Monday Morning Hangover: Scary, Sad, Season-Changing Week 8 Injuries

There were too many circles of kneeling teammates on Sunday, too many carts driving onto the field to fetch fallen players. There were too many seasons apparently ended, careers possibly cut short, moments when we wondered if the player would be OK before we could even worry about whether the team would be OK. 

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

We saw Ricardo Lockette offer a thumbs-up from a stretcher after lying motionless on the field for too long Sunday. We saw Steve Smith writhe on the field after crumpling to the ground with a foot injury and then get helped off the field on one leg with a towel draped over his face. We saw Le'Veon Bell carted off the field before the Pittsburgh Steelers even had enough time to enjoy Ben Roethlisberger's return.

There were terrifying injuries, disheartening injuries, season-altering injuries and even a few injuries that started as comic pratfalls but turned out to be truly serious.

Injuries reshaped the 2015 NFL season this weekend. Here's a far-from-comprehensive rundown of some of the biggest injuries of the week and their impacts on the players who got hurt as well as their teams.

Most Terrifying: Ricardo Lockette, concussion. Lockette had full movement in his extremities not long after leaving the Dallas Cowboys-Seattle Seahawks game late in the second quarter, according to reports. That was great news after watching medical staff tend to Lockette on the field for nearly 10 minutes after a wicked collision with Jeff Heath while blocking for a punt return.

Preliminary reports on Lockette's injury indicate only a concussion, albeit the kind of severe one that was taken seriously even 30 years ago (when all "minor" concussions were treated with smelling salts, Gatorade and pep talks). We may see Lockette again in a few weeks. The Seahawks, who got just seven receptions for 74 yards from wide receivers in a 13-12 win over the Cowboys, need all the help they can get. As of Sunday, it was just great seeing Lockette move his thumbs.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Most Painful Looking: Khiry Robinson, leg. Lockette's injury made you worry about his long-term health. Robinson's injury, with his leg jutting from a pile at an angle that bore little relation to the position of his body, made you squirm and imagine how it would feel if it happened to you. Medical staff applied an air cast to the injury before Robinson was carted off. It was gruesome, and it ended the season of a valuable New Orleans Saints role player on an afternoon when a video game-like 52-49 win put the team back in the playoff picture.

Most (Potentially) Devastating: Le'Veon Bell, knee. Bell appeared to injure his knee when his leg got twisted at a painfully skewed angle early in the Steelers' 16-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that Bell was expected to go on season-ending injured reserve if a suspected MCL tear was confirmed.

Whether Bell ends up missing a few games or the season, the Steelers must do a better job of adapting to his loss than they did Sunday. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley apparently forgot that DeAngelo Williams led the team in rushing in the first two weeks of the season and decided to just let Roethlisberger launch bomb after bomb down the field.

Roethlisberger threw 45 passes even though he didn't appear to be at peak capacity, with many balls sailing into tight coverage or (late in the game) defenders' arms. Williams had a 55-yard run but just eight other carries even though the Steelers led for most of the day.

Haley did a fine job compensating for the loss of Bell and then for Roethlisberger, but he might not have three or four more rational, nonreactionary game plans in him.

Gail Burton/Associated Press

Saddest: Steve Smith, foot. Smith has a torn Achilles, ending his season. Smith had said that this would be his final year, though he's the kind of guy who will return with a chip on his shoulder if he doesn't like the way his final season ended.

And who can like the way this season ended? Smith was having a great game (five catches, 82 yards) before stumbling to the ground at the end of a screen-and-run, pointing to his feet, banging his hands on the ground in anguish, and making it clear that he wouldn't be getting up and shaking this one off.

Smith is one of the NFL's unique players and characters. He would be a superstar with lots of endorsements and a Hall of Fame bandwagon waiting in the garage if he hadn't spent so many seasons on a small-market team spinning its wheels. If Smith chooses to hang up his cleats, spend time with his family and rebrand himself as the world's angriest color commentator, that will be swell. But if he chooses to return, it will be worth a season of standing ovations.

Most Inevitable: Matt Forte, knee. The Chicago Bears did not provide much information about Matt Forte's knee injury after their 23-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but Jay Glazer said the team thinks it's an MCL injury (per Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports).

