NFL - Week Eight Recap

Joe Burrow and the Bengals are rolling again.

What's wrong with the San Francisco 49ers? 

That seems to be the big question around the NFL these days as the 49ers (5-3) dropped their third straight game on Sunday and were manhandled by the visiting Cincinnati Bengals, 31-17. The Bengals (4-3) won for the third consecutive time as quarterback Joe Burrow passed for three touchdowns to three different players and went 28-of-32 on passing for 283 yards. Running back Joe Mixon rushed for 87 yards and scored a touchdown as well to pace the win. San Francisco QB Brock Purdy was picked off twice and San Francisco had three turnovers to seal their loss. Running back Christian McCaffrey had two touchdowns in the loss. 

 

In Denver, the Broncos (3-5) surprised the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-9 to snap a 16-game losing streak to the Chiefs (6-2) as their defense forced five turnovers, including two interceptions of K.C. quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who also lost a fumble as his team was limited to just three field goals in defeat. Broncos QB Russell Wilson threw for three scores as Denver drew away in the fourth quarter. 

The Jacksonville Jaguars (6-2) knocked off the host Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-10 with a solid defensive effort as they intercepted two passes and knocked Pittsburgh starting QB Kenny Pickett out of the game. Jags QB Trevor Lawrence threw a 56-yard TD pass to RB Travis Etienne and Brandon McManus kicked four field goals to lead the way. Pittsburgh dropped to 4-3 this season as reserve QB Mitch Trubisky threw a 22-yard TD pass to wide receiver George Pickens to trim the deficit to 17-10 with 53 seconds left in the third quarter. 

The Baltimore Ravens (6-2) won a road game at Arizona, 31-24 as QB Lamar Jackson threw a TD pass and RB Gus Edwards ran for three more scores while the Ravens defense intercepted two passes. The Cardinals (1-7) kept it close as QB Joshua Dobbs threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in defeat. 

In Washington, D.C., the host Commanders (3-5) coughed up an early 14-0 lead as they fell against the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-31. It was a back and forth game that saw the Eagles (7-1) soar to victory after trailing 17-10 at the half. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts passed for 397 yards and had four TD passes, including two to WR A.J. Brown (eight receptions for 130 yards) and RB D'Andre Swift scored a rushing touchdown in the comeback win. Washington QB Sam Howell had four TD passes as well in the loss. 

The Miami Dolphins (6-2) rolled past the visiting New England Patriots, 31-17 behind three scoring passes from QB Tua Tagovailoa (324 passing yards), including a 42-yarder to WR Tyreek Hill (eight receptions for 112 yards) and a 31-yard scoring strike to WR Jaylen Waddle, who had seven catches for 121 yards. The Patriots (2-6) only managed 216 total yards in offense as QB Mac Jones had two TD passes in the loss. 

The Seattle Seahawks (6-2) beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-20 for a home win as QB Geno Smith connected with rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a nine-yard winning TD pass with just 38 seconds remaining in the game. The Browns (4-3) got a scoring pass from QB P.J. Walker and a one-yard TD run from Kareem Hunt, but it wasn't enough. 

The Dallas Cowboys improved to 6-2 as they routed the visiting Los Angeles Rams, 43-20 with QB Dak Prescott threw for four touchdowns and DB DaRon Bland took back an interception 30 yards for another score in the easy win. The Rams fell to 3-5 as QB Matthew Stafford threw for a score along with the "pick six" interception on defeat. 

On Thursday night in Buffalo, the Bills (5-3) beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-18 with QB Josh Allen passing for 324 yards and two touchdowns (one INT) while also scoring on a 13-yard run. The Bucs (3-4) dropped their third game in a row as QB Baker Mayfield had two scoring passes in the loss. 

The New Orleans Saints outlasted the host Indianapolis Colts, 38-27 to get to 4-4 and a first place tie with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South. Saints QB Derek Carr had a pair of TD passes and RB Alvin Kamara scored twice (one rushing, one receiving) while Taysom Hill had a one-yard scoring run. The Colts (3-5) got a pair of touchdown passes from QB Gardner Minshew and a rushing TD from Zack Moss. but their defense was shredded for 511 yards in total offense by the Saints. 

 

 

The Tennessee Titans (3-4) held off the Atlanta Falcons, 28-23 to get the home win and improve to 3-4 this season as rookie QB Will Levis (pictured right) had four TD passes with three going to WR DeAndre Hopkins (four catches for 128 yards) to offset a scoring pass by QB Taylor Heinicke and scoring run by Bijan Robinson. The Falcons dropped to 4-4 for the season. 

 

The Sunday night game in Los Angeles was all Chargers (3-4) as they rolled over the Chicago Bears, 30-13 with QB Justin Herbert throwing three first half TD passes to lead the way. The Bears (2-6) got scoring runs from Tyson Bagent and Darrynton Evans in defeat. 

The Minnesota Vikings won their third straight game, 24-10 against the Green Bay Packers but lost QB Kirk Cousins for the season with a torn Achilles. The Vikings (4-4) got two TD passes from Cousins to build a 24-3 lead before Green Bay (2-5) got a TD pass from QB Jordan Love late in the third quarter, but never got any closer. 

The New York Jets rallied past the New York Giants, 13-10 in overtime as Greg Zuerlein made a 33-yard field goal to propel the Jets (4-3) to a third consecutive win. The Giants (2-6) took a 10-7 lead in the third quarter when backup QB Tommy DeVito scored on a six-yard run. The Jets tied the game on the last play of regulation on a 35-yard field goal. which followed a missed 35-yarder by Giants kicker Graham Gano. 

The Carolina Panthers (1-6) got their first win this season as they toppled the visiting Houston Texans, 15-13 on a 23-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro as time expired. The Texans (3-4) had scoring runs from Andrew Beck and C.J. Stroud in the loss. 

In Detroit on Monday Night Football, the Lions (6-2) topped the Las Vegas Raiders, 26-14 as running back Jahmyr Gibbs ran 27 yards for a score and QB Jared Goff had a scoring pass to go with four field goals by Riley Patterson. The Raiders (3-5) managed just 157 total yards in offense with Josh Jacobs scoring a rushing touchdown and DB Marcus Peters going 75 yards for a TD on a "pick six" interception in the loss.

WEEK EIGHT RESULTS 

Buffalo 24, Tampa Bay 18 

Minnesota 24, Green Bay 10

Miami 31, New England 17

Dallas 43, L.A. Rams 20

Carolina 15, Houston 13

Tennessee 28, Atlanta 23

New Orleans 38, Indianapolis 27

Jacksonville 20, Pittsburgh 10

Philadelphia 38, Washington 31

N.Y. Jets 13, N.Y. Giants 10 (OT)

Cincinnati 31, San Francisco 17

Seattle 24, Cleveland 20

Denver 24, Kansas City 9

Baltimore 31, Arizona 24

L.A. Chargers 30, Chicago 13  

Detroit 26, Las Vegas 14