A lot went down in week eight in the National Football League, from shootouts to hard-fought defensive battles to the in-between. Here is a recap of what happened in the NFC this week.
Seattle Seahawks (13) at Dallas Cowboys (12)
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This may have been the ugliest game to watch in week eight. The Seahawks and the Cowboys were two teams that were right in the thick of the playoff race at this time a year ago, but for different reasons the two squads find themselves in unfamiliar spots and have struggled tremendously for the first half of the season.
The Cowboys got some good news today with the return of their All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant, but he didn’t do much to change Dallas’s offensive struggles. Bryant only recorded two catches for 12 yards, but much of that was a credit to Seattle’s top cornerback Richard Sherman, who made a couple of nice pass defenses against Bryant. But as well as Seattle’s defense played, it’s no secret that Dallas has struggled tremendously on offense the last five games, regardless of who the quarterback has been. Sunday afternoon, for the second consecutive week, it was the veteran Matt Cassel who was running the show, and his numbers were putrid. Cassel only mustered 97 yards passing and had just 13 completions, and the offense didn’t generate any points; the Cowboys only mustered four field goals.
The Seahawks offense didn’t look that much better in terms of scoring; they only scored one touchdown, but they played well enough to come out victorious. Russell Wilson had a good afternoon with 210 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and he was able to lead his team down the field when they needed him most and put them in position to win.
The Seahawks are 4-4 on the season heading into a bye week. Meanwhile, Dallas is descending rapidly and are now 2-5. They take on the Eagles next week on Sunday night.
New York Giants (49) at New Orleans Saints (52)
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On the opposite end of the spectrum, this was the most thrilling game to watch Sunday afternoon. The Giants and Saints went back and forth in what was not only the highest scoring game this season, but it was one of the highest scoring games in league history.
For the Giants, the offense really looked much better this week than they did a week ago, and that’s a huge understatement. Eli Manning was absolutely in the zone. He threw six touchdowns and passed for 350 yards and yet he still was not even the best quarterback on the field. He really benefited from the stellar play of his favorite target, Odell Beckham, Jr. The New Orleans native returned home to his stomping grounds and he put on a show; he had eight catches for 130 yards and scored three touchdowns, but he was not alone. His teammate, Dwayne Harris,also scored a pair of touchdowns that helped keep New York in the game in the second half.
If it were not for a putrid display defensively, New York would have won Sunday; it is rare that a team could put up 49 points and lose.
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For the Saints, their defense was just as terrible; they gave up the 49 points along with 416 yards, and several times they failed to make key stops in key moments in order to seize momentum. Luckily, they have Drew Brees on the other side to bail them out. There were reports that Brees’ shoulder was still bothering him, but watching him go to work against the Giants, that didn’t look to be the case.
Drew set a new franchise record passing for seven touchdowns, and he did a marvelous job of spreading the football around to all his receivers en route to 511 pass yards. Tight end Benjamin Watson has filled in beautifully in the absence of Jimmy Graham and he continued his fabulous start with 147 yards and a touchdown. However, the real star of the day was the rookie out of Ball State, Willie Snead. Snead didn’t have a 100-yard game but he recorded two touchdown catches and was responsible for the long punt return that eventually set up the Saints for the 50-yard field goal that won the game.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (23) at Atlanta Falcons (20)
The Falcons have been reeling since their undefeated start to the season; they have now lost two of their last three and are 6-2 on the season. The two losses are downright inexcusable; first there was a loss to the Saints (who were 1-4 at the time), and then Sunday, after they got back into the game and forced overtime against the struggling Bucs, they could not finish the deal and fell short.
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Tampa Bay’s defense played well for majority of the football game, especially the rookie out of LSU Kwon Alexander. Two days after his brother died in a fight, Alexander had the game of his life. He recorded 11 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception, and had it not been for a penalty by one of his teammates, he would’ve been credited with two interceptions. The defense in totality forced four turnovers on the afternoon, and although they nearly unraveled for the second consecutive week, they held it together just enough to escape out of Atlanta with a victory.
The offense has really continued to make strides in the past few weeks. Jameis Winston did not have as good a game this week as he did against the Redskins a week ago; his stat line read 16/29 for 177 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. He did not turn the football over, which is what he struggled with early on, and the ground game has really been really helpful in terms of taking a huge load off Winston’s shoulders.
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For the Falcons, this recent three-game stretch has not been good for them. As previously stated, they have lost two of their last three games after a 5-0 start, but today’s game was especially troubling. They struggled with turnovers, but if it were not for their own defense keeping it close and Tampa Bay’s defense essentially letting them back in the game at the end, it is very likely that this game could have been a blowout.
