As good as the Chiefs have been and as dangerous as the
Patriots are starting to look, no team in the NFL has been more impressive
through seven weeks than the undefeated Rams. Los Angeles cruised past the
49ers with no difficulty and has a solid chance at entering its Nov. 19
showdown with Kansas City undefeated, with the possibility to clinch the AFC
West before the calendar turns to December. On the other end of the spectrum,
the Jaguars are beat up, there is turmoil in the locker room, and Blake Bortles
seems to have completely lost whatever he had going early in the season. The
Jags are only one game out in the woeful AFC South, but they'll need to right
the ship in a hurry and don't exactly have an ideal opponent or game location
to do that this week. Speaking of turmoil, the Steelers, a soap opera for most
of the season, are back in first place in the AFC North, and a win over
Cleveland would set them up nicely for a Week 9 showdown in Baltimore. With all
of that said, let's take a look at the best matchups of Week 8.
BYE: Chargers,
Cowboys, Falcons, Titans
CLEVELAND AT PITTSBURGH
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
If you had "after Week 7" in your "when will
Hue Jackson and Todd Haley butt heads" poll, please come and claim your
prize. Jackson publicly called out the Browns' offensive play-calling, but
given Hue's standing with Cleveland fans and Haley's overall track record as an
offensive coordinator; one wonders if the head coach isn't the real issue. In
any case, the Browns, who rallied gamely in Tampa but fell short, have to deal
with Haley's former team. The Steelers are somehow in first place after nonstop
drama to start the season, and James Conner has made his teammates and many
fans forget Le'Veon Bell, who still hasn't shown up and figures not to until
after the trade deadline. Pittsburgh has suddenly discovered the tight end
position, as Vance McDonald and Jesse James together have 37 catches for 548
yards and two touchdowns, and their combined catch percentage is a gaudy 80.5.
Cleveland will have to sort out its drama if it wants to stay close and perhaps
spring an upset.
NEW YORK JETS AT CHICAGO
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Chicago was oh-so-close to scoring on a last-gasp Hail Mary,
and one wonders whether or not Matt Nagy would have gone for the win right then
and there against the Patriots had Kevin White made it into the end zone. The
Bears actually stood toe-to-toe with New England just about all afternoon, and
Mitch Trubisky made some big plays to keep them in it. Chicago should be able
to wreak havoc with Sam Darnold under center for the Jets, if only because an
accurate description of Darnold is that he is not Tom Brady. The Jets came back
to earth rather emphatically last week, getting thumped by Minnesota after two
straight wins. New York will need to find some semblance of a consistent
running game in this one, or else Darnold will be left to contend with Khalil
Mack (assuming his ankle is OK) and a sack-happy, turnover-forcing Bears
defense. The Bears can't afford another loss to a non-New England AFC East
opponent, particularly now that the Vikings have found their footing, and the
NFC North race is picking up steam.
PHILADELPHIA VS. JACKSONVILLE
Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET (NFL NETWORK - Game at Wembley Stadium)
Everyone on the Jags is injured, and there's obvious tension
in Doug Marrone's locker room, mainly because the defense is fed up with the
offense, and Blake Bortles has turned into a pumpkin, or something. The perfect
tonic for an angry, hurting team is the horrible trans-Atlantic travel schedule
for a game in London against the defending Super Bowl champs, right? Having
said that, the Eagles aren't exactly playing the part, as they melted down
against the Panthers last week, blowing a 17-0 lead by giving up 21 fourth-quarter
points. Philly needs this game more than Jacksonville, if only because
Washington so far looks like something resembling a competent team and might
not fall back to the pack, while the AFC South is a den of mediocrity. If
Jacksonville loses and the offense is to blame yet again, I would love to be a
fly on the wall for the flight home.
TAMPA BAY AT CINCINNATI
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
Suddenly, the Bengals are the Bengals again. They couldn't
close the deal against the Steelers, then got run over by the Chiefs and find
themselves at 4-3 and at a bit of a crossroads. They're talented, but they need
to start stacking wins and putting pressure on Pittsburgh and Baltimore. They
need this game badly because after the bye week, they get New Orleans and the
Ravens back-to-back. Cincy is also banged up, including Vontaze Burfict, but
were he to miss, it might be a case of addition by subtraction. Tampa survived
a furious Cleveland rally and improved to 3-3, which feels like a misprint. The
Bucs have the league's worst defense, but they've discovered some semblance of
a running game, which might help them in that regard by allowing them to chew
up the clock. What's more likely, though, is that the defense continues to be
bad, and the offense needs to figure out a way to bail them out. Cleveland was
the first opponent they held under 400 total yards. Tough to envision them
making it two in a row.
