| Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season will not be one the League’s PR folks will be extolling for the tightness of the competition. With 12 games in the books, only one, the Jets 39-38 comeback win at Cincinnati, was decided by fewer than 10 points. And only two other games were decided by fewer than 19 points. The average margin of victory this week, even with the one-point game in Cincinnati is 18.3. |
| NFC NORTH |
| CHICAGOMike Sando of The Athletic on the progress, or lack thereof, from QB CALEB WILLIAMS: 2. We’re eight games into the marriage between Bears coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams. Timing might be everything. With the Bears trailing Baltimore 16-13 early in the fourth quarter Sunday, Williams dropped back to pass from near his own goal line. He hesitated slightly before delivering a throw intended for receiver Rome Odunze. The Ravens’ Nate Wiggins intercepted the pass, setting up a pivotal one-play touchdown drive for a Ravens team that had lost four in a row and was playing without two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. “In my mind, there might have been another option we could have gotten to,” Johnson said afterward. Perhaps Johnson and Williams will look back on the play as a learning opportunity on the path to a winning long-term partnership. It’s too early to say. But from a timing standpoint, Williams has now arrived at the point where Johnson’s past partnership with Jared Goff in Detroit began ascending to career-altering heights. , Goff and Williams had very similar production through their first eight games with Johnson calling plays. But from the ninth game of that 2022 Lions season forward, Goff was a different player. He tossed 15 touchdown passes without an interception and led the NFL in EPA per pass play as the Lions finished 9-8 after a 1-6 start.– – –Williams’ elevated average time to throw — a league-most 3.06 seconds — calls into question his ability to play on time consistently. Are the highs from his off-schedule plays high enough and frequent enough for the Bears to come out ahead? So far, not so much. “I have not seen a ton of improvement from Caleb Williams,” an evaluator from another team said. “I see a guy reluctant to fall into the confines of a system, who has a big arm and enough athletic ability to exploit coverage with his legs. You get the flash plays, but you get the frustration with the inconsistency. It’s hard to win games when you play like that.” Goff was already a seasoned pro and successful timing-oriented passer with a Super Bowl start when Johnson became his play caller. He had also spent a full season in Detroit with Johnson on staff. (Johnson was the tight ends coach before being promoted to pass game coordinator midway through the 2021 season.) Williams is in his second season and, for all his talent throwing the ball and scrambling, is still getting accustomed to the pro game. Goff was in far better position to make a big jump over the second half of 2022, as he’d already produced at similar levels under Sean McVay in Los Angeles. Whether Williams was late on the pivotal interception he threw Sunday was difficult to tell, but coaches who have studied him say he’s still holding the ball too frequently, especially for how coaches think Johnson wants to play. One coach who studied 40 third-down pass plays by Williams entering Week 8 thought the quarterback held the ball too long 10 times, scrambled wisely seven times and delivered two top-tier throws. “Is there progress being made with Caleb Williams? Yes,” this coach said. “Is it where you want to see it at the moment of truth? No.” The Bears will learn more about the Johnson-Williams partnership next week when they visit Cincinnati, which allowed 502 yards and 25 first downs to the New York Jets, led by Williams’ predecessor in Chicago, Justin Fields. |
| GREEN BAYFaced with the challenge of mentor QB AARON RODGERS on the other side, JORDAN LOVE responded with a brilliant performance against the Steelers. Bryan DeArdo ofCBSSports.com: While the pregame hype was centered around Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love stole the show on Sunday night while leading the Packers to a 35-25 win over the Steelers and his former teammate. In a twist of irony, Love’s brilliant night included him tying a franchise record with Brett Favre, the Packers’ Hall of Fame quarterback whom Rodgers succeeded as Green Bay’s QB1 in 2008. During the game, Love tied Favre’s 18-year-old franchise record by completing 20 consecutive passes. Ironically, Rodgers was Favre’s teammate when Favre completed 20 straight passes during the 2007 season. “It’s definitely special,” Love told NBC Sports afterward. “Obviously, I think we faced a little adversity in the first half and bounced back. We knew it was gonna be a hyped-up game all week going against A-Rod. Glad we came in here handled business.” Love’s hot streak helped the Packers turn a 16-7 halftime deficit into a 35-19 lead with just under four minutes to play. He had a lot of success throwing to tight end Tucker Kraft, who caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns on National Tight Ends Day. “We knew we just had to focus on the details,” Love said of Green Bay’s halftime adjustments. “Everybody’s got to go out there, do their job and just lock in and go out there and make the plays we weren’t making in the first half. And we did.” They certainly did. And while it was a complete team effort, the Packers’ dominant second-half performance was keyed by Love, who finished the game with 360 yards on 29 of 37 passing while becoming the first Packers quarterback since Hall of Famer Bart Starr to get a win in Pittsburgh. Like Rodgers and Favre, Love spent three years as Rodgers’ teammate before getting a chance to lead the Packers’ offense. But unlike Rodgers, Love led the Packers to the playoffs during his first season as the team’s QB1 that included a stunning upset win over Dallas in the NFC wild-card round. Love and the Packers were unable to duplicate that level of success in 2024, however. While they made the playoffs, the Packers were quickly dismissed by the eventual champion Eagles in the first round. Love specifically took a step back that was largely the byproduct of injuries that started during Green Bay’s season-opening loss to the Eagles. The 2024 season was also a rough one for Rodgers, who signed with Pittsburgh this offsason after a tumultuous two seasons with the Jets. Rodgers has found new life in Pittsburgh as he looks to cap off his future Hall of Fame career on a positive note. Love is looking to join Rodgers, Favre and Starr as Packers quarterbacks that won a championship during their age 27 season. While he’s still a ways a way from doing that, Love helped that cause on Sunday night as the 5-1-1 Packers maintained their spot atop the NFC North. In the process, Love tied Favre in the history books while denying Rodgers the distinction of becoming the fifth quarterback in history to defeat all 32 teams. More on Love’s bond with Rodgers from Albert Breer of SI.com: I bet, in a weird