Forte has been a constant source of reliability and professionalism through three frustrating seasons of Bears football. At times over the last few years, he looked like the only guy on the roster who was still playing hard. If Forte misses extended time, it will force the Bears to evaluate not just backup Jeremy Langford (who rushed for 46 yards but dropped a critical late-game pass) but also their entire offense and general rebuilding plan.

It might be best for the Bears in the long run to discover what kind of team they will be without Forte. But Forte is a football lover's football player, so we hope to see him back sometime.

Most Numerous: San Diego Chargers. Offensive tackle King Dunlap got hurt on the second play of the game. Defensive tackle Corey Liuget, receiver Stevie Johnson and others soon followed. Keenan Allen caught a leaping touchdown pass...and then left the game with muscle spasms. Ladarius Green also left the game. (Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune rounded things up.) The San Diego Chargers were already without Eric Weddle, Manti Te'o, Orlando Franklin and others.

The Baltimore Ravens have also been hammered by injuries this season. By the fourth quarter, it looked like Philip Rivers and the San Diego State Aztecs were facing Joe Flacco, Justin Tucker and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County Retrievers.

The Chargers have not suffered any one cataclysmic injury this year. Instead, they have been buried under an avalanche of minor ones.

Biggest Momentum-Stopper: Cameron Wake, Achilles. Cameron Wake kicked off the Week 8 injury rash with an Achilles tear in the Miami Dolphins' Thursday night loss to the New England Patriots.

The Dolphins could have lost to the host Patriots and still looked like a team that had turned things around. But the Wake injury, coupled with an embarrassing showing by the rest of the Dolphins, stopped the Dan Campbell Metallica Mosh Pit Tour in its tracks.

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Most Tragicomic: Reggie Bush, knee. Slipping and falling in front of a wall covered by a giant picture of Brian Quick was one of the most Reggie Bush things Reggie Bush has done in his long, baffling career. He could have at least chosen a Robert Quinn photo or a Deacon Jones memorial to jog up to and stumble in front of as if he thought he saw a huge genie pop out of a lamp. Bush's pratfall was the stuff of great GIF amusement...except that he may have torn his ACL, according to Garafolo.

Is this how it ends for the former Heisman winner, the would-be Barry Sanders who flung himself at the all-time draft bust list but missed by assembling several fairly productive seasons for the Saints, the Detroit Lions and the Dolphins? Bush looked the forgotten rock star playing county fairs when coming off the San Francisco 49ers bench this season. Maybe he was destined to go out this way: Bush never burned brightly enough to burn out, but he made it his business to fade away.

It's hard to imagine Bush rebounding (if his injury is indeed serious) and finding a more desperate situation than "2015 49ers backup running back" from which to launch an unlikely extra encore. But the one thing Bush has never been is predictable.

Most Tabloid-Friendly: Ryan Fitzpatrick, thumb. Fitzpatrick suffered an injury to his non-throwing hand in the first quarter. True to form, the New York Jets responded to Geno Smith's presence in the huddle by suddenly becoming terrible in all phases of football, including running the ball and tackling, as if they were suddenly too countermotivated to even jog, let alone tackle Michael Crabtree. The Oakland Raiders trounced the Jets by a misleadingly close 34-20 margin.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported in mid-game that the Jets front office was already inquiring around the league for quarterbacks, which is not unusual when a quarterback gets injured but becomes extra juicy when the Jets and Geno are involved. (Smith also got hurt late in the game but stayed in except for a brief return by Fitzpatrick.)

Pro Football Talk even mentioned Ryan Mallett for extra intrigue: Mallett would try to rumble with Geno but show up an hour late. There were no Tim Tebow rumors at press time, but we can always hope.

Todd Bowles' Jets had been distinguishing themselves from the old Rex Ryan Jets by rising above the drama and playing disciplined football each week. Judging by their collective response to Fitzpatrick's injury, the Jets may have just re-jetsificated.

Stock Watch: Award Races

Week 8 is a great time to catch up on some of the award races around the NFL. Hangover does not grant midseason awards, mind you. But we can handicap some of the major award races through the prism of this weekend's action.

MVP Award: Tom Brady vs. Players We Mention Because It's Fun to Be Contrary and a "Tom Brady for MVP" Column Won't Get Any Clicks Outside of New England

Aaron Rodgers fell into the sausage grinder known as the Denver Broncos defense and delivered one of his weakest efforts in years. Rodgers threw for 77 yards with no completions longer than 17 yards, and he got strip-sacked near his own end zone. The fumble led to a safety that punctuated the fourth quarter of a 29-10 loss. Falling.

