This week lacked the drama of past weekends, but still provided some great individual performances and surprise upsets. Green Bay and Tampa Bay fans may just be waking up now from an alcohol induced coma after their losses. No doubt about it though, the biggest story of the weekend a major trade in the NFC.
McCaffrey Returns to the West Coast
The biggest news of the NFL week was that the Carolina Panthers started their fire sale by sending Christian McCaffrey to San Francisco for a multitude of future draft picks. For a team that just fired their head coach and isn’t going anywhere this season or likely during the time McCaffrey would still be such a difference maker, the trade makes all types of sense.
For San Francisco, acquiring McCaffrey is a move that says they are all in on this season and the next two seasons their new running back is signed. As it stands right now, Philadelphia has been the clear favorite in the NFC, but with the jury still out on teams like Minnesota and New York, the 49ers must believe the conference is wide open.
From an offensive standpoint, McCaffrey joining the abilities that Deebo Samuel provides as a hybrid wide receiver/running back could create all sorts of confusion for opposing defenses. The Niners will continue to have limitations depending on what type of game Jimmy Garoppolo is having, but the defense should be able to keep them in just about every game. As the season cruises along, it’s likely San Francisco will get better and better.
Burrow’s Big Day
Joe Burrow put on one of the most impressive performances of the season completing 34 of 42 passes for 481 yards and three touchdowns in the Cincinnati Bengals 35-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Slowly but steadily Burrow and the Bengals have improved from their 0-2 start to the season to go 4-1 since. The highflying and balanced offense saw Tyler Boyd gain 155 receiving yards and a touchdown, Ja’Marr Chase collect 130 yards for two touchdowns, and Tee Higgins with 93 receiving yards. Joe Mixon also provided 58 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Much like the playoff run to the Super Bowl last season, if Cincinnati is going to compete with the Bills and Chiefs of the AFC, they are going to rely heavily on the throwing arm of Burrow and his abundance of weapons. The rest of the league should be on notice that the Bengals of the first two weeks are no longer to be found.
Seahawks Keep Surprise Season Going
Has there been a better surprise in the NFL this season than the Seattle Seahawks? Most of us were wondering why Pete Carroll was even returning to coach this team and here they are just leading the NFC West with a 4-3 record behind a career year for Geno Smith.
Seattle earned a great win on Sunday by heading south to Los Angeles and defeating the Chargers by a score of 37-23. Smith completed 74% of his passes to maintain the league lead in that category while throwing two touchdowns. The Chargers, a team that many viewed as a shoe-in playoff team, even a potential Super Bowl contender, had no answer for the Seattle offense.
While Russell Wilson has struggled mightily in Denver and had at least one game in which he directly may have prevented a win, Seattle fans must be ecstatic about the type of play their team is receiving considering the preseason expectations of being one of, if not the worst teams in the NFL. It’s hard to say whether the Seahawks winning ways will continue to a playoff berth or whether this is just a fluke season from a random team that is occasionally seen in football. Smith has been so good and consistent thus far that it seems like Seattle will keep winning as long as he can play this well.
Questions After Week Seven
Which quarterback’s team should be more confident in them? Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady?
There’s no doubt about it that both Rodgers and Brady look far removed from the versions of themselves we have all grown accustomed to. Rodgers, coming off another MVP season, is particularly surprising.
From a strictly playing the position standpoint, I’ll still select Aaron Rodgers over Tom Brady for this season. I think we’ve learned that Davante Adams may deserve more than a share of last season’s MVP trophy, but the reality is Rodgers is working with very little now. The offensive line in Green Bay has been horrid and Rodgers best receiving weapon has been Allen Lazard, a fourth year receiver who was often a non-factor in his previous seasons. Rodgers still has unbelievable arm strength and much of the quick zip passes that he’s shown throughout his career. The accuracy isn’t that much different than past years, but Rodgers’ yards per completion is currently the lowest since Green Bay named him starting quarterback in 2008.
Tom Brady can’t use lack of weapons for his excuse. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and the running game provided by Leonard Fournette should be enough to produce at least a middle of the road offense. Brady has also seen his yards per completion as the lowest since he was first named a starter. The difference is that Brady just doesn’t pass the eye test with the type of throws he’s making like Rodgers does. When Brady misses, it sometimes seems like he misses by a lot.
Which team has a better chance to salvage the season? Green Bay or Tampa Bay?
For the exact reason I stated Brady can’t use talent as an excuse for his play is the same reason I believe Tampa Bay has the better opportunity to salvage their season. Tampa has talent up and down its roster. The defense is one of the stronger units in the league and the weapons on offense should allow Brady to have to do less for the Bucs to earn wins.
It’s hard to imagine the Packers turning this season around unless at least one of two things happens with the offense. Green Bay needs to either seriously contemplate acquiring a major upgrade at receiver, whether that means signing Odell Beckham Jr. or trading for another receiver, or they put the emphasis of the offense on Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon with Rodgers taking more of backseat approach.
Maybe a bigger reason than any is that despite a losing record, Tampa Bay is still leading the NFC South. Quite honestly any team other than Tampa Bay coming out of the South would still be a major surprise.
The NFC North isn’t brilliant by any means, but the Minnesota Vikings are 5-1 with a win in hand over Green Bay. The Packers may already be focusing in on the Wild Card race.