way, it was cool for Aaron Rodgers to watch what Jordan Love has become as his successor in Green Bay. I’m not saying Rodgers didn’t want to win Sunday night in Pittsburgh—obviously, the Steelers’ quarterback did. And Love’s play, and ability to pilot the Packers’ offense at the level he can now, sure got in the way of that. But I’m not sure enough people know how strong the bond between Rodgers and Love is, even with all the drama that unfolded around Rodgers’s exit from Lambeau in early 2023. Even though Rodgers was far from pleased with the team’s communication with him around the selection of Love in the 2020 draft, he made a point not to let things get icy between him and Love in the way things did early on between him and Brett Favre some 15 years earlier. So the two grew close. And even after Rodgers left for the Jets, clearing the way for Love to become the Packers’ starter, the old man continued to be a sounding board for the young quarterback as he settled into the No. 1 role. So when Love came alive in the second half of Sunday’s 35–25 Packers win, and wound up throwing for 360 yards, three touchdowns and a 134.2 rating, do I think that Rodgers, in his gut, felt a little pride in how the kid played? I bet he did. And after talking to Love after the game, I can tell you for a fact that whatever emotion Rodgers felt about the whole thing … those were absolutely mutual. “Definitely,” Love told me. “I knew what this week meant, and coming into it what it was going to be. So, definitely, playing well going against A-Rod, and coming out with the win feels great. Just like you said, the time we spent together, everything I learned, it definitely is special for me to go out and be able to play well with him watching. That’s one of those things, I know he’s been watching, I know he’s studied some of the games we’ve played. “He’s texted me that before—he’s seen some really good things from me, some great growth, and he’s happy for me. We’ve got a pretty special relationship, and anytime I’m able to hear from him, get some good feedback and come out here and play well with him on the other side, it definitely felt good.” And even better was how Green Bay came from behind. Love and his offensive teammates gathered at the half, after a first half that the quarterback said “wasn’t up to our standard” left the visitors down 16–7. The main message? Guys weren’t holding the rope, and doing their “one-eleventh,” in Packer parlance. And after the break, the message was clearly received—with the defense starting the second half with a three-and-out, and the offense driving 90 yards in nine plays to cut the Pittsburgh edge to two points. That, really, was all the Packers needed. Love wound up an incredible 16-of-19 for 214 yards and two touchdowns after the half, and Green Bay won going away. It meant plenty in the standings, of course, as the Packers stay in first in the NFC North. But now that the game is over, Love can concede the obvious, and that’s that this one did have more meaning—because of how much Rodgers meant to his career. “Oh man—so much, so much,” Love said. “I definitely wouldn’t be the player I am today without being able to watch him and learn from him, and just see a quarterback go out there and play at a super high level.” Which is to say, yes, it felt good for Love to put on a show. |
| NFC EAST |
| NEW YORK GIANTSRB CAM SKATTEBO, the rookie sensation from Arizona State, has already had surgery after Sunday’s horrific ankle injury. @JordanRaananSpoke with sources this morning and Cam Skattebo had surgery Sunday night. He’s doing well, given the circumstances. It was an emergency situation with an open dislocation. That warranted him remaining in Philadelphia for the surgery.– – -Mike Sando of The Athletic makes the case that Brian Daboll has actually done about as much as he could with a rookie QB against a tough schedule this season. When the cameras found Brian Daboll on Sunday in Philadelphia, the New York Giants’ coach frequently appeared apoplectic. The outrage felt understandable at least twice, as officials not only wiped out a Giants fumble recovery but also negated a touchdown with a questionable penalty for offensive pass interference. Daboll tends to be animated anyway (there’s an understatement), but the cumulative stressors of the job mount as the defeats pile up. And the defeats have been piling up in bunches: 26 in the past 36 games for Daboll, including 38-20 to Philadelphia on Sunday, a week after his Giants gave up 33 points in the fourth quarter to lose 33-32 against Denver. Only Tennessee (8-28) has a worse record than the Giants’ 10-26 mark since Week 7 of the 2023 season. 1. Daboll, Stefanski, McDaniel and Gannon have all had underperforming expensive quarterbacks on the books, but their situations are not the same. Here’s why some might not be in trouble at all. We can see below how these four coaches have dipped below .500 over the course of their tenures while their teams were paying large sums to four quarterbacks — Daniel Jones (formerly of the Giants, now starring in Indy), Deshaun Watson (Browns), Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins) and Kyler Murray (Cardinals) — without getting what they hoped for in return.. “It’s very disappointing to those teams when they find out there’s a lot more that goes into being a Tier 1 quarterback than having that ballpoint pen run across that paper when the kid signs,” an exec from an NFL team said. Isn’t it remarkable how the Giants’ big slide started almost immediately after the team signed Jones for $40 million per year? Isn’t it even more remarkable how Indianapolis’ ascension to the NFL’s best record this season (7-1) began right after Jones signed a one-year deal with the Colts? Perhaps the Giants re-signed Jones when they thought they had the roster that Indy actually has right now. It’s also possible Jones learned from experience and is flourishing in an easier media market. “The expectations of draft status in the building you were drafted to can be next to impossible to overcome,” one coach said. “Once you get the chains off and are in a decent environment, a la Sam Darnold, a la Danny Dimes, it can be a different deal.” There’s no way to make a case for Daboll staying based on an 11-31 record over the past three seasons. If the fire-breathing version of Daboll we see on the sideline resembles the version the Giants are living with behind the scenes, that would seem to work against him as well. The team did become exciting this season, at least, with rookie Jaxson Dart taking over at quarterback. Is that enough to save Daboll’s and general manager Joe Schoen’s jobs? “If the offense is on track and the quarterback is on a developmental track that is acceptable, they’ll let them go another year,” another coach said. “The only way they turn it over is if they get a big name.” The challenge for Daboll steepened when No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers suffered a season-ending knee injury. Losing rookie running back Cam Skattebo to a dislocated ankle Sunday delivered an emotional blow. But with team owner John Mara prioritizing health while fighting cancer, this might not be the best time for the organization to go all-in on a search. “They have shown they do not have a good process hiring head coaches anyway,” the exec said, pointing to the hirings and quick firings of Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge. The Giants have been competitive, beating the Chargers and Eagles and taking the Cowboys and Broncos to the wire, but are 2-6. How many losses is too many for Mara? Or could Dart’s progress be enough? “When you lose a game like you just did, allowing 33 points in one quarter, I feel like you do not recover,” another exec said. “I feel like now, teams are going to have a good feel for who this quarterback is, and that magic he had from going in there and being the spark is about to dissipate, because teams are going to make him play quarterback.” |
