NFL Week 8 Review

Halloween provided plenty of treats for some teams, but for teams like the Cowboys, Vikings and Redskins there were far more tricks.  Some games were so thrilling that the treats could satisfy any sweet tooth, while others were so lopsided that the most entertaining part of the game was spotting all the fans wearing costumes.  Not that the Saints-Steelers game qualifies as such a snooze-fest, but it should be noted that New Orleans may have just set the record for the biggest costume party ever.

Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, New York Giants, Philadelphia, and Baltimore got the week off to go dress up for their own costume parties.  Or in Eli Manning's case, to go Trick-or-Treating.

Aside from Halloween costumes, here are some things I noticed in Week 8.

• For the 2nd week in a row Miami was able to kick 5 successful fields goals.  TDs are overrated anyway.
• Terrell Owens had a wild TD reception, his second of the game.  Great concentration or just a case of being in the right place at the right time?
• If you don't feel sorry for the woeful Cowboys, who dropped to 1-6 for the season, then at least Owner Jerry Jones feels sorry for the fans.  As he should.  This season was a disaster before they lost Tony Romo, so they can't blame it on that.
• Jacksonville is somehow 4-4 in a very tough division despite a terrible defense and an inconsistent passing game.  I still wouldn't trust David Garrard in a big game, but 4 TDs is impressive.
• Mercedes Lewis caught 2 of those TDs.  He doesn't catch a lot of passes, but when he does it always seems to be in the endzone.  He is tied for 4th in the league in receiving TDs with 7.  You may never have heard of him, but he trails just barely behind guys like Antonio Gates and Calvin Johnson.  You may have heard of those guys.
• Kitna did what he always does; puts up big yardage numbers against a poor defense but mixes in plenty of mistakes to cost his team the game.  4 Interceptions and only 1 TD was basically a mirror opposite of Garrard's day.
• The Lions have already won 2 games and they aren't even halfway through the season yet!  Spooky.
• Redskins coach Mike "Lucifer" Shanahan played the biggest trick of all on Halloween when he benched Donovan McNabb near the end of the game with the Redskins trailing by 6 points.  His excuse was that Rex Grossman was more comfortable with the 2 minute offense so he felt he gave them a better chance to win.  On his first snap of the game, Grossman fumbled the ball, which was returned for a TD.  So much for that plan!  While the QB change isn't permanent, it may have done some permanent damage to the psyche of McNabb.  It has to be a shot to his confidence to have been benched at the end of a game that they still had a chance to win.  Now he'll be looking over his shoulder whenever he struggles or when the game is close near the end.  This bizarre move may have cost the Redskins more than just this game.
• When asked for an explanation for his decision, Shanahan flip-flopped on his answer.  Initially he stated it was due to McNabb being unfamiliar with the 2 minute drill in this offense (how could that be?  We're in week 8!).  He later changed his story, claiming McNabb doesn't have the cardiovascular endurance that it takes to move the ball down the field in under 2 minutes.  As if being benched isn't embarrassing enough, now the coach calls you out for being out of shape?  Ouch.  Maybe Shanahan was just thinking back to that Super Bowl loss against the Pats a few years ago when McNabb was puking on the sidelines between plays.
• The Bills are like the little kid that gets a bag full of candy from Trick-or-Treating, only to have it stolen away by the bigger kids on their way home.  For the second week in a row Buffalo looked like they might finally win a game against a potential playoff team, only to lose it in overtime.  This time it took the entire OT period, as KC kicked the winning FG as time expired.  They would have been happy with a tie.
• The RB duo of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones combined for 254 yards on the ground.  So maybe that's why Buffalo never wins.
• Carolina fans must have been nostalgic this week, as all the turnovers by the Panthers made them think Jake Delhomme must still be around.
• DeAngelo Williams missed this game with an injured ankle.  In past seasons that typically meant it was a lock that Jonathan Stewart would run wild.  Not this time though.  Only 30 yards on 14 carries.  The Carolina backs are still very talented, it's the team around them that's holding them back.
• St. Louis already has more wins this season than the previous 2 seasons combined!
