NFL Week 8 Takeaways: Preseason NFC Favorites Continue Free Fall

The NFC playoff picture currently includes the third-seeded Seattle Seahawks, fourth-seeded Atlanta Falcons and sixth-seeded New York Giants eight weeks into the NFL regular season.

… Wait, what?!

To repeat: The Seahawks, Falcons and Giants would be going to the NFL playoffs if the postseason started after Week 8.

Yeah, the unofficial first half of the NFL season has been truly baffling.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were the preseason favorite to win the conference at +330, are 10th in the standings. The Green Bay Packers, a 4-to-1 preseason bet to win the NFC, are behind the Buccaneers at 11th and are three wins back of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. Similarly, the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, +550 to win the NFC in early September, also would be out of the playoffs if the postseason started after Week 8 with their ninth-place standing. Conversely, the Falcons were 35-to-1 to win the NFC South while the Giants (-280) and Seahawks (-650) were heavy favorites to miss the playoffs.

And after eight weeks of football, it’s fair to think the Packers and Rams could very well watch the postseason at home. Don’t count out the Buccaneers yet, with the 4-4 Falcons currently leading a poor NFC South. It’s the only division in the NFL where the first-placed team is not above .500. But those preseason favorites don’t feel even remotely capable of representing the conference in Arizona this February, despite the fact they still have the fifth- (Buccaneers, 10-to-1), sixth- (Rams, 14-to-1) and seventh- (Packers, 20-to-1) best prices to do so at DraftKings Sportsbook.

All three suffered ugly losses in Week 8, too, continuing a troubling trend that football fans probably thought would have ended by now. For the Packers, it meant a fourth loss in a row, while the Bucs now have dropped each of their last three. LA has lost three of its last four.

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Here are more takeaways from Week 8:

— Mac Jones and the New England Patriots might have saved their seasons at MetLife Stadium on Sunday against the New York Jets. Jones, specifically, was thrown a life raft in the final minute of the first half as a controversial roughing-the-passer penalty negated what would have been a pick-six for the Jets, and more importantly prevented his eighth interception in five games. The Patriots’ season was ultimately saved with the Week 8 victory in general, benefiting from the complete ineptitude of New York quarterback Zach Wilson. Wilson, for some reason, still gave New England bulletin-board material following the loss with the indication he’s looking forward to playing the Patriots again in Week 11. But for now, both Jones, who entered Week 8 in a quarterback controversy, and the Patriots live to fight another day.

— Kudos to Patriots coach Bill Belichick for taking over the second spot in all-time coaching wins, passing George Halas in the process.

— The Dallas Cowboys offense looked as good as it has all season during their Week 8 win over the Chicago Bears, and they did so without running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was sidelined due to knee soreness. While Elliott has had a number of hard-earned runs this season, Tony Pollard looked far more explosive to the tune of 147 yards of offense on 15 touches and three touchdowns. He averaged nine yards (!) per carry. The Cowboys have used Pollard sparingly this season — he’s played anywhere from 39% to 65% offensive snaps in the first eight weeks — but Dallas now needs to make sure the Memphis product sees more opportunities than before, and perhaps more than Elliott. Pollard received nine or fewer touches in three of his first five games. That can’t be a mistake the team makes moving forward, especially with the Dak Prescott-led passing game helping combine for a season-best 49 points.

— Here’s yet another reminder the Philadelphia Eagles were right in their decision to trade a first-rounder for wideout A.J. Brown this offseason. Brown finished Week 8 with six receptions for 156 yards after scoring three first-half touchdowns. He’s a game-changer for the offense, especially with defenses having to account for the Jalen Hurts-led running game.

— Much of the same can be said about the Cleveland Browns acquiring receiver Amari Cooper for a modest fifth-round pick from the Cowboys. Cooper, once again, made the Cowboys look foolish for doing so. He finished with his third game of 100-plus receiving yards and one touchdown against the Bengals, finishing with five receptions for 131 yards. The Cowboys don’t have one of those such performances this season. Receivers matter.

— The Josh McDaniels era in Las Vegas hit a new low point in Week 8 with the Raiders completely unprepared in a shutout loss to the New Orleans Saints. The Raiders seemed like they didn’t know Alvin Kamara was on the opposite sideline as the Saints’ dual-threat running back caught a season-high nine passes on 10 targets for 96 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Oh yeah, and Davante Adams had one reception for three yards despite playing 72% of offense snaps. It was a bad enough result that McDaniels felt the need to apologize, all while NFL Twitter made its feelings known.

— So the San Francisco 49ers’ trade for Christian McCaffrey certainly had a quick impact, huh? McCaffrey accounted for three touchdowns in Week 8 against the Los Angeles Rams as he threw a 34-yarder to Brandon Aiyuk, caught a 9-yard score from Jimmy Garoppolo and ran for a 1-yard touchdown. He became the first player since 2005 to throw a touchdown pass, rush for a touchdown and catch one in the same game. In the big picture, McCaffrey makes the 49ers one of the scariest teams not just in the NFC West, but in the conference. San Francisco now sits 5-to-1 to win the NFC, behind only the Eagles.