| PHILADELPHIAIt was Philadelphia’s turn, after Detroit in Week 7 and Kansas City in Week 6, to get all the calls Sunday. Dan Zaksheske of Outkick.com: Criticism of referees is common among fans, but the officials in the Eagles-Giants game had an atrocious first half. They inexplicably ruled Hurts down on a “Tush Push” play where the Philadelphia quarterback clearly wasn’t down or stopped before New York defender Kayvon Thibodeaux took the ball away from Hurts. Giants head coach Brian Daboll went ballistic because he wasn’t able to challenge the play due to the forward progress ruling. Later in the half, referees flagged the Giants for offside even though the Eagles’ offensive tackle clearly committed a false start prior to the New York defender coming across the line of scrimmage. That’s when Brady had seen enough and had to make his feelings known. “Keep the streak alive for these refs today, 0-for,” Brady quipped. That doesn’t include the dubious offensive interference penalty that took away a JAXSON DART TD pass. On the Tush Push play, there have been many a time we thought the opposition had stopped Hurts forward progress, only to see the officials allow a late surge carry him across the line to gain. But here, he wasn’t stopped. Saad Yousouf and Dan Duggan of The Athletic: The Philadelphia Eagles are once again at the center of scrutiny when it comes to running the tush push. Philadelphia ran the controversial play to pick up 1 yard on fourth down from the New York Giants’ 11-yard line in the second quarter Sunday. Quarterback Jalen Hurts got the yardage necessary, but he continued to push forward, including doing so by extending the ball outward. The Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball out of Hurts’ hands and recovered it, but the officials had already whistled the play dead for forward progress, so the Eagles were able to maintain possession. “That was some bulls—,” Thibodeaux said postgame. Philadelphia scored a touchdown two plays later on a pass from Hurts to running back Saquon Barkley. “To me, he is pushing forward, he is reaching,” Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino said on the broadcast. “That is an early whistle, in my opinion.” The Giants tried to challenge the ruling on the field but were told that they could not challenge whether or not Hurts fumbled because the whistle had already been blown. After a delay, the Giants chose to still use a challenge on the play, challenging the spot of the ball. New York lost the challenge as the ruling of a Philadelphia first down was upheld. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| ATLANTADave Choate of Falcaholic.com on an Atlanta team that has a decent 3-4 record, but two of the losses were blowouts at the hands of the Panthers and Dolphins: Everything we thought the Falcons would be good at this year and everything they have actually been good at this year was absent Sunday, the latest in a growing series of deeply disappointing 2025 performances. Atlanta has now lost in brutal, demoralizing fashion twice against two teams that are among the bottom third of the league in the Panthers and Dolphins, with complete team failure defining both losses. A season that started with a vision of what the Falcons could be has quickly become another deflating campaign that has revealed what the Falcons are, which is a flawed team that can’t seem to survive injuries or adversity. It’s early in the season to say the Falcons are cooked, but they certainly look cooked. Their favor with the fanbase is burnt to a crisp, at the very least. The quality of the opponent is what makes this truly unforgivable. The same team that handled the Bills and Commanders got the 1-6 Dolphins at home and were outworked, outplayed, and outcoached in every facet of the game. They lost by 24 points, and after two colliding Falcons defenders turned a would-be interception into an incompletion that enabled an easy field goal to extend Miami’s lead, it never felt particularly close. Tua Tagovailoa was able to follow up one of the worst games of his career with four touchdowns, the defense barely challenged Miami’s ground game for long stretches, and the offense appeared to be entirely made of go-nowhere carries, listless screens, and short passes. Throw in a bunch of penalties, especially on special teams and offense, and the Falcons had no shot to win this one. They looked, frankly, like the worst team on the field by a very wide margin. As a result, it feels like a time where few takes are too hyperbolic. We’ve been frustrated with Terry Fontenot’s inconsistent track record in the draft in particular, with Raheem Morris’s in-game management and inconsistent ability to get his team playing at a high level, and Zac Robinson’s extremely iffy offense throughout the last year and a half, but they’re reaching new lows. The fact that this team feels as broken as the aging, creaky, and thin 2021 roster in year one of Arthur Smith’s tenure right now is a damning indictment of an entire organization, and I no longer think Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot can survive a losing season when they’re losing like this. There is far more talent here than there was a few years back, certainly enough that the Falcons should not look like the league’s worst team two weeks in a single season. There’s a slim but non-zero chance that Robinson is fired right now, given that Fontenot and Morris have handed him too many playmakers for the offense to be this anemic. The fact that it’s hardly all his fault is not really relevant to the outcome here; the Falcons can’t abide this kind of losing much longer without the need to make some kind of change taking over Arthur Blank’s thoughts. We can point to the absence of Michael Penix Jr.