• Ugly game for Mark Sanchez and the Jets.  The defense was great, but there is only so much they can do when the offense fails to score at all.  Turnovers, erratic throws by Sanchez and coaching blunders destroyed them.
• The Jets were bold early in the game when they did a fake punt on 4th and 18.  It nearly worked, but after a reply challenge it was determined that they came up short of the first down, which turned the ball over to the Packers with great field position and set up their first FG of the game.
• The Packers offense was nearly as ugly, but at least they have the excuse of not having anything resembling a running game, a porous offensive line and losing Donald Driver to injury during the game.  The Jets defense deserves a lot of credit, but that emphasises the gap between an All-Pro QB like Aaron Rodgers and an overrated second year QB like Sanchez.  Rodgers found a way to move the ball enough to put some points on the board against a suffocating defense despite dwindling resources around him, yet Sanchez is surrounded with talented players but was unable to score at all against a defense decimated by injuries.
• The 49ers had to travel all the way to London to get a win, but they'll take it.
• The Kyle Orton-Brandon Lloyd connection was on full display, connecting on 7 catches for 169 yards and a TD.  These two have developed a great rapport this season, especially on the deep ball (1 of those completions went for 71 yards).  Now if only that could translate into wins.
• Just when you think the Chargers can be left for dead they come back with an impressive victory over a very good Titans team.  With KC playing so well it may be too late to win the division, but there are plenty of games left and you never know if a team like the Chiefs could fall apart at the end after a surprisingly strong start to the season.  It just happened to Denver last season.
• Chris Johnson scored again, extending his league leading rushing TD mark to 8.  Another low yardage game would make you think he's having a sub par year with rushing totals, but his 721 yards through 8 games trails only Adrian Peterson and Arian Foster for the league lead.  We were all just spoiled by him last year.
• The Raiders never seem to win more than 3 or 4 games a year and are a lock for a top 10 draft pick, but the year the Patriots get their 1st round draft pick they are on pace to go 8-8.  Go figure.
• When facing one of the league's worst run defenses it seems reasonable to rely heavily on the running game to move the ball.  Seattle didnt' get the memo, as they had 3 backs combine for only 19 carries.  Granted none of them ran the ball particularly well, but the game didn't get out of hand until the 4th quarter when Oakland added on 20 more points to make the game a blowout.  It was only 13-0 heading into the 4th quarter, so the running game was still in play for most of the game.
• Marshawn Lynch: 9 carries for 7 yards.  Maybe dealing for him wasn't such a great idea after all.
• A month after being traded to the Vikings, Randy Moss made his return to New England to face off against his old team.  The Patriots came into the game with not only the goal of winning the game, but also of validating the decision to make the trade by limiting Moss.  The last thing they needed was to let the Vikings come into their stadium and beat them with the help of a monster game from Moss.  They accomplished both goals, by winning the game and limiting Moss to only 8 yards on 1 catch.  Meanwhile, Brandon Tate, the deep threat replacement for Moss, had a big game thanks to a momentum changing 65 yard TD catch.
• The Pats were physical with Moss near the line of scrimmage and used a safety over the top to take away big plays.  This opened things up to allow Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson have big games, but the bend but don't break Patriot defense seemed to be content with allowing them to get their yards as long as it meant Moss wouldn't hurt them with a big play.  The strategy worked, in that despite the big yardage totals, the Vikings weren't able to score enough to keep pace with the Pats.
• After the game Moss seemed like a player that finally realized he made a mistake by forcing his way out of New England.  He repeatedly stated how much he missed his former teammates, praised Bellichick as being the "best coach in football history" and all but begged for the team to call for a do-over and take him back.  He went on to take jabs at his own team for not paying enough attention to the inside information he provided to them throughout the week regarding his knowledge of the Patriots system.
• In another bizarre twist to his post game rant, he also stated that due to a $25,000 fine he received from the league for refusing to speak to the media, Moss made it clear that for the rest of the year he would not answer any more questions.  Instead, he will answer his own questions for his post game interview.
• Breaking News: in the middle of writing this article on Monday it was announced that the Vikings have released Randy Moss.  Apparently it didn't take long for them to get sick of his act.  Shocking, considering what they are willing to put up with for Favre.  Could he be next?
