know several passes in the first half weren’t Anthony’s fault as there were a lot of drops which was certainly frustrating and kind of the theme of the day. I don’t think there’s any major takeaways for the Colts aside from what we knew – they’re an okay team and they’re not going to be a serious threat – mainly because they don’t capitalize. This was the Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter game and this is what Texans fans have been waiting for. They were in the backfield countless times and made Anthony uncomfortable throughout the day. Getting home on the final play of the game and sealing a win over your biggest threat in the division is worth Danielle’s contract alone. Houston should cruise to an AFC South title from here and they’re a very solid team. Just stay healthy and we hope Stefon Diggs is okay
I wasn’t surprised the Ravens lost in Cleveland in the first game with Jameis Winston at quarterback. However I was surprised in the manner they lost. There were countless drops on both sides of the ball for the Ravens and this loss was far more than Kyle Hamilton not squeezing the game winning interception. In fact – Kyle was one of the only defensive players who showed up in this game. Zay Flowers continued to shine in what’s been a great second season and we’re midway through the year now – and I am officially concerned with the Ravens defense. Allowing 334 yards and 3 touchdowns to Jameis Winston in his first start all season is extremely concerning for this team because this is now the third time in 4 games they’ve allowed 29 or more points. And if you are going to the Super Bowl – which the Ravens have every aspiration too – you have to get that under control. And it’s a major concern for me. Cleveland’s best quarterback played in this game and I’m not surprised to see them have more than 20 points for the first time all year when Jameis started. My only takeaway for the Browns is I think they would be a borderline playoff team had Jameis started all year. Yes there will be bad Jameis moments, but he is much much better than Deshaun Watson. And it’s not close.
The Eagles have had a lot of struggles this year but you wouldn’t know it based on their week 8 performance as they improved to 5-2 with a 37-17 statement win over the Cincinnati Bengals. This was easily their best game all year and Jalen Hurts had just 4 incompletions and that’s big to note because Hurts has faced a lot of criticism during the 2024 season. I think the Eagles are in a lot better shape than people realize and play the Jags and Cowboys in their next two games and based on how they’ve been playing – I would be pretty surprised if they’re not 7-2. Also DeVonta Smith had one of the best touchdown catches of week 8. Cincy is now 0-4 at home and their only 3 wins of the year are against the Deshaun Watson Browns, the Giants, and the Panthers. They’re a bad football team and this is an example as to why when teams go to the Super Bowl in today’s era – with how hard it is to retain roster control year after year – you better win. Because this defense is going to continuously let them down. And they’re not going to win the north and they’re not going to win 3 straight road playoff games to get back to the Super Bowl. And because of this – the Bengals are done
Left hand up when Drake Maye left the game I immediately thought alright well good for the Jets – they’ll win on the road as Jacoby Brissett has played awful this year and they will certainly have a tough game against Houston Thursday – but at least they’ll improve to 3-5. But they didn’t. And it’s over. They’re 2-6 and and they went all in and I think there’s a good case for right now being the lowest point in Jets history – as they thought they had legit Super Bowl aspirations prior to the season starting – but Thursday could be even lower as I expect them to fall to 2-7. Joe Douglas is now 29-62 as the teams general manager and it’s over. That’s the takeaway for the Jets. The Patriots have the same record as the Jets through 8 games and that’s not something I expected heading into the season. There’s a big difference though because of the pre season expectations. I don’t have any real takeaways for the Patriots as this game was a very ugly game all around – but please get healthy Drake Maye. Drake has been a bright spot for this team and I truly truly enjoy watching him play. This was a big win for the Patriots locker room because there’s been a lot of noise out of New England over the past few weeks.
The Carolina Panthers fell to 1-7 as they lost to the Broncos 28-14 as Bryce Young started for the first time since back in week 2. I know it’s easy to look at the box score and see that Bryce threw over 220 yards and 2 touchdowns and positively think that hey maybe there’s something here. But the truth is – the Panthers had a 98 yard drive in the absolute definition of garbage time where Bryce was able to rack up a lot of those yards. Unfortunately he is not the answer – at least in Carolina – as he is only 23 years old – but the Panthers are by every definition a rebuilding team. Feed the ball to Jake Coker and Xavier Legette and go from here. As we know – this is not a good football team. On the other side, this was probably Bo Nix’s best game as a pro as he threw for over 280 yards and had 4 total touchdowns as Denver improved to 5-3. The Broncos beat up on a bad team and there’s no major takeaway for them – but they can make a statement if they win either of their next two games which are at Baltimore and at Kansas City. Personally I think they’ll lose both games, but I would be more than happy to be proved wrong.