“Everybody Loves to Hate-read Power Rankings so Go Ahead and Hate-read” Power Rankings
- Philadelphia Eagles (6-0)
- Buffalo Bills (5-1)
- Kansas City Chiefs (5-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (5-2)
- New York Giants (6-1)
- Minnesota Vikings (5-1)
- Baltimore Ravens (4-3)
- Cincinnati Bengals (4-3)
- New York Jets (5-2)
- Tennessee Titans (4-2)
- San Francisco 49ers (3-4)
- Miami Dolphins (4-3)
- Seattle Seahawks (4-3)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4)
- Los Angeles Rams (3-3)
- Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)
- Green Bay Packers (3-4)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)
- Arizona Cardinals (3-4)
- Indianapolis Colts (3-3-1)
- Washington Commanders (3-4)
- Chicago Bears (3-4)
- New England Patriots (3-4)
- Atlanta Falcons (3-4)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5)
- New Orleans Saints (2-5)
- Cleveland Browns (2-5)
- Denver Broncos (2-5)
- Carolina Panthers (2-5)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5)
- Detroit Lions (1-5)
- Houston Texans (1-4-1)
Week Eight Game Watchability Rankings
Teams on Bye: Chiefs and Chargers
15. Panthers vs Falcons: It’s hard to say these two teams are non-factors when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing as poorly as they have been. Big picture though, these two teams aren’t going anywhere.
14. Broncos vs Jaguars: Two of the most frustrating teams in the NFL. It’s looking like Denver may never turn this around. Jacksonville has had plenty of opportunities to be a major player in the AFC South, but can’t take advantage of them. This should be competitive. Does it really matter?
13. Commanders vs Colts: Carson Wentz is injured and Matt Ryan has been benched. This game will feature Taylor Heinicke and Sam Ehlinger at quarterback. This might be an improvement.
12. Raiders vs Saints: Both teams have rosters that would have people thinking their record would be better. Both team are also probably better than their record. At this point this game just doesn’t hold a bunch of weight considering the distance both teams are back in the standings, but don’t sleep on this one being an entertaining tilt.
11. Steelers vs Eagles: “The Battle for Pennsylvania” likely won’t be much of a battle at all. Kenny Pickett will have to continue playing against a murderer’s row of good teams to start his NFL career. Philadelphia will likely coast to a post bye week win.
10. Bears vs Cowboys: I was planning on asking how the Bears were even going to score against the Dallas defense, but then Chicago dropped 33 points on the road in New England on Monday Night Football. It was the first time the Bears crossed the 30 point mark this season and if I had to guess they may have one or two more of those games in them. Chances are one of those games isn’t happening against the Cowboys. Hell, let’s see if they can score 10.
9. Titans vs Texans: Tennessee has been surprisingly good in recent weeks and are not ready to let go of the AFC South. Whether the Titans can compete with the best of the rest in the AFC is yet to be seen. If they are truly on the same level playing field, a win on the road in Houston should be no issue.
8. Dolphins vs Lions: At a certain point Dan Campbell’s job might be at risk in season two if Detroit keeps losing. The Lions should be better than they’ve played and if they ever figure things out they could pose some issues for many teams. Tua Tagovailoa is back and got Miami back in the win column. It will be interesting to see if they can continue to get back to their early season hype as they travel on the road.
7. Bengals vs Browns: Cleveland will be happy that they didn’t have to play Joe Burrow this week after he put on a throwing clinic against Atlanta. Cleveland’s playoff hopes are slipping through their fingers so an upset over the Bengals may be necessary to keep any form of postseason dream alive.
6. Cardinals vs Vikings: Minnesota will be taking a four game win streak out of the bye. Arizona earned a good home win on Thursday night over the New Orleans Saints. DeAndre Hopkins slid ride into his usual looking elite self. The Vikings continue to be a team with a winning record that nobody believes in. A home win over the Cardinals may not convince everyone, but it would keep the Vikings in contention for the top spot in the NFC.
5. Giants vs Seahawks: Maybe the two most surprising teams in the NFC this year. Both continue to be doubted, but keep pulling out wins. New York will be challenged by traveling all the way across the country to play in one of the toughest stadiums in football.
4. Patriots vs Jets: It’s been a long time since the New York Jets have been favored against New England as they certainly will be. Bill Belichick will likely have his defense primed and ready to give the Jets’ offense fits all day. It will be interesting to see how New York responds after losing rookie running back Breece Hall for the season.
3. Packers vs Bills: The Bills might be the most enjoyable team to watch in all of the NFL, especially when you consider both sides of the ball. Watching the Packers lose three straight games with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback makes for a strange and unusual feeling. Rodgers vs Allen is the matchup that sells this game, but if the Green Bay offense looks like it has recently this game may be a blowout for the Bills.
2. Ravens vs Buccaneers: The Tampa Bay offense has been one of the least impressive units in the league and at moments you can’t help but wonder if Tom Brady should’ve finally walked away from football. In a league where it seems like there are few good teams the Baltimore Ravens seem like one of them.
1. 49ers vs Rams: The second matchup between last season’s NFC Championship teams after the Niners defeated the Rams in Week Four. Both teams were preseason NFC favorites, but can’t be thrilled with their records thus far in the season. Seattle may be leading the NFC West, but in most people’s eyes these are two the favorites for the division crown.