• Despite having an ankle that is fractured in two places, Brett Favre improbably started his record 292nd straight game.  However, he was unable to finish the game, after being knocked out in the 4th quarter.  He could hobble around on one foot, but has to be carted off the field for getting a cut on his chin?  Get it stitched up, slap a band-aide on it and get back out there!  Seems like an excuse to be able to blame the loss on the fact that he wasn't able to finish rather than the fact that he was getting beat. 
• For what it's worth, Tavaris Jackson threw a TD on his first snap of the game when he took over, and followed that up by converting a 2 point conversion.  With this season seemingly lost already, maybe they would just be better off handing the role over to him now.  Favre can retire now, which could save us from months of reports of him going back and forth about if he should come back or not.
• At 5-2 the Tampa Bay Bucs are tied for first place in the NFC South.  Not bad for this point in the season, considering they were one of the worst teams in the league last year.  While their coach's proclamation last week that they are the best team in the NFC may be a bit exaggerated, they are clearly a much improved team and a potential playoff contender.  Their problem will be that they share a division with the team that may actually be the best team in the NFC (Falcons) as well as the defending Super Bowl champs (Saints).
• Arizona needs to pick a QB and stick with him.  This QB by committee approach isn't working - for their present or future.  Derek Anderson has his flaws (many of them actually) but at this point he seems more prepared to lead this team than Max Hall.  Considering Hall was an undrafted free agent it's doubtful they were counting on him to be their future anyway, so they might as well stick with the veteran for now.
• It took them a while to get going against the league's best defense, but the Saints finally started to show flashes of their old selves in the 4th quarter, when Brees connected on both of his TDs to give the Saints a big win in front of their costumed crowd.
• It wasn't just the offense that looked more like last year's team, but the defense stepped up as well.  Last year's team succeeded in part because of an opportunistic defense that made plays and forced turnovers.  The Steelers' last two drives of the game ended with turnovers, so it was just like old times for the Saints to help close this game out.
• Ben Roethlisburger looked like a guy that was anxious to get the game over with so he could go party with the New Orleans crowd.
• A 38 yard TD run in the 4th quarter saved Rashard Mendenhall from a pretty disappointing game.  Take that one big run away and he managed only 33 yards on 14 carries.
• The Colts may not be as dominant as they have been in the past, but nobody beats Payton Manning in prime time.
• The Indy pass rush never gave Houston a chance.  They sacked Schaub three times, but it seemed like more than that given how often he was pressured or hit.  Credit the Colts defense, which is one of the best at rushing the passer thanks to speedy playmakers like Dwight Freeney, but the Texans' offensive line played poorly in the first half.  On one of the sacks Freeney wasn't even touched.  How do you forget to block one of the most dangerous pass rushers in the game?
• Arian Foster ran wild on the Colts in their Week 1 matchup (33 carries, 231 yards, 3 TDs).  So I suppose that holding him to only 102 yards and 1 TD can be considered containing him.  It helped that this time the Colts had a big enough lead that Houston could not afford to give Foster more than 15 carries in the game.  6.8 yards per carry is still pretty impressive, showing that Foster is indeed still a stud RB and the Indy run defense is still a dud.
• The Colts are stuck playing musical chairs at RB.  Joseph Addai was inactive for this game, Donald Brown played but is banged up and Mike Hart exited this game after twisting his ankle.  The Colts were left to rely on Javarris James, who despite being apparently related to Edgerrin James, bears no resemblance to the former Colts star on the field.  Good thing the Colts don't rely much on their rushing attack anyways.
• The New England Patriots have the best record in the league at 6-1.  The Giants, Falcons, Bucs, Jets, Ravens, Steelers, Chiefs, and Colts are all right behind at 5-2.  Any one of those teams could end the year with the league's best record (ok, probably not the Bucs), showing there are no dominant teams in the league.  Clinching a first round Bye in the playoffs could come down to the final week of the season, meaning teams like the Colts won't get to treat the last week or two of the season like it's a pre-season game.  Bad for those teams, but very good for football.