At this point, that question seems fair. The Bills, Chiefs, and Eagles seem like creme de la creme of the NFL and then there’s just everyone else. It was even more validated after a weekend in which a few of the league’s early season surprises earned an addition into the loss column. Even teams with records equal or close to the three elite teams don’t leave anything close to the same impression when watching. There’s still half a season to play, but will a fourth team finally stand out from the rest?
Brady’s Bad Week Ends With Another Bucs Loss
Let’s be real, 2022 has to be near the bottom of Tom Brady’s favorite seasons, if not the worst. All of the personal difficulties off the field have been well documented. To make matters worse, Tampa Bay is now 3-5 and out of first place in the NFC South, a division that nearly everyone thought the Bucs would run away with. Brady also look like he’s finally playing like a 45 year old man in the NFL.
On Thursday, Tampa Bay experienced their third straight loss and fifth out of six games after falling to the Baltimore Ravens, 27-22. Although the defense gave up over 450 yards, the Bucs offense continues to struggle to put good drives together on a consistent basis. Tampa Bay’s offense is in the bottom half of the league in both total yards and points scored. For a team that has experiences its own share of injuries on offense, but also has household names like Brady, Leonard Fournette, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Julio Jones, it’s hard to believe they are struggling so much. The loss of Rob Gronkowski seems so much bigger than most people could’ve ever expected.
Tom Brady returned to the NFL after originally announcing his retirement because he thought he could still play at a high level. “High level” is subjective, but obviously Brady is still good enough to play in the NFL. The man is five years from being 50 years old and is still taking hits by guys 20 years his younger. All of that is unbelievable, but is returning for another year really worth it if the Bucs continue to perform this way? Even if Tampa does work its way back to win the NFC South, does anyone truly believe this team can compete with the elite of the NFL? Tom Brady didn’t return to be a one and one playoff team and right now that’s what Tampa Bay looks like, at most.
Falcons Move to First in Division in Most NFC South Way Possible
Thanks to the previously mentioned and underwhelming performance of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Atlanta Falcons now find themselves at the top of the piss poor NFC South with a 4-4 record. The Falcons jumped to first place thanks to a 37-34 overtime win over division rival Carolina.
Even in claiming first place, the Falcons accomplished it through inadequacies of their own opponent. Down by six, PJ Walker connected on a deep pass to DJ Moore for a 62 yard touchdown pass that tied the game with only 24 seconds remaining. Moore was then called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taking his helmet off even though he was off the field. The penalty moved the potential game winning extra point back to the 30 yard line which was far enough for Eddy Piñeiro to miss it and send the game into overtime.
Carolina had another opportunity to win in overtime, marching down to the Atlanta 14 yard line. This time Piñeiro would kick a 32 yard field goal wide left to return the ball to the Falcons. Atlanta was able to reach the Carolina 23 yard line and allow Younghoe Koo an opportunity to kick a 41 yard field goal which he connected on.
Right now the NFC South is abysmal with maybe only the AFC South giving them competition as the worst division in football. It’s quite possible that Atlanta hasn’t even been the most impressive in the division, they have just found themselves with more points than the other team more frequently than Carolina, New Orleans, and Tampa. Expect this division to change at the top for weeks to come.
A Sunday of Big Performances
Week Eight was apparently the week of great individual performances and a delight for many fantasy football players. Every now and then there seems to be a weekend where several guys just enter GOD Mode and blow open a game by themselves. Here are a couple of the biggest performances from the weekend:
Tyreek Hill: 12 catches, 188 receiving yards
Jaylen Waddle: 8 catches, 108 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns
AJ Brown: 6 catches, 156 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns
Tony Pollard: 14 carries, 131 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns
Derrick Henry: 32 carries for 219 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns
D’Onta Foreman: 26 carries for 118 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns
Alvin Kamara: 158 all purpose yards, 3 touchdowns
Christian McCaffrey: 94 rushing yards, 55 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns (rushing, receiving, and passing)
Players were finding the end zone all day on Sunday. It was a quick reminder that the NFL is an offensive league and there are a lot of great offensive players right now.
Belichick Still Has Jets Number
A tale as old as time. Some things just never tend to change no matter what players come and go. One of those things is Bill Belichick’s success against the New York Jets. The Jets greatest start in years hit a wall on Sunday after falling at home to the New England Patriots, 22-17. Belichick’s defense forced three interceptions by Zach Wilson, who had one of the season’s worth passing performances with a 24.1 QBR and 64.6 rating.
This was an important win for New England, who has their own struggles offensively. They worked themselves back to a .500 record with the win.
The Jets loss added to the argument that many people believe their team isn’t nearly as good as their record would claim. They will won’t get a break in their next two games where they will play Buffalo and have a post bye rematch against New England in Foxborough.
Questions After Week Eight
With Christian McCaffrey’s unbelievable performance in only his second game as a Niners, how good could the San Francisco be by the end of the regular season?
