By: Jonathan Goad

Well, Week 8 is over. We’re just about half way through the NFL Season. What do we know?

Some teams are surprisingly struggling (Jacksonville, Green Bay, Atlanta). Heck, even the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles are 4-4.

Then we have the teams we knew would be good (New England, both LA teams, Pittsburgh).

We have a few surprisingly good team (New Orleans, Kansas City).

For you KC fans, don’t act like you knew Mahomes would be this good.

Then, we’ve got the teams playing for that coveted number one pick in next year’s draft (San Francisco, Arizona, NY Giants, Oakland, Cleveland, Buffalo).

Lastly, there’s everyone else just kind of in the middle of all that.

Here’s the game-by-game recap of Week 8.

Miami Dolphins               23

Houston Texans               42

Problem number one for the Dolphins: Danny Amendola had more TD passes than starting QB Brock Osweiler. Problem number two: they allowed Deshaun Watson to torch them for five TDs.

The Fish are starting to play the way we all expected them to.

Philadelphia Eagles        24

Jacksonville Jaguars        18

It’s not a good sign (or game plan) when Blake Bortles has to throw over 40 passes. While he didn’t turn the ball over, he only managed one TD pass. The Jags running game was also nonexistent as Bortles led the team in rushing. Carson Wentz, on the other hand, had a solid day. Philly sits in second place in the NFC East, so they’ll likely continue to rely on Wentz to get the job done.

Baltimore Ravens            21

Carolina Panthers            36

Don’t look now, but the Panthers are only a game back of the Saints in the NFC South. Cam Newton continues to lead this team to victory. Having Christian McCaffrey helps, but give Cam credit. He’s playing solid football. The Ravens could have moved to 5-3 and be in second place in the AFC North, but instead they’re .500 and in third.

Gif credit to Giphy

New York Jets                   10

Chicago Bears                    24

The Bears are better than the Jets. Anyone surprised? Ok let’s move on.

Gif credit to Tenor

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34

Cincinnati Bengals           37

Is the Fitzmagic still flickering? He replaced Jameis Winston after he threw four picks in the game. Fitz attempted a comeback but fell just short. As for Cincy, Joe Mixon had himself a day (21-123-2) rewarding his fantasy owners and helping his team pick up of victory in this shootout.

Photo credit to Imgur

Seattle Seahawks            28

Detroit Lions                      14

Russell Wilson had a very efficient day completing 14 of 17 passes for 248 yards and three TDs. Those all came in the second quarter and proved to be too much for Detroit. Seattle added another score for good measure. Seattle’s keeps their hopes of a Wild Card birth alive.

Denver Broncos                23

Kansas City Chiefs           30

This ended up being a closer game than many people expected. Mahomes and the Chiefs continue to show off their potent offense. A little credit should be given to the Broncos for trying to mount a comeback, but the Chiefs had a big enough cushion. We might have seen Demaryius Thomas’ final game in a Broncos uniform as he could be heading elsewhere before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Washington Redskins    20

New York Giants              13

Adrian Peterson must have found the fountain of youth. He ran all over the G-Men (26-149-1). AP added a receiving score just for fun. Outside of Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham, the Giants are bad. Like real bad. Who else will they sell in their obvious rebuild?

Cleveland Browns           18

Pittsburgh Steelers         33

Cleveland got out to a nice start scoring the first six points of the game. James Conner continues to prove the Steelers aren’t missing Le’Veon Bell. Antonio Brown also scored twice. The Steelers look like they’re trending the right way.

Indianapolis Colts            42

Oakland Raiders               28

Blah…blah…blah…Khalil Mack…

The Raiders suck.

San Francisco 49ers         15

Arizona Cardinals            18

Let’s all welcome back Larry Fitzgerald to fantasy relevancy. Other than that, this was a game between two cellar-dwellers.

Green Bay Packers          27

Los Angeles Rams            29

Ty Montgomery, what are you doing bringing that ball out of the end zone? You’ve got one of the best QBs ever and plenty of time left on the clock. Just take the touchback. Aaron Rodgers could have taken down Goliath, but you just had to make a play. How did that work out for you?

Gif credit to Giphy

New Orleans Saints        30

Minnesota Vikings          20

This wasn’t exactly the shootout that a lot of people (especially fantasy owners) hoped for. Brees only threw for 120 yards, and he also threw his first INT of the year. Somehow, the Saints still pulled it out. Kirk Cousins completed his part of the shootout, but it wasn’t enough.

New England Patriots    25

Buffalo Bills                      6 

No one expected the Bills to put up much of a fight and they didn’t. What’s more surprising is that New England didn’t score more. Tom Brady also didn’t throw a TD pass. Obviously, it wasn’t needed. The Bill are awful.

Lessons learned in Week 8:

1. It’s still very much an offensive league, unless you’re Arizona, San Fran, the Jets, or Jacksonville.
2. Patrick Mahomes is a legit MVP candidate.
3. Fitzmagic could be coming back.
4. Khalil Mack didn’t even play this week, and he still had a better game than the Raiders.
5. If you have Aaron Rodgers, give him a chance to win the game.