NFL payoff: Week 8 crazy

Dude…

Week 8 is wrapped up and we have just reached the halfway point of our season!! We had some HUGE upsets this week. The Broncos beat the Chiefs for the first time in 8 years. The Panthers finally got their first win. Finally, Joey Ice and the Bengals look back on track after beating the 49ers. Did your team win? Catch the latest from the Dudes and Sports crew!!!

Bucs vs. Bills

Bucs takeaway: Mid team just proved they were mid- Baker Mayfield has proven he belongs in the league. At least as a decent starter. The weapons outside are also lethal. However, they simply can’t get on the same page. Mayfield was just over 50% completion rating. The wide receiver found some space, but not a ton. The defense is like paper trying to start a bulldozer. This team is just going to be average and that’s that.

Bills takeaway: Can they recover?- The Bills found themselves back on track with a win over the Bucs. However, whenever they face a decent team, it seems like they fall apart. Josh Allen does an incredible job using his legs to get out of trouble. He threw for 2 touchdowns and had 325 yards passing. The offense was clicking on all cylinders. They have a tough opponent in the Bengals coming up next week. If they want to have a chance at the convenient title of Super Bowl Champions, they need to learn how to beat good teams.

Broncos vs. Chiefs K-Stelt

Broncos takeaways: A long time coming: I don’t know if this is a heck of a job by the Broncos or a catastrophic failure from the Chiefs. Regardless, the Broncos have broken the 16-year curse of losing to the Chiefs. It came with vigor and vengeance, but it mostly came with the help of the Chiefs giving them multiple good field positions. The defense had a great game plan and it shut the Chiefs down in the RedZone. Russ cooked and the Broncos are riding:

Chief's takeaways: The Swiss Cheese effect: I bet most of you don’t know what that means. But there are small holes in the Chiefs that finally caused the explosion we saw Sunday. Though the cheese was moldy due to Mahomes playing with the flu, here are the issues: The special teams are inconsistent, the wide receivers are inexperienced, and the play calling is in trouble. The special teams drop balls and make silly mistakes on the receiving end. The wide receivers have a lack of talent in getting open and catching balls when Kelce is covered, and the play calls don’t help the wide receivers create in their own ways and keep the majority of the offense in the middle of the field. There were some no-calls that were crucial but that was nowhere close to the reason why the Chiefs let the Broncos ride.

Rams vs. Cowboys (PC)

Rams takeaway: It may not be a playoff year after all- Matthew Stafford has looked very average over these last few weeks. He hasn’t been the same since they won the Super Bowl. With their Pro-Bowl Caliber receiver in Cooper Kupp being back, you would think they would be better. It seems like Kupp and Puka Nacua are almost the exact same and can’t figure out how to complement each other. With no incredible back to push the offense forward, it’s almost like this offense is at a standstill. The Cowboy's defense continues to play lights out, which is the reason this game wasn’t close. However, if the offense can’t figure this out, it’s going to be a LONNNNNGGGG season.

Cowboys takeaway: That defense, WOW- I am a known Dallas Cowboys hater. It’s just a fact. I can’t stand them. However, it’s time to stop hating this defense. After Trevon Diggs went down with a season-ending injury, no one knew who was going to step up for the Cowboys. Enter DaRon Bland. He completed his 3rd pick-six of the season. The defense is flying around and Micah Parsons continues to dominate. I hope the Eagle destroys them next week, but there’s no hating this great defense.