The Chargers beat the Saints 26-8 and this was the definition of taking care of business. Jesse Minter is absolutely cooking as the Chargers defensive coordinator and the Chargers have allowed just 91 total points in 7 games which is first in the NFL. This was also a great game from Justin Herbert and Ladd McConkey showed that a great hard working route runner who is by every definition a gym rat and a scrappy football player can get the job done as he went for over 100 yards and 2 touchdowns and had the best game of his career. If LA can shut down Jameis or get the extremely reckless version of Jameis – they can be a 6-3 or 7-3 football team before you know it. Going into a game against this defense was always a recipe for failure for the Saints and unfortunately Spencer Rattler played like a 5th round rookie quarterback in his 3rd career start. The Saints went from 2-0 to 2-6 and I know a lot of us have been screaming for it for a couple of offseasons now – but I truly hope this is the year they rebuild. This team is not even treading water at this point and they’re clearly not going to make the playoffs.
To the great northwest for Bills Seahawks and I’m not surprised Buffalo won this game – but I am surprised at how they won this game. I was surprised they went into Lumen Field and absolutely throttled the Seahawks by 21 points. Buffalo had over 440 yards of offense and held the ball for over 38 minutes and looked like a team that can make a deep postseason run. Normally you would say this was one of the more complete games a team could play all year but the Bills game against Jacksonville earlier in the year also applies. Buffalo is 6-2 and the next closest team in the AFC East has just 2 wins and the Bills are pretty much AFC East champions by November. They’re going to be a tough out. Seattle couldn’t do anything in this game. They ran for 32 yards as a team which is awful, and they only ran 47 offensive plays. In a lot of ways it was like they didn’t show up. This type of game is exactly how Seattle has lost a lot of games over the past few years. I like Mike Macdonald and think he will be fine in the long run – but this was a brutal reality check for a team that just won by 20 points last week.
The Chiefs are 7-0 after defeating the Raiders 27-20 and Patrick Mahomes is now 19-1 in the division in away games. This was about as good of a day for the Chiefs – and Buffalo for that matter as they could have imagined. The Chiefs won, the Ravens lost, and their buddies from Cincinnati also lost too. The Chiefs offense was better than we’ve seen in weeks past and on National Tight End day – where it seemed that every tight end scored – Travis Kelce had 10 receptions and had a touchdown too. The Chiefs defense also held the Raiders offense to just 228 yards and any time you hold an opponent to just 228 yards of offense – you are going to win that game more often than not. Now for the Raiders – the telling sequence was in the 3rd quarter in which they had a 10 play 14 yard drive that lasted nearly 6 minutes result in a field goal. That drive started on the Chiefs 28 yard line and then they intercepted Patrick Mahomes on the very next play and had the ball on the 3 yard line and failed to score. That is the summarization of the 2024 Raiders in one sequence. They’re not a good football team and they had opportunities to stick in this game – yet ultimately couldn’t.
The wildest finish of week 8 was undoubtedly in the Bears Commanders game as Washington won with a score of 18-15. This was one of the most Bears loses possible and there was a lot of bad in this game from Chicago that nearly could have been avoided – or at least not discussed as much – this week. Caleb Williams didn’t play good and Shane Waldron certainly didn’t call a good game and there was a point where Caleb was 4/16 for 36 yards. The turnover on the goal line was laughable and truly one of the worst – if not the worst play call all year. This was truly a deserved loss for the Bears because they repeatedly shot themselves in the foot. A win is a win for the Commanders but there were certainly some frustrating moments for them too. However being 6-2 in Jayden Daniels rookie season alleviates a lot of the concerns – at least for the moment. The ending of this game was truly insane and Washington plays the Giants next week – and i think they can be a 7-2 team. This was easily the best moment in Washington history since any big highlight from RG3’s rookie year. Enjoy this win Washington and know that 7-2 is a reality just 9 game in to the Jayden Daniels era. I hope you enjoyed the week 8 recap! Please let me know your biggest week 8 takeaway below and have a great day!
