NFL Week 8

The NFL season is now halfway over, and reality has set in for most teams and fanbases. The Giants have finally accepted their limitations, the Browns fired their coach, and Jameis Winston got benched after throwing four picks. The Jets stink, the Colts have turned things around, and some players care more about their own egos than winning.

The scores this week were: Texans over Dolphins 42-23, Eagles over Jaguars 24-18, Panthers over Ravens 36-21, Chiefs over Broncos 30-23, Steelers over Browns 33-18, Seahawks over Lions 28-14, Bengals over Bucs 37-34, Bears over Jets 24-10, Redskins over Giants 20-13, Colts over Raiders 42-28, Cardinals over 49ers 18-15, Rams over Packers 29-27, Saints over Vikings 30-20, Patriots over Bills 25-6.

The Rams are 8-0, which seems rare in recent memory. They have only needed one fourth quarter comeback all year, so almost all of their wins have been convincing. Todd Gurley is a star, finishing with 195 total yards this week. He ran for 208 two weeks ago. Aaron Donald got off to a slow start, but now has eight sacks after adding two this week. The possibility of going 16-0 is on the table, but that is unlikely due to their tough second half schedule. Their biggest liability moving forward is CB Marcus Peters. The former Pro Bowler has struggled mightily this year, with his penchant for allowing big plays. The Rams were very active this offseason, so it would not be surprising if they added a corner before the trade deadline. Their next three games are against the Saints, Seahawks and Chiefs. If they win all those, I’ll feel comfortable predicting them to win the Super Bowl.

Speaking of the Rams, they needed some good fortune against Green Bay this week. It looked like the Packers were going to have another chance for late magic, but the football gods had different plans. This was a relatively low scoring game, mostly due to great QB pressure from both teams. The Rams trailed 10-0 at one point. It ended up being a see saw affair where the Packers had a chance to drive the field and win late. However, Ty Montgomery inexplicably ran the kick return out of the endzone and subsequently fumbled. Even worse, he apparently decided to defy the coaches after he got upset about being taken out at RB on a previous drive. Aaron Rodgers was deprived a chance at handing the Rams their first loss, and he was visibly agitated on the sideline. Albeit just one game, this loss may cause some upheaval in the locker room. Montgomery could be cut, and questions about Mike McCarthy’s leadership are now being raised. This could all be a non-issue in a few weeks, but this is a rare speed bump for a seemingly well run franchise.

All of a sudden, here come the Colts. This team is healthy for the first time in a while, and everything is starting to click. The o-line looks great all of a sudden. This has made life easier for Andrew Luck, and Marlon Mack has turned into a top level back. Mack ran for 132 yards, one week after running for 126 (he is the first Colt to run for 100 yards in consecutive games since Joseph Addai in 2007). Luck did a great job spreading the ball around. All three of his tight ends caught a TD, and newly acquired Dontrelle Inman contributed with 52 receiving yards. The team is 3-5, but lately they have looked better than the record indicates. It appears Coach Frank Reich has corrected some issues, so this team could be a real threat down the stretch.

The Cleveland Browns decided to clean house. Their 2-5-1 start isn’t horrific considering they doubled their win total from the previous two years, but I guess GM John Dorsey has seen enough. He fired HC Hue Jackson, followed by the axing of OC Todd Haley. Their controversial DC Gregg Williams (see bountygate) is the interim coach, and the Browns optimism that fans and myself had is gone now. It seem the main reason these firings happened now is because Jackson and Haley were clashing, which could hold back Baker Mayfield’s development. Some of this tension was on display during HBO’s Hard Knocks. Jackson and Haley are both offensive coaches, so this kind of back-and-forth can be make life abstruse for Mayfield. Also, things got worse when Jackson suggested he should get more involved in the offense last week. The friction became unbearable at that point, so this is where they find themselves. Chaos is no stranger to the city of Cleveland, so whoever the next coach is will have his work cut out for him.

Jameis Winston is bad. In more ways than one. I thought he may be done during the preseason due to his off the field issues, but he served his three game suspension and won his starting job back. Since then, he has thrown ten picks. He is tied for most in the league despite playing three less games. He threw two picks in each of his previous three starts. He got benched for Ryan Fitzpatrick Sunday after throwing 4 more, and he could possibly be done. Fitzpatrick played very well for the rest of the game, and Tampa scored 18 unanswered points to it. Tampa announced Fitzy will start the next game, but what does the future hold? Winston was a first overall pick and supposed to be the starter for years to come. Moving on from him will been a huge admission of failure, but it seems they don’t have a choice. Keep in mind, many wanted him gone for reasons other than his play.

New York football fans are a depressed bunch this year. The Giants are 1-7, and they may finally be forced to bench Eli Manning. He has struggled all year, and his performance Sunday was particularly bad. He was 30-47 for 316 yards with a touchdown and two picks, most of which came in garbage time. More importantly, he was 2 of 14 on third down, and 1 for 4 in the red zone. The Giants offense has been allergic to the end zone, and Eli is the guy running the show. A full-fledged rebuild may be around the corner for Big Blue. They traded Snacks Harrison and Eli Apple, and they’re apparently shopping OBJ, Landon Collins, and Janoris Jenkins. The thing is, this rebuild could have started earlier. The Giants had high hopes for this season, despite winning three games last year. They convinced themselves they could turn things around quickly, and that Eli was still a star. Both are severely untrue, so hitting the reset button looks like their only option. Maybe they will take finding their QB of the future seriously now. The Jets played the Bears minus Khalil Mack this week, and their offense was straight abysmal. They only produced 207 total yards, they were three of 14 on third down, and had six three and outs. The running game averaged 1.8 yards per carry, and the receivers could not get open at all. They also had several drives stifled by false start penalties, of which they had five. Sam Darnold has clear ability, but the situation around him is hindering his growth. HC Todd Bowles is on the hot seat most likely, considering that young offensive coaches are the trend now. Especially considering that Darnold’s development it the number one priority for the organization. I doubt anything will happen midseason, but it would be shocking if Bowles is back next year.