Thirty-three things we learned from Week 8

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Thirty-three things we learned from Week 8 Published: Oct 30, 2016 at 01:44 PM *These are the ties that bind us to football. For the second week in a row, we saw a draw -- this time in England! After tying the ' TD record, broke it on Sunday with his 69th touchdown grab. The and Bucs were heading toward a scorele s overtime period before pulled off some "Black Jack" magic. Here's what we've learned so far: * The Bengals- game could have been over several times if it weren't for a mi sed extra point by Cincinnati kicker earlier in the game or a hooked game-winning attempt in overtime by kicker . It will be interesting to see if there were any hot takes about field conditions at Wembley Stadium. Otherwise, an eight-hour flight home is a long time to contemplate a mi sed kick from 33 or 34 yards out. In 's true season debut, we saw glimpses of the oft-dominant offense that helped the win the division a year ago. Eifert finished with nine catches for 102 yards and a beautiful, leaping 15-yard grab in the red zone. Cincinnati was bottoming out near the goal line this season but now has a ma sive target for opposing defenses to consider. Arrivals like this also sometimes break up the coordinator equivalent to writer's block, as evidenced by a slick QB bootleg drawn up by Ken Zampese in the third quarter. was a definite upgrade at cornerback for this defense, and while 's numbers suggest otherwise -- nine catches for 121 yards -- it was stunning to see how hard Cincinnati had to work to get Green the ball when Norman was in coverage. The corner was on and off the field Sunday with a few minor injury scares and in those brief moments, would not look anywhere else. Norman was over-aggre sive at times -- three of the five penalties called on him were accepted -- but his positioning and instincts were phenomenal. The Fox broadcasting team called it a poor game because he "dropped" a pair of interceptions, but the truth was that only a few corners could have gotten to those balls in the first place. The won this game before halftime, just like in last season's NFC Championship. The beleaguered defense was the key, led by nose tackle 's three sacks and three tackles for lo s. They pre sured and confused consistently, sacking him eight times. They held the to three first downs and a lost fumble on Arizona's first five drives. By then, it was 24-0. The stats (14-for-27, 212 yards pa sing) don't show it, but delivered an MVP performance. Carolina featured Newton as a runner early and the return of (117 yards from scrimamge, 2 TDs) had Carolina's multifaceted running game humming again. Cam completed some difficult dimes to set the tone, including some throws on third-and-long. The have been one of the least effective teams throwing deep in football, and didn't have a completion over 20 yards all afternoon. On a day where the loaded up to stop (10 carries for 24 yards), Palmer was unable to make them pay. At 3-4-1, Arizona is struggling to transition to a defense-led squad. should have had a fifth touchdown pa s, but a wide open dropped a pa s on the doorstep of the end zone in the middle of the fourth quarter. Even with four games lost to suspension, Brady is going force his way into the MVP discu sion by outplaying every other quarterback in the league -- with room to spare. He's on pace for the greatest age-39 season in NFL history, leading coach Rex Ryan to concede at midweek, "I don' Brian Dawkins Jersey t know if I've ever seen him better." Through four games, Brady is completing 73.1 percent of his pa ses at 9.84 yards per attempt for a cool 133.9 pa ser rating -- career-best marks acro s the board. and are Buffalo's franchise players. When they are both mi sing from the lineup, simply doesn't have the firepower to keep up with Brady's full arsenal. It didn't help that Taylor was off target most of the afternoon, turning in his worst pa sing performance of the season. With McCoy and NFL sack leader each nursing hamstring injuries leading up to next week's tough matchup at Seattle, the are in danger of falling below .500 in a tight AFC wild-card race. Gronkowski scored his 69th career touchdown on a perfectly-placed Brady pa s, breaking Stanley Morgan's long-standing franchise record. Six and a half seasons into a mold-breaking career, Gronkowski already ranks third behind only Tony Gonzalez (111) and (106) for touchdowns among tight ends. Leading the NFL in yards per reception this season, the perennial All Pro is playing better than ever. He's averaging 118.3 yards over the past four weeks -- the most productive month-long stretch of his career. earned the win, but his performance won't quell fans nerves about the quarterback. Osweiler was merely adequate against a bad defense mi sing its best defensive tackle, best linebacker and top cornerback. Credit the quarterback for picking on a crummy linebacker unit that can't cover. Brock still doesn't stretch the field, throws disgusting deep pa ses -- one deep shot landing miles out of bounds -- and is scatterbrained in the pocket when his first read is taken away. Even when was targeted, the star receiver had to make ridiculous catches just to earn 44 yards on four receptions. The took advantage of their tight ends early against linebackers that couldn't stop early. Houston's trio of tight ends compiled 10 receptions for 94 yards in the first half. Detroit adjusted in the second half shutting down the middle of the field as the offense sputtered until late. turned mortal this week, unable to pull off another come-from-behind victory. The quarterback couldn't connect down the field all game. Credit Houston's corners and for sticky coverage, especially on . Stafford was relegated to short to ses and check downs most of the afternoon, compiling just 240 yards on 41 attempts (5.9 average). Outside of the return of (7 receptions for 79 yards on 10 targets) and , Detroit was shut down. Stafford had been precise all season on intermediate