—and Kirk Cousins did not look good enough to create any kind of controversy—and Drake London, as well as the clearly pivotal loss of Divine Deablo and Zach Harrison as factors here. The reality is that every opponent they’ve faced this year, including the Dolphins, has lost pivotal players; it informs the outcome but cannot be heavily blamed for how things went on Sunday. We have to point instead to coaching that isn’t up to snuff, execution that is sometimes laughably bad, and the vagaries of luck that cannot be controlled. When they combine as they did Sunday, you get terrible, indefensible results that challenge you to remember that the Falcons just controlled the Bills two weeks ago. Inconsistency has long been this team’s defining feature, but this is a particularly rickety roller coaster. At 3-4, the Falcons are hardly dead, but their play suggests there’s a whiff of the grave about them nonetheless. I am challenged to find much of anything positive to take away from today’s game, something Raheem Morris echoed in his press conference, and if there’s nothing to build on it’s difficult to figure out what Atlanta can do to climb out of this hole with tough matchups against the Patriots and Colts on deck. Things seem like they can’t get much worse from here, but nor do they seem likely to get considerably better without the return of multiple key players and major shakeups to the way the Falcons do business on Sundays. For a team that told us they were tired of losing and pushed some chips in the last three years to find solutions, both in the short-term and long-term, that lack of winning and lack of answers seems likely to doom yet another regime if it’s not fixed very, very quickly. That’s a grim spot to be in, and not one Falcons fans deserve to endure. All we can do is band together, give ourselves as much healthy distance from this team as we can reasonably achieve, and hope the latest in a long line of wake up calls is finally answered. If losing to this Dolphins team by this margin and looking this terrible in every facet of the game can’t get the Falcons to display urgency and heart, it’s not clear what can. |
| NEW ORLEANSWith the Saints offense mired, Coach Kellen Moore turned to rookie QB TYLER SHOUGH. His play was not a revelation and the Saints now find themselves in no-QB land. Jordan Dajani of CBSSports.com: The New Orleans Saints were looking for a spark during their eventual, 23-3 Week 8 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the third quarter, first-year coach Kellen Moore made the decision to bench quarterback Spencer Rattler for rookie Tyler Shough. Rattler completed 15 of 21 passes for 136 yards and one interception before being pulled. Shough came in and completed 17 of 30 passes for 128 yards and one interception in his first extended NFL action. “We just needed to find a way to create something on offense,” Moore said about Rattler’s benching after the game. “It has more to do with the offense collectively. We’re just not executing and playing at a high enough standard and we gotta find a way to move the football consistently, protect the football and score points. This is a pure full offensive evaluation point. We’re just not there.” So, is Moore ready to make a full-time QB switch? “I think we just gotta evaluate this whole thing in the next 48 hours on offense, find the solutions that give us the best chance to win,” Moore said. “Tyler went in there and looked the part, he made some plays, the one interception was unfortunate, gave us a chance to convert there, and so we’ll obviously make that evaluation here quickly and make some decisions moving forward. But this had more to do with the whole offense just not playing well enough and hopefully trying to generate some form of a spark there.” Shough, who lost the preseason quarterback battle with Rattler, was selected by the Saints with the No. 40 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Louisville product completed 62.7% of his passes for 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns and six interceptions last season, and left college with a 21-11 career record as starter in games played for Louisville, Texas Tech and Oregon. Despite being a rookie, Shough turned 26 last month. He was one of the more polarizing prospects in this past draft class, with one current NFL head coach reportedly believing Shough was the best quarterback in the entire draft. |
| TAMPA BAYThe Buccaneers won, but they were denied a touchdown by a phantom whistle that Referee Ron Torbert heard, but not the FOX audio mics. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: In the second quarter on Sunday, Saints receiver Rashid Shaheed fumbled, Buccaneers cornerback Antoine Winfield scooped the ball up and raced 47 yards to the end zone. But Winfield did not score a touchdown. That’s because an official blew the play dead after Winfield recovered. Why? No one seems to know, but referee Ron Torbert said after the game that the official who blew the play dead was on the other side of the field. “We ruled that there was a fumble. It was recovered by the defense, but there was a whistle blown from the other side of the field. The official thought that the runner was down. We were able to award the defense the ball after the fumble but because the whistle had been blown, we could not award the advance afterwards,” Torbert told pool reporter Luke Johnson. That explanation makes no sense. Why would an official on the other side of the field make that call, when officials closer to the play could clearly see that the runner wasn’t down? That hasn’t been explained, but Torbert said that the crew discussed what happened and when one official admitted blowing the whistle, that meant everything that happened subsequently didn’t count. On a bad day for NFL officiating, this play stood out: Winfield lost a touchdown because an official messed up. That version is bad enough, but Jason Owens of YahooSports.com has more: Winfield recovered the clear fumble and returned it to the end zone without being touched down down at any point. If a whistle blew, it should not have. But there’s no evidence of a whistle being blown from the Fox broadcast of the game. And players from both teams played the entire play out as if the ball was, indeed, live. It’s hard to fathom why officials would have said that a whistle was blown when there wasn’t, but there’s nothing from the broadcast to indicate that there was one. Either way, officials robbed the Bucs of a score. Either they blew a whistle that shouldn’t have been blown. Or they didn’t blow a whistle and for some reason determined after they fact that they did. And the Bucs went into halftime with a 7-3 lead instead of a 14-3 margin. Take a listen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1982556187397886390 |
| NFC WEST |
