2018-19 NFL (Week 8)

Games I watched (some of):
Dolphins 23-42 Texans
The Texans handled their business at home, good to see, wasn't sure they had it in them. I still (kinda) believe in the Texans: when Watson is right, he's really good and when that pass rush is working, the D is really good. They can still become a really good team in time for the playoffs (took the Jags to the final four last year), but they've still got to build on wins like this. The Dolphins are middle of the pack in just about every metric. They don't suck but they're not good either.

Bucs 34-37 Bengals
What a slopfest! The Bengals ran up a big lead by halftime then just sorta quit playing in the 2nd half. I didn't see any great change or improvement in the Bucs D in the 2nd half, the Bengals just took the foot off the gas, I guess because they thought Winston was gonna keep throwing interceptions (well, he did for a while). But when the Bucs went for Fitzpatrick, the Bengals watched it all crumble in front of them and stood there waiting for it to happen. I don't get that. The Bucs tied it up late, the Bengals got a late FG to finish it off (something they could've done at any point after halftime, but they...I dunno...chose to wait til the last second?). The Bengals have a good offense and an okay defense and when they bring their game, they're not bad; but when they don't bring their game, they not any better than Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fun game for Fitz-magic but not a good showing for the Bengals (or the Bucs, for that matter).

Packers 27-29 Rams
Really thought the Packers had a shot at winning this game (and I can't say I'm shocked the fumbling kick returner got traded immediately). The Rams seemed kinda sluggish for much of this game, they won by inertia, they've become used to winning every week (which is a good place to be). But if Aaron Rodgers had had that shot at a final drive, I believe he could've gotten them the W. Bad beat for the Packers, still a good W for the Rams.


Other results (surprising):
Seahawks 28-14 Lions
The Lions seem to get it up for some teams (Pats, Packers) but not for others (Jets, Niners), so are they a good team that disappoints or a bad team that plays above themselves at times? I dunno. I'm still convinced the Seahawks are going backwards but they've got a good QB and solid head coach, so they'll continue to win games on their down.

Saints 30-20 Vikings
I caught a little of this game (I was still watching baseball), but it seemed to me that the Viking WR's made mistakes that kept the Saints in this game. I can't say the Vikings should've won but it seems like they should've shone out a little better at home. That said, the Saints are good, they are legit Super Bowl contenders and this is not a bad loss for the Vikings.


Other results (not so surprising):
Eagles 24-18 Jags
I hate the London games. I hate the Toronto games, the Mexico City games, I hate the Thursday games (outside of Thanksgiving and opening night), every team should get 8 home games and shipping the teams off to expand markets should be internally frowned upon. The NFL should be looking to expand their profits by making their product more scarce instead of less and these efforts at reaching out to new fanbases is watering down the product and creating more injuries. And, yeah, the Jags still suck.

Jets 10-24 Bears
On the one hand this is a rookie QB on the road against a top notch defense; on the other hand, it's a spunky underachiever going up against Mitchell Trubisky. This is the NFL: even though it seems like a no-brainer that the Bears are better than the Jets, this game is really a lot more even than you'd think. Or maybe not, the Bears won pretty easily.

Broncos 23-30 Chiefs
Division games, man. You'd think the Chiefs would destroy the Broncos, who are pretty terrible on the road, but when a team plays the same team over and over, they learn tendencies and they can create surprises. I'm still convinced the Chiefs are way better than the Broncos.

Redskins 20-13 Giants
I thought the Giants would take this one and it looks like the Redskins tried to give it away late. Division games, man, are unpredictable.

Browns 18-33 Steelers
I kinda thought the Browns would keep them close but it wasn't to be. The Steelers defense has the amazing ability to incite penalties on the other team and/or commit a ton of penalties at the same time. They play with such an uncontrolled ferocity that it inspires panic and creates stupidity. Not sure that'll work against every team but against a rookie QB with a fired coach (and fired OC), it worked just fine. I'm still shaky on the Steelers.

Ravens 21-36 Panthers
Ravens on the road are just not that good. Panthers are up and down, they decided to be up this week--good for them!

Colts 42-28 Raiders
The Colts are spunky, man, they play hard and they can move the ball. Their record is probably not gonna be good enough to get them to the post-season (although their division is a total mystery, so maybe they got a shot), but I'd love to see them in the playoffs just because they play hard and can be dangerous with playground plays. The Raiders, on the other hand, seem bent on stockpiling draft picks, which means more L's are way more valuable than W's.

Niners 15-18 Cards
When two bad teams get together you can count on bad football. But when they're division rivals, anything can happen. Kinda felt like the Niners were gonna pull it out but the Cards just wanted it more, I reckon.

Pats 25-6 Bills
Oh yeah, perfectly ordinary late season Pats performance in Buffalo: they kinda floundered around for a while because they're eager to show as little as possible but still comfortably covered the spread by the end of the game.