Week 8 Recap of the 2021 NFL Season | Sleepers and Surgeries

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Only one streak remains after Week 8 in the NFL because it was a rather lackluster affair, but it did produce a fairly significant upset. Overall, perhaps the weakest outing of the season so far.

Thursday: Green Bay Packers (7-1) vs Arizona Cardinals (7-1) (24-21 GB)

Kyler Murray put it in the right place in the 4^th quarter to cement the comeback win, but A.J. Green simply blew it by not completing the hook route as intended, leading to a pick by Rasul Douglas to seal the victory for the Pack.

It wasn’t a very well-played game on both sides. Aaron Rodgers completed 22 of 37 passes for a measly 184 yards but did have 2 TD passes, so that’s a positive. Kyler Murray, in addition to the 4^th quarter pick, threw another and completed 67% of his passes for 274 yards. James Conner scored 2 of the 3 majors for the Cards, but they needed that final play to get over the top. Best of luck to the 49ers next week when they host Arizona; they’re going to be fired up.

Oh, sweet meme, Rodgers.

Sunday: Washington Football Team (2-6) vs. Denver Broncos (4-4) (17-10 DEN)

Other than blocking a pair of field goals by the home squad, not much to write home about. Denver is trying to make a name for themselves in the bonkers AFC West on the back of their incredible defense. So far, so good.

Sunday: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2) vs. New Orleans Saints (5-2) (36-27 NO)

High-scoring affair that had a ton of injuries, including starting quarterback for the Saints Jameis Winston injuring his left knee early (and he will miss the remainder of the season, as was reported on Monday it was a torn ACL) and getting replaced by Trevor Siemian. Both Saints quarterbacks threw a touchdown, and Alvin Kamara ran one in, but the score to put New Orleans over the top came off a P.J. Williams interception with 1:24 on the clock, taking it back 40 yards for the score.

Tom Brady threw 4 TDs and had 2 picks, including the game-winner, to go along with a fumble. Brady nearly brought the Bucs back from a 17-point deficit with a bomb to Cyril Grayson for a 50-yard score, but it simply wasn’t enough.

Sunday: New England Patriots (4-4) vs. Los Angeles Chargers (4-3) (27-24 NE)

Adrian Phillips picked off Justin Herbert twice, including the go-ahead score to seal the win for the Pats and hand the Chargers their second straight loss. Nick Folk kicked four field goals, enough for New England, as the Chargers looked all out of sorts again.

Herbert tossed a pair of touchdowns but barely completed half his passes (18/35). Running back Justin Jackson had a massive 75-yard run that set up a Keenan Allen 5-yard touchdown, but it wasn’t enough for the other Los Angeles team.

Sunday: Jacksonville Jaguars (1-6) vs. Seattle Seahawks (3-5) (31-7 SEA)

That bye week clearly resulted in the Jags forgetting how to play the game, or perhaps they can only win in England, because they were terrible. Trevor Lawrence made 54 passes, only completing 32 of them; perhaps try running the ball?

Geno Smith was making his case for keeping that starting position in Russel Wilson’s stay, as he rushed for and threw two more majors to blow out the Jaguars.

Sunday: Los Angeles Rams (7-1) vs. Houston Texans (1-7) (38-22 LAR)

Matt Stafford is having the time of his life playing on a real NFL team, amassing 305 yards, completing 3 TDs, and having a competent rushing attack that snatched up 165 yards.

Davis Mills had his best performance for the glorified Arena League team. Going 29/38 with two touchdowns and getting 310 yards, but it takes more than one above-average performance to win a game of football, and he’s in Houston after all.

Back in 4⃣0⃣@VonMiller receives blessing to wear the number from the family of Rams great, and Hall of Famer, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yO3NgDaF7p

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) November 1, 2021

Monday proved to be the day that the Rams solidified their claim to being the best team in the NFC when they traded for Von Miller from the Denver Broncos in exchange for second and third-round picks in 2022’s NFL Draft. Aaron Donald and Von Miller on the same team means disaster for the remaining quarterbacks on the Rams schedule. Disgusting wealth of talent on that team.

Sunday: San Francisco 49ers (3-4) vs. Chicago Bears (3-5) (33-22 SF)

Jimmy Garoppolo and Elijah Mitchell put up some big numbers as the Niners made the Chicago defense look foolish. Garoppolo punched in a pair of scores himself but connected with Deebo Samuel on a huge, 83-yard pass that really scorched the Bears’ secondary. Mitchell was the workhorse for San Fran, as he rushed for 137 yards.

Justin Fields had a 100/100 game, as he threw for 175 yards and rushed for 103, including a nice 22-yard TD score. But that O-Line is terrible in Chicago, allowing 4 sacks. If Fields had some time to scan the field, there might be a bright future behind center for the Bears, but that line has to get fixed.

Sunday: Philadelphia Eagles (3-5) vs. Detroit Lions (0-8) (44-6 PHI)

Philadelphia threw only 16 passes and ran the ball 42 times in a game that could have been played in the 1940s with a stat line like that, but it was good enough to beat the brakes off the Lions. Boston Scott and Jordan Howard had a pair of TDs each, and Darius Slay recovered a D’Andre Swift fumble for more than enough to keep Detroit winless. Jared Goff didn’t play poorly either, but it’s tough being in Motor City; just ask Matt Stafford.

