Pigskin Preview: National Football League Week 8

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It’s the Pigskin Preview and Week 7 was another great week in the National Football League. A slate filled with competitive games, upsets, a few shutouts, and dominant performances by teams across the league. The week started off with a thriller of a Thursday Night game when Derek Carr led the Oakland Raiders to a miraculous 4th quarter comeback against the Kansas City Chiefs, finding Michael Crabtree in the corner of the end zone as time expired for the win 31-30. Carr got his favorite target Amari Cooper back into the offense after having a slow start to the season as Cooper caught 11 passes for two touchdowns, and 211 of Derek Carr’s total yards for the game. The Chiefs busted out of the gates red hot and started off the season 5-0 and after dropping consecutive games in a span of four days, the Chiefs aren’t hitting the panic button. A mini-bye with 11 days off couldn’t have come at a better time. They have the opportunity to regroup with a tough divisional match up with the Broncos who are desperate for a win, coming up on Monday Night.

Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers rolled into Chicago to face the Bears well rested after playing on Thursday night the week prior in a loss to the Eagles and were looking for a big bounce-back game. The Panthers were not expecting the dominant performance we saw from the Bears defense, which forced three turnovers of Newton and also sacked him five times. The Bears 4th round pick from Alabama, Eddie Jackson, was the only source of offense in the game scoring two TDs on a 75-yard fumble recovery and run due to a mishandled pitch from Cam Newton. He also had a 76-yard interception for a touchdown. Despite only four completions from Mitch Trubisky, the Bears found a way to hold off and defeat their opponent once again, thanks to points from their defense.

The AFC East just continues to win and impress, and as we stand right now, there are four teams 4-2 in the division (Patriots, Bills, and Dolphins) would all hold playoff berths at this moment. The Dolphins found a way to avenge their Week 3 loss to the Jets. After being down 28-14 in the 4th, Matt Moore led the Dolphins to 17 straight unanswered points after Cutler went down with cracked ribs. Moore hit receiver Kenny Stills for 2 TDs in the 4th, and then Bobby McCain picked off Josh McCown with only 39 seconds left to set up the game-winning 39-yard field by Cody Parkey to move the Dolphins to 4-2.

The Buffalo Bills were host to Jameis Winston and the high powered offense of the Tampa Bay Bucs. In a game that was relatively low scoring before the 4th quarter started, saw an outbreak of 27 points in the final quarter. There were two lead changes and a GW FG with little time on the clock. The Bills entered the 4th leading 20-13 before two consecutive TD drives that ended in passes to O.J. Howard and Mike Evans gave the Bucs a 27-20 lead with 3:14 reaming. The Bills responded by going on a 75-yard drive in just three plays and :46 seconds. After the Bucs got the ball back, Winston hit wideout Adam Humphries over the middle for eight yards, before he was stripped by Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White. It set up the GW 30-yard FG for Hauschka for the 30-27 victory. The Bills were lead by two TDs and 122 all-purpose yards from LeSean McCoy, and a great game from Tyrod Taylor who took care of the football. He threw for 268 yards and TD, as well as running for 53 on the ground.

Then the New England Patriots had a dominating performance over the Atlanta Falcons in the highly anticipated Super Bowl rematch on Sunday Night Football where the Pats cruised to 23-7 victory. The Patriots weren’t letting the Falcons get anything going on the offensive side of the ball, and held them scoreless until a late 4th quarter TD from Julio Jones. The Pats went with their classic running back by committee approach totaling 162 rushing yards for the game, led by Dion Lewis with 76 on 13 attempts. Brady was in usual form throwing at high completion rate going 21/29 for 249 yards and two TDs. The Patriots defense didn’t allow 300 yards to the opposing quarterback for the first time all season, in an effort that was probably the best we’ve seen from the defending champs up to this point in the season.

It was an ugly week for a few teams that couldn’t even muster up a point as we saw three games end in a shutout. First, in London, the Arizona Cardinals were hoping to have found their stride again. They were looking for a win to put them in the thick of the division race after the breakout performance for Adrian Peterson who had 134 rushing yards and two TDs in his debut with the team. Well, the Rams had other plans as they held Peterson to only 21 yards on the ground, and also injured QB Carson Palmer (broken arm) forcing them to rely on backup Drew Stanton who was only 5/14 for 62 yards with an interception. Todd Gurley led the way for the Rams in their 33-0 victory to move to 5-2 thanks to his 154 all-purpose yards and TD on the ground.

Then it was the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive dominance that as a team totaled 10 sacks in a game for the 2nd time this season. They made it impossible for Jacoby Brissett and the Colts to do anything offensively. With no Lennord Fournette in this game, Jags QB Blake Bortles stepped up and threw for 330 yards, no turnovers, and a touchdown. T.J. Yeldon filled the void at RB with 122 rushing yards including a 58-yard TD run.

Then finally in Los Angeles, the Chargers held the Broncos to just over 250 total yards offense, forced three turnovers and shut the Broncos out in a dominating victory over their divisional foe 21-0.

On Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles and Carson Wentz made a statement that is loud and clear to everybody. They’re legit contenders in the NFC and for the Superbowl. The Eagles won 34-24 in a game they controlled most of the 2nd half thanks to the play of Wentz who had 268 yards passing (63 rushing) and four passing touchdowns. It included two momentum-changing plays on the 64-yard bomb to Mack Hollins and the incredible nine-yard TD pass to Corey Clement in the corner of the end zone. The Eagles were able to hold the Skins in check on the ground and were able to force a big turnover on Cousins with an Interception from Corey Graham. The Eagles move to 6-1 and take a dominating lead on everyone in the NFC East and look as if they could be the best the league has to offer.