Andy Dalton did not move the ball well all afternoon and threw a pair of late-game interceptions before his defense gave him some extra opportunities to beat the Steelers. Falling.

Cam Newton plays on Monday night. He's not a serious MVP candidate—just a serious candidate for articles about his MVP candidacy. We really need language to describe quarterbacks such as Dalton and Newton in shades of gray between "MVP candidate" and "disappointment who brings shame upon human society." Pending.

Tom Brady led the Patriots to their second victory in five days against a divisional opponent that spent millions of offseason dollars specifically to stop him. Brady had the help of an offensive line full of youngsters no one has heard of and two running backs past employers couldn't wait to be rid of. Ho-hum. Steady.

Rookie of the Year: Todd Gurley vs. Amari Cooper vs. Jameis Winston

Billy Hurst/Associated Press

Todd Gurley deserves a little MVP chatter after his fourth straight 120-plus-yard game. Gurley rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown in the St. Louis Rams' 27-6 rout of the 49ers. His 71-yard touchdown broke open a 3-2 pitchers duel.

Gurley makes the Rams both watchable and playoff-relevant: They are no longer a defensive front seven in search of an offense but a defensive front seven and a running game in search of a passing game. That's a huge difference. Rising.

Jameis Winston has gone three straight games without an interception. There were times early in the season that Winston looked unlikely to throw three straight passes without an interception.

Winston's performance in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 23-20 overtime win at Atlanta wasn't a masterpiece, but he made some big plays with his arm and legs while throwing to a cast of characters that included Donteea Dye (who I think hosts a midday indie rock program on local public radio) and Cameron Brate (the kid whose dad's car Ferris Bueller borrowed). Rising.

Amari Cooper caught five passes for 46 yards as his teammates provided most of the heroics in the Raiders' drubbing of the Jets. Cooper's ordinary stats are probably Smith's fault somehow. Falling.

Coach of the Year: Up for Grabs

Gary Kubiak appears to have straightened some things out with the Broncos offense. The Broncos rushed for 160 yards against a solid Green Bay Packers defense, and Peyton Manning turned back the clock a few hours with 340 passing yards. Wade Phillips' defense delivered another gem. Picking up the phone and calling Phillips may have been Kubiak's first brilliant move as Broncos head coach, but Sunday night's win showed that it wasn't his last. Rising. 

The Dan Quinn bandwagon has crashed into a ditch. In addition to the Atlanta Falcons' many other problems—such as a quarterback who claims to be healthy but plays like he is harboring three cracked ribs, a rotator-cuff injury and perhaps a bout of Lyme disease—is an offense that starts every drive with a penalty. First-and-20 is almost the default starting point for the Falcons. Falling.

Bruce Arians' old-timers brigade overcame a 20-7 deficit and four turnovers to beat the Cleveland Browns 34-20. Arians will run away with Coach of the Year honors if the Arizona Cardinals ever beat a real team. Steady.

Ron Rivera's Carolina Panthers play Monday night. He has done a stellar coaching job this season. Beating the Indianapolis Colts will not impress anyone. Pending.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Mike Zimmer deserves serious consideration after the Vikings' 23-20 win against the Bears. The Vikings aren't talked about much—we mostly just check in to see what crazy Ron Swanson things Adrian Peterson is doing to prove he belongs to some superior species—but they play rugged defense, get positive plays from their special teams and involve a huge cast of characters in their offense. Sunday's win was built from a special teams touchdown, a fourth-quarter comeback, a low-penalty afternoon (just four) and good play in all three elements of the game in the final two minutes. Put it all together, and you have a well-coached team. Rising.

Marvin Lewis' Bengals won a tough game on the road with a total team effort that required serious bounce-back resilience. But Lewis won't get serious consideration because the Bengals make the playoffs every year, which somehow makes a coach less worthy of winning an award than cobbling together 10 wins with a last-place schedule. Steady.

If we aren't going to write glowing articles about Brady for MVP, there is no way in heck that we will mention Bill Belichick as an obvious Coach of the Year candidate. Steady.

