National Tight End Day was a rousing success for many tight ends who had multiple TDs!
Jets fans have to be beside themselves after the team blew a halftime lead to one of the worst teams in the NFL. One of the big problems was that they just didn’t seem to give the ball to Breece Hall enough, as he only had 80 yards rushing, and even worse, he only had one reception. Garrett Wilson played well with 113 yards receiving, but once again, the Jets defense let them down. What made this even more disappointing was that Drake Maye left the game with a concussion and it was Jacoby Brissett that led the Patriots to the victory. Rhamondre Stevenson had two rushing touchdowns as well as a 2-point conversion, and the Patriots put a real damper on the Jets’ chances to make the playoffs.
I thought that this game was going to be a shootout, but it only turned out that the Eagles offense played well. I think many of us, myself included, underestimated how much not having Tee Higgins affected Cincinnati. Jalen Hurts threw for 236 yards and a touchdown but moreover he ran for three touchdowns. Saquon Barkley had 108 rushing yards, and Devonta Smith had a huge 45-yard touchdown catch. Cincinnati could not run the ball as they only had 20 carries for 58 yards, and Ja’Marr Chase was held to 54 yards receiving.
This game turned out to be way more exciting, even after Jordan Love left with a groin injury. Malik Willis came off the bench and threw a touchdown pass, and ran for 23 yards as well. Josh Jacobs had 127 yards rushing and two touchdowns and was the difference-maker for Green Bay. Love was walking with a severe limp after the game, so his status is definitely in question for Week 9. Jacksonville played well on the whole and deserved to win the game. Trevor Lawrence threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns, including one to Evan Engram and another to Brian Thomas Jr. Both Thomas and Kirk left the game with injuries, and that will need to be monitored closely. The bottom line is that Jacksonville just couldn’t get any defensive stops when they needed it.
The Lions have absolutely dominated their last two opponents. What makes this game even more impressive was that Jared Goff threw for three touchdown passes but only had 85 passing yards. Sam LaPorta finally played well with six receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown, and Jahmyr Gibbs had 127 yards rushing and a touchdown. The Titans were in this game for the first quarter and a half as Mason Rudolph threw for 266 yards and a touchdown and ran for 29 yards and a touchdown, showing that he has more ability than Will Levis. Calvin Ridley led the Titans receivers with 10 receptions for 143 yards and finally looked like the WR1 the team paid so much for in free agency.
If Kirk cousins played Tampa Bay every week he would be a guaranteed Hall of Famer. Cousins threw for 276 yards and had four touchdown passes, two of which went to Kyle Pitts. Pitts had four catches for 91 yards, and Darnell Mooney had five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown to lead Atlanta. Equally impressive was Cade Otton, who had 9 receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns and looked phenomenal. Baker Mayfield did throw for 330 yards and three touchdowns although he had two interceptions. Of note was that Sterling Shepherd left the game with an injury, so that will need to be watched carefully because Tampa can’t afford to lose any more receivers.
In a shocking twist the Cardinals came back from a deficit to beat Miami on the road 28-27. Kyler Murray threw for 307 yards and had two touchdown passes, including one to Marvin Harrison, who also had 111 receiving yards. Trey McBride had 9 catches for 124 yards to lead Arizona. Miami just couldn’t get any defensive stops when they needed it, especially on 3rd down late in the game. It was good to see Tua back for Miami, as he threw for 234 yards and a touchdown. De’Von Achane rushed for 97 yards and had 50 yards receiving, and Tyreek Hill had 6 catches for 72 yards in the loss. The big problem for Miami is that they just don’t have a good enough pass rush right and it looks like they will be missing the playoffs this year.
Jameis Winston was outstanding in his first start throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns including two TD passes to Cedric Tillman who had 7 receptions for 99 yards. Jerry Jeudy finally played well, catching 5 passes for 79 yards, and Elijah Moore was terrific in the slot with eight receptions for 85 yards. Not to be outdone was David Njoku, who had five receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. For Baltimore, Lamar Jackson played reasonably well, throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns, but his receivers didn’t help him. Rashad Bateman dropped a wide-open pass and Lamar missed Isaiah Likely on two or three occasions where Likely would have had huge gains. Zay Flowers had 7 receptions for 115 yards for Baltimore in the loss.