Sunday: Tennessee Titans (6-2) vs. Indianapolis Colts (3-5) (34-31 OT TEN)

Indianapolis almost had the upset until Elijah Molden snagged an errant Carson Wentz pass with 1:33 remaining to require the Colts to tie it up and force the Overtime frame that ultimately was won on a 44-yard field goal by Randy Bullock. Why Wentz threw that pass is anyone’s guess; it was God-awful.

Ryan Tannehill had to do it all, as Derrick Henry had an uncharacteristically bad day (28 rushes for 68 yards). He threw 3 TDs and had a pair of picks, but it was capped off with the 57-yard strike to A.J. Brown that was more than enough to keep the Titans in first place in the AFC South.

Derrick Henry to undergo foot surgery on Tuesday, no timetable for his return

"I hate to speak for our players, but Derrick is disappointed, everybody is." 📰 » https://t.co/VMbt2vLpcD

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 1, 2021

There was a reason behind the poor Henry performance – he was illuminated on Monday that he has picked up a potentially season-ending foot injury during the game. In his stead will be one of the best running backs of the modern era looking for that elusive championship, Adrian Peterson.

Sunday: Cincinnati Bengals (5-3) vs. New York Jets (2-5) (34-31 NYJ)

Mike White, in his first career start, upset one of the best teams in the AFC by throwing for 405 yards, becoming only the second quarterback to do so since 1950 and the first Jet to top the 400-yard mark since Vinny Testaverde on Christmas Day 2000.

Joe Burrow threw 3 TDs, but no one else was focusing on the game. Clearly, looking forward to next week’s matchup with their division rivals, the Cleveland Browns, cost the Bengals an easy W.

Sunday: Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) vs. Cleveland Browns (4-4) (15-10 PIT)

Clearly, looking forward to next week’s matchup with their division rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, cost the Browns an easy W.

Ben Roethlisberger kept it together and showed off some of that old-man poise, with a little help from Najee Harris on the ground as well, to get past the Browns because that’s what Big Ben does; beats the Browns in Cleveland.

Baker Mayfield got sacked four times and had a really mediocre showing when he wasn’t on the run.

Sunday: Carolina Panthers (4-4) vs. Atlanta Falcons (3-4) (19-13 CAR)

If someone could rescue Matt Ryan from Atlanta, that would be great. He’s surrounded by bums and is wasting the few good years he has left. He’s completing a high percentage of his throws (20/27), but the receivers are standing in place after getting the ball. The run game, which you could mistake for children playing hopscotch, couldn’t break 100 if they squared off with a Pop Warner crew; it’s sad.

Sam Darnold got knocked out in the fourth quarter with a concussion after not getting it done in the air, amassing a measly 129 yards.

This game blew.

Sunday: Miami Dolphins (1-7) vs. Buffalo Bills (5-2) (26-11 BUF)

“Tua Time” is what you call the jog up the tunnel after posting numbers that would look bad on a high school score sheet. Tagovailoa passed for 205 yards, including a 40-yard pick up to Mike Gesicki, but outside of a short little score in the middle of the fourth quarter, it was one of those games where he got the best seats in the house to watch the Josh Allen show. Perhaps take a few notes?

Allen had a pair of touchdowns and ran in for another as he cemented his claim as a finalist for the MVP for this season, proving last year was no aberration. Cole Beasley was the major beneficiary of Allen on the day, getting 10 catches for 110 yards in the beating of the division “rival” Fins. We’ll see how many more points the Bills can put up in Jacksonville next week, as that game against the Jaguars is sure to be a laugher.

Sunday Night: Dallas Cowboys (6-1) vs. Minnesota Vikings (3-4) (20-16 DAL)

Even with Dak Prescott sitting this one out, Cooper Rush was too much for the Vikings to handle as the walk-on from Central Michigan threw for 325 yards and two scores, enough to keep the Cowboys well ahead of anyone in the NFC (L)East.

Kirk Cousins had a fairly lame showing, throwing for 184 yards on 23 completions, but that Dallas defense is as good as it has been since the glory days of the 90s. Let’s see if they can play like them in the postseason, or if it’s like those regular-season dominant teams of the late 00s.

Monday: New York Giants (2-6) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (4-4) (20-17 KC)

Despite Patrick Mahomes’ two oopsies (putting the ball on the turf and throwing an ugly interception), with a 34-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining, the Chiefs scraped out a win against the juggernaut G-Men. Honestly, though, against any other team, the Chiefs would have lost this game handily; these are two equally poor-performing teams. One you expect, the other had Super Bowl aspirations that will more than likely go unrealized as Mahomes is consistently showing up and performing as the second-best quarterback in the game, week in and week out.

Daniel Jones, without any weapons, did fine. He threw a pair of TDs and a pick, but if a passer launches the ball and no one is good enough to complete a route, is that a reflection on the QB or the franchise?

Outside of the season-derailing injuries suffered by multiple franchises, on the topic of good news, it was kind of a forgettable week, in all honesty. They can’t all be winners; better luck next week.