Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Best & Worst NFL Week Eight

We've hit the half way mark of the 2020 NFL season, and what a first half of the year its been. Pittsburgh is still unbeaten, the Jets are still winless. Week eight saw Dalvin Cook go off on a monster game. Miami seems to be finding their footing and getting into the thick of things, while New England seems to be losing their way, which has to be a strange feeling for that organization. It's almost a scary level seeing the flaws coming out in such a consistent club. Seattle is taking off, while San Francisco is starting to fall fast, due to the injury bug taking hold. Lots to get into, so lets not waste any more time. Here's the best and worst from week eight in the NFL.

Best: Dalvin Cook, Running Back Minnesota Vikings

There's having a day, then there's what Cook did for Minnesota on Sunday. The Vikings pulled out a huge 28-22 win over the Packers on Sunday and Cook was a massive part of it. He finished with two catches for 63 yards and a touchdown, and added 30 carries for 163 yards and three scores. 226 total yards of offense and four scores. To say that Cook was in the zone on Sunday would be an understatement. He lit up the Packers defense like a cheap cigar, something which could be a problem for Green Bay going forward. Sure it a long shot for the Vikings to make the playoffs, they sit at 2-5 after this win. But with Cook now appearing to be fully healthy, this makes him a dangerous man and makes the Vikings at least a little more fun to watch the rest of the season.

Worst: Ben DiNucci, Quarterback Dallas Cowboys

To say that its been a rough year for the Dallas Cowboys would be an understatement. Dallas fell to Philadelphia 23-9 and having DiNucci start under center was a failed experiment for the Cowboys. I get it, Dallas doesn't have much of a choice under center, with both Dak and Andy Dalton out with injury. DiNucci was having problems all day long, as he lacked not only the proper throwing skills, he also lacked the processing speed to run the Cowboys offense. He was clearly overwhelmed by the speed and tenacity of the Eagles’ pass rush, dropping 48 yards on four sacks while losing two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown. His 180 passing yards was a little weak too. Nothing was clicking for the Boys to try and gain advantage in this weak division.

Best: Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs

I know its going against a pathetic excuse for a football team in the Jets, but come on you have to put Mahomes on this list here. Kansas City rolled to a 35-9 victory over New York. Mahomes finished the day going 31 of 42 for 416 yards and an amazing five touchdowns. He was playing at another level on Sunday, leading all passers with 416 yards this week. Again it was against the Jets, but still throwing for over four hundred yards and five touchdowns is still pretty impressive.

Worst: Ronnie Stanley, Offensive Line Baltimore Ravens

This was a rough week for the Ravens. One the one had, they fell 28-24 to the Steelers to be a couple steps further behind Pittsburgh in the division. It was bad enough they fell to Pittsburgh, but it was a worst day for Ronnie Stanley. Heading into the game, Stanley had just signed an extension that is paying him close to $98 million, which is making him the highest paid linemen in history. Sunday, he injured his ankle during the game, had to get carted off the field and looks like he will be out the rest of the season. This comes as a huge blow to the Ravens, because he's a massive reason why Lamar Jackson is able to play great ball. He's the most important player to this offense other then Lamar and now he won't be there. His absence will be crucial to see how well the Ravens can hold up and try and hang with the Steelers in the race for the division, if its even really a race anymore.

Best: Brian Flores, Head Coach Miami Dolphins

This will tie into what we have coming up in a little bit, but the Miami Dolphins seem to have things going right on Sunday. They knocked off the Los Angeles Rams28-17 on Sunday and Brian Flores always seems to have the right game play against this team. There had been some question that a 3-3 team could keep a game back of the Bills in the division. So now they go face the Rams and made a switch to a rookie. He did alright but it was the defense and special teams that managed to be able to get the Fins over the hill and get the win. They put a ton of pressure on Geoff and forced him to make bad decisions and turn overs.

Worst: San Francisco Health

First off, its bad enough that the 49ers went down 37-27 at the hands of the Seahawks. Seattle has been that good this year, and with the loss, San Francisco now sits at 4-4 and is fading in a tough NFC West. To make matters worse for the Niners, some of their key players are getting hurt at the wrong time. George Kittle is going to miss a lot of time with a foot injury. Oh and there's no real idea who's going to be under center next week, as Jimmy Garoppolo aggravated a right ankle injury. The Niners two best offensive players getting hurt at a really bad time and it happening in a really tough divisional race to boot.

Best: Tua Tagovailoa, Quarterback Miami Dolphins

Sure it was the defense that helped get the win here for the Dolphins, but hats off to Tua for getting his first career win. Tua was average at best, with 54 yards of offense in the first half, but an amazing 28 points for the Fins. Still Tua finished with a decent day throwing, despite fumbling the ball once. It could be a step in the right direction and could be showing signs that it really is Tua Time in Miami and that this was the right decision to make the switch. They were going to wait till later in the year to do it but it seemed like the right move. This week it was the defense that really made the difference against the Rams. Lets hope that Tua can step his game up and find his footing in this league as the year goes along.

Worst: New England Patriots

This has been a bad year in New England, slipping to a 2-5 record on the year, following a 24-21 loss to Buffalo. And this was even coming close for Buffalo blowing this game, but Cam Newton fumbled the ball late in the game, knocking the Pats out of field goal range, and it gave the game to the Bills. Its starting to become more clear that the Pats are starting to move into transition phase and are moving away from the Brady era. Newton isn't the answer under center, but he is better then any other options that the Patriots have right now. They've hit a slide, but at least thankfully they aren't at a Jets level bad

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