The Texans pulled out the win at home, winning by three, but the win could have been very costly as Stefon Diggs left the game with what looks like a non-contact knee injury. Joe Mixon had 102 rushing yards and a touchdown, and CJ Stroud threw for 285 yards and a touchdown. Tank Dell did have a touchdown reception and had four receptions for 35 yards. The Colts played reasonably well, but Anthony Richardson was only able to complete 10 passes. Tyler Goodson did drop a sure TD catch in the end zone, which certainly would have helped, but Richardson is missing wide-open guys. Josh Downs had four receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown and easily could have had another. Jonathan Taylor looked outstanding in his return, with 105 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Ladd McConkey specializes against man coverage (what New Orleans plays), and Chris Olave specializes against zone coverage (what Los Angeles plays). So, both receivers were able to thrive. McConkey had 6 catches for 111 yards and 2 TDs and Olave had 9 receptions for 107 yards to lead their respective teams. The big disappointment in this game was JK Dobbins, who, even though he had a rushing touchdown, had only 57 yards rushing. The Saints desperately need Derek Carr to return because, without them, they cannot muster any offense.
This game was not close from the onset, as Seattle could not do anything against Buffalo’s defense. Buffalo’s run defense held Seattle to just 32 yards on 17 carries which is incredible after they’ve gotten beaten very badly by other teams previously. The Bills’ pass rush was also fierce, and even though they only sacked Geno Smith once, they pressured him the entire game. Smith was only able to throw for 212 yards, and the team looked lost without DK Metcalf. James Cook was the star for Buffalo, running for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and was a visionary play that I gave out this past week. Khalil Shakir was fantastic, with 9 receptions for 107 yards. Dalton Kincaid found the end zone as well and looked solid.
With two seconds left and the Commanders needing a Hail Mary to win I contemplated turning the game off as I was having dinner with my family. Luckily, I didn’t because I got to see one of the most fantastic endings that I’ve seen in quite some time. Jayden Daniels threw the ball 50 yards down the field after escaping the Bears pass rush, and the ball tipped into the hands of Noah Brown, who caught it for a game-winning touchdown. It was an absolutely terrific finish for Daniels, who played well even through an injury with 326 yards and a touchdown. Terry McLaurin had five receptions for 125 yards, and Zach Ertz had 7 receptions for 77 yards. Make no mistake, Caleb Williams did not play well. If the Bears had won this game, he would have gotten the credit, but he wouldn’t have been the reason they won. It would have been because of D’Andre Swift who was fantastic rushing for 129 yards and a touchdown. Williams was only able to complete 10 passes for 131 yards and didn’t look good at all. The biggest head-scratcher was some of the playcalling by OC Shane Waldron, which was absolutely fireable.
Denver is on to something, as you can see, that Bo Nix is turning into a very good young quarterback. He threw for 284 yards and three touchdowns and showed a good command of Sean Payton’s difficult offense. Courtland Sutton caught 8 passes for 100 yards, and Adam Trautman made a fantastic catch for a touchdown. The biggest disappointment in this game was Javonte Williams who only had 44 yards rushing in a game where he was expected to have over 100. The whole backup running backs versus Carolina narrative paid off as Jaleel McLaughlin had 47 yards rushing and caught a pass for a touchdown. Bryce Young did a decent job as the starter, throwing for 224 yards and two touchdowns. WR3 Jalen Coker caught 4 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown in garbage time. Chuba Hubbard was only able to rush for 56 yards in the loss.
The Raiders lost this game as much as the Chiefs won it. The Raiders had their chances to score, but the play-calling in the red zone was horrific. How many times can you try to run the ball when, for the game, they were only able to get 33 yards on 21 carries? If you obviously can’t run the ball, you’ve got to do some play-action passing or use multi-receiver sets. The Raiders were not able to adapt, and that caused them the game. Jacobi Meyers returned from injury with six catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Brock Bowers was slightly underwhelming, with five receptions for 58 yards. Patrick Mahomes threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and Travis Kelce had 10 receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown. Once again, it was the Chiefs defense that was the standout and led the team to victory.
Although this game had a high score, for the most part, it was a difficult game to watch. Jordan Mason left the game with an injury, and Isaac Guerendo came in and was fantastic, rushing for 85 yards and a touchdown. He could have had a second touchdown at the end of the game, too, but he went down to make sure the game ended. George Kittle led the 49ers receivers with six receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown. When you look at the box scores, it will look like Dak Prescott had a good game, but he really didn’t. He threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns but both those touchdowns were late in the game when San Francisco was barely playing any defense. CeeDee Lamb was the beneficiary of the bad defense, with 13 receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns. No other Cowboys receiver had more than 44 yards. Newly called-up RB Dalvin Cook was awful, with only 12 yards rushing. Even more surprising was the fact that Rico Dowdle didn’t play with an “illness.”
