Eagles officially back on track, and what else we’re learning in Week 8
FOX Sports’ NFL experts provide the biggest takeaways from every Sunday game in Week 8 and what they mean for each team going forward.
Eagles: This feels like the win the Eagles’ season will pivot around. Philly is now healthier on offense, with A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith dominating the Bengals’ secondary on Sunday. Jalen Hurts is back to playing at a higher level after a really rough start to the season. Rather than spiraling into total disaster — and it got dark with Nick Sirianni inexplicably clapping back at fans on the field a few weeks ago — the Eagles have solidified amid adversity. The Bengals showed up to the game with plenty of momentum, but Philly showed up in the second half and scored 20 unanswered points. Maybe they dragged their feet to start the season, but unlike the Bengals, the Eagles have sorted out their issues. Philly remains in contention to finish atop its division, even with the Commanders surging.
Bengals: This team misses Joe Mixon. Even if the Bengals felt they couldn’t afford to keep him given their need to pay their receivers — which they haven’t done — they didn’t do a great job replacing him. Chase Brown isn’t anywhere as dynamic a runner. And he’s not even in the same league as a pass-catcher. Joe Burrow is playing like an MVP candidate, but he’s not getting a whole lot of help from his running game (or his defense). But it’s remarkable how Mixon has boosted the Houston offense, which is dealing with injuries to its top receivers. And I can’t help but wonder: What if Cincinnati had kept him? Or actually paid real money to replace him? —Henry McKenna
Jets: Clearly, Robert Saleh wasn’t the problem with the Jets. It was always about Aaron Rodgers and their inept offense. It doesn’t matter that Todd Downing is now calling the plays for demoted offensive coordinator Nathanial Hackett. The issues are still the same. They have so much talent at the skill positions, but no plan. They make too many mistakes and there’s just too much confusion. They used three timeouts in the first quarter because they couldn’t get lined up in time. And later, they got a delay of game penalty on a 2-point conversion. That’s insane. And Rodgers (17 of 28, 233, 2 TDs) just looks old now. He can still make some big throws, but he doesn’t make many of them.
Patriots: QB Drake Maye left this game with a concussion, and if he misses any time it’s not good for the Patriots, because this whole season is about developing their quarterback of the future. The problem with that is they have such a terrible team around him, it’s almost hard to see what he can get out of playing. Outside of tight end Hunter Henry, Maye has no reliable receivers. The offensive line is weak and the running game is struggling. It’s not an uncommon problem for quarterbacks picked near the top of the draft. They often land on bad teams. But the Patriots are so bad that they’ve got a heck of a shot at the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, whether Maye keeps playing or not. — Ralph Vacchiano
Ravens: No, the Ravens aren’t going to roll over every opponent, and the aggressive Browns secondary did a nice job for most of this game. But the Ravens surely could’ve made it easier on themselves if they remembered they had Derrick Henry in the backfield. They ran 62 plays, but only handed the ball to Henry 11 times (17.7%). This is a game that was within a three-point margin until the final five minutes. And oh, by the way, Henry averaged 7.1 yards on his first 10 rushes. It was an unwelcome reminder of when the Ravens abandoned their rushing attack in the second half of the AFC Championship Game last year for no reason. They didn’t get away with it then, and they didn’t get away with it against the Browns. Consider this game a warning.
Browns: It was shocking to no one at all how much better the Browns offense looked with Jameis Winston taking over at quarterback for the injured Deshaun Watson. It helped that offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey is now the playcaller, but it helps even more that Winston is just a better quarterback right now. He’s got a better arm, he was accurate (27 of 41, 334 yards, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions), stronger in the pocket, and he pushed the ball down the field — like on the game-winning, 38-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman with 59 seconds to go. It would’ve been even better if his receivers were better at holding on to the ball. The Browns still have no real way out of Watson’s ridiculous contract in the next two years, but Winston sure gave them a glimpse of what they could be if they could only find any kind of escape hatch. — Ralph Vacchiano
Falcons:Kirk Cousins has been uneven in his first eight games with the Falcons, but his two games against Tampa Bay show his value and how he’s changed the offense. In two games against the defending division champs, Cousins has thrown for eight touchdown passes. The first game was an overtime comeback win, and Sunday was an impressive statement win, putting the Falcons in the driver’s seat for the NFC South title. Take away the two Bucs games, and Cousins has been unremarkable: He has eight touchdown passes in two games against the Bucs, and six total in six games against everyone else. But the Falcons are now a game up with the head-to-head tiebreaker, which means they’ll have to stumble for the Bucs to get back in the hunt for the division title.
Buccaneers: You can point to the Bucs sorely missing Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but Tampa Bay’s defense has taken a serious step back. In their 3-1 start, the Bucs held all four opponents to 26 points or fewer, and now in losing three of four, they’ve given up at least 27 in all four games. Two of those losses were to Atlanta, allowing Cousins to throw for four touchdowns in each game. Injuries to SirVocea Dennis and Jamel Dean have hurt, but the scheme has let too many quarterbacks pick the Bucs apart. That has made Baker Mayfield try to do too much, and it’s resulted in turnovers — after two interceptions in those first four games, he has seven in the past four. And Tampa’s next two games are against the Chiefs and 49ers. —Greg Auman
Cardinals: Kicker Chad Ryland made his third game-winning field goal for the Cardinals, this one from 34 yards out to help Arizona improve to 4-4 on the year. While Ryland’s heroics won the game, the improved chemistry between Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. was even better news. The rookie out of Ohio State got off to a slow start while he learns the offense and adjusts to NFL defenses. On Sunday, however, Harrison finished with six receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown on seven targets, making a handful of critical catches in got-to-have-it moments that led to the win. The Cardinals have back-to-back home games against the Bears and the Jets before the team’s bye week. The better rapport between Murray and Harrison should help the offense continue to evolve over the next two weeks.