| ARIZONAThere are reasons to think the Cardinals have actually played pretty well for Coach Jonathan Gannon, but Mike Sando of The Athletic advises it is a situation to be monitored: Gannon is earlier in his tenure than the other three listed here, but with five consecutive defeats heading into a Week 8 bye, and with the team levying a $100,000 fine against Gannon for a sideline confrontation with a player, this has become a situation to monitor at midseason. “Arizona is (a team to watch) just because of expectations plus circumstances like the sideline blowup, which can speed it up a little bit,” one exec said. “They are building a new facility for 2027, and the quarterback said he hopes he’s there to see it, and everybody laughed. You can’t keep starting over, though, too. It’s just hard.” The Cardinals’ two victories were against New Orleans and Carolina. Their schedule out of the bye is not easy: Dallas and Seattle on the road, San Francisco and Jacksonville at home, Tampa Bay on the road, the Rams at home, Houston on the road. It’s a tough spot for a team with a third-year head coach looking to reach the playoffs for the first time. Arizona’s skid marks only the third time in league history a team has lost five consecutive games by less than five points each, per Pro Football Reference. So, the Cardinals are close, but close to what? Unlike Miami, which will have a hard time escaping Tagovailoa’s contract after this season, Arizona could have an easier time extricating itself from Murray, the quarterback Gannon inherited. Could that be the Cardinals’ next step? Arizona is tied for the third-best point differential among 2-5 teams over the past decade. That is small consolation, but if it means the Cardinals are better than their record, there could be a path back to relevance. One issue: Murray has generally not finished seasons strong. |
| AFC WEST |
| LAS VEGASWR TYLER LOCKETT wanted out of Tennessee and was granted his wish. His new team doesn’t seem to be a contender either. Kevin Patra of NFL.com: Tyler Lockett is having his reunion in Las Vegas. The veteran wide receiver is signing with the Raiders on Monday, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported, per sources informed of the move. Lockett reunites with Geno Smith and Pete Carroll, who were the wideout’s quarterback and head coach in Seattle for several seasons. Lockett recently requested his release from Tennessee, where he was little-used, catching 10 passes on 21 targets for 70 yards in seven games (one start). The Seahawks released Lockett after 10 years in the offseason. The veteran joins a young wide receiver crew led by Jakobi Meyers. Third-year pro Tre Tucker currently leads the Raiders with 389 receiving yards. Rookies Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton Jr. haven’t produced early in their careers. Meyers is dealing with knee/toe injuries and wants to be traded to a contender. While Vegas has eschewed the trade request thus far, it’s possible Lockett’s addition is a sign they could move Meyers before the trade deadline. A 33-year-old Lockett might not be the weapon he once was when he was earning four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2019-2022 — the final one with Smith at the helm — but he gives the Raiders quarterback a veteran he can trust to be in the right spots more often than not. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREThe Ravens bungled Friday’s injury report and Mike Florio wants them to pay: The Ravens said he fully participated. They should have said he was limited, because he did not take reps with the first-string offense. Coach John Harbaugh was asked about the situation after Sunday’s game. “I’m not involved in those rules,” Harbaugh told reporters. “I don’t know those particular rules. That was probably — I think in their defense, you know, he practiced a full practice. I think they felt like, because he did the same number of reps, it was a full practice. But when you dig in and you read the rule, at the end of the day it wasn’t right. So that’s what it was. That’s why as soon as we found out, we changed it.” Harbaugh then was asked the obvious follow-up: Who’s “they”? “Yeah, that’s in the training room and the P.R. and the other side,” Harbaugh said. “That’s not in the football side. [It’s in the] medical side. But it’s an honest mistake. I mean, it really is an honest mistake. I can tell you this. Nobody’s trying to hide anything. I mean, there’s no advantage — there’s no advantage to be gained, you know, with that. I mean, it was — he practiced, his status was what it was. He was questionable.” If Harbaugh isn’t involved with the injury designations, maybe he should be. Maybe every coach should be. Maybe every coach, given the new sensitivity to inside information and gambling, will be. It remains to be seen whether the league regards the situation as an honest mistake (which is still a violation of the rules), or whether the league determines that it was part of an effort to conceal the fact that Jackson would not be starting, or (as it turned out) dressing. Again, the entire situation (especially in light of the timing) will — or should — prompt every team to review its procedures when it comes to making and updating the injury report. Honest mistake or not, it was a mistake. And it happened with the starting quarterback, one of the highest-profile players in the league.– – –Even if it was, as coach John Harbaugh said, an “honest mistake,” the NFL could impose significant discipline on the Ravens. They listed quarterback Lamar Jackson as fully participating in Friday’s practice. He should have been listed as limited, because he didn’t take his normal (or any) reps with the starting offense. Although the Ravens changed the designation on Saturday, the league is investigating what was a clear violation of the injury reporting policy. And while more serve penalties are available if the league determines the Ravens deliberately tried to conceal Jackson’s true status, the timing of the infraction raises the stakes (pun intended) for everyone involved. The incident happened one day after an NBA gambling scandal based on inside information engulfed the entire sports world. And the injury reporting policy includes as a factor “the extent to which public confidence in the NFL, its teams, owners and team personnel has been or may be affected” by the violation. As one source put it, the infraction creates “very bad optics.” And it arguably forces the NFL to take substantial action. “It’s an opportunity for the league to make a very strong statement on a very important topic,” the source added. That could be bad for the Ravens. In the same way that it was bad for the Saints in 2012, when the NFL felt compelled to make a very strong statement on player safety with the bounty scandal. The Ravens thought they could list Jackson as a “full participant” as he took scout team reps while recently re-signed TYLER HUNTLEY was given the first team reps. Back in the day, the DB received an injury report from the head trainer and always showed it to the head coach before releasing it. Usually it was unchanged at that stage, but not always. |
