Overreactions, Exaggerations & Just The Plain Out Truth – Week 8
Nov 3, 2021, 9:21 AM | Updated: 9:21 am
(Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
Another week in the books–Week 8–which means the NFL regular season is officially half way over. With every week comes more clarity and confusion. Week 8 was no different.
Overreactions
Cincinnati Bengals: There comes a time at the end of every season where teams and fans point back to a play, a call, a loss and wonder if that was the back breaking blow that maybe could of changed the fortune of that organizations run towards the post season; you can believe the Bengals and their fans will definitely regret this week’s loss. The Bengals after an impressive victory in Baltimore in week seven absolutely gave every inch of their momentum right back with the loss to the New York Jets this week.
To make matters even worse they lost to a Jets team who was lead by first time starter Mike White. White threw for 3 touchdowns and 400 yards against a Bengals defense who just held former MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to 17 points. Even with the win last week and a pretty average schedule the rest of the way for the Bengals something tells me, that loss will be remembered come December… Stay tuned.
Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins: I sure hate to sound like a broken record but once again the Vikings underwhelmed, as did their quarterback. The Vikings found themselves in a very opportunistic situation this week facing a Dallas Cowboys squad who was without their leader and quarterback Dak Prescott due to injury(calf strain) and they dropped the ball. Not only did they lose to the Cowboys, they loss to them at home.
The icing on the cake has to be Cooper Rush who filled in for Dak Prescott outplaying and outperforming Kirk Cousins in just about every statistic that counts. Rush had more passing yards, 325 to 184, more passing touchdowns, throwing 2 to Cousins 1, had a better passer rating 92.2 to 88.3 and registered a higher QBR finishing with 44.7 to Cousins 36.5 performance.
The only reason Minnesota hasn’t landed in my “Teams Missing the Playoffs” section yet is because of the new extra wild card slot. Technically they are mathematically in the race but in my mind, they might as well begin to make early offseason plans.
Jimmy Garoppolo Fired Up: If you didn’t see any minute of the Chicago Bears take on the San Francisco 49ers Sunday you missed a fired up “Jimmy G”. Garoppolo showed a ton of spirit, emotion and seemed to play with passion more then I’ve ever seen him before.
He led his team to a 33-22 victory and played his best game of the season. If the 49ers QB is going to play like that for the rest of the season, the 49ers just might have a chance to make the playoffs.
Exaggerations
Stephen Gilmore Will make a difference for the Panthers: It wasn’t just a surprise when the New England Patriots chose to put Gilmore on the trading block, it was a surprise when the only reported team who chose to jump in front of Gilmore’s release was the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers who decided to trade for Gilmore rather than sit back and play the waiting game saw a quick return on their investment Sunday when Gilmore sealed the deal with an interception to win the game versus the Atlanta Falcons in his first game as a Panther.
Furthermore, Gilmores real asset was him covering the Falcons young tight end Kyle Pitts for most of the day when called upon and shutting the young phenom down.
When it was first announced Gilmore was on the move, numerous teams were in play for the veteran but everyone seemed to want to take their chance and let the situation play out in Boston while the Panthers were pro active. The move is already paying dividends and I suspect it may continue in that direction.
The AFC South & NFC North divisions are wrapped up: The race for the NFC East division crown was over by week four of the season in my mind(and just about everyone else’s), the Cowboys all but wrapped that up.
With the league reaching the perennial half way mark after this past week’s action, the winners of the AFC South and NFC North divisions all are but wrapped up all be it not mathematically but it’s over in my mind. The Tennessee Titans beat the Indianapolis Colts in overtime, sweeping the season series.
That gives the Titans a three game lead over the Colts and even with Derrick Henry out for the rest of the season, I don’t see how they overcome three games. In the NFC North division the Packers have a commanding three game lead as well over the Vikings, that party is over with. Crown the Titans and Packers division champs now.
Off the Field NFL News being talked about more then on the field action: The ending of week 8 in the NFL means trade deadline and even though most years in the NFL the trade deadline is pretty quiet, this year we saw one of the greatest players ever move teams with the trade of Von Miller from the Broncos to the Los Angeles Rams.
On top of that, the Las Vegas Raiders have been in the news for numerous non football related stories including the Jon Gruden resignation over the last few weeks, Colin Kaepernicks Netflix series Colin in Black and White debuted this week, which a lot of football fans are highly interested in, as well as the release of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s salary this past week had people all over social media, radio networks and television stations dropping opinions left and right.
The NFL per usual is the talk of the town but for more reasons off the field than on the field at the moment.
Logan Ryan having the greatest tackling season ever for a Cornerback: The top thirteen league leading tacklers in the NFL are all Linebackers, lead by the familiar face of Seattle Seahawks All Pro Bobby Wagner, which nothing out of the ordinary.
What is a little surprising is, tied for fourteenth with Los Angeles Chargers Safety Derwin James Jr is New York Giants Cornerback Logan Ryan with a total of 63 tackles.
Ryan who has played in all eight of the Giants games not only is among the league leaders but leads his own team in tackles. The Giants have nine games left this season, barring injury Ryan could very well have the greatest season ever for a CB when it comes to tackles. He is on pace to have 126, which would not only shatter Antoine Winfield Sr’s record of 93 tackles for a cornerback but would give him the most tackles ever by a defensive back in a season.
The Truth
Deebo Samuel: With his six catches and 171 yard performance this week, Samuel surpassed Jerry Rice for the most reception yards through the first seven games as a 49er with 819 yards.
Rice held the record with 781 yards in 1986.
Samuel has 44 receptions and 5 touchdowns to go along with those 819 reception yards and has been the main weapon for the 49ers all season. At some point and time he should be mentioned as being one of the best receivers in the league, if not now, then definitely soon.
Derrick Henry Injury: With respect to every player in the league who has missed time this year and who have had injuries, the injury to Derrick Henry can be labeled as different.
Henry is not only an asset to his team but to the entire NFL. Exciting as they come and the best running back in the NFL, his presence for the rest of the year will be missed. He was on pace again for a monster year! In eight games he had 937 rushing yards, almost 400 yards more than the second leading rusher(Nick Chubb), 10 touchdowns and was on pace to have the most rushing attempts ever in a season.
He has been unbelievable and a treat to watch for every NFL fan whose team is playing against him that week.
New York Jets Quarterback stat: I saw a stat this week that blew my mind. Prior to this weeks performance by Jets QB Mike White who threw for 402 yards, the Jets had not had a QB throw for 400 yards in 327 games.
327 games, that’s 20 plus seasons. In a league where Quarterbacks are throwing the ball more than ever, high powered offenses are pushing the records books yearly and we see 400 yard passing games weekly, that is hard to believe. Not once in 20 seasons had a QB on the Jets roster had a great game?
To give you a perception of how regular it’s done, including Mike White’s 400 passing yard game this week, at least one QB has passed for 400 yards or more in every week this season. It’s literally happening every week and the Jets hadn’t had it happen in 327 games, that’s terrible.
Teams Missing the playoffs: Another week in the book and you can add another NFC East team to the “Do Not Pass Go” bracket this week, as they will not be reaching the post season this year.
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