Los Angeles Chargers def Minnesota 37-10
Justin Herbert threw three touchdown passes as Los Angeles completely dominated Minnesota. Kimani Vidal rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown and looks secure as the RB1. Also playing well for the third straight game was TE Oronde Gadsden, who had 77 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone.
Minnesota looked completely lost on offense as they threw Carson Wentz to the wolves, as he was obviously playing in pain. Aaron Jones returned from the IR and had seven touches, but the Vikings could do nothing on offense outside of Justin Jefferson, who had 74 yards receiving. Minnesota will turn to J.J. McCarthy in Week 9 to try to restart its offense.
Philadelphia def New York Giants 38-20
The Eagles played very well on offense, even though they didn’t have AJ Brown. Saquon Barkley had 150 yards and a touchdown, but he left the game in the second half with a groin injury. His backup, Tank Bigsby, had 104 rushing yards in the game. With the Eagles on BYE in Week 9, Barkley should have a chance to rest up and be ready for Week 10. Dallas Goedert had two touchdown receptions.
The Giants have been snakebit with horrible injuries all season long. In week 8, Cam Skattebo left the game with a dislocated ankle. Now the Giants have lost both Nabers and Skattebo, making it almost impossible for them to compete this season. Tyrone Tracy will be a popular pickup off the waiver wire as he will be the new RB1 moving forward.
New York Jets def Cincinnati 39-38
All the credit in the world needs to go to New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, who decided to go for a two-point conversion late in the game to give the Jets an opportunity to win. Breece Hall had 133 yards rushing and two touchdowns, as well as a passing touchdown to Mason Taylor for the go-ahead TD. Even Justin Fields looked good, throwing for 244 yards and a touchdown. With the Jets heading into their bye week, they may not be able to replace Fields even though the team wanted to do so prior to the game.
If the Bengals miss the playoffs, they will look at this game and realize that this cost them that opportunity. At one point, they were winning 24-13, and then they just let up in the second half and could not stop anybody on defense. Zac Taylor had some curious play calls as he insisted on throwing the ball even though they were running the ball at almost 8 yards a clip. Chase Brown had 73 yards rushing and a touchdown as well as 32 yards receiving in a touchdown to lead the Bengals.
Baltimore def Chicago 30-16
The Ravens played inspired football, especially on defense, beating the Bears handily at home. Derrick Henry had 71 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, but it was really the Ravens defense that pressured Caleb Williams all game long that made the difference.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson has to be questioning whether or not Caleb Williams is really the quarterback of the future. Williams was completely erratic and missed many open receivers throughout the game. Rome Odunze had seven catches for 114 yards, but no one else really could find any room against the Ravens secondary that had been struggling all year.
Miami def Atlanta 34-10
In perhaps the most shocking result of the day, Miami completely dominated on the road, beating Atlanta by 24. Tua Tagovailoa was questionable earlier in the day with an eye injury, but he ended up starting and throwing four touchdowns. Jaylen Waddle had 99 yards and a touchdown to help lead the Dolphins to the victory.
The Falcons could do nothing with Kirk Cousins as their quarterback. Cousins looked old and done, and there is no question that Michael Penix is the starter. The vaunted Atlanta running game was only able to muster 45 yards on 17 carries. Bijan Robinson had 25 yards against a Miami run defense that has been lit up all season. It felt like Atlanta was unprepared and looked slow and off its game.
Buffalo def Carolina 40-9
This was a critical game for Buffalo, which had lost two consecutive games heading into its bye week. They recommitted to their rushing attack as James Cook had 19 carries for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Khalil Shakir had six receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown. Even more impressive was the Bills defense that had seven sacks and pressured Andy Dalton all game long.
Coming off a three-game win streak, many onlookers thought that Carolina would have kept this game close, but they were unable to do so as Andy Dalton was under siege. Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard combined for 88 yards rushing, but Carolina could not make the critical third-down conversions that they needed to sustain important drives.
Houston def San Francisco 26-15
CJ Stroud threw for 318 yards and two touchdowns to help lead Houston to the victory. Woody Marks had 111 all-purpose yards to lead the Texans’ backfield, and Xavier Hutchinson had 69 yards and a touchdown to lead all Texans receivers. The Texans really did a great job of maintaining time of possession and keeping the San Francisco offense off the field.