| CLEVELANDMike Sando of The Athletic with thoughts on the tenure of Coach Kevin Stefanski: If it has felt as though Stefanski (and possibly GM Andrew Berry) have gotten a pass for the Watson debacle, that could be because ownership is actually giving him (and possibly Berry) a pass. “Kevin’s done a really good job with us, and we’ve had some tough breaks,” owner Jimmy Haslam told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini recently. “A big trade we made didn’t work out, and you know, we’re all suffering from that.” The Browns were coming off a 31-6 victory over Miami in Week 7 when Haslam made those remarks. They enter their bye coming off a 32-13 defeat at New England. “The quote from Haslam is as close as an owner can be to saying, ‘I’m the one who wanted to trade for Deshaun Watson,'” an exec from another team said. “These guys in Cleveland (Stefanski and Berry) have not rolled on him, and that is why they get to stay around. Because of that, maybe he isn’t changing.” No one can fault Haslam and his wife and co-owner, Dee, for not spending. Some who have worked in Cleveland said they loved how they were treated. But from a football decision-making standpoint, there are unsolved mysteries pointing back to ownership. “Stefanski was Coach of the Year twice because people know what he’s putting up with,” another coach joked. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| INDIANAPOLISCan a running back take home the MVP Award? Charles Robinson of YahooSports.commakes the case for Colts RB JONATHAN TAYLOR: In 2014, then-Houston Texans pass rushing star J.J. Watt put up one of the greatest multi-faceted seasons in NFL history. Shuttling back and forth between defensive end, defensive tackle and red zone tight end, he scored five touchdowns — three on offense and two on defense — and posted 20 1/2 sacks, 29 tackles for a loss, five fumble recoveries, one interception and one safety. This was a stat line worthy of the gods, never seen before and unlikely to be duplicated. It was a performance so dominant, it led to Watt pulling the rare feat of being voted a first-team All-Pro at both defensive end and defensive tackle. Yet, that guy — with that season — still lost to a quarterback in the MVP voting. If you trace your finger over the history of the NFL MVP, there’s a good argument that Watt’s 2014 campaign — and second-place finish to then-Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers — is when the award started to shift to becoming a “quarterbacks only” club. Of course, it didn’t feel that way at the time. Three running backs had been voted NFL MVP between 2000 and 2006; then-Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had just won it in 2012. Sure, quarterbacks tended to be difficult to beat in the race, but it didn’t feel impossible. Then the drought kicked in. And for the past 12 years, quarterback is the only position that has walked away with an NFL MVP. And it hasn’t ever come particularly close, largely due to the NFL shifting to a full-throttle passing league at a time that coincided with a golden era of QBs. Then came last season, when Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had 2,283 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns in only 16 games, which was just good enough to finish third in MVP voting behind Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. That sparked a multitude of conversations, all centering on a similar question: If Barkley finished third in voting despite playing on the league’s best team and posting a 2,005 yard rushing line (while sitting out Week 18), what on Earth does a non-quarterback have to do to win the league’s MVP? Is it even possible anymore? Through eight weeks, Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is providing the answer. Yes. It’s possible. Coming off the heels of the Colts’ 38-14 trouncing of the Tennessee Titans, Taylor should be taking some significant strides up the boards that project MVP odds. Certainly enough to showcase that he’s a real threat to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford or Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield. For full disclosure, I hold one of the 50 Associated Press votes for the league’s MVP award. Last season, I slotted Barkley third behind Allen and Jackson. The reason? What Barkley did over the expanse of the season was great, but he was undercut by all the tush push attempts that snatched touchdowns out of his hands. And he wasn’t able to break the league’s rushing record in 16 games, which was the same number of games in which former Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson set during the 1984 season. Barkley was also running up against spectacular quarterbacking seasons by Allen and Jackson. What Barkley accomplished was undeniably great. But to push aside great QB seasons, a skill position player has to do something that is simply different than anything we’ve seen over an expanse of decades. Through eight games, Taylor is doing that. And that’s why I think he’d garner some of the most serious consideration we’ve seen in recent years for a running back MVP. Consider Taylor’s résumé coming out of Week 8: * Taylor is the unquestioned centerpiece of a Colts franchise that has the league’s best record at 7-1. * He leads the league in rushing with 850 yards and is on pace to rush for 1,806 yards in 17 games. He also leads all skill position players with 14 total touchdowns (12 rushing and two receiving), putting him on pace for 29 total touchdowns. The NFL record is 31, set by former San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 — which earned him the league’s MVP that season. Taylor is also on pace for 2,244 total yards from scrimmage * In advanced data from Next Gen Stats, Taylor entered Week 8 leading the NFL with 120 rushing yards over expected and 509 yards after contact. Both are indicative of him generating yardage rather than just producing by way of his offensive line. And amongst multiple sites that track deep analytics, Taylor is also near the top of the league in total EPA, EPA per rush and success rate When you tally the yardage and touchdown projections across the board, the numbers compare extremely favorably to all three of the running backs who have won the MVP in the past 20 years, including Shaun Alexander (2005), Tomlinson (2006) and Peterson (2012). If Taylor stays on this pace, his statistical performance holds its own with all of the best running back seasons of the past two decades. To MVP voters, that’s a start. Before you get into the litany of criteria that differ from one voter to the next, you first have to at least come to the conclusion that he stacks up with historic MVPs at his position. After that, each voter has their own set of standards — a reality that often leads to debate or even the occasional oddity of what unfolded last season, when some voters chose Allen as the first-place finisher on their MVP ballot, but placed Jackson as their first-team All-Pro quarterback. I wasn’t in that group, but I heard some of the explanations from those who were and found them to be convincing enough to make it a possibility. With Taylor, this is likely to shake out in a much more straightforward fashion. Is he the best running back on a team with the league’s best record? Did his statistical résumé place him in the same range as past running back MVPs? Was he the consistent driving force and centerpiece for the Colts’ offense? And did he show up when the franchise needed him most — like, say, the Nov. 23 game in Kansas City and Dec. 14 game in Seattle? There’s also the curveball that has nothing to do with all those questions. And that’s this: Does a quarterback rise up out of the fog of parity across the league and dominate the remainder of the season? Time will tell, as it did with Barkley in 2024. But right now, Taylor is a real threat in that MVP race. And if his second half of 2025 mirrors the first, the quarterback party is going to get rudely interrupted. The DB notes that the MVP Award has a more complicated voting system than previously when there was just one name on each ballot. Each voter now lists five names, so if Taylor is second or third on most (with a goodly number of firsts), he could come in ahead if the QB vote is widely divided. |