Defensive Player of the Year: J.J. Watt vs. Less Popular Candidates

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

J.J. Watt recorded 2.5 sacks and forced a fumble in the Houston Texans' victory over the Tennessee Titans. As great as Watt is, you have to wonder how many sacks Michael Strahan would have had if he got four shots per year at the Zach Mettenbergers and Blake Bortleses of the world. Rising.

Richard Sherman recorded four passes defensed and helped hold Dez Bryant to two catches for 12 yards on six targets. Yes, Matt Cassel was the one throwing the passes to Bryant, but Sherman had a phenomenal game against a great player looking to make a statement on an afternoon when every yard was precious. Rising.

Justin Houston recorded 1.5 sacks in the Kansas City Chiefs' blowout defeat of the Lions. Houston's sacks came late in the game, after all heck had broken loose. Houston dropped into coverage often while teammates such as safety Ron Parker (two sacks) rushed Matthew Stafford. The Chiefs use safety blitzes all the time, but the Lions weren't ready for them. Perhaps that's why most teams wait to fire their offensive coordinators until after the trip to London. Rising.

Darrelle Revis did nothing noteworthy in the Jets' loss to the Raiders—Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine gave up most of the Raiders highlights, and Revis was not prominently featured on the "missed tackles" montages that dominated the Jets-Raiders highlight packages—but when your team gives up 34 points, a kind of guilt-by-association hampers your POY campaign. Falling.

Chandler Jones leads the NFL in sacks, but the Patriots win games because of Brady and Belichick. Steady.

Comeback Player of the Year: Eric Berry vs. Soulless Cretins Who Would Vote Against Eric Berry

Doug Martin rushed for 71 tough yards and added a seven-yard catch to extend a late drive when the Buccaneers were trying to gobble clock. Steady.

Chris Johnson fumbled twice but also rushed for 109 yards. The problem with advocating CJ2K as Comeback Player of the Year-worthy is determining what exactly he has come back from. Does self-inflicted mediocrity count as adversity? Steady.

Eric Berry was just about the only Chiefs player who didn't notch at least two sacks against the Lions. In fact, he recorded only three tackles. Berry has 26 solo tackles this season, and his lone interception, while a critical play in the win against the Steelers, bounced out of Antonio Brown's hands. But Berry is playing football eleven months after getting diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, so maybe we shouldn't be heartless bean-counters. Rising.

Fantasy Player of the Year: Devonta Freeman vs. Gary Barnidge

Devonta Freeman rushed for 88 yards but no touchdowns, so he is Falling.

Gary Barnidge caught seven passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, and he is also GARY FREAKIN' BARNIDGE, so he is Rising.

Jason Miller/Getty Images

Performance Bonuses

Offensive Line Bonus

The Saints and the New York Giants answered a question no one thought to ask this week: What happens when a defense with numerous injuries and no pass rush faces a defense that has spent three years listening to Rob Ryan?

The result: an NBA-meets-NFL 52-49 Saints victory that featured the third-highest scoring total in NFL history.

The Saints held the Giants without a sack so Drew Brees could throw seven touchdowns and Mark Ingram and Co. could rush for 103 yards whenever the receivers needed a break from sprinting up and down the field. So let's hear it for Terron Armstead, Tim Lelito, Max Unger, Jahri Evans and Zach Strief!

Justin Tucker Special Teams Bonus

Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Marcus Sherels wins this week's bonus for both the 65-yard punt-return touchdown that got the Vikings on the board and the 12-yarder that got them to the 34-yard line with just one minute left in a tie game. Twelve yards can make a huge difference in the final seconds.

Johnny Hekker and the Rams coverage units share honorable mention for pinning the 49ers deep in their own territory to start drives. Pinning the 49ers deep is like pinning a live moth to a piece of cardboard: cruel but fascinating in a macabre way.

As you can see, the special teams award is now named after Tucker. There may be better kickers out there (well, one maybe: Stephen Gostkowski), but there is no one called upon to win games with five field goals quite so regularly. Tucker celebrated his game-winner against the Chargers with an awkward spasm that media outlets soon identified as the Hotline Bling dance.

Yep, I can picture the press box after Tucker's dance now.

"

VETERAN REPORTER ONE: Is Tucker having a seizure?

VETERAN REPORTER TWO: No, that is some kind of popular dance.

VETERAN REPORTER ONE: The Watusi? The Hustle?

VETERAN REPORTER TWO: No, something more current like the Cabbage Head or the Doogie Howser.

