Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 8

If you're an avid sports fan, then this was your week.  Beginning of the World Series between the two franchises with the longest World Series championship droughts in the Cubs and Indians.  Beginning of the 2016-17 NBA regular season, which saw a loaded Warriors squad get their lunch money taken by the Tim Duncan-less Spurs to the tune of 129-100.  While very few people I know are checking for NHL action this early in the season, football nearly took a back seat in the midst of a smorgasbord of intriguing sports options until a Saturday night thriller in Tallahassee with No. 3 Clemson outlasting (now) No. 19 Florida State, 37-34.  Not to mention Fox being the beneficiary of a quadruple-header on Sunday between three back-to-back NFL contests and a do-or-die Game 5 of the World Series for the Cubs.  So during a weekend which featured eight games decided by eight points or less, three overtime games and the first consecutive weeks of back-to-back ties since Weeks 12 and 13 of the 1997 season, there was a lot to love and hate about Week 8...

THE PLUS/MINUS TAKE OF THE WEEK: AIN'T NOBODY COMIN' TO SEE YOU, JAMIE (-7)!  Why did Jamie Collins have the misfortune of being drafted by Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots?  Didn't he know the four-time Super Bowl champion head coach had no problems dropping Richard Seymour like a bad habit and shipping him out to a woeful Oakland squad in 2009 much to the five-time Pro Bowl (at the point of his release) lineman's chagrin?  Couldn't he have predicted that although Pro Football Focus has graded him as "one of the league's most dominant and versatile outside linebackers", Belichick is a system guy who doesn't believe in paying players unless their name is Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr.?  The Pats' 2013 second-round draft pick has performed above and beyond, but spending three-and-a-half seasons with one of the best organizations in the NFL poised to make another Super Bowl run probably seems like one of the biggest strip teases of all time.  If you ask Collins' agent Bus Cook, then the linebacker with a projected value above $50 million "simply wants to go where he's wanted"--which might explain his puzzlingly low amount of snaps in New England's 41-25 win over Buffalo on Sunday.  However, the currently-winless Browns have been the most maligned football franchise since returning to the NFL in 1999 with only two winning seasons, one playoff berth and such a comedy of drafting errors that they had to make a movie about it where they supposedly got it right.  Hence, while I understand going where you're wanted, it would've been nice to be shipped someplace where you're valued and win at the same time.  I wish the brother well, but Cleveland is unfortunately where good NFL careers go to die.  Ask Joe Haden.

THE HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE TAKE OF THE WEEK: WIN, LOSE OR DRAW...AGAIN.  Let me get this gripe out of the way: while the enthusiasm of those 84,000+ folks at Wembley Stadium was a sight for sore eyes, waking up at 9:46 a.m. to watch an NFL game was rough.  Thank God I turned on the game right in time to catch Rob Kelley's first NFL rushing TD after a seven-plus-minute opening drive, although I struggled to stay awake during most of the first quarter.  Despite the running game working well on the first drive and the offensive line performing better than last week, Washington went away from the run as Kirk Cousins posted the highest amount of attempts (27) and completions (20) in a first half in his five-year NFL career.  The offense struggled for most of third quarter until Cousins' security blanket Jordan Reed turned on the jets, forced Bengals defenders to miss him in open space and scored on a 23-yard pass play.  After the defense forced a turnover in the fourth quarter, Kelley got some tough yards on the ground while Cousins showed some resilience on a 33-yard TD play to Jamison Crowder.  By game's end, Cousins tied Sonny Jurgensen for the most amount of 300-yard games in franchise history (16) before posting 458 yards, which was the second 400+ game of his career.  Unfortunately, he's on pace to throw only 24 TDs, which doesn't help a team with an embarrassment of riches in the passing game score more points than their foes.

Defensively, Washington held Cincinnati to seven first half points while Josh Norman held the league's leading receiving in A.J. Green to one first-half catch.  However, despite nearly getting three interceptions, Green received several favorable hands to the face calls against Norman.  (More on that shortly.)  Although Andy Dalton bailed out Norman with two misplaced passes intended for Green, Al Davis' age-old adage of "speed kills" applied as Green got separation on Norman and Dalton finally delivered a perfectly-placed ball for a 40-yard strike to set up a one-yard Jeremy Hill TD run in the fourth quarter.  Speaking of a suspect run defense, you know you're still having issues in that department when not only Hill and even Giovanni Bernard give you fits, but also their lack of contain on Andy Dalton was infuriating.  Although they evened out the turnover battle in the fourth quarter on a Kendall Fuller corner blitz and a Will Compton interception in Skins territory which led to the aforementioned Crowder score, they later gave up a 15-yard TD to Tyler Eifert.  Simply put, they have a ways to go before being considered a "bend, but don't break" defense.

