NFL Week 8: Brett Favre Injury and 25 Things We Learned
The Brett Favre injury watch will dominate the sports headlines this week. However, the NFL scores in Week 8 didn't just give us an outcome for the game, they helped teach everyone a few things along a way.
We learned a few things about the Jets offense, and we learned something we already knew about the Carolina Panthers.
But that's just the teaser to get you into the door. Read on, to see what else we learned in Sunday's game.
25. The Bengals Are Not Who They Thought They Were
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By losing to the Miami Dolphins, the Bengals are proving their 2009 season may have been a fluke.
Even with two star receivers and a quarterback who has pedigree and threw for more than 400 yards last week, the Bengals now find themselves in last place.
By losing to the Dolphins 22-14, it's proof the Bengals have a lot of holes and dwindling time to fix them.
24. Jon Kitna Needs To Choose Better Receivers
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As predicted, Jon Kitna threw for more than 300 yards, but the one stat that should have read "four TDs," instead read as "one TD."
Yeah, that four showed up under interceptions. Thanks for proving that taking you in a fantasy league was a giant waste of energy.
By losing to the Jaguars 35-17, the Cowboys also reinforced the increasing belief that this is just a really bad team.
23. The Cleveland Browns Are No Longer in Last Place
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The Cleveland Browns are on a bye week, but with the Bengal's loss and the Browns victory over the Bengals a few weeks ago, the Browns no longer are in last place in the AFC North.
It's been quite a long time since the Browns weren't looking down on anyone, but the Bengals made it happen.
Congratulations, Cincinnati!!
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22. The Buffalo Bills Play Until The End
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Say what you want about the Bills, and there's plenty to say, but this team absolutely has not quit this season.
Despite being winless, the Bills have put scares into both the Patriots and the Ravens before coming in and playing a much-improved Kansas City team on Sunday.
The Chiefs needed every second of overtime just to get this victory, and any team who's paying attention should know the Bills will get a win before the end of the year, so it better not be them.
21. Mark Sanchez Is Not Ready to Lead the Jets by Himself
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Mark Sanchez may have been a first-round draft pick, and he may be improving as the weeks go by, but getting shut-out in Green Bay on Sunday means he's still got a lot more maturing to do before he can become the true face of the franchise.
No touchdowns and two picks on 256 yards?
Get back in the film room, Mark. You got some work to do. Losing to the Packers 9-0 says more about your lack of offense than the strength of your defense.
20. Brett Favre's Chin and Ankle Are the Story This Week
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Brett Favre started the day on a bum ankle, and left the field looking like he was at death's door with a trainer holding his jaw shut.
Word is the injury is just a laceration that required 10 stitches to close, but the question is whether or not he suffered a concussion that could keep him out of next week's game.
Oh, who am I kidding, Favre will start next week.
19. The Detroit Lions Are Better Than the Washington Redskins
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The Lions and the Redskins may not have identical records, but the Lions were cheated out of a win in their game versus the Bears, and the Redskins should have been able to win this game.
The Lions, along with the Rams, are proving to everyone you can turn your team around in a matter of a year or two if you have a franchise quarterback and draft the other key positions well.
With the franchise-killer Matt Millen gone, the Lions are starting to look like an NFL team again.
Matthew Stafford's four touchdowns don't hurt, either.
18. Donovan McNabb May Need To Start Thinking About Retirement
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Donovan McNabb always had a reputation as a choke artist in the playoffs, but his ability to have great regular seasons always kept the debate about how good he really is a lively one.
McNabb got benched in the fourth quarter of the Lions game in favor of Rex Grossman. With a stat line of 17-for-30, 210 yards, one touchdown and one interception, that could be interpreted as saying age may be catching up to McNabb.
A 35-27 final against a rebuilding Lions team also says the Redskins have problems in general.
17. Matt Cassel Is Failing to Impress Anyone
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Matt Cassel has a lot of the same support system he had during his season in the sun in New England, but good luck finding that success so far this season.
Cassel hasn't been bad, but he hasn't done anything to light up the highlight reel this season.
The story of the Chiefs this year has been their running game.
16. Antonio Gates Can Still Catch Touchdowns
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Antonio Gates caught his league-leading ninth touchdown of the year versus Tennessee today.
You can not stop Antonio Gates; you can only hope to contain him.
15. Troy Smith Made A Good First Impression
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Troy Smith won his first NFL start with the 49ers and gave the San Francisco offense a spark.
Smith has a few more weeks to get in a groove before Alex Smith will be healthy enough to come back.