Vikings vs. Packers(PC)

Vikings takeaway: A win but at what cost?- The Minnesota Vikings have been on a roller coaster of a ride this football season. They started out looking terrible as their defense couldn’t stop my 90-year-old grandma from making it into the endzone. Then, when all hope seemed lost, Ice Kirk came back and demonstrated why he’s still a top-10 QB in the league. Then, they lost their star wide receiver, Justin Jefferson for 4 weeks. This week at Green Bay looked like a due-or-die situation for the Vikings. They ended up getting the victory but lost their Iced-out QB in the process with an Achilles tear. Now sitting at 4-4, the Vikings have two options. One, I hope the old Joshua Dobbs from the beginning of the season can show up and show out. Or, tank for a top pick in the draft and draft either Drake Maye, Jordan Travis, or Michael Penix Jr. Either way, things don’t look bright out in Minnesota

Packers takeaway: If this is the new Green Bay, I want no part of it- At the beginning of the season, Jordan Love looked like a capable replacement for Aaron Rodgers. Sure, he isn’t the man himself. However, he was playing well through three games. After that, he fell off a cliff. Part of the problem may be that he lost Christain Watson for nearly half the games they’ve played. Or how Aaron Jones hasn’t looked like himself after dominating in week 1. Whatever the case, Love has to figure out how to throw the football. If he can’t, an already long season in the eyes of the cheeseheads, may get longer.

Falcons vs. Titans (How6rd)

Falcons- Defensive blunders and Ridder imploding = Nightmare game: After the defense in weeks prior had kept them in games and even won them a couple of them, it was possibly the unit that cost them the most this week. Almost nobody was expecting the rookie QB to go out and sling it all over the field on Sunday and that 100% resonated with the Falcons especially, as safeties were giving receivers the field to work with and defensive backs were constantly missing tackles getting worked both in the passing and running games from Tennessee. The first half also put them down pretty badly as the offense wasn’t helping much at all until it was too late with Ridder not playing terribly yet his lone fumble and pocket blunders cost him dearly putting the Falcons in bad situations. The offense was pretty much dead until Taylor Heinicke came in the game and gave the unit a new life as Bijan scored his first rushing touchdown and the offense was moving the ball down the field a lot easier. It wasn’t enough to get the win in the end, but if the defense can get back on its feet in the coming season it’ll be up to the new looking offense under Heinicke to see if he’s the answer for now or if Desmond Ridder is truly the best option they got.

Titans- Will Levis…WOW: I’ve had a lot of doubts about the QB prior to the Titans drafting him and I never have seen anything too special on a consistent basis from his time in Kentucky, but Will Levis shut me right up this past Sunday and had one of the best NFL debuts you could ask for as a starting QB. Following a week of nothing but trade rumors and seeming like everybody was going to get traded after Kevin Byard moved to the Eagles, everyone had a good game from Levis’ 4 TDs, Derrick Henry getting 101 yards on the ground, and DeAndre Hopkins’ 128 yards and 3 TDs on 4 catches it was all positive from the offense. Aside from the 4th quarter the defense stayed solid as well, mainly on the defensive line with star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons getting a strip sack that completely turned the game on its head. Tennessee has a difficult primetime road game coming on Thursday, but regardless of how that will go, seeing Levis’ play unlocking what this offense is truly capable of should make every Titans fan have high hopes for what’s ahead.

Saints vs. Colts K Stelt

Saint's takeaways: Angry Carr activated: It was a shame they lost last week because this week they took it personally. Too bad it was against the Colts. Carr had a good game under his belt and I believe it was due to how critical we all were of him last week. The wide receivers are fast and deadly and Taysom Hill is the ultimate Swiss Army knife. A good win for a kind of bad team.

Colts takeaways: No Cigar and it wasn't really close: I wouldn’t feel pity for this team, they’re better than the Saints and they stunk it up. Now it doesn't help Minshew is conning the ship but this could have been a better effort on the defense. I want them to succeed but they just have a bunch of average playing styles that make you want to get invested while falling asleep during the middle of the game. Good try and good…Luck.

Pats vs. Dolphins

Pat's takeaways: It really is a shame: I think it’s time to accept the fact the Pats have hopped off the ship into the harbor with the tea. I don’t hate these guys but it doesn’t upset me they’re failing. A true expectation when dealing with old ways and bad players. They can’t keep up anymore, like the old man at the pickup basketball game. Is it time to rebuild? The options are heading in that direction.

