The playoff pursuit is heating up!!
Winners
Vikings RB Dalvin Cook
Now I usually only put teams under the “winners” and “losers” categories, but Dalvin Cook deserves to be an exception after his unstoppable performance yesterday. Cook scored four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) against the NFC North leading Green Bay Packers; putting the Vikings on his back by leading them to a huge upset victory. The Vikings offensive line also deserves credit for dominating the trenches and physically allowing Cook to have the game of his life. Anyone who had Cook on their fantasy football team qualifies as a winner in week 8 as well.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh came back from a ten point deficit on the road to defeat their rivals the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 28-24. The Steelers are the last remaining unbeaten team in the NFL at (7-0) and have already defeated two of the top tier AFC contenders in Tennessee and Baltimore. Pittsburgh has earned the respect of the entire league and looks poised to be a legit challenger to the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. If the Steelers keep playing this well, it won’t shock anyone if they’re representing the AFC in Tampa this February.
New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees and the Saints snuck past a ferociously talented Chicago Bears defense in overtime by a score of 26-23. Brees and the Saints offense continue to win games against quality opponents despite superstar WR Michael Thomas being out since week 1 with ankle and hamstring injuries. New Orleans remains atop the NFC South division and heads into an epic Sunday Night Football showdown versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 9 with sole possession of first place on the line!
Indianapolis Colts
Coming into Sunday’s game the Lions were red hot and had won two straight games, including the miracle comeback victory last week against the Falcons. Phillip Rivers played his best game of the season, throwing for three touchdown passes and zero interceptions. The Colts defense also stepped up and held Matthew Stafford and the Lions high-powered offense in-check. If Rivers continues to avoid throwing interceptions, the Colts will be a team no one in the AFC wants to face in the playoffs.
Losers
Los Angeles Chargers
Although rookie QB Justin Herbert continues to look extremely impressive, his Chargers blew a 24-3 lead to the Broncos and lost on a last second touchdown pass by Denver QB Drew Lock. LA allowed 21 points in the fourth quarter and their vaunted pass rushing tandem of Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa was non-existent as Lock picked the Chargers defense apart late. Herbert and the offense were unable to generate any points to put the game out of reach. Although they haven’t gotten nearly as many headlines as the Falcons, the Chargers have also blown numerous double digit leads this year and head coach Anthony Lynn’s job could be on the hot seat if their disappointing season continues.
Tennessee Titans
Coming off a tough loss to the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, the Titans failed to show up against a depleted Bengals team that was missing star RB Joe Mixon and four starters on an already terrible offensive line. Tennessee looked uninterested and out-hustled from the opening kickoff as rookie QB Joe Burrow carved up the Titans less than stellar secondary all afternoon. Titans QB Ryan Tannehill struggled and couldn’t manage to get the ball to his two best playmakers in WR A.J. Brown and TE Jonnu Smith until the game was already out of reach. Tennessee has now lost two straight games after starting the season (5-0) and now find themselves tied with the Indianapolis Colts for first place in the AFC South.
Green Bay Packers
After marching down the field and scoring with ease on their opening drive, the Packers were outplayed and flat-out embarrassed by the one win Vikings on their home field. RB Dalvin Cook had the game of his life against the Packer defense, racking up four total touchdowns and controlling the time of possession all afternoon. If Green Bay has any hopes of winning the NFC, they will need to stop the run and get better play from their front seven. At this point, the Packers need to be actively looking for a linebacker or defensive lineman to acquire until the trade deadline on Tuesday November 3rd.
Cleveland Browns
The Browns managed to score a measly six points at home against a Las Vegas Raiders defense that allowed more than 20 points in every other game they played in this season; including getting 48 dropped on them last week by Tom Brady and the Bucs. While this game was certainly sloppy on both sides, Browns QB Baker Mayfield couldn’t get anything going after having his best career game last week against the Bengals. WR Odell Beckham Jr. is out for the season with a torn ACL, but that’s no excuse for Mayfield because he barely threw the ball to OBJ all season anyway. Cleveland is still a solid (5-3) this season, but this loss erases any hope that the Browns are ready to contend with the AFC heavyweight teams come playoff time.
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