| AFC EAST |
| BUFFALOA big win for the Bills at Carolina, but there was an injury: DT Ed Oliver is feared to have suffered a significant bicep injury in Sunday’s win over Carolina, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. |
| MIAMIQB TUA TAGOVIALOA should play half blind more often, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was added to the injury report with an illness on Sunday morning, but he was in fine form on the field later in the day. Tagovailoa threw four touchdowns while wearing a visor in a 34-10 rout of the Falcons. Tagovailoa donned the accessory because he found there was something wrong with his left eye when he woke up in the morning. “Probably one of the worst experiences I’ve had in terms of waking up and that happens on a game day,” Tagovailoa said in his postgame press conference. “My eye was swollen shut. Thanks to the medical staff, they ended up helping with antibiotics and whatnot. I’m just glad I was able to go out there and play.” Tagovailoa said he and the medical staff will work to figure out exactly what caused the reaction when they are back in Miami, although one wonders if he might keep the visor for Thursday night’s game against the Ravens given how well he played after two weeks that had people wondering if he might get sent to the bench. |
| NEW ENGLANDThe DB can’t ever remember seeing a QB who is producing at such a steady level as DRAKE MAYE of the Patriots in 2025. A very high level at that. Maye’s passing total in all eight games has been in the 200s (between 203 and 287). He has had two or three TD passes in six of them, six of the last seven. He has not had more than 1 interception in a game, three games with one, five games with none. He has completed more than 65% of his passes in all eight, 75% or better in five of them. After an 80.6 passer rating in the opening loss to the Ravens, he has now had seven straight games with the better than 100. The NFL record for passer rating in a season is 122.5 by AARON RODGERS in 2011. Maye is roughly at the halfway point with 118.7 which would rank 6th. Steve Buckley of The Athletic on the happiness that Maye and the rest of 2025 Patriots are creating again in Foxborough: In that one moment, it was as if every misstep by the New England Patriots over the past half-decade — every bad draft pick, every coaching blunder, every ill-advised free-agent signing — had been forgiven, if not forgotten. It was Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, Patriots vs. Cleveland Browns, 53 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Quarterback Drake Maye dropped back and feathered a nice, neat pass into the hands of Kayshon Boutte, who danced into the end zone for a touchdown. The fans were already in the early stages of their “M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!” chant, this because Maye had raced up the middle for 28 yards on the previous play, but now there was this touchdown, and Boutte’s ball toss, and a heightened “MVP!” chant, and … and, hey, wait, was this moment, right here, the happiest Gillette Stadium has been in the post-Tom Brady era?– – –Vrabel succeeded in creating energy. As for quality, take-charge football, not so much. Anyway, not in the first two quarters, with the Pats taking a 9-7 lead into halftime. But they scored on all three of their possessions in the third quarter, culminating with the drive that included a big Maye run, a big Maye pass, a big Boutte catch, a big Boutte toss into the cheap seats, and, yes, the big, loud big “MVP!” chant directed at Maye. “We’ve been on the road the past month, and it felt good to be back at home, scoring touchdowns,” Boutte said. “And the ‘MVP’ chant, I was joking with (Maye) last week about him being MVP, and he doesn’t like to hear it. But, man, I think it’s the truth, you know?”– – –On this football Sunday, you didn’t need to look too hard to see how happy Vrabel was. “I’m proud of the totality of this team,” Vrabel said. “I know there’s so much to improve, but we got stops in the second half and we scored touchdowns.” A reporter asked Vrabel about Maye’s “resolve,” noting that Maye was sacked six times but still passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns. “Everybody’s resolve,” Vrabel interjected. “We need to be better in that regard, but when you give him time to throw, it’s pretty good.” Great answer by Vrabel. Great game for the Patriots. And for the crowd, perhaps the greatest day at Gillette Stadium since Tom Brady took his talents to Tampa. Discuss among yourselves. |
| NEW YORK JETSBenched the week before, down 15 in the 4th quarter, QB JUSTIN FIELDS led the Jets back to their first win of the season, with some help from RB BREECE HALL, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com chronicles his postgame emotions: It was a gut-wrenching week for New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields, who almost lost his job and was publicly criticized by team owner Woody Johnson. At one point during the week, Fields was in his closet at home, on the ground, sobbing. The tears almost happened again Sunday after the Jets’ first win of the season, 39-38 over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium — one of the biggest comebacks in franchise history. “It’s been a lot for me, emotionally, spiritually,” Fields said. “When I was on the field, I was damn near about to start crying.” Fields gave a clinic on how an embattled athlete should handle adversity. Rebounding from two dismal performances, he completed 21 of 32 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown, rallying the Jets from a 15-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. He also ran for a 2-point conversion and made a brilliant, falling-down throw to Isaiah Davis on another 2-point play. Thanks largely to Fields and Breece Hall, who ran for two touchdowns and threw the winning TD pass on a halfback option, the Jets (1-7) won a game that appeared unwinnable. Afterward, Fields received praise from all corners of the locker room. “It seemed like the world was kind of crashing in around him, and he just went out there with football in his mind, locked in, played a hell of a game and led us to the win,” Jets safety Isaiah Oliver said. “He was vocal on the sideline all week during practice. None of that changed who he was.” Fields was benched at halftime last Sunday and spent the week in limbo, not knowing if he had been demoted. Coach Aaron Glenn played it close to the vest. He appeared to be leaning toward a quarterback change, but any plan of a potential switch was aborted Saturday when Tyrod Taylor