Other games from Week 7 saw Zeke and the Cowboys dominate the Niners in Santa Clara 40-10, and LeVeon Bell’s 135 rushing yards led the way against the Bengals 24-19. The Seahawks handled the G-Men 24-7 in New York, the Vikes move to 4-2 after a win at home 24-16 over the Ravens, and the Titans sneaked by the Browns in OT to give the Niners company at 0-7.

Most intriguing games for Week 8

Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Redskins – A matchup between two NFC East rivals that come into this game with a 3-3 record, both desperate for a win, trying to keep pace with the 6-1 Eagles. They are also trying to stay alive in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. Coming into the game the Cowboys have the benefit of the Bye Week after losing a heartbreaker thanks to Aaron Rodgers in Dallas. The Cowboys came out fresh in Santa Clara looking to whoop up on a bad 0-6 Niners team, and that’s exactly what they did winning 40-10. The Cowboys were led by running back Ezekiel Elliott who had 147 yards rushing two TDs and a 72-yard TD catch from Dak Prescott. Dak also shined in the blowout going 16-25 for 234 and three TDs through the air, and 26 yards and a score on the ground. The Cowboys defense was ruthless in this game forcing three turnovers, and forcing five sacks on rookie QB C.J. Beathard. The Cowboys come into this game looking red hot offensively, scoring over 30 points in three straight contests and are facing a banged up, but solid defense in the Washington Redskins.

In the Monday Night loss to the Eagles, the Redskins were without star CB Josh Norman due to a rib injury, but Head Coach Jay Gruden said he expects Norman to practice this week, and is hoping he will be ready to go on Sunday versus the Cowboys. Without Norman, the Redskins secondary was sort of exposed, as Carson Wentz threw for four touchdowns. So it will be very interesting to see the matchup between Norman and WR Dez Bryant on Sunday, perhaps with Norman not at 100%. Another noteworthy player for the Redskins defense who might have been the lone bright spot defensively, and that is LB Zach Brown, who led the team with 10 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. Brown will be the main contributor in trying to slow down the Cowboys running attack with Zeke Elliot, which thanks to the addition of Brown this offseason has led the skins to ninth in rushing only allowing 94.5 a game.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Skins are led by their sixth-year quarterback Kirk Cousins, who in just six games has thrown for over 1600 yards 107.2 passer rating and TD-INT ratio of 12-3. Cousins has been the spark for the Redskins offense this season, taking care of the football and hitting a variety of targets, and still putting up yards and scoring points even though he lost two 1000-yard receivers from a season ago. Cousins will be hoping to have a run game next week because against Philly the leading rusher was Chris Thompson with only 38 yards and starter Rob Kelley with 16 yards on seven carries. It is vital for the Skins to be able to run the ball and control time of possession against this Dallas team, so it’ll open up the play action and receiving threats like Jordan Reed and Josh Doctson. I think this will be a close, highly competitive, high scoring game which both teams need to win keep their chances alive in the NFC East.

Houston Texans @ Seattle Seahawks- One of the more intriguing games and matchups of the week is the Texans and Deshaun Watson visiting the Seahawks unbelievable secondary led by Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, and Richard Sherman. The Texans come into this game 3-3 but have been very impressive lately thanks to the play of the rookie quarterback from Clemson. He has led the Texans to over 30 points in four straight games including scoring 57 on the Titans. Watson has been efficient passing utilizing his legs to escape pressure, and most importantly he is taking care of the football and limiting his turnovers. He has thrown for 15 touchdowns compared to only five interceptions and has thrown for nearly 1300 yards, and another 200 rushing with two more TDs on the ground.

The Texans had a bye following their Week 6 win over the Browns, 33-17. The Seahawks are coming off a solid victory over the New York Giants on the road, winning 24-7 thanks to two 4th quarter Russell Wilson touchdown passes to Paul Richardson and Jimmy Graham to put the game out of reach. The Seahawks held Giants rushers to only 46 total yards on the ground and held Eli Manning to only 134 passing yards. Russell Wilson looked in typical form throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns, finding leading target Doug Baldwin nine times for 92 yards and a touchdown. The Seahawks are hoping their defense can bring pressure to Watson, and force mistakes from the rookie, while the Seahawks veteran QB tries to overcome a good Texans pass rush. I think this will be a great game between two incredible dual-threat quarterbacks with the winner based on who outplays the other.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Detroit Lions- Coming into this Sunday Night Football matchup, the Detroit Lions come off a bye week after being embarrassed by the Saints 52-38 the week prior. The Lions started off to a red-hot start of 3-1 and could have been 4-0 if it wasn’t for the controversial ending to the Falcons game. But losers of two straight after back to back poor performances from their defense has led them to 3-3 and a tough game against the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Lions are middle of the pack in a passing offense ranked 19th and only 27th on the ground. The Lions will try to control the game and time of possession. They are facing a team that is very similar in a sense, it will be a major key for the Lions to get their running backs involved.

The Lions often have to rely on Quarterback Matt Stafford to bail them out of games. Against New Orleans, he had no opportunity because of the inability of the defense to stop the run. They gave up 114 yards and two TDs to Mark Ing m, and another 75 on the ground to Alvin Kamara. This has to be worrisome for the Lions when facing LeVeon Bell who has been running like himself again the past two weeks, getting over 30 carriers in both games rushing for 179 against the Chiefs, and 134 against the Bengals.

The Steelers have gone back their bread and butter of Bell and Antonio Brown following an embarrassing loss to Jags in which Big Ben threw five interceptions. Since that game, we’ve seen a total of 67 carriers for 313 yards, and Antiono Brown has had 12 catches for 220 yards and two TDs the past two weeks. The Steelers defense has really stepped up lately as well. This a tough match up for the Lions, but if they can contain Bell and protect the football, it could potentially be an upset brewing on Monday Night!