If there was anything worth taking out of this game, it is that Julio Jones is still the best receiver in football today and Jacob Tamme was a great offseason signing. Jones, who was the leading receiver, logged in another marvelous game with 12 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown (although he was stripped of the football by Alexander in the first half, making him responsible for one of the four turnovers), and Tamme had a 10-catch, 103-yard receiving game.
Atlanta is now 0-2 in their division, but with their next two games being against the struggling 49ers and Colts, they should get back on track in the next few weeks.
San Francisco 49ers (6) at St. Louis Rams (27)
The Rams are not a team to be overlooked in the NFC conference. They have an excellent defense that is capable of wrecking any game plan, and their offense is really coming together since the return of Todd Gurley from a lingering knee problem.
As for the man himself, Gurley has been amazing in his return. He torched the Niners defense for a 71-yard touchdown run on his way to 133 yards on 20 carries. If Gurley continues to run the way he has in recent weeks, he is sure to be the front-runner for the Offensive Rookie of the Year honor (if he isn’t already). St. Louis did not ask for much out of their passing game thanks to the running of Gurley, but third-year speed demon Tavon Austin logged in a nice game as well: 4 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown of 66 yards.
What about that game-changing defense? They lived up to their status with another impressive game. One of the best defenses in the league at getting sacks, St. Louis got to the quarterback three times in this one. For the second week in a row, their leading tackler was Mark Barron, their hybrid safety/linebacker, who has really come into his own since being traded to St. Louis a year ago from the Buccaneers. He recorded 10 tackles and two of them were for a loss.
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The 49ers had a rough afternoon, and as the season has continued to play out, the whispers about the future of the team’s recently re-signed quarterback Colin Kaepernick got louder and louder. Another bad game against St. Louis on Sunday was the final straw; Kaepernick was benched. He completed under 50 percent of his passes and he only mustered 162 yards passing. The Niners’ ground game was just as atrocious; they only had 38 total yards and Kaepernick was responsible 28 of them.
Things are really looking bleak for San Francisco’s immediate future. Not only was Kaepernick benched, but the team may have lost their key offseason acquisition Reggie Bush for the year after a freak accident on the sidelines that resulted in an ACL tear, and then the team traded their All-Pro tight end Vernon Davis away to the Broncos. As for St. Louis, they have an impressive 3-0 record in their division, and they are within arm’s reach of Arizona for first place in the West.
Minnesota Vikings (23) at Chicago Bears (20)
Why is no one giving the Minnesota Vikings the attention and recognition they deserve? This team has quietly turned into one of the best teams in the NFC North, and now things have gotten real interesting following a Packers loss at Denver Sunday night, because now Minnesota is just a game behind Green Bay for the lead in the NFC North following a win over the Bears that lifted them to 5-2 on the season.
Minnesota could not be happier to have Adrian Peterson back on the team. A year ago at this time, Peterson was facing legal troubles after being arrested for hitting his son with a switch and leaving bruises, and that was followed by an intense stand-off with the front office over the summer that left Vikings fans wondering if he would even be on the team in 2015. Today, he is currently the team’s leading rusher with 633 yards and 4.5 yards a carry, and Sunday he rushed for 103 yards against the Bears for his part in the victory effort.
Peterson’s presence has taken a load off the shoulders of the second-year pro out of Louisville, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater hasn’t had to throw nearly as much this season, and in turn has posted an 88.5 quarterback rating. One of the big surprises of the year has been the play of their fourth-round pick Stefon Diggs, who had another great game this week: six catches, 195 yards and a touchdown.
It will be interesting to see if Minnesota can continue ascending and if Green Bay continues to struggle.
Indiannapolis Colts (26) at Carolina Panthers (29)
If anyone thought before the season that the Panthers would be one of three remaining undefeated teams in the NFL after eight weeks, people would probably question their football IQ. Yet here the Panthers are, undefeated and at the top of the NFC South.
Week after week, Cam Newton and the defense drive this team to success and teams have yet to figure them out. A heavy dose of running the football has been among the many things Carolina has utilized, and it continued against Indy’s poor defense when they ran for 140 yards, with bell cow Jonathan Stewart running for 88 of them.
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As for that defense, they forced four Colts turnovers including an interception by Luke Kuechly that set Carolina up for the win in overtime.
Somehow, Carolina continues to win in spite of themselves; they had three turnovers and didn’t look great by any means against a bad team, but they found a way to win again.
Now, on to Week 9.
