Week 8 Thoughts & Observations

[Tom Kessenich]

Here are some random thoughts and observations about Week 8 as I wonder if people observing the Cardinals’ backfield have a new appreciation for David Johnson this week.

I certainly don’t get every call right, that’s for sure. But when you spend month after month after month after month screaming to people about how a certain player is a great value and seemingly few are paying any attention because his ADP hardly ever moves and then promptly load up on him in nearly every team you have because no one is paying any attention to how great his value is, please forgive if I take a small measure of pride in nailing that one.

So, as we begin a new column, I would like to profess that I heart you Aaron Jones.

I really really heart you.

As impressive as Green Bay’s 7-1 start is, consider the fact they legitimately should be 8-0 if Matt LaFleur had utilized Jones properly vs. the Eagles.

I’m guessing we’re done with all of the “Aaron Rodgers isn’t what he used to be” stories for awhile now?

An important point to remember about Green Bay’s Sunday night win at Kansas City. The Chiefs did not lose because they didn’t have Pat Mahomes. Matt Moore played a great game. They lost because their defense continues to have significant issues dealing with running backs (this time in the passing game). Mahomes’ return is needed to be certain, but this is a team struggling with issues far beyond the health of their superstar quarterback.

Damien Williams sure looked like a guy pissed off he hasn’t been used much this season.

I don’t know what Washington does at quarterback if Case Keenum isn’t healthy. Dwayne Haskins clearly isn’t ready, and Colt McCoy is truly terrible. I do know I am legitimately worried about Terry McLaurin moving forward. He deserves so much more at quarterback than he’s getting. Legit star talent.

It’s not that I hate the Vikings but a part of me is hoping Kirk Cousins has another really bad game soon just so we can really find out if the Stefon Diggs wants to be traded rumors are really over.

Dalvin Cook is good.

That is all.

Matt Schaub threw for nearly 500 yards on Sunday without a Pick 6. If you’re the Falcons, there’s no way you can ask for any more than that.

I’m starting to think if there’s one person who’s going to prevent Russ Wilson from winning the MVP award this season it’s Pete Carroll. I know the Seahawks won on Sunday but only 20 passing attempts? Put the ball in Wilson’s hands, let him do his thing and Seattle wins by at least three touchdowns. At some point, this ultra-conservative approach is going to come back and bit them in the behind. Count on it.

Why do I have a feeling we’re going to be here a year from now and people still won’t be appreciating just how good Tyler Lockett is?

So far, I’m 0-2 in predicting how the awful weather games will turn out. I underestimated the Washington Quagmire two weeks ago and overestimated how awful things would be in Buffalo on Sunday. I told everyone to bail on the Eagles and Bills and that ended up with 44 combined points, big-time rushing performances from the Eagles and three total passing touchdowns without any interceptions.

Screw you Mom Nature.

I’m still confident the Mike Williams positive touchdown regression thing is gonna happen.

May not happen until next season but dammit it’s gonna happen.

It was only one carry, but Mel Gordon’s touchdown run sure looked a lot more like Mel Gordon.

We now have concrete proof (Hunter Henry in Week 6 and Keenan Allen in Week 8) that for Anthony Lynn, “limited” means “will play the whole game as usual.”

Good to know.

On a day when their quarterback kinda resembled an NFL quarterback for the most part the Bears’ kicker goes belly-up. I’m starting to think this may not be their year.

Oh, I’m not sure if people have figured this out yet or not but Matt Nagy is not a good NFL head coach.

Remember last week when I posted Marv Jones’ peak and valley point production the past month? And on it goes.

Kenny Golladay. He’s good.

One reason I didn’t aggressively pursue Ty Johnson in FAAB last week or push him as a starting option in Week 8 is I worried the Lions may utilize a committee approach since they didn’t have a clear replacement for Kerryon Johnson. But I sure wasn’t expecting former Packers great Tra Carson to be the lead back.

Matt Patricia really wanted to show how much of a Belichick disciple he is, didn’t he?

Miami is trading Kenyan Drake this week. It has to be to Detroit, doesn’t it?

Doesn’t it?

Sometimes streaming TEs really work out (Johnu Smith) and sometimes they don’t (Cam Brate). Not often you get to see the extremes in one game, though.

Have yourself a day, Mike Evans.

Oh, and Bruce Arians – maybe think about getting the ball to him in the fourth quarter after he drops nearly 200 yards in 45 minutes of work. Just a thought.

OK maybe Kenyan Drake is going to Tampa Bay.

Gotta be the Lions or Bucs, doesn’t it?

Doesn’t it?

