2021-22 NFL (Week 8)

Games I saw (some of):

Packers 24-21 Cards

The Packers finally played a complete game against a for-real opponent, gotta give 'em props. But that interception that sealed the game was wacky: dude, what was the WR doing? He wasn't even looking for the ball. You're a Wide Receiver...what do you do for a living? I had the Cards winning the NFC West this season, I think they're still well on their way to getting that done, still arguably the best team in the NFC. The Packers are definitely near the top, too. Rodgers is rolling. 

Niners 33-22 Bears

I was impressed with the Niners here. I thought the Bears D looked pretty good and Justin Fields finally looked like a for-real pro QB and the Niners barreled past them anyway. Not sure what the Niners do well but they got 1st downs and moved the ball against a good defense. The Bears are a weird team but I think they might be pretty good by the end of the season. 

Bengals 31-34 Jets

The Bengals were up 31-20 late in the 4th quarter and somehow managed to lose to a Jets backup QB....that's a bad look, man. NYJ played their hearts out and good for them, but the Bengals really should've wrapped this up (this L may haunt them). 

Bucs 27-36 Saints

Felt like the Bucs were the better team when they wanted to be, but just didn't want to win that bad, I guess. We under estimate the backup QB (Trevor Simien, oh he plays for the Saints?) but when one team has prepared for one thing all week and then a new thing comes in, that can be jarring. Factor in that the Bucs' D is nice but pretty overrated and that this is a division game and this result isn't such a shock. Good W for the Saints (I had them winning this division, which occasionally seems like a crazy prediction, but other times looks pretty smart....I'm looking pretty smart right now). 

Cowboys 20-16 Vikings

Mostly watched baseball, but from what I saw, the Cowboys rallied nicely around the backup QB (week of the backup QB!) and the Vikings just couldn't get going. The Vikings are built to be competitive but not to win games (does that make sense?) and that's what they did here, they were in the game, they just didn't win the game. The Cowboys picking up a W without Dak is a freebie, a lovely pad for down the line. The Vikings...uh, I dunno, man...they can win games, they just don't.

Giants 17-20 Chiefs

I finally saw the disappointing element of the Chiefs: dumb penalties. OMG! That O-line and that defense made so many dumb mistakes, it's just hard to watch. I still feel like the Chiefs position guys are still great--and they're even playing well--but the rest of the team is not holding up and its forcing Mahomes, in particular, to do too much. (I still think they need to re-design how Tyreke Hill fits into the offense, but I'm confident they will) If/when the Chiefs stop making dumb mistakes, I think they'll go right back to crushing everybody. NYG is not very good. That 2-minute drill at the end of the game was just brutal to watch. A nice showing against a sloppy Chiefs team, though. 

The rest of the slate:

Panthers 19-13 Falcons. Division game between two mediocre teams.

Dolphins 11-26 Bills. Took the Bills a while to get going but they're way better than the Dolphins. 

Steelers 15-10 Browns. Man, the Browns offense really sputters at time and the Steelers are built to catch the sputterers. I still think the Browns are a good team (better than the Steelers) and will get going again when Mayfield and Chubb are back to full strength. The Steelers are wily vets, man, they're not very good but they'll steal games if you let them. 

Eagles 44-6 Lions. The Eagles are better than their record, they've been in most all of their games, they're just not good enough to close them. But against the Lions, they're good enough to close and they did. Hard. The Lions play hard but they're not good. When they play an opponent that can destroy them, the Lions can keep it close because the other team takes their foot off the gas; but they get pounded by teams that can't afford to let off the gas. Do you see how this works? The Lions against a good team will cover the spread but against a mediocre team they will get destroyed; likewise, against a good team the Eagles will sputter but against a bad team, they will look like champions because they're actually not bad.  

Titans 34-31 Colts. Good W for the Titans, but they lost Derrick Henry, so...their season is probably over right as they're peaking. The Colts are up/down but if Henry is out for the season, they suddenly look like the team to beat in that division even with the L. 

Rams 38-22 Texans. (See the Eagles-Lions notes above)

Pats 27-24 Chargers. The Chargers are a puzzle: they've had good wins and bad losses, they are good but inconsistent. The Pats have moments where they look pretty good and other moments where they seem utterly inept. 

Jags 7-31 Seahawks. The Jags suck, the Seahawks needed a soft opponent to get right. The Jags are a get-right team.

WTF 10-17 Broncos. Meh. Two so-so sides tangled, the less so-so home team squeezed out the victory against the more so-so road team. No mystery here.