Christian McCaffrey only had 11 touches in the entire game, showing how little time of possession San Francisco had. George Kittle rebounded from a rough Week 7, catching four passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. The big problem for San Francisco is that with all their horrible injuries on defense, they’re not able to make big stops when they need them in critical third-and-long situations.
New England def Cleveland 32-12
Drake Maye torched Cleveland’s secondary to the tune of 282 yards and three touchdowns. Cleveland plays a lot of man coverage, which is perfect for Kayshon Boutte, who had 75 yards and a touchdown, as well as Stefon Diggs, who had a touchdown too. But it was the Patriots defense that really sealed the victory by smothering Dillon Gabriel and intercepting him twice and keeping him under pressure all game long.
Cleveland just couldn’t get anything going on offense, and in the second half, RB Quinshon Judkins left the game with a shoulder injury. Once again, Dillon Gabriel threw to his tight ends more than his wide receivers, as both Fannin and Njoku combined for 10 catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Until Gabriel can get his wide receivers involved, the Browns are going to struggle. On a side note, Myles Garrett had five sacks, tying the NFL single-game record.
Denver def Dallas 44-24
Denver extended its home winning streak to nine games, beating Dallas convincingly behind Bo Nix’s four TD passes. Nix’s college teammate, Troy Franklin, exposed Dallas’ man coverage for 89 yards and two TDs. Also playing exceptionally well was rookie RB R.J. Harvey, who broke a 40-yard TD run early in the game and finished with two rushing TDs. If Harvey becomes a significant part of the offense, it will make it difficult for Denver to beat.
Dal Prescott played one of his worst games of the season, throwing for 188 yards and 2 INTs. Dallas’ secondary was so beat up that it looked like Denver had open receivers on virtually every throw downfield. The only saving grace for Dallas was that Javonte Williams’ revenge narrative was successful, as he had two TDs against his former team.
Indianapolis def Tennessee 38-14
Jonathan Taylor once again had three TDs (two rushing and one receiving) to lead the Colts to a huge home victory. Taylor had 153 rushing yards on the day and found himself with huge running lanes. Daniel Jones had 272 passing yards and 3 TDs, but even more impressive was the Colts defense that sacked Cam Ward four times and intercepted him once. Because the Colts’ offense is so good, it allows the defense to take a few more chances, which is making them one of the surprisingly good fantasy defenses this season.
Cam Ward’s growing pains continued as he only completed 22/38 passes for 259 yards and a TD. Tyjae Spears outgained Tony Pollard 82-53, so there might be a slight changing of the guard at RB for Tennessee. Rookie WRs Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor were solid, catching 11 passes for 146 yards combined, but most of their production was in second-half garbage time.
Tampa Bay def New Orleans 23-3
Tampa’s defense made up for their lack of offense, sacking the Saints QBs 5 times and getting 2 INTs, and 2 fumble recoveries. Baker Mayfield had his worst outing of the season, throwing for 152 yards and no TD passes. Sean Tucker looked way more explosive than Rachaad White, so it would not be surprising to see him earn more touches when Bucky Irving returns in Week 10. Emeka Egbuka went 3/35 but came close to catching a deep TD pass in the end zone.
New Orleans’ offense sputtered so badly that they were forced to bench Spencer Rattler after halftime to give rookie Tyler Shough a shot. Shouch was respectable in the first half of play, throwing for 128 yards. He did miss Rashid Shaheed on a wide-open TD pass that he would like to have back. Shaheed finished the game with 9/75, and Chris Olave had 8/63. Alvin Kamara left the game with an injury that needs to be monitored. Look for the Saints to decide this week if they will move on from Kamara and Brandin Cooks as they continue to rebuild their roster.
Green Bay def Pittsburgh 35-25
Jordan Love tied Brett Favre’s club record with 20 consecutive completions to go along with 360 yards and 3 TDs to lead Green Bay to a dominating road victory. Tucker Kraft was unstoppable after the catch with 143 yards and 2 TDs. Christian Watson returned from a major knee injury and looked solid with 4 catches for 85 yards. Watson gives Green Bay an extra speed dimension that they were lacking on offense.
Pittsburgh just could not get anything going on either side of the football. The Steelers DL rarely got pressure on Love and did not sack him at all. Conversely, Aaron Rodgers faced a ton of pressure and could not find time to set up and make the big plays. The Steelers desperately need another WR to pair with DK Metcalf, so expect them to be buyers at the trade deadline.