John Elway has been impervious to criticism during his time in Denver so forgive me if I don’t believe Joe Flacco (correctly) ripping the Broncos’ weak-ass play-calling in the fourth quarter is going to result in any fundamental changes in the organization.

I’ll say it again – if Courtland Sutton ever gets a good quarterback throwing him the ball look out.

Don’t think anyone will blame Cooper Kupp if he decides to skip the Rams’ flight home and hang out in London during the team’s bye week. He clearly loves life across the pond.

That’s more like it Jared Goff. Yeah it was the Bengals, but that’s how you do it.

I’m tellin ya people, Andy Dalton just keeps hanging in there every damn week from a fantasy perspective. Getting A.J. Green back after the bye will only help.

Don’t look now but Joe Mixon may have a pulse.

If you started David Johnson last week and Chase Edmonds this week you received fewer than three points the past two games from that RB position.

Combined.

Yay.

I do not know how successful Kliff Kingsbury will ultimately be as an NFL head coach, but he has not had a smooth rookie season. He has now had multiple issues figuring out how to use his starting running backs. This week he should have realized that running the ball vs. the Saints is a difficult endeavor so getting the ball in space to Chase Edmonds was a key priority. Instead, Edmonds barely factored into the passing game before getting hurt in the third quarter and barely saw any touches. It’s very likely the Saints would have won the game regardless but failing to utilize your best players intelligently is the quickest path to NFL coaching failure. Kingsbury has now failed that basic tenant on multiple occasions in his rookie season.

And don’t even get me started (again) on how completely moronic it was to lie to the media about Johnson’s injury status after last week’s game.

Do better Kliff.

For all those saying Drew Brees should’ve returned after the Saints’ Week 9 bye, how does 373 yards and 3 TDs grab ya?

Sometimes injury replacements really work out (Latavius Murray) and sometimes they … well … ummm … don’t (Chase Edmonds).

Until Gardner Minshew completely bottoms out in a game, the Jags have to keep starting him even when Nick Foles is healthy. This just isn’t a difficult decision. It just isn’t.

Good work by the Carolina defense holding the 49ers under 60 points on Sunday. Game balls for everyone.

A couple weeks ago I Tweeted that the Panthers could easily get Cam Newton back into the starting lineup without any controversy. All that needed to happen was for Kyle Allen to struggle vs. the stout San Francisco defense. That would open the door for Cam, if healthy, to return to the starting lineup and Ron Rivera could frame it as entirely a personnel decision without causing any ripples. After all, the Panthers had just lost, Allen had just struggled and now your MVP was ready to play again.

That script is very much in play now after the Panthers got bludgeoned by the 49ers on Sunday. All that needs to happen next is for Cam to be healthy.

I know there’s still a lotta game left to be played this season but it’s extremely difficult to envision San Francisco fading anytime soon. Really good defense and an offense that does enough to matriculate the ball downfield most weeks. Damn good team.

At this point, it’s legitimately fair to think the Patriots’ defense will drop 20+ points a game every week.

James White – just give him double-digit points every week and move on.

I guess it wasn’t Detroit or Tampa Bay trading for Kenyan Drake after all. Arizona? That doesn’t bode well for Edmonds’ long-term status this season.

The bye week didn’t fix Baker Mayfield’s issues, did it?

Trailing by two scores in the fourth quarter and with his team facing fourth-and-11, Freddie Kitchens baffling elected to punt. After a 5-yard penalty on the Browns, he then reversed his decision and decided to go for it. Yup, that’s exactly what happened.

I’m sorry Browns’ fans. Nobody deserves that. It’s just cruel.

Did Keke Coutee get cut by the Texans last week and nobody reported it?

Go ahead and kick DeShaun Watson in the face. I dare you. No really go ahead and do it. He’s still gonna drop a touchdown pass on your ass.

Damn J.J. Watt. Just. Damn.

Derek Carr has multiple TDs in four games (five in the last two) and has thrown only one interception in the past month. Just gonna leave that here.

The Giants and Panthers both lost but if you didn’t come away from those two games even more impressed with Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley I don’t know what to tell you.

And finally, did I mention how much I heart Aaron Jones? Cuz I do.

I really really do.

[Money]

Excuse me Tom, but the packers were gifted a win at home to Detroit 2 Monday nights ago. On no planet should they be undefeated.

[Tom Kessenich]

Excuse me Tom, but the packers were gifted a win at home to Detroit 2 Monday nights ago. On no planet should they be undefeated.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that game. That's the one where the Lions were gifted their only touchdown when the official furthest from the play overruled the Kerryon Johnson run and gave him a TD even though the replay clearly showed he never crossed the end zone.