was ruled out because of a bone bruise in his knee. He “just wasn’t comfortable,” Glenn said of Taylor. So, Glenn stuck with Fields, whose name was dragged through headlines Tuesday when Johnson essentially blamed him for the 0-7 start. Johnson said, “If we can just complete a pass, it would look good.” Fields dismissed the criticism Wednesday. After Sunday’s game, he opened up, saying at one point, “I’m going to get pretty vulnerable right here.” His voice cracked a couple of times. He shared the anecdote about crying in the closet. The deeply spiritual Fields mentioned the stress of the season and the “ups and downs” of the job but said his tears weren’t caused by the hardships of the week. “It was nothing [that] had to do with football,” he said. “Football is football, but it was so much more just about the journey and about how we got to this point and just facing adversity and fighting through adversity.” Undaunted, Fields lived the dream of every employee — making his boss regret his words. He insisted there was no redemptive enjoyment. “I get that he’s the owner of the team, but that’s outside noise,” Fields said. “The biggest thing was my teammates still believing in me, my coaches still believing in me, and God.” It looked bleak for Fields & Co. after Samaje Perine scored on a 34-yard run to put the Bengals (3-5) ahead 31-16. Then, Hall (18 carries for 133 yards) took over in the fourth quarter, scoring on runs of 5 and 27 yards and throwing a 4-yard scoring pass to rookie tight end Mason Taylor with 1:54 left in the game. Hall’s play was only the fourth winning touchdown pass by a non-quarterback in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime since 1950. Another Jets running back, Hall of Famer Curtis Martin, did it in 2000. “I saw the defender with his back turned to me, so I said, ‘I’m going to throw it up to Mason and see if he goes and gets it,'” Hall said. “I didn’t know he scored, but I turned and looked at all the Bengals fans and they were silent, looking at me.” Referring to offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand, Hall said, “I was like, ‘Tanner’s got to have some balls to call this one.'” Hall admitted he was “kind of frustrated” by his seven-game touchdown drought, the longest of his career. On Saturday, he said he told the coaches, “I need the ball this week.” Without wide receiver Garrett Wilson (knee) in the lineup, Hall said he needed 20 to 25 touches for the team to win. He finished with 21, counting his pass, as the Jets rushed for 254 yards — their most since 2021. The Jets, who had only one touchdown in their previous 12 quarters, erupted for three in the fourth to pull out the win. In the raucous postgame locker room, Glenn received the game ball from vice chairman Christopher Johnson, Woody Johnson’s younger brother. Glenn credited his players and coaches. And, of course, his quarterback. “He’s primed to be able to handle situations like this,” Glenn said. “It’s so unfair to him, it really is, that he gets criticized so much. … I would say that some of it’s unwarranted, but we understand. A lot of that goes with 0-7. He’s a perfect person to be able to handle everything that’s been thrown at him. He’s a special person.” It was still a tough day for Jets faithful with the passing of former center Nick Mangold at age 41. More from Cimini: Former New York Jets center Nick Mangold, a franchise legend who endeared himself to fans and teammates with his blue-collar, every-man demeanor, has died due to complications from kidney disease, the team announced Sunday. He was 41. Mangold’s death came 12 days after he made a public appeal for a kidney transplant. “Nick was more than a legendary center,” Jets owner Woody Johnson said in a statement. “He was the heartbeat of our offensive line for a decade and a beloved teammate whose leadership and toughness defined an era of Jets football. Off the field, Nick’s wit, warmth, and unwavering loyalty made him a cherished member of our extended Jets family.” On Oct. 14, Mangold announced that he was diagnosed in 2006 with a rare genetic disorder and that he was undergoing kidney dialysis. He directed his message to the Jets and Ohio State communities, asking for a kidney because no one in his family shared his type O blood type. “This isn’t an easy message to share, but I want to be open about what’s been happening with me and my health,” Mangold said at the time. Mangold is among 52 modern-era candidates currently being considered for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After an All-America career at Ohio State, Mangold was a first-round draft pick in 2006. That year, the Jets also drafted left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson in the first round. Known as “Nick & Brick,” they became the leaders of an offensive line that paved the way for playoff appearances in 2006, 2009 and 2010 — the franchise’s last trip to the postseason — under coach Rex Ryan. “It’s brutal. Such a great young man. I had the pleasure of coaching him for all six years [I was coach] with the Jets,” Ryan, now an ESPN analyst said Sunday, fighting through tears. “I remember, it was obvious I was getting fired, my last game Mangold is injured — like injured — and he comes to me and says, ‘I’m playing this game.’ And he went in and played for me. That’s what I remember about this kid. He was awesome and just way too young. I feel so bad for his wife and family.” Known for his toughness and cerebral approach, Mangold became one of the most decorated centers in the NFL. He made seven Pro Bowls and was twice named a first-team All-Pro. In 2009, he was a calming influence for rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, who overcame his turnover issues to help the Jets to the first of two straight appearances in the AFC Championship Game. Mangold was inducted into the Jets’ Ring of Honor in 2022. The bearded Mangold, wearing his trademark backward baseball cap, punctuated his speech to the stadium by cracking open a can of beer — much to the delight of the crowd. He was seldom seen in public without his backward baseball cap. More than anything, Mangold was known for his toughness. He played five straight years before missing his first game, and he wound up missing only four in his first 10 seasons. He missed eight games with a foot injury in 2016 — his last NFL season. “Nick was a great man in every aspect … an all-time teammate and a great friend … heartbroken for his family,” former Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick told ESPN on Sunday. After being released by the Jets, Mangold drew interest from the Baltimore Ravens, but he decided to retire after 11 seasons with the Jets. He started 164 of 176 games. Mangold, who lived in New Jersey, became an assistant football coach for Delbarton School in Morristown. “You get to mold boys into men and teach the game of football — but also teach them a little bit about life as you go along,” Mangold told the New York Post in 2024. Mangold is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and their four children Matthew, Eloise, Thomas and Charlotte. |