Dolphins takeaways: Something is about to happen: Does anyone else see a problem here? Not because they're winning, it’s the style the organization identifies as. I’m no Sherlock Holmes but they seem like a bunch of AAU senior high schoolers running off of “were just cool”. They fit the Miami vibe well, but it doesn't look like a Super Bowl Winning team.

Jets vs. Giants K-Stelt

Jets AND Giants takeaways: MVP Punters: This game was so bad it was good. The team that got 445 yards was both teams. 1 TD each and 1 FG each in regulation. It was a battle of the bad. Surprisingly the Jets pulled it off in the end and they continued their great path of overcoming adversity. The Giants are basically a failure and won't make any paths to do something toward the playoffs but the Jets just have to keep winning and see if they could possibly make the playoffs and somehow, in the greatest recovery ever, get Aaron back for the playoffs to fold again.

Jags vs. Steelers

Jags takeaway: How is this team 6-2?- The Jags have been a crazy team this entire year. This team looks like dog crap throughout the entire game and then they somehow find a way to come out with a victory. Trevor Lawrence continues to be good enough for the victory with 1 TD and 1 pick. The defense can hold strong, however, they played Matt Canada’s offense. I don’t know what to say about this team honestly, they just find a way to win.

Steelers takeaway: Is losing Pickett a good thing or bad thing?- It’s no surprise why the Steelers are 4-3. The defense is incredible and there’s no way Mike Tomlin will allow for the Steel Curtain to be shitty. However, if Matt Canada doesn’t want to figure out how to call plays, there’s a lot more losses coming. A blow came in the game when QB Kenny Pickett left with an injury. Seasoned vet Mitch Trubisky will take the keys to the old ass car of an offense and see if they can switch it around for the Steelers.

Eagles vs. Commanders

Steelers takeaway: Holy crap they stopped the Brotherly Shove!!- The Eagles found a way to win after being down 14-3 to an ok Commanders team. The offense started off slow, but picked up momentum. The offense chugged along and eventually took the lead. However, bigger news is that the Brotherly Shove was stopped. Sure, it may have been because of a bad snap, but it still counts as a stop. Also, they faked it and pitched it out to Swift for an easy score. So now on the 1 yard line, is it going to be their automatic play? Or will they fake it. Either way, the Eagles look like the clear favorite to win it all half way through the season.

Commanders takeaway: So yes to Sam Howell or no?- Sam Howell threw for 400 yards and 4 touchdown passes to almost upset one of the top teams in the league. Sam was throwing the ball all over the field. So, is Sam the answer? I mean, their top pass rusher in Chase Young was shipped off to San Francisco. So, is it close up shop and get a good draft pick? Or are they going to continue to fight for a playoff spot. Either way, I think they’ll be just an ok team.

Texans vs. Panthers (How6rd)

Texans- Offense completely unprepared for Panthers’ boosted physicality: In just his second game under 200 passing yards and first under 150, CJ Stroud was in a complete torture chamber in the first Young vs Stroud matchup in the NFL. The Texans couldn’t get much better production from their run game as nothing seemed to be working for this offense aside from a couple of drives. The defense had another impressive game this season overall as the special teams unit and the lone turnover did a lot more damage to them as a whole as they gained six sacks, once again proving to have a serious pass-rush unit. It was Houston’s lowest point total since week 1 so there shouldn’t be much concern just yet over the offensive troubles this past weekend let alone CJ Stroud’s underwhelming performance, but it won’t be any easier next week facing a consistently proven defense in the Buccaneers.

Panthers- Bryce Young stayed poised after facing danger: As stated just a second ago this defense gave everything they had to force the opposing rookie QB in CJ Stroud to make some plays giving constant pressure up front and did a good job to limit the Texans offense. What Panthers fans are most excited to see, outside of their first win since Week 18 of last season, is how well Bryce Young stayed composed and persistent to bring his team down the field for a game winning field goal on an 86-yard drive. Now if you’re mainly a stats watcher this game was one that didn’t look all that impressive for the first overall pick, but if you take in account to those stats along with being sacked six times and multiple drops from his receivers it makes those numbers way more impressive in the end from the 22-year-old leader. There were some major flaws still showing for a now 1-6 team between their offensive line struggles and receiver play, but Panthers fans can now take a sigh of relief if they still had any doubt that their young rookie QB was going to be special.

