Plus, Joe Burrow carries the Bengals to the day’s biggest upset, Tua’s debut, the Rams’ dud in Miami, the AFC East becomes a two-team race (and the Patriots aren’t one of them), and much more.
Reacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Week 8 Sunday afternoon games...
Things That Made Me Giddy
Steelers Survive Another Classic With Baltimore: A week ago in Nashville, the Steelers were much more dominant than the final score indicated. This week, the Ravens defense was absolutely taking it to them. Whether you consider it Lamar Jackson making mistakes or the Steelers defense forcing those mistakes (it was a mix, but maybe a bit more of the former), Pittsburgh hung around long enough to figure it out offensively. The Ravens outgained them 457 to 221, but about half of the Steelers’ yardage came on two two long touchdown drives in the final 20 minutes, and situationally they were more than up to the task. The defense held on a fourth-and-3 in the red zone, and Minkah Fitzpatrick played the ball perfectly for the break up on the game’s final snap. These are things that 7-0 teams do.
Because John Harbaugh Was Still Complaining About It an Hour Later: One more look at the complete lack of a penalty on the final play in Baltimore. This is perfectly played and unworthy of even the slightest bit of controversy.
Dalvin Cook Is a One-Man Army: With the wind howling in Green Bay and the Vikings even more reluctant to put the ball in the air (ultimately, 15 dropbacks vs. 49 runs), Cook ended up with 32 touches for 226 yards—many of them after contact—and 4 TDs. If you are going to pay a running back, this is what you want to get from him.
Joe Burrow Doesn’t Need an Offensive Line: The Bengals’ O-line was already one of the NFL’s worst, and on Sunday they were playing four backups—and it showed. But Burrow consistently navigated through the chaos, going 26-for-37 for 249 and not taking a single sack (largely due to his escapability). The numbers weren’t mind-blowing, but this is a game the Bengals had little right being competitive in, let alone winning decisively.
William Jackson Erases A.J. Brown: It took until midway through the third quarter for Brown to register a catch for positive yardage, and the late-game stat-padding wasn’t nearly enough to get the Titans back in the game. Jackson continues to be one of the most underrated players in the NFL (and if you’re belatedly wondering why the Bengals defense looked so bad in blowing it to the Browns last week, Jackson’s absence was a big reason.)
Josh Jacobs Is a Mudder: The Raiders’ rushing attack hasn’t been quite what they wanted it to be through six games, but on Sunday, on an icy, muddy track in Cleveland, they rode it to victory. Jacobs had 31 carries for 128, and as a team Vegas rushed 45 times for 208, controlling the clock for nearly 38 minutes and winning ugly. They're 4-3 with four very winnable games among the next five on their schedule.
The Mighty Right Hand of Justin Zimmer: The recent practice-squad call-up DT (and one-time Montreal Alouette) sealed the win in Buffalo with the strip of Cam Newton—the Patriots were in range for a game-tying field goal, and maybe on their way to a game-winning touchdown. It’s just another reminder that only the great ones wear No. 61.
The Colts Win Their Way: Conservative offense, situational football and opportunistic defense. It never felt like they were gaining separation in Detroit, but the offense kept the ball for nearly 38 minutes, opened a lead and the defense got two late takeaways. That's how Indy cruised to a 20-point victory.
Le’Veon Bell Revenge Game: Yes! Taking it to the team that awarded him $27 million guaranteed when the market wasn’t there and recently released him so he could sign with the reigning Super Bowl champions. (Six carries for seven yards, three catches for 31, by the way.)
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Regrets
Lamar Jackson Takes a Step Back: The Steelers will make a lot of quarterbacks look bad, but Jackson was downright sloppy on Sunday, reckless with the ball on a day when the Ravens defense was making his job easy. He was responsible for putting Pittsburgh’s first 14 points on the board, unacceptable against a quality opponent and turning what should have been a double-digit win into a loss.
Lamar Disregarding Game Situation: He had already thrown a pick-six and another near-interception at the end of the first half at this point. But this interception, on the Ravens’ first play from scrimmage in the second half, was unforgivable. Baltimore was up 10, their defense was in complete control and it was first-and-10, so there’s no reason to put the ball in danger. But this is beyond “in danger”—everyone has eyes on him, this ball isn't going to get there. And if that’s not enough, it was also very reminiscent of an ugly pick Jackson threw in Pittsburgh last season.
Rams Get ALL the Mistakes Out of Their System: How they ended up having to travel three time zones on a short week is something for Howard Katz and his team of schedule-makers to answer at a Congressional hearing, but the otherwise efficient Rams managed to cram four turnovers and allow a punt return TD into the game’s first 30 minutes at Miami.
Bills Run Defense Is an Issue: Facing a Patriots offense with no real threat in the passing game—New England was overly conservative in passing situations on Sunday, understandable considering the past two weeks—the Bills still got gashed by the ground game. New England ran it 34 times for 188 yards, and you had the feeling that if not for Justin Zimmer stripping Newton deep in Buffalo territory on the final drive, the shorthanded Patriots were going to steal one in Orchard Park.
Matt Judon’s Accidental Right Hook: Connects with the official’s forearm—the most fragile part of the human body—and earns him a first-half ejection.
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
Who’s Tripping Down the Streets of the City / Smiling at Everybody She Sees / Who’s Reaching Out to Capture a Moment: Everyone knows it's Windy.
Mahomes Perfects the Underhand Flip: Someone’s putting those Tom Emanski tapes to good use.
T.J. Watt Becomes the New ‘Why Not Both?’ Meme: His responsibility is the back here, but he still swallows up the most dangerous running QB the league has ever seen. Sorry, little girl from taco commercial.
Nyheim Hines’s Celebration: The competition committee should really consider adding a seventh point for a touchdown if you do this immediately afterward…
Tua’s First Drop-Back: Yeah, those NFL pockets are a little tighter than the ones at Tuscaloosa.
It Got Better Though!: This is an accurate throw and an absurd catch by DeVante Parker through the pass interference for Tua’s first NFL touchdown pass.
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
Patriots Played Their Game and It Wasn’t Enough: They ran it and controlled the clock on offense, and limited big plays on defense. The lack of a passing offense (along with Cam Newton’s struggles, they had no Julian Edelman or N’Keal Harry in Buffalo) and struggles of their run defense were there again. Sitting at 2-5, if they have a chance to sell at the deadline they might as well do it.
It’s Bills vs. Dolphins in the AFC East: Buffalo has a game-and-a-half lead and got to four wins within the division with the victory over the Patriots at home, but still have to go to Foxboro and host Miami. And with the Bills’ schedule getting rough over the next month, it might be Week 17, when the Dolphins go to Orchard Park, that decides it.
Tua’s First Test: Incomplete: I know, “incomplete” is a class grade not a grade on an individual exam. The point is, with a first half featuring four defensive takeaways and a Jakeem Grant punt-return TD, there wasn’t much for Tua to do in his first start. The limited sample size showed an accurate passer on the short and intermediate levels, and a guy who will have to get used to managing tight NFL pockets after playing in some wide-open spaces at the college level. At the moment, his career trajectory ranges from surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer to all-time draft bust.
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