NFL Weekly recap: Week 8
The NFL season is officially eight weeks in, and it’s starting to come to terms with the fact that there are only a few good teams this year.
With the league usually being way more competitive, it is a shock to fans every week that some of these teams just can’t get it together.
Here’s take a look at this past week’s takeaways:
The NFC East Is Elite
Besides the Giants losing to the Seahawks, the rest of the NFC East teams pulled off a win on Sunday.
The Eagles blew out the Steelers 35-13 and moved to 7-0 on the season. Jalen Hurts threw 285 yards for four touchdowns, three of which were scored by superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown.
No team has seemed to be good competition for the Eagles so far this season, and with their upcoming schedule, we can’t help but wonder if this team will ever lose.
The Cowboys had a dominant 49-29 win over the Bears this weekend, moving them to 6-2. Running back Tony Pollard rushed for 131 yards and had three touchdowns to show for it.
The Cowboys are stacked, and with Dak Prescott back in action, this team will remain fun to watch.
Even though the Giants fell to the Seahawks on Sunday that doesn’t take away from the fact that they have been major standouts so far this season.
It is safe to say Saquon is on fire now more than ever, and this team isn’t going anywhere.
Both the Giants and Cowboys are on a bye next week, but Nov. 24 is right around the corner, and what better to look forward to than these two teams facing off on Thanksgiving?
As for the Commanders, they seem to be figuring themselves out as they won two close games against the Packers and the Colts these past two weeks, improving to 4-4 on the year.
However, Taylor Heinicke is proving to be the quarterback the Commanders need, and with a big matchup against the Vikings next week.
The NFC is 23-8 with a .742 win percentage which is the best by any division through the first eight weeks of the season since the 1970 merger.
Golden State, Golden Game, Golden Future
The 49ers are now 4-4 on the season after their 31-14 win over the Rams, but it looks like their new addition, Christian McCaffery, is already turning things around for them.
The Rams are definitely not the same team we saw win the Super Bowl last year, but a win over them is huge for the 49ers considering that they are their division rivals.
The 49ers have been off to a slow start, especially dropping games they probably shouldn’t have. Each week it has been pretty unpredictable whether they would win or lose, but this team seems to be fully committed to getting their act together.
The 49ers' defense is arguably one of the best in the league and each game they continue to use all of the weapons within their offense.
Jimmy Garropolo is the best quarterback to lead this team, and he will continue to prove that in the upcoming weeks.
Rodgers and Brady Are Competing For The Worst
Going into the NFL season, fans could not predict absolute mediocracy from two of the best quarterbacks in the league.
Usually, fans are comparing the two of them in an argument over who is the better quarterback, but this season it is the complete opposite.
Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady have BOTH officially lost multiple games in a row. Brady has lost three straight, and Rodgers has lost four.
There is no doubt this is extremely out of character for both of them considering Brady hasn’t lost this many games in a row since 2002 and Rodgers since 2016.
The last time Brady lost three in a row was EXACTLY 20 years ago from his 27-22 third straight loss to the Ravens on Thursday. October 27 seems to be a very unlucky day for Brady.
On top of that, after suffering a 27-17 loss to the Bills, this 3-5 record for the Packers is Rodgers worst record through eight games as a starter.
This comes as a surprise to all of us as we would not expect these two quarterbacks to come to their downfall both in the same season or quite frankly ever.
It is tough to decipher if these two are just washed or if they are coincidentally both in a slump at the same time. Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain, neither of these two is headed to the playoffs at the rate they are going.
I wouldn’t put it past these two to miraculously turn things around for their teams in the second half of the season, but the question is, do they still have it in them?
Gia Sabatino is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email gms6168@psu.edu.