SEATTLE AT DETROIT
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
For a franchise with a well-deserved reputation for being a
running back wasteland post-Barry Sanders, the Lions are pretty good at it so
far this year, with their 4.9 yards per carry ranking fifth in the league thus
far. Despite their gaudy defensive reputation, the Seahawks rank 25th in the
league in opponent yards per carry and have surrendered over 100 yards per
game, on average. Seattle does do an excellent job against the pass, but
Matthew Stafford is the kind of guy who should still be able to sling it around
regardless. What's more, the Lions haven't turned the ball over since Week 3,
which might negate one of the things Seattle does best. If Kerryon Johnson can
stay rolling on the ground, Detroit should be able to control the flow of the
game and put the onus on the Seahawks' offense. A Lions win helps them stay
within striking distance in the NFC North, while Seattle needs a victory to
stay within shouting distance of the Rams, though a wild card already seems
like a more realistic pursuit.
DENVER AT KANSAS CITY
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Besides New England, Denver is the only other team to give
the Chiefs any semblance of a real battle this season. That happened in Denver,
though, and in prime time, and it still wasn't enough of a hostile situation to
take Patrick Mahomes out of his game. The Broncos don't figure to have the same
kind of luck this time around, with Kansas City riding high after smashing the
Bengals. The Chiefs should be 9-1 heading into a Week 11 showdown with the Rams
that looms as the likely game of the year in the NFL. Mahomes is on pace for a
50 touchdown season, but Kareem Hunt has emerged of late as the driving force
among the skill players, racking up six TDs in his last four games. Hunt has
been especially good as a pass catcher the last two weeks, with 10 catches for
160 yards and three scores in his last two games. The Broncos will need a
monster week from Von Miller again, but they'll likely find that having success
against Josh Rosen is a lot easier than shutting down Mahomes.
WASHINGTON AT NEW YORK GIANTS
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
The Giants are bad. I don't have anything clever to say.
They've got major offensive line problems, considerable issues at quarterback,
and they can't get Saquon Barkley the ball outside of throwing him low-risk,
low-reward dump passes. Oh, and Odell Beckham Jr. is still incredibly unhappy.
It's quickly becoming a lost year in the Big Apple, and speaking of; the team
just traded away Eli Apple. Oh, and Damon "Snacks" Harrison got dealt
as well. Things are a good deal more pleasant in Washington, where Alex Smith
has the Redskins 4-2 and feeling good about itself. Washington was blown out by
the Saints, which is excusable, and only the Week 2 loss against Indianapolis
is a head-scratcher. Smith and the offense haven't been great, but they have
managed to run the ball effectively despite not having a great yards-per-carry
total. Washington's real calling card has been its defense, which is seventh in
the league in points against and fifth in yards allowed. A win here for
Washington would keep significant pressure on Philly and Dallas.
BALTIMORE AT CAROLINA
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)
This game has slugfest written all over it. Baltimore boasts
the league's best defense, both in terms of yards and points allowed, and
Carolina is 10th in points allowed. The Ravens have been somewhat vulnerable against
the run, and the combination of Christian McCaffrey and Cam Newton could pose
some problems for them. McCaffrey has become significantly better as a runner
in the pros, but it is his overall versatility that could be the biggest issue
for Baltimore. The Ravens will have to recover from the shocking, gut-punch
manner in which they lost to New Orleans, and they need the win to stay tight
with Pittsburgh in advance of their Week 9 showdown. The Ravens are averaging
only 3.4 yards per carry, so the onus will be on Alex Collins and Javorius
Allen to pick up their level of play. While so much could pivot around each
team's ability to run the ball or lack thereof, this also seems like the kind
of game that favors Carolina because of Newton's unpredictability as well as
Devin Funchess' ability to win one-on-one matchups downfield.