VETERAN REPORTER ONE: Say, let's ask the 21-year-old intern who does all of the social media and web production for our site!

21-YEAR-OLD INTERN: That dance is called the Hotline Bling. Don't worry: I have already created a GIF and written a 120-word article about it that will generate more page views and advertising revenue than your 1,400-word column.

VETERAN REPORTER TWO: Thanks! Say, this isn't just another step toward us veteran reporters becoming completely obsolete, is it?

21-YEAR-OLD INTERN: Of course not. Now please tweet something to your 1,500 followers so I can retweet it to my 150,000.

"

That segment got a little too real at the end. Let's move on.

Unsung Defensive Hero Bonus

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Kwon Alexander was guilty of grand larceny for pilfering the ball straight from Julio Jones' hands at the end of the catch. He aided and abetted the Buccaneers' indecent exposure of the Falcons as tissue-paper contenders with 11 combined tackles and an interception. A third Alexander turnover—as well as a heroic effort by Jones to run him down from behind—was negated by a penalty.

Alexander will get serious Defensive Rookie of the Year notice this season, so he's not exactly "unsung." Then again, the Buccaneers defense was bad enough to inspire Kirk Cousins T-shirts last week, so they will take all the awards they can earn.

Meaningless Fantasy Touchdown Bonus

Neither Geno Smith nor Kellen Davis was in any fantasy lineups this week, so Davis' one-yard TD catch midway through the fourth quarter is meaningless by even the standards of meaningless fantasy touchdowns.

There is someone out there who really needed the Nick Folk extra point that followed, but that is not what this category is about.

So let's give this bonus to Tavon Austin for his second touchdown in a 27-6 victory, a 66-yard screen-and-run that made it look on the stat sheet like the Rams really have a passing game instead of just a handful of misdirection counters to Gurley.

Fantasy Leech Bonus

Who is Troy Niklas, you ask?

"

"Say, that former Notre Dame tight end scored two touchdowns this afternoon."

"Tyler Eifert? Awesome! I have him on my fantasy team!"

"Nope. The other former Notre Dame tight end."

"Kyle Rudolph? Well, good for him and the Vikings."

"Nope. The other other one."

"I thought John Carlson retired."

"The other other other one."

"Anthony Fasano? But I thought the Titans only scored six points."

"The other other other other one."

"Umm...Ben Koyack? I thought the Jaguars were on a bye."

"Keep trying."

"...Mark Bavaro?"

"Never mind."

 

"

Gonzo Fantasy Waiver Bid Bonus

The running back pickings get pretty slim this time of year, so expect some waiver action of De'Anthony Thomas even though Thomas carried just once for a 10-yard touchdown this week and needed some wacky pre-snap motion just to accomplish that.

Tanier art studios

Thomas may run for more yards before the snap than any player in the NFL. He often motions from the backfield to a wide receiver-like position about eight yards behind the line of scrimmage just so Alex Smith can hand off in the opposite direction.

Thomas is on the field often enough to merit back-of-the-bench consideration for an injury-riddled team in a 14-player fantasy league or if there's a scoring system that awards bonus yards for running sideways.

Last Call: Daylight Saving Edition

The sun set an hour too early on Sunday, thanks in part to the end of daylight saving time, an annual government intrusion into our freedom to set our clocks to whatever time suits us the way the Founding Fathers, biblical patriarchs and ancient Mayans intended.

My kids didn't get to bed until halftime of the Packers-Broncos game, and I ate about seven appetizers while waiting for the 1 p.m. kickoffs. Thanks, Woodrow Wilson!

Anyway, in honor of daylight saving, here are some other things that happened about an hour too early Sunday:

• The Steelers peaked.

• A man named Jim Bob failed to live up to the lofty expectations that come with such a name.

• Jerry Jones celebrated the wisdom of keeping Greg Hardy happy and employed.

• Devonta Freeman jumped over a trash bin on the sideline. Can't sideline trash collection wait until halftime? NOT AFTER DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ENDS. The way injuries occurred Sunday, Freeman was lucky not to get trapped inside and driven to an incinerator.

• The Giants and the Saints cleared the Vegas "over."

• The Browns offense ran out of both smoke and mirrors.

• Texans-Titans ceased being even remotely interesting.

Actually, that last thing happened Tuesday.

Mike Tanier covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.