Browns vs. Seahawks (How6rd)

Browns- The offense is wasting a talented defense: The Seahawks were having their way on offense with this defensive unit after two early touchdowns and a field goal in the first quarter, but after the second quarter began it was nearly lights out for the Seahawks who couldn’t score a point let alone get more than 40 yards on a drive until the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, this offense was having a lot of their own troubles getting a good run or even PJ Walker to make consistent passes to get down the field and they only could muster 13 points on Seahawks 7 straight scoreless drives. It’s already a big enough blow that Chubb is going to be out for the season after his unfortunate leg injury and they don’t have a big play running back, but if Deshaun Watson isn’t able to make it back on the field PJ Walker is not going to be the guy to put this game out of reach if the defense is working. Cleveland had a really good season on their hands with the way Myles Garrett has been producing every week especially, but their offense at this very moment isn’t going to be good enough to win games and if Watson can’t play it might be time to see what they got in DTR once again.

Seahawks- Feels good to be at the top of the NFC West once again: After a roller coaster start to their season after going offensively silent against the Bengals with a questionable 3-2 record the Seahawks look to be rolling at the right time. As the 49ers continue to struggle and Purdy continues to be a liability, Seattle takes the division lead by half a game and they’re impressively doing so exceeding expectations (mainly on defense for the first time in a while) and looking for a big season. The defense even gets better after this win from their acquisition of defensive tackle Leonard Williams, and one of just a few concerns now is their consistency on offense. Geno didn’t look great obviously with multiple picks on the day, but his numbers aside from those were impressive especially on a defense where no QBs’ numbers have looked stellar so far this season. As long as their defense can put up points, this defense is more than capable enough of making huge stops and can make for a huge year like the Huskies are having in the college world.

Ravens vs. Cardinals (How6rd)

Ravens- This defensive unit is very scary: From the very impressive season Lamar Jackson had going up to this week’s game he had a lot of trouble in this one getting very little from his receivers and constantly banged up in the backfield. Surprisingly, the Ravens still ended up DOMINATING this game with a score inflated by Arizona garbage time scoring. This defense has been a huge anchor in recent weeks making big plays again and again with their matchup on Sunday being no different. Josh Dobbs led the Cardinals down on the opening drive to a rushing TD being up 7-0, but after that it was a struggle to even make it past the 50 yard line for the Cardinals getting completely shut down in the run game and Dobbs panicking every time he stepped back in the pocket. Their two sacks and two picks on the day almost seemed to be an understatement in the stat sheets as they were completely all over the field all game. The Ravens didn’t even need many yards from their offense with how well their defense had them positioned to start a drive and they just ran it down the Cardinals defense with Gus Edwards scoring 3 TDs on 80 yards and this was a dominating win disregarding the final score.

Cardinals- Dobbs era was fun, but the wait for Kyler is now priority: If I recapped every Cardinals game from this season going into this past weekend without saying the winners you’d think the Cardinals were in the middle of the pack. The truth is they’re now at 1-7 and this past game definitely confirmed that. Joshua Dobbs stats look a lot better from this game due to getting two long touchdown drives in the 4th quarter even though they were down 31-15 with 2:15 left in the game. Otherwise, Dobbs struggled mightily in this game and it looks that the Cardinals are now giving their young rookie Clayton Tune a shot in the QB position because of it and traded him to another difficult quarterback situation in Minnesota. There’s some youthful talent we’ve seen from the Cardinals’ players this year and giving Tune time to come in and prove himself as well is the best case scenario while waiting for Pro Bowl Kyler Murray to make his return. I personally didn’t see Kyler Murray taking another snap for the Cardinals as he’s getting to the peak age of his career, but if you’re gonna see what you got in your young talent with the talented QB, who still wants to play for your team for now, then the rookie QB out of Houston in Clayton Tune could possibly bring some hope for the future if anything.