Unbelievable is definitely one way to describe a game where McCaffrey became the first player in franchise history to have a passing, rushing, and receiving touchdown in one game. Oh, he also did it in just his second game with his new team.
Clearly McCaffrey won’t have that type of output each game, but just having that type of versatile threat from the backfield has already shown what type of difference he could be for Jimmy Garoppolo. Not to mention, Deebo Samuel didn’t even play in this game. For a team that has talent all over the place, the biggest concern will continue to be the quarterback who wouldn’t even be playing if not for Trey Lance’s injury.
The 49ers are going to need to prove they can play at a higher level like we saw on Sunday with more consistency, but the ceiling has to be about as high as any other NFC contender. Despite their inconsistencies, I think San Francisco was still a playoff team. With the addition of McCaffrey and eventually bringing Elijah Mitchell back from injury, the Niners could continue to improve and be on their way to another NFC Championship Game.
Is it time to close the door on the Las Vegas Raiders’ season?
The Raiders find themselves at the bottom of the AFC West division and 12th place in the AFC. Technically it’s probably too early to write them off in the AFC when you compare their roster to some of the other teams down at the bottom of the AFC Conference. It’s not entirely impossible that Las Vegas could turn around in the second half of the season, but it is also unlikely.
Currently standing at 2-5, the Raiders next three games are the following: at Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and a crucial game at Denver. If there is any hope for their season they will likely need to win those three games to get to 5-5. It’s looking like in order to make the playoffs in the AFC it will require teams to win at least 10 or 11 games. That means that even if Las Vegas can get to 5-5, they would also need to 5-2 or 6-1 the rest of the way. Those final seven games include at Seattle, Los Angeles Chargers, at Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco, and Kansas City. The casket is closing on the Raiders. Crazier things have happened, but if they don’t go on one hell of a run immediately they might as well put the final nails into their season.
Who is the best team after Buffalo, Kansas City, and Philadelphia?
Those three teams sure do feel like they are head and shoulders above everyone else at this point don’t they? Without a doubt those three teams have been the most consistent and most impressive so far this season. When it comes to selecting the best of the rest there are a couple directions you could go.
Minnesota and the New York Giants both have good records, but need to do more convincing. New York experienced a double digit loss this week in Seattle and is a team that feels like it could experience a second half of the season collapse. Minnesota only has a loss to Philadelphia, but nearly every win they have could be described as “playing well enough to win”, not “playing well”.
San Francisco could eventually be the next best time, but considering they are 4-4, that wouldn’t be fair to other teams. The McCaffrey move looks great now, but let’s give the rest of the team time to prove they can be consistent.
Cincinnati is another team that would be a likely choice if they weren’t just dominated by Cleveland. Ja’Marr Chase missing extended time leaves a big hole on the Bengals’ offense. Joe Burrow will still be great, but just having Chase on the field creates opportunities for everyone else. Right now the Bengals just feel like a team that will start to convince you they are one of the elite before an injury happens or they lose to a lesser team.
I think the Baltimore Ravens would be a great pick. They gave the Buffalo Bills all they could handle already and have a win over Cincinnati. When Lamar Jackson is playing well, they can beat anyone in the league.
Personally, I think the Dallas Cowboys are the next best team in the NFL. The defense is great and it’s hard to know how high the offense’s ceiling actually is. Dak Prescott looked much better this week and will likely improve as the weeks go on and he assimilates back into the offense. CeeDee Lamb is a legit number one receiver and Tony Pollard getting an opportunity to start might have just opened a lot more doors to the offense even when Ezekiel Elliott gets back. To hang with the Bills, Chiefs, and Eagles you need to be good on both sides of the ball and that’s something Dallas can be.
“Everybody Loves to Hate-read Power Rankings so Go Ahead and Hate-read” Power Rankings
- Philadelphia Eagles (7-0)
- Buffalo Bills (6-1)
- Kansas City Chiefs (5-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (6-2)
- Minnesota Vikings (6-1)
- Baltimore Ravens (5-3)
- New York Giants (6-2)
- San Francisco 49ers (4-4)
- Miami Dolphins (5-3)
- Tennessee Titans (5-2)
- Seattle Seahawks (5-3)
- Cincinnati Bengals (4-4)
- New York Jets (5-3)
- Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)
- Washington Commanders (4-4)
- New England Patriots (4-4)
- Atlanta Falcons (4-4)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5)
- Los Angeles Rams (3-4)
- Green Bay Packers (3-5)
- New Orleans Saints (3-5)
- Arizona Cardinals (3-5)
- Denver Broncos (3-5)
- Cleveland Browns (3-5)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2-5)
- Indianapolis Colts (3-4-1)
- Chicago Bears (3-5)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6)
- Carolina Panthers (2-6)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (2-6)
- Detroit Lions (1-6)
- Houston Texans (1-5-1)
Week Nine Game Watchability Rankings
Teams on Bye: Broncos,Browns, Cowboys, 49ers, Giants, Steelers
13. Raiders vs Jaguars: One of only two games next week that features two losing teams. The Jaguars impressive start to the season seems so long ago. Josh McDaniels’ first season in Las Vegas has been putrid and hasn’t been as big of a story, but it seems like that will change after the Raiders were shutout in New Orleans. It’s only Week Nine, but this game matters very little, if at all.