Head coach Mike Singletary said Alex Smith's job was week-to-week before the injury, so a quarterback controversy could be brewing in the Bay Area.
14. The Chargers Figured Out How To Win A Game
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The Chargers did what they do just about every week—they put a lot of points on the board.
But what was different this week from a lot of the previous weeks is the Chargers held the lead and won the game. Now the coaches need to key in on what went right on the defense this week and keep doing it.
13. The Patriots Still Have an Offense
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After last week's minimalist showing, the Patriot's offense showed up this week versus Minnesota.
Tom Brady had 240 yards passing and one touchdown while BenJarvus Green-Ellis had 112 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Take that, fantasy owners who benched Patriots guys in frustration.
12. Josh Freeman Can Lead Fourth-Quarter Comeback Drive Two Weeks in a Row
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For those who thought last week's fourth-quarter comeback was a fluke, Josh Freeman would like you to eat some crow right now.
Freeman was calm and composed while leading the team back in the fourth quarter versus the Arizona Cardinals.
He later took a bad sack he shouldn't have taken, but it didn't affect the outcome any, so he gets a pass.
11. Ken Whisenhunt Does Not Want To Talk About His Quarterbacks
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Undrafted rookie quarterback Max Hall was benched again in favor of Derek Anderson after giving up two interceptions for touchdowns.
Anderson ended up having a decent day (except for that bad interception toward the end of the fourth quarter that everyone who's ever watched Derek Anderson knew he would throw), but if he was the answer in Arizona, Hall wouldn't have started the game.
Stay tuned for this unfolding drama.
10. Oakland's Offense Just Might Be For Real
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Between Jason Campbell's 310 yards and two touchdowns and Darren McFadden running for another 111 yards, the Raiders are becoming the offensive force owner Al Davis wants to have.
9. The Seahawks Have Some Work to Do
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The Seattle Seahawks talked a big game during preseason, and a lot of people thought Pete Carroll would get this team to the playoffs this year.
While the NFC West is so bad that goal is still entirely possible, the Seahawks offense needs to start showing up for every game this season, not just the ones they feel like playing in.
When you have 207 total yards of offense, you really are doing something wrong.
8. Darren McFadden Wants Chris Johnson To Know He's Coming For Him
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If Chris Johnson thought he'd be the only guy not named Adrian Peterson trying to get more than 1,500 yards this year, Darren McFadden would like to introduce himself.
Now that the Oakland running back has found his game, he looks almost unstoppable.
7. LeGarrette Blount Would Like the NFL to Apologize for Not Drafting Him
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LeGarrette Blount rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday.
Every team passed on Blount in the draft because of the punch. Tennessee picked him up and then cut him at the end of training camp.
You think there are a bunch of NFL general managers banging their heads against the wall right now?
6. Jerry Jones Is a Patient Man
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Jerry Jones has said he won't make any head coaching changes "in season," which is owner-speak for "I'm firing Wade Phillips the moment I find a better option."
You really have to applaud Jones' patience in this matter.
5. Clay Matthews Will Make Sure You Know What He Does
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In a game that would use the term "boring" as a compliment, Clay Matthews provided some entertainment on the day.
Other than that, even the coaches' tape might not get reviewed again because the game was so dull.
4. Chris Johnson Had a Bad Day
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Chris Johnson had 59 yards rushing and one touchdown, but he also had a drop on fourth down at the end of the game that sealed the Titans' fate.
Better luck next week, Chris.
3. Ben Roethlisberger Isn't Perfect
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Ben Roethlisberger threw for only 195 yards, had no touchdowns and one bad interception in the fourth quarter.
Roethlisberger showed his usual knack for extending the plays, but his luck ran out on more than one occasion Sunday night.
Sometimes it's better to just get rid of the ball.
2. Drew Brees Doesn't Care About The Steelers Defense
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Drew Brees had 34 completions against the Steelers defense, the most that unit has allowed since 2002.
Brees, coming off of a four-interception debacle against Cleveland last week, proved to the fans he had left last week's disaster in the past as he kept the Saints offense moving and capitalizing on every mistake the Steelers made.
1. Randy Moss Has Matured
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Randy Moss reportedly had some kind of falling out with the New England Patriots, and in times past, that would be cue for Moss to have some kind of comment or meltdown to show his displeasure.
But instead of taking shots at New England, Moss hugged Patriots Owner Robert Kraft before the game and sent nothing but love to the team and the fans in the postgame press conference.
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