and sideline throws, but we didn't see the same accuracy or urgency from the offense Sunday. *-- Kevin Patra * The discrepancy between penalties called was eye-opening in this game. Perhaps you could rationalize it by saying that the play an aggre sive style of pa s defense and e sentially gamble that the referees will not throw a flag on every play. Sometimes, the calls simply catch up. But the were clipped for 11 penalties for a total of 76 yards while the were hit with just two for a total of 10 yards. The physical play in both secondaries led me to believe that those numbers should have been evened out a bit. By my count, four of the 11 calls on Seattle were of the pa s interference, defensive holding or illegal hand usage variety. Good for New Orleans. This team seems like a powder keg in the best po sible way. The combination of and that receiving corps is still tantalizing but something is always holding them back. Sunday was not the a sertive offensive explosion we were looking for, but it was a physical and efficient performance. The agele s went for 102 yards (nearly four per carry) while Brees spread the ball around nicely -- six players had two or more catches and two had six catches each. Credit Seattle for this: The middle of their defense is absolutely terrifying. I counted five straight handoffs over two goal line po se sions to Hightower where the play was shut down without a score. had to go over the top for one score and had to dial up a pick play slant for another. The teeth of this unit is built to thrive in November and December, so don't count them out by any stretch. No , no , no , no , no -- no problem for Green Bay's offense. This game featured vintage , to sing four touchdown pa ses and adding a career-high 60 yards on the ground -- his finest overall performance since September of 2015. Rodgers kept plays alive with his legs and consistently hit throws that he had been mi sing too often this season. He also caught defensive end nonchalantly walking off the field, granting Green Bay a key first down on a 12-men penalty while saving from a brain cramp on a failed third-down conversion in the red zone. Rodgers lacks a running game and a reliable downfield element in his aerial attack, but the arrow is finally pointing up again. Over his past six quarters going back to last week, he has completed 48 of 64 pa ses (74 percent) for 422 yards, seven touchdowns and a 128.5 pa ser rating. has been one of the league's most succe sful comeback artists since entering the NFL in 2008. With hobbled by a tender ankle and drawing extra coverage, Ryan and Sanu made magic on the game-winning, 11-play touchdown drive to answer Rodgers' 13-play scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. A strong MVP candidate, Ryan has completed 69.2 percent of his pa ses at 9.5 yards per attempt for a lofty 115.8 pa ser rating at the season's midpoint. He's on pace to set career highs acro s the board. Jones' red-zone drop on Atlanta's final drive was his lone target of the second half after he twisted his ankle in the second Zach Brown Jersey quarter. The had just three second-half po se sions: the game-winner, a three-and-out and a run-heavy drive that lasted nearly eight minutes. It's tough to tell just how much Jones' injury limited his production. *-- Chris We seling * Plenty changes from one football season to the next, but not in Denver, where the -- like last year -- will go just as far as their defense takes them. The unit did the trick on Sunday, snuffing out a pair of late-fourth-quarter drives by the to preserve the win. Along the way, Denver sacked four times, registered 13 quarterback hits and hara sed the San Diego signal-caller with three interceptions -- including a game-changing pick six. After a long touchdown march to open the game, the went eight true po se sions -- punt, punt, punt, pick six, punt, mi sed field goal, interception, interception -- before Rivers engineered a pair of second-half touchdown drives. With their defense creating turnovers and chaos, Denver's offense did just enough to seal the win. directed scoring drives in all four quarters, but the certainly mi sed . With its starting running back sidelined, Denver struggled for just 58 yards rushing, allowing San Diego's front seven to batter Siemian for one sack, eight quarterback hits, a crushing strip sack by and a fourth-quarter pick-six. Denver finished just 5-of-15 on third down at a measly 5.1 yards per play. Rookie back was bottled up for three quarters before churning out key yardage on a critical fourth-quarter touchdown drive. After rumbling for 190 yards in Week 7, though, the have work to do on the ground with four road games over their next five tilts. It's masked in the lo s, but running back delivered a fine performance on Sunday with 111 yards at 4.8 yards per pop -- becoming the first back in 22 games to cro s the 100-yard barrier against the . *-- Marc Se sler * was a raging me s out of the gate, throwing for just 30 first-half yards against a defense that allowed an outrageous 559 total yards last week to the . The Amish Rifle gained steam from there, guiding New York to 24 unanswered points in the second half. Fitzpatrick -- 16 of 34 for 228 yards -- kicked off the onslaught with a third-quarter rope to wideout , who broke three tackles en route to a 24-yard score. Enunwa fried the on the following drive, too, with a pretty 57-yard grab that set up 's go-ahead touchdown run. Forte scored again on the following series to bury the for good. While Fitzpatrick remains a week-to-week proposition, he did enough on Sunday to keep the on life support. With strong-armed at the helm, coach Hue Jackson leaned hard on the vertical pa sing game, throwing the ball 20 times over Cleveland's first 25 plays to help forge a 20-7 lead at the half. McCown picked up where he left off in Week 2, ripping through New York's secondary for completions of 35, 32, 32, 24, 18, 17 and 15 yards. The offense vanished in the second half, though Mike Quick Jersey , with two straight