12. Colts vs Patriots: This is not the Manning Colts and Brady Patriots of the past. Indianapolis fans must have to be prescribed blood pressure medication at an alarming rate after another fourth quarter loss this week. Frank Reich’s time there feels like a ticking time bomb. New England hasn’t necessarily looked great either, but are coming off Bill Belichick lobotomizing the New York Jets. Whether it’s Sam Ehlinger or Matt Ryan, the Patriots defense may pull out their brain, spike it, and put it back in place by the time this one is over.
11. Eagles vs Texans: Philadelphia has been the most impressive team in the NFC the whole season and they seem like they are improving each week. Houston is heading straight towards a top five pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. If you like watching good teams just bully bad teams, this one is for you.
10. Panthers vs Bengals: The Bengals deflating loss to Cleveland puts them in a position where they can’t give up more ground to Baltimore, especially after already losing to them once. Carolina has been much better since Matt Rhule was fired and Baker Mayfield has been out. Oddly, Carolina is 2-6 but they won’t just try to play spoiler. With the NFC South wide open, this game will mean something.
9. Packers vs Lions: The second game featuring two losing teams is ranked a little higher just because the interest in a Green Bay team quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers that is falling out of the playoff picture. Any hopes of working their way back into that picture starts with a win in Detroit. A loss to the Lions, a team Rodgers has dominated over his career, would be devastating.
8. Dolphins vs Bears: Miami and Chicago are on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to viewing pleasure. The Dolphins continue to be a dynamic offense filled with big plays thanks to Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle. Although the Bears offense has looked better in recent weeks, they are still nearly inept when it comes to throwing the football. For those watching, let’s hope Miami has a lot more possession time.
7. Ravens vs Saints: Baltimore looks to earn back to back road wins against NFC South opponents after knocking off Tampa Bay in Week Eight. New Orleans showed some life by shutting out Las Vegas and are still in the hunt for the division despite their record. The Superdome is always a hard place to play regardless of how good the Saints’ roster is. Another good test for Baltimore.
6. Chargers vs Falcons: For better or worse, Los Angeles and Atlanta’s seasons have not turned out like many expected thus far. The Chargers’ injury trouble couldn’t be predicted, but their play has been about as inconsistent as any team in the league no matter who is on the field. With so much hype heading into the season, the Chargers need to come out of the bye week with some major improvements if Brandon Staley doesn’t want to be looking for work elsewhere. On the other side, no one could have expected Atlanta to be leading the NFC South. That first place position is very circumstantial considering the quality of the division, but it also means Atlanta will very likely be playing meaningful games for the remainder of the season.
5. Seahawks vs Cardinals: After beating the previously 6-1 New York Giants, it may be time to believe this Seattle team behind Geno Smith might be an actual playoff team in 2022-23. Geno’s dream season continues to have longtime football fans questioning everything they’ve ever known about the game. Arizona may be questioning their future with Kyler Murray as the week to week costly mistakes may be too much ignore for the sake of his natural abilities. He had a couple more highly questionable interceptions against Minnesota. Watching this Seahawks team continue to surprise the NFL week to week is one of the best things about this season so far.
4. Vikings vs Commanders: Hidden amongst the talented NFC East teams are the Washington Commanders who have quietly put together a three game win streak to get back to a .500 record. It’s hard to say any game is a “trap game” for Minnesota when every game feels like one for the 6-1 Vikings, but a road game in Washington will not be a cakewalk. Either the Vikings will bury the rest of the NFC North even deeper in the standings or the NFC East will have four winning teams after next weekend.
3. Rams vs Buccaneers: How far the mighty have fallen. Two of the NFC’s Super Bowl favorites heading into the season now find themselves below .500 with more questions than answers. Quite frankly, neither team looks good right now and this game could be ugly, but there will be something fascinating about seeing one of these teams fall farther down the standings. Will either Los Angeles or Tampa Bay finally play up to their potential?
2. Bills vs Jets: This game would’ve had a bit more steam behind it and likely been the best game of the weekend if the Jets didn’t lose to New England with Zach Wilson having one of the NFL’s worst quarterback performances of the season. The Jets still have a talented defense and they will need to play their best if they have any hopes of stopping Josh Allen and the juggernaut Bills’ offense.
1. Titans vs Chiefs: The only game next weekend that features two division leaders is the best game on paper. Kansas City is clearly one of the league’s elite teams while many believe Tennessee is a beneficiary of playing in the AFC’s weakest division. Regardless, Derrick Henry poses issues for any team. This could be a regular season preview of an eventual playoff matchup.