Now I could easily blame the questionable refereeing, especially on a blown face mask call after Crowder scored his TD and a phantom offensive pass interference call against Pierre Garçon which was more about Adam Jones backing up on his own and selling a pushoff than it was about Garçon actually pushing him.  Josh Norman certainly didn't hesitate to make his displeasure with the officiating known: "Who's 88?  I gotta know, I just gotta know.  Who's official 88...he sucked.  I'm just gonna be honest with you, I'm gonna be straightforward, he was terrible and I feel like he should reprimanded...they reprimand us, so what's the reprimand for them?"  While I agree to a large extent with his overall rant, Washington still racked up fifteen penalties for 106 costly yards (a yard total which was more than their team rushing total for the day), most were against the defense and not all of them were ticky-tack flags.  Moreover, between a failed 4th and 1 counter play, an unnecessary shot to DeSean Jackson downfield leading to an INT and two Dustin Hopkins missed field goals, the home team once again failed to take advantage of some good opportunities.  A draw might not be an L, but it certainly doesn't help them gain ground in the league's best division as they've gone from second place to the basement in a matter of two weeks.

SCRIBBLER'S GAME OF THE WEEK: OAKLAND RAIDERS 30, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 24 (OT).  What if I told you a team broke the NFL record for the most amount of accepted penalties against them--23 for 200 yards?  What if I also told you that same team lost the turnover battle?  You would assume that team lost, correct?  Well, if NFL football were only about the first two periods, then your assumption would've been 40 percent accurate.  In a near perfect first half, Jameis Winston tossed the game's only touchdown at that point 19 yards to Russell Shepard.  Meanwhile, on top of the game's only turnover on a Derek Carr fumble, the Raiders began the "Shoot Ourselves in the Feet" Campaign early with five penalties.  Specifically, two of those penalties set the Silver and Black back 15 yards after a 68-yard pass play from Carr to fullback Jamize Olawale, forcing them to settle for their only first-half points in a Sebastian Janikowski 31-yard field goal.  Truth be told, this had all the makings of the trap game which could've come last week against the Jaguars as the Buccaneers were poised to get above .500 again and draw a game closer to the Falcons in the division.

However, Derek Carr put on a clinic of how to make every throw in the book in the second half.  He could throw short in the red zone to the Tampa Bay castaway Donald Penn or he could go long for a 34-yard TD to Amari Cooper, who torched poor Vernon Hargreaves all day long on his way to 173 yards receiving.  Despite having the greatest performance by a Raiders quarterback in NFL history with 513 passing yards and tying for the ninth best QB single-game performance of all time, Famous Jameis still had something to say about it with a five-yard TD pass to Cameron Brate along with Jacquizz Rodgers and his one-yard TD run in fourth quarter.  In the midst of Janikowski missing field goals to win in regulation and overtime as well as eleven penalties in the extra period alone, Carr threw another TD pass to Mychal Rivera late in the game to tie it at 24 and his fourth on another gutsy call from "Blackjack" Del Rio to go for it on 4th and 3, leading to the game-winning 41-yard pass play to Seth Roberts.  So as to your assumption about heavily-penalized teams, here's something to debunk it: teams who have at least 15 penalties for 175 yards are 10-4 all time.  I wouldn't make a living being undisciplined if I were the Raiders--who are now tied with the Broncos for the second best record in the AFC behind the Patriots as well as the AFC West lead--but they had history and a lights out field general on their side.

SCRIBBLER'S CHECKDOWNS:

• TEN 36, JAX 22: DeMarco Murray and Heisman trophy winning rookie Derrick Henry's combined 183 rushing yards and two TDs as well as two from Mariota through the air were too much for the Jags, who are slowly but surely spelling the end of the Gus Bradley era;
• NE 41, BUF 25:  these clearly weren't the Jacoby Brissett Patriots as the Brady Bunch were led by No. 12's four-TD passing clinic.  Meanwhile, when you're Tyrod Taylor and down two of your best receivers as well as your most prized running back, it's hard to keep pace with the best quarterback in football;
• NYJ 31, CLE 28: Matt Forte might not get you four yards per carry anymore, but he's been good for multiple TDs in several games this year.  As for the Browns, a blown lead, turnovers and the absence of a running game means the Indians might break their World Series winning drought before the Browns break their eleven-game losing streak;
• HOU 20, DET 13: leave it to a Romeo Crennel coached defense to figure out how to slow down Matthew Stafford.  Despite not having a barn burner of an offensive performance--although DeAndre Hopkins had a nice one-handed catch in the red zone to set up a Lamar Miller goal-line TD--good bounce back game for the Texans against a formidable opponent;
• KC 30, IND 14: forcing two turnovers against Andrew Luck and the Colts, the Chiefs' defense continues to make their case as one of the league's best.  Meanwhile, how about Andy Reid's darling Nick Foles filling in nicely for the concussed Alex Smith, who both combined for 334 passing yards and three TDs.  While Kansas City is a problem in a three-horse race in the AFC West, Indy's stock is falling fast and the target on Chuck Pagano's head is getting easier to hit;
• NO 25, SEA 20: this game lived up to the hype as the Drew Brees and the Saints did what they tend to do best in the Superdome: win.  Although it's no skin off their back in what's regressing into a cupcake NFC West again, this loss for the 'Hawks could affect down-the-line seeding in the conference, especially if the Cowboys keep playing well;
• CAR 30, ARI 20: the score doesn't show how dominant the Panthers were as Jonathan Stewart led the way with two rushing TDs and the Panthers defense looked more like themselves again by forcing two turnovers including Thomas Davis' 46-yard fumble recovery TD--the first of his career.  On the other side, the Cardinals continue their historically-inept cross-country trips, especially in Carolina;
• DEN 27, SD 19: despite another strong showing from the much-improved Melvin Gordon with 111 yards rushing against a quality defense, three Philip Rivers picks made life difficult for the Bolts, especially on a Bradley Roby pick six.  Offensively, nothing to write home about for the Broncos without C.J. Anderson.  Thank God for their defense as they keep pace in a tight AFC West race;
• ATL 33, GB 32: as a candidate for the game of the week, this game was everything I expected: lots of offense, not a ton of defense.  In the absence of rushing attacks from either team, Mr. Discount Double Check and Matty Ice combined for seven TD passes.  In one of the most evenly matched games of the day, the Falcons simply got one more point.  They extend their lead in the NFC South while the Pack drop further behind the Vikes in the North;
• DAL 29, PHI 23 (OT) (SNF): as another candidate for the game of the week, both teams fought and clawed in a classic NFC East showdown.  However, in the battle of the two best rookie QBs, Dak Prescott's resilience overcame an imperfect game as he threw the game winner to a wide open Jason Witten (how many times have we heard those two things in the same sentence) and the all-purpose threat of Ezekiel Elliott was too much for the Eagles defense.  Meanwhile, the Eagles need to get Carson Wentz some receivers if they want to do some real damage as they drop down two games in the division; and
• CHI 20, MIN 10 (MNF): a defense's effectiveness is only as legitimate as their offense's productivity.  Last night, the Bears offense led by rookie Jordan Howard's 153 rushing yards and a healthy and consistent Jay Cutler helped out their quietly-twelfth-ranked defense while the Vikings have dropped two straight games because Sam Bradford and the offense can't score more than ten points and assist their top-rated defense.  The NFC North looks a lot more attainable for the likes of Green Bay or Detroit if they're up for the challenge.

SCRIBBLER'S CHOP LICKERS FOR WEEK 9: 

• DET (4-3) @ MIN (5-2), 1 p.m.: the intrigue of this NFC North rivalry game comes down to one simple question: can the Vikes slow down the red hot Matthew Stafford like the Texans were able to do?  The Lions need leverage in a tightening NFC North race, especially with Green Bay's fall to Atlanta and Minnesota's recent slide, and I like Stafford helping out his defense more than Bradford assisting his vastly better unit;
• PHI (4-3) @ NYG (4-3), 1 p.m.: aside from being one of the longest running rivalries in the NFC East, you have the first head-to-head matchup between the new blood in Carson Wentz and the old guard in Eli Manning--although Eli has the better receiving corps by ten country miles. Critical game as both teams will attempt to keep pace with the division-leading Cowboys; and
• DEN (6-2) @ OAK (6-2), 8:30 p.m. (SNF): first and foremost, this is how bad the Raiders have been since their last playoff appearance: they haven't been on Sunday Night Football since a 13-3 defeat to the Broncos in SNF's inaugural season in 2006.  Second, considering how hard of a time they had against the Chiefs defense a few weeks ago, they won't have it any easier against Denver in a game which will determine who leapfrogs to first and gains ground in the AFC West.