NFL Weekly Round-up – Week 8
Week 8 results
Green Bay Packers 24 – 21 Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams 38 – 22 Houston Texans
Cincinnati Bengals 31 – 34 New York Jets
Tennessee Titans 34 – 31 Indianapolis Colts
Pittsburgh Steelers 15 – 10 Cleveland Browns
Philadelphia Eagles 44 – 6 Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers 33 – 22 Chicago Bears
Carolina Panthers 19 – 13 Atlanta Falcons
Miami Dolphins 11 – 26 Buffalo Bills
New England Patriots 27 – 24 Los Angeles Chargers
Jacksonville Jaguars 7 – 31 Seattle Seahawks
Washington Football Team 10 – 17 Denver Broncos
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 – 36 New Orleans Saints
Dallas Cowboys 20 – 16 Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants 17 – 20 Kansas City Chiefs
Teams on bye week: Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens.
Week 9 Power Rankings Top 5:
1. Green Bay Packers (7-1) – After knocking off the undefeated Cardinals without their top two wide receivers you can’t ignore the grit and determination of a Packers team that will no doubt be making another run at the Lombardi Trophy this year.
2. Los Angeles Rams (7-1) – The rams beat down the Texans so badly that Head Coach Sean McVay benched all his starters at the end of the third quarter when the score was 38-0. Matthew Stafford continues to find Cooper Kupp who is on pace for a record-breaking year and now the Rams have just acquired eight-time pro bowler Von Miller to join a defence that already possesses the likes of Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.
3. Arizona Cardinals (7-1) – The Cardinals would currently be still unbeaten if there wasn’t a lack of communication between quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver A.J Green. Murray threw the ball in the direction of Green who just didn’t turn around to look where the ball was. The worry for the Cardinals now will be that star quarterback Murray left the stadium in a walking boot.
4. Buffalo Bills (5-2) – They had to wait two weeks to do so but the Bills finally got to put their frustrating week six defeat to the Titans behind them. Their defense was back on top against a hapless Dolphins team who has went from play off contender to bottom of the pile in a matter of months. MVP candidate Josh Allen was in fine form once again with 304 total yards and three total touchdowns, the Bills continue to look like the best outfit in the AFC.
5. Dallas Cowboys (6-1) – Dallas improved to six wins on the season, and they had to do it without starting quarterback Dak Prescott who was left out of the game with a calf injury. Cooper Rush was the stand in quarterback and in his first NFL start did a reasonable job of things throwing for 325 yards, two touchdowns and only one interception. The Cowboys will hope to have Dak back in week nine against the Denver Broncos.
Week 8 fantasy player of the week:
Michael Carter (Running Back – New York Jets) – 32.20 points: On Sunday Carter had 77 rush yards, nine receptions, 95 receiving yards and a touchdown. Setting career highs in rushing yards, targets, receptions and receiving yards. The round four draft pick out of North Carolina is starting to see bigger numbers after a slow start to the season, reaching double figures in his last four games on fantasy.
Week 8 offensive player of the week:
A.J Brown (Wide Receiver – Tennessee Titans) – For the second time in two weeks the offensive player of the week goes to a wide receiver from the AFC, on this occasion A.J Brown being the winner here. In his sides game against divisional rivals, the Indianapolis Colts; Brown had 10 receptions on 11 targets, 155 receiving yards and a touchdown. A performance which Brown will be hoping to repeat in week 9, when the Derrick Henry less Titans take on the 7-1 LA Rams.
Week 8 Defensive player of the week:
Adrian Phillips (Safety – New England Patriots) – Phillips had one tackle, two interceptions and a defensive touchdown in a tight game against his former team, the LA Chargers. Phillips spent six years with the Chargers racking up five interceptions, in two years with the Patriots he has the same tally.
Week 8 bust of the week:
Carson Wentz (Quarterback – Indianapolis Colts) – With the scores at 24 a piece late in the fourth quarter of Colts v Titans Wentz had a chance to take his team on a game winning drive needing to get in field goal range with one minute 33 seconds on the clock. On first down Wentz dropped back to throw, standing in his own end-zone Wentz just threw it way to avoid a safety but threw it straight at Titans defender Elijah Molden; who returned it two yards for a touchdown, luckily with 25 seconds left Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was able to equal the scores once again to take the tie to overtime. Deep into overtime where a field goal wins the game Wentz would throw another interception, which effectively ended the game with the Titans scoring a game winning field goal.
Week 9 spotlight: Game of the week-
Green Bay Packers @ Kansas City Chiefs
After an uncharacteristic start to the season Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs got back to winning ways in week 8 against the Giants, improving their record to four and four for the season. Next up comes the much tougher task of the NFC’s number one seed in the Green Bay Packers, the Packers also improved their record last week after a win against the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals, a game which went down to the wire and was sealed by an end-zone interception from Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas. If the Chiefs can overcome reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers, then they will show they are still one of the best in the AFC, if not it could end up being a season to forget for the 2020 Super Bowl winners.
Prediction: Green Bay Packers 28 – 20 Kansas City Chiefs.