Dolphins: After missing four games due to a concussion sustained in Week 2, Tua Tagovailoa showed little rust and Miami’s offense looked dangerous again. However, Tagovailoa did fumble three times, including a mishandled snap batted out of the back of the end zone for a safety that gave Arizona enough points for the win. Miami scored 27 points after averaging just 10 points a game with the team’s starting quarterback out. While Miami dropped to 2-5, the Dolphins look like a team that could make some noise in the second half of the season. But Tagovailoa must take better care of the football, along with showing he can stay on the field. — Eric D. Williams
Packers: Matt LaFleur deserves more discussion for the Coach of the Year award. The Green Bay coach has been terrific this year, no matter who plays at quarterback. Jordan Love hadn’t looked totally healthy since his return from his knee injury — and absolutely looked banged up in this contest. He was limping around the field and, at a certain point in the third quarter, the Packers had to give him the hook for his own sake. In came Malik Willis, who is actually among the most efficient QBs in the NFL at .31 expected points added per dropback prior to this game. You could see the offensive playcalling shift around the quarterback to cater to each player’s needs. It’s what LaFleur has done all year. That’s why, despite an injury to the quarterback in which the Packers invested heavily, the Packers have rolled to 6-2.
Jaguars: Doug Pederson got out-coached again. He didn’t manage the clock well. He didn’t want to go for two points on his final touchdown (not that it mattered, admittedly). He didn’t have his defense ready to defend the Packers on the final drive. The Jaguars had a golden opportunity to upset Green Bay, which had to overcome an injured starting QB and a backup. But Pederson didn’t have command of the game. And to that point, neither did his QB. Trevor Lawrence still makes too many boneheaded mistakes. That’s on him, of course, but it also trickles back to the head coach who was supposed to elevate Lawrence into elite status. Pederson hasn’t been the guy we thought he’d be. Neither has Lawrence. And I can’t help but wonder whether this loss might lead to some changes in Jacksonville. —Henry McKenna
Colts:Jonathan Taylor needs to be a dominant force for the Colts to have any chance at making legitimate noise in the AFC this season. Sunday served as the latest testament of the fact that Anthony Richardson has a long way to go. His inexperience showed in Indianapolis’ last drive. Also, his lack of touch, timing and anticipation on intermediate throws makes the Colts offense over reliant on his deep ball, which is hit or miss. Any talk of benching Richardson for Joe Flacco is premature — the former No. 4 overall pick has started just 10 NFL games — but he is what he is right now. So the Colts must lean on Taylor, who ran the ball well against Houston (20 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown). A healthy Taylor plus a defense that just got DeForest Buckner back is Indy’s best hope of being a threat in January.
Texans: Despite being 6-2, the Texans have legitimate early-exit potential come playoff time, and it’s because of pass protection. C.J. Stroud was under heavy pressure on Sunday (particularly in the first half), continuing a season-long trend. The Colts had only two sacks, but they had nine quarterback hits and several pressures. According to Next Gen Stats, Stroud was pressured on 71.4% (!) of his dropbacks through two quarters. The pocket was not only closing quickly on Stroud, but also the struggles up front seemed to speed up his internal clock — even when there wasn’t a defender in his face — leading to rushed throws. And this was against the Colts, who rank in the bottom half of the league in both sacks and pressure rate. What happens when Houston faces AFC juggernauts like Kansas City (fourth in pressure rate) and Buffalo (tied for ninth in sacks) in the postseason? Running back Joe Mixon, as great as he’s been, can’t carry Houston by himself. —Ben Arthur
Titans: It’s hard to imagine how it gets worse for the Titans. It was fool’s gold in the first quarter, as Mason Rudolph and the offense hung in there with the rolling Lions. Rudolph got into the end zone on an 11-yard scamper and Tennessee found itself tied with Detroit at the beginning of the second after a five-yard pass from Rudolph. The final score ended up being 52-14 — and that was without Lions quarterback Jared Goff breaking 100 yards passing. He had just 12 completions for 85 yards and a whopping three touchdowns. Running back David Montgomery even threw a touchdown pass. It was as if Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson saw that Tennessee has had quarterback troubles all season and decided that the Lions were going to win without really using their quarterback. As if the loss wasn’t enough, in Jacksonville, former Titans draft pick Malik Willis came in relief of the injured Jordan Love and led a game-winning field-goal drive for the Packers. At 1-6, it’s another lost season for Tennessee.
Lions: Are the Lions the best team in football? Detroit has won its past four games by an average of 23 points — and that’s with just barely beating Minnesota last week by two points. The Lions have absolutely embarrassed opponents, including the Cowboys and the Seahawks. They beat their latest victims, the Titans, by voluntarily tying one hand behind their backs. Literally. Goff, who is playing MVP-level football right now, attempted just 15 passes. Tennessee had fared decently well against the run up until this point in the season, but the Lions decided to attack the Titans there anyway. Detroit registered 164 yards on the ground and had just 225 yards of total offense. Still, the Lions got the TD pass from Montgomery and a punt-return touchdown by Kalif Raymond. Detroit is firing on every single cylinder, and it’s looking beyond easy for them. — Carmen Vitali
The following writers contributed to this story:Ben Arthur (@benyarthur); Greg Auman (@gregauman); Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis); Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams); Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano); Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV)
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