Bengals vs. 49ers (How6rd)

Bengals- One of the NFL’s best teams when they play teams out of division: The AFC North must just be the Bengals’ kryptonite in the regular season, because out of it they can beat almost any team by any means necessary (aside from their unexpected blowout loss against the Titans). Joe Burrow happened to have his best game against the toughest defense on paper they’ve faced this season at a time where they really needed him to get going for their defense’s turnaround. When you throw it to Ja’Marr Chase good things happen, and that’s what Burrow has came to remember in the past month as the one they call “Uno'' getting his fourth TD catch of the season getting very involved once again and just his third game having over 100 yards through a season of fewer targets than expected. The Bengals continue their good fortunes on turnovers after forcing three this past week having Purdy all over the place this game. An all around good win where almost all the top players on this offense got a touchdown (Tee Higgins still had a good game) and with the defense doing enough to help the offense on top of it this was a win the Bengals needed to get back into contention.

49ers- Defense put them in trouble at first, then turnovers sealed their fate: This was a game where the defense got overwhelmed and the “Niners faithful” were hoping they’d get a good redemption second half from Brock Purdy, instead he threw two terrible interceptions. The first interception was a huge opportunity in the red zone gone to complete waste and the next drive, after forcing a Bengals punt, was thrown directly to linebacker Logan Wilson in the back of their own territory. If you watched this whole game looking down and seeing his 365 passing yards you’re probably thinking you were watching the wrong game. This defense has looked worse and worse each week and what looked like would be creating the Avengers in getting Chase Young at the start of this season now might be the saving grace for this team’s decline in defensive production. I think Chase Young was a fantastic acquisition for what now will put offensive lines across the league in serious trouble, but the reality at the moment is that they lost the first place spot in the NFC West and this upcoming by week is huge to see if they can flip things around whether it’s Sam Darnold time or another change to get back to victory.

Bears vs. Chargers

Bears takeaway: Kind of expected this- The Bears are just awful. They are probably the worst team in the league behind the Panthers and maybe the Patriots. Their backup QB, Tyson Bagent, has demonstrated courage as a Division II starter and making it against all odds. As much of this story is heartwarming, it doesn’t help the Bears. They just suck. Simply put. Let’s get ready for Caleb Williams to come to Chicago and try and turn this hopeless franchise around.

Chargers takeaway: Offense scores, defense wins- The Chargers offense looked mighty impressive even without Mike Williams. Justin Herbert threw dimes all over the football field. He ended up with 3 touchdown passes and about 300 yards. Austin Ekeler was more of a receiving threat than a running back. He secured 7 receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown. The offense was on fire, however, it was the defense that stood tall to make sure they came away with a victory. The Charger's defense came away with two different picks thanks to Darwin James and Ja’Sir Taylor. If this defense continues to work hard and the offense continues to perform, they may make a late playoff run.

Raiders vs. Lions K-Stelt

Lions takeaways: Gibbs is showing his stuff: It took Montgomery falling dead two weeks ago for this to happen but Gibbs is proving why he was a first-round pick. The ground game is solid for the Lions but Goff still has some scares that worry me for the playoffs, Superbowl? It’s a better shot than in the past but the Eagles look dominant. The defense needs to develop a little better during the season and Goff needs to sharpen up a little more. If so, the path for the Super Bowl is a lot cleaner than before.

Raiders takeaways: Don’t Eat from the tree of Belichick: Sad news folks. Brady was the reason. I think a lot of us figured that out when he won with the Bucs but still, we all had questions about the Belichick coaching tree. Josh McDaniels has finally been fired which was surprising it didn’t happen sooner but understandable because he got paid a lot of money. It just looks like the Raiders are facing the fact that bad judgment leads to pain and suffering. This isn’t just a start over and start new. This is a- burnt to the ground and let it rot for a bit-bad.