Best & Worst NFL Week Eight

Week Eight has now come and gone around the NFL and things are getting more interesting around the league by the week. Since we are now at the halfway point of the season, so to speak, we are starting to see changes around the league. Lamar Jackson looks like he's done for the year with injury, which makes things more interesting with the trade deadline looming right around the corner. Carolina made the first major coaching change, letting go their defensive coordinator. The play on the field this week was a big week for the running game around the league. We also saw some performances that really made you scratch your head. With all that being said, here are some of the best, and worst, from week eight in the NFL.

Best: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Running Game
It was a very wet, sloppy game in Tampa on Sunday. The Buccaneers did what they had to do in a 16-0 win over the Falcons on Sunday. The defense was great, picking off Michael Peninx four times. But the real story of the day was the Bucs offense. Baker Mayfield went 0 for 3 on the day passing. Three passes and he missed all of them. But that's OK, because the Bucs running game more than made up for it. Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell both had days on Sunday. Bucky had 27 carries for 170 yards and the lone touchdown in the game. Gainewell added another 25 carries for 40 yards. And that was more than enough given the conditions on the day Sunday in Tampa.

Worst: Christian Parker, Defensive Coordinator Dallas Cowboys
There are teams that are starting to slip al little, then there's whatever the hell this is in Dallas. The Cowboys were home against Arizona on Sunday and had a decent lead by the half. But then it all fell apart. Arizona walked away with a 33-30 overtime win, this coming after they benched Jacoby Brisette for Gardner Minshew. Gardner threw for three touchdowns in relief, and erased a 14 point deficit in the 4th quarter. Dallas can't let that happen. It's not just Dallas, any team in the NFL shouldn't let a lead like that slip away. Parker's defense gave up 467 yards, which is bad enough on its own. It looks even worse when you realize that this was done with the opposition switching QB's during the game. The big plays have been coming at a slightly alarming clip against Dallas. It's time that the Cowboys need to seriously look at making the changes for that side of things.

Best: Amani Hooker, Safety Tennessee Titans
There might be little signs of hope for the Titans in 2026, but this has been one of the big bright spots. Tennessee found a pro bowler from its defense in Hooker, who had himself a day Sunday. Sure, the game didn't end well, as the Bengals walked away with a 43-36 win in overtime. But Hooker was a big reason the game even got there in the first place. Sure, Burrow played hero for the Bengals by throwing five touchdowns, but he was picked off three times. Amani Hooker had all three of those picks. Those picks now give Hooker five for the season, which leads the NFL. Hooker is under contract in Tennessee through at least 2028, so it shows that the Titans have faith in the guy in the secondary. Now the Titans need to speed this up and get better talent around him on that side of the football.

Worst: Los Angeles Chargers Offense
The Chargers now sit at 0-7 on the season, following a 24-9 loss on the road to the Rams. It's bad enough that the Chargers are winless on the year. It's even worse when the offense has scored just 99 point total on the season through the first two months of the year. It's the lowest point total in the league. They've scored more than 20 points in a game just once this season (23 in the loss to Seattle week four). Justin Herbert isn't helping the cause, fumbling once and getting picked off twice. Sure 257 yards passing is decent, but the turnovers are killing whatever momentum that might bring. We keep sounding like a broken record here, but a lot of this fall on Mike McDaniel, the Chargers offensive coordinator. He's not getting the best out of the weapons he has and quite frankly, he shouldn't be much longer for this job.

Best: Kirk Cousins Quarterback Las Vegas Raiders
Kirk Cousins seems like he's playing for his job every week out in Vegas. This week he held onto it for another go around, leading the Raiders to a 38-33 win over the Jets on Sunday. Cousins threw 19 of 26 for 247 yards and more importantly three touchdowns. Oh he also added another score himself on a sneak late in the game. This all coming after the Jets scored on their first six possessions. But Cousins was able to lead the Raiders to overcome that and kept using his tight end Brock Bowers very well. He had two of the touchdowns that Cousins threw. As badly as the Raiders might want to go to Fernando Mendoza, with Cousins playing like this, they can't make the switch yet.

Worst: Kyler Murray, Quarterback Minnesota Vikings
There was a small hope in Minnesota that Kyler Murray could look like the hype that surrounded him when he was picked 1st overall in 2019. There was hope that Kevin O'Connell offense in Minnesota would be able to pull whatever untapped potential out of Murray. Instead, even though the Vikings are 6-1, following their 19-15 loss to Detroit on Sunday, Murray looked like he's now close to riding the bench. He seemed to sleepwalk through the first three quarters in the loss to Detroit. most of his 201 passing yards came in the 4th quarter. But it took forever for him to wake up and get the Vikings going. They have talent around him to make explosive plays, it just wasn't working. It maybe early to panic in Minnesota, but he might not be long for the job if he keeps getting off to sluggish starts.