INDIANAPOLIS AT OAKLAND
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET (CBS)
The Amari Cooper trade means the rebuild is fully underway
in Oakland, and your enthusiasm for that depends entirely on whether or not you
trust Jon Gruden to make the most of the five first-round picks he has over the
next two years. The Colts, by virtue of their existence in the incredibly
mediocre AFC South, are not quite out of the running just yet. That having been
said, noting the Colts have done this year gives one the impression that
they're about to flip a switch and start playing great football. Their offense
has been spotty but is producing plenty of points. Their defense has forced
plenty of turnovers, but they need Marlon Mack and the rest of the running game
to continue what they did against Buffalo so as to ease the burden on Andrew
Luck. Oakland, as previously mentioned, can't do anything well, and more talk
this week has focused on Derek Carr and crying than anything else. The Raiders
might as well pack it in and focus on the 2-14 season they seem destined for.
GREEN BAY AT LOS ANGELES RAMS
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
The Packers haven't strung together two wins in a row all
season, and this doesn't seem like a good opportunity for them to do so, even
with an extra week to prepare. The juxtaposition is interesting, though. On one
side you have Jared Goff and Sean McVay, who make beautiful offensive music and
seem to work in perfect harmony. It's the ideal play-caller/quarterback
relationship. On the other side, you have Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy, and
there has been simmering tension between the two all season. The results speak
for themselves. Despite churning up plenty of yardage, the Packers are only
16th in the league in points per game. The Rams are third in points, second in
yards and rank in the top 10 in both of those categories on defense as well. To
be fair, a big reason for L.A.'s success is something the Packers don't have.
His name is Todd Gurley, and he has keyed a rushing attack that has been held
under 100 yards only one time this season: in Week 2. Green Bay needs a win
because a road date with New England looms next week.
SAN FRANCISCO AT ARIZONA
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
Arizona's only win all season was against the Niners, and
San Francisco has cratered since Jimmy Garoppolo's injury. The 49ers have had
some close losses in that span, to be sure, but they simply don't have the
firepower to compete without Jimmy G. Having said that, Arizona seems ripe for
the picking, even though this game is in the desert. The Cardinals are anemic
offensively and are coming off a five-turnover performance by their offense.
Josh Rosen has gone through plenty of growing pains, David Johnson still can't
get going, and Patrick Peterson has been the subject of trade rumors. The
Cardinals' offense is the league's second-worst in points and worst in yards,
but San Francisco's defense is the second-worst in points. What we have here is
a case of the movable object meeting the resistible force, and the most
interesting thing about the game is its impact on the race for the No. 1 pick
in the 2019 draft. If you have to watch this game, make sure you've got
something more fun to do at the same time, like fold laundry.
NEW ORLEANS AT MINNESOTA
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
The resurgent Vikings have won three in a row to take over
first place in the NFC North, and to no one's surprise, their defense has
played a big role, forcing eight turnovers and stifling the opposition during
the streak. That said, the Saints, doubtless desiring revenge after last year's
stunning playoff defeat, are an altogether different animal from everyone else
they've played, save the Rams. Los Angeles, if you need a refresher, put 556
yards and 38 points on Minnesota. New Orleans, for its part, got a win over the
Ravens via the unlikeliest avenue imaginable — a missed extra point by Justin
Tucker. Tucker, if you didn't know, was a perfect 222/222 on extra points until
that miss. The Saints have a chance to make a statement this week and next,
with the Rams making a trip to the Superdome on Nov. 4. This stands as one of
the few games where a loud home crowd could truly make a difference. If
Minnesota's defense from the last three games shows up and Kirk Cousins continues
his strong play, this one is a toss-up. Either way, it should be one of the
best games of the week.
NEW ENGLAND AT BUFFALO
Monday, 8:20pm ET (ESPN)
The resurgent Vikings have won three in a row to take over
first place in the NFC North, and to no one's surprise, their defense has
played a big role, forcing eight turnovers and stifling the opposition during
the streak. That said, the Saints, doubtless desiring revenge after last year's
stunning playoff defeat, are an altogether different animal from everyone else
they've played, save the Rams. Los Angeles, if you need a refresher, put 556
yards and 38 points on Minnesota. New Orleans, for its part, got a win over the
Ravens via the unlikeliest avenue imaginable — a missed extra point by Justin
Tucker. Tucker, if you didn't know, was a perfect 222/222 on extra points until
that miss. The Saints have a chance to make a statement this week and next,
with the Rams making a trip to the Superdome on Nov. 4. This stands as one of
the few games where a loud home crowd could truly make a difference. If
Minnesota's defense from the last three games shows up and Kirk Cousins
continues his strong play, this one is a toss-up. Either way, it should be one
of the best games of the week.