punts before McCown -- 25 of 49 for 341 yards and two scores -- to sed back-to-back fourth-quarter picks to refocus Cleveland's attention on what really matters today: the Indians. Anyone still doubting isn't watching him play. The ma sive-bodied receiver piled up 101 yards playing primarily against . The cornerback found out what NFL defenses have discovered week after week: Pryor makes plays no matter who he faces. The quarterback-turned-wideout cro sed the 100-yard barrier with three-plus minutes left in the first half, but disappeared along with the rest of Cleveland's offense down the stretch. While elements of his game still require refinement, Pryor's performance won't stop the questions around the spotty play of Revis. Trusting his offensive line when it mattered most, coach Jason Garrett went for it on fourth-and-1 in Philadelphia's territory on the first drive of overtime. ran a succe sful sneak play and extended what would amount to Dallas' game-winning drive. Four plays after, Prescott atoned for earlier red zone errors (0 of 5 and one terrible interception) and found tight end wide open in the end zone for the comeback victory. Dak also guaranteed himself a start next week against the Browns; owner Jerry Jones said after the game that Romo still isn't ready to play, per NFL Network's Jane Slater. One week after the most unsettled performance of his rookie season, delivered an efficient outing in his first intradivision prime-time game. Using mostly short to intermediate slant routes, Wentz carved up the Dallas defense with 74-percent pa sing for 202 yards -- his completion rate would have been higher if it weren't for the wideouts' fascination with dropping pa ses. The rookie made much better decisions than he did against the last week, spreading the ball out to nine different receivers and being uber-deliberate, nearly to a fault in his progre sions so as not to to s any gimmies to the ' secondary. With slated to return from injury in the coming weeks, Prescott had an opportunity to seize the starting role from his predece sor before he returns to full health. The reviews from Sunday night? Meh. For the majority of the game, Dak (19 of 39, 287 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) was off on pa ses inside the pocket, mi sing wide open receivers like in the flat and throwing ill-advised balls against the ' swarming cornerbacks. A lot can and should be said of Dak's ability to lead two 10-plus-play scoring drives in the fourth quarter and overtime, but the devil's in the details. Despite the ' expanded lead atop the NFC East and Romo's continuing injury i sues, Dallas should continue to tread lightly with anointing the rookie. Black Jack Del Rio saved us all from experiencing the third tie game in a week. With le s than two minutes left in overtime against the , the faced a fourth-and-4 from near midfield. Rather than punt and basically hope for a tie, Del Rio went for it. Oakland didn't just get a first down -- instead, hit over the middle, who then broke a tackle to streak his way to the game-winning touchdown. The entered Sunday's game leading the league in penalties. They followed that up by setting a single-game record with 23. They gave the chance after chance, often giving Tampa Bay new life. One Bucs drive was extended four times by penalties -- three of them came on third down. They went on to take a 24-17 lead on that drive on a one-yard run with 4:45 left to play. This game proved Tampa Bay still has ways to go. The Bucs (now 0-3 at home this season) should have found a way to get a win when the opponent kept shooting itself in the foot. How were the able to overcome all the miscues and lack of discipline? Simple: franchise quarterback . The third-year signal-caller set a record by throwing for 513 pa sing yards -- and that's negating at least 100 more that were lost due to penalty. Carr stayed composed even when the rest of his team kept blowing up. He threw four touchdowns and did what elite quarterbacks do -- beat average or worse teams when everyone around you plays down to their level. In a year when there isn't quite an easy MVP pick, Carr should definitely be in the discu sion. The are 5-0 on the road this season, an incredible feat considering where this team was when they drafted him two years ago. Whether it was or , the repeatedly found ways to extend drives deep into territory. Smith was efficient as usual but not as effective at sliding, twice being knocked out of the game after getting hit while attempting to give himself up. Foles stepped in and proved why his joining Kansas City in the preseason made sense. He looked familiar with and comfortable in the ' offense, completing 16 of 22 pa ses for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Kansas City didn't mi s a beat. The took a 10-point lead and managed to sit on it for much of the game by answering each rebuttal with one of their own. The advantage required Foles to go 80 yards on six plays, including a big connection with -- with whom Foles established a rapport that went back to their preseason action -- and ended with a touchdown run by . Kansas City experienced some lulls in the second half, but kept rolling later even without Ware, who left with a concu sion. When the looked poised to make the game tighter, they repeatedly failed to follow through. Indianapolis struggled against the pa s rush, allowing Luck to get sacked six times. When it came to third-and-long situations, Luck frequently pulled the ball down to escape the pocket, resulting in scrambles that came up short. The pre sure showed even more when, late in the first half, Luck fired a ball in the general direction of no one specific (the box score listed as the intended receiver), which ended up in the hands of , who caught the ball while falling down. It was that inaccurate, and indicative of a day on which the frequently couldn't get out of their own way. *-- Nick Shook * This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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