The Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia remain the best two teams in the NFL after returning from their bye weeks with a bang, but two famous old franchises are also loading up for Super Bowl bids.
The San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys both notched impressive victories in Week 8 to boost their hopes of making post-season play in 2022.
San Fran bounced back from that embarrassing home loss to Kansas City with a terrific win over the faltering Rams in Los Angeles. Dallas meanwhile put up 49 points in crushing Chicago in Arlington, Texas.
The duo, who enjoyed one of the league’s great all-time rivalries in the early 1990s, are now very much on the fringe of the Super Bowl betting, but they still have big mountains to climb.
Let’s look at some of the key takeaways from the Week 8 action Stateside.
NFL Injury Report
Pro football is a brutal game, played by powerful athletes at devastating speed. No wonder then that injuries play a massive part in determining which teams come out on top each February.
Here are some of the major injuries to hit the headlines in Week 8:
Chidobe Awuzie (CB, Cincinnati Bengals): File that trip to Cleveland on Monday Night Football under unmitigated disaster for the streaking Cincinnati Bengals. After looking hugely impressive in recent weeks, the Bengals - already without the injured Ja’Marr Chase going in - were absolutely destroyed in a 32-13 loss to the Browns. Cincinnati also suffered a huge injury blow during the defeat as its top corner Awuzie tore his ACL and is gone for the season.
Jordan Davis (DT, Philadelphia Eagles): Davis has been exactly as advertised - a run-stuffing behemoth - since being drafted in the first round by the Eagles. But the former Georgia Bulldog will now likely miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain in Sunday’s 35-13 win over Pittsburgh. Major blow for the 7-0 Eagles.
Liam Eichenbxerg (LG, Miami Dolphins): Eichenberg, a second-round draft pick in 2021, injured his MCL during Miami’s 31-27 win over the Lions in Detroit and he has now been placed on injured reserve. That means he will miss at least four games, though the Dolphins are relieved the injury was not even more serious.
Cooper Kupp (WR, Los Angeles Rams): Reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Kupp has been the entire Rams offense for most of this season, so seeing him limp off late in the loss to San Francisco was extremely worrying for L.A. fans. Even HC Sean McVay was kicking himself afterwards for a) not running the ball and b) even having Kupp still in the game. It looks like McVay and the Rams dodged a bullet though, with Cooper having what is termed a low grade ankle sprain. He is considered ‘day to day’ but it’s something bettors and fantasy players should monitor. He is an explosive player who separates thanks to quick cuts and twists.
Christian Watson (WR, Green Bay Packers): The rookie wideout is having a really frustrating first year in the pros - not what Aaron Rodgers needs right now. Watson returned from a hamstring injury to face the Bills on Sunday Night Football, and promptly suffered a concussion. That leaves him doubtful for this weekend’s crucial trip to Detroit to face the Lions.
Mark Ingram (RB, New Orleans Saints): The one real black spot on a very successful Sunday for the Saints as they shut out Las Vegas 24-0 was losing Ingram for 3-4 weeks with an MCL sprain. While he is merely part of the ground rotation now behind Alvin Kamara, that doesn’t mean his absence will not be felt.
Gus Edwards (RB, Baltimore Ravens): No sooner than Edwards became a key man for the Ravens again, he could be gone again. For a week anyway. He could miss the Week 9 meeting with New Orleans on MNF after tweaking a hamstring in the Week 8 win in Tampa.
Jourdan Lewis (CB, Dallas Cowboys): Another big blow for an NFC East team which is riding high. We are slightly late to the party with this one, but it has now been confirmed that slot corner Lewis will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury. Bad news for a Dallas defense which has been one of the league’s best so far in 2022.
NFL Odds: Stock Rising
Week 8 delivered more fantastic performances which had a significant impact on the early betting lines. Here are some of the displays which really jumped out:
Tyreek Hill (WR, Miami Dolphins): The Cheetah is now just 13/2 second favourite in the betting to be OPOY in 2022 after an incredible start to 2022. It doesn’t matter who is throwing him the ball, Hill continues to terrorise defenses. He caught 12 calls for 188 yards in Sunday’s win over Detroit, and remains the most dynamic offensive weapon in the NFL. We are not even halfway through the season, and already he has 961 receiving yards.
Myles Garrett (DE, Cleveland Browns): Garrett is absolutely back to full health now after that horrific early-season car crash. Joe Burrow and the Bengals know that better than anybody after Myles ran them out of town on Monday Night Football. He was in the Cincinnati backfield all night and had 1.5 sacks to lead a dominant performance from the Cleveland D. He is now 11/1 third favourite for Defensive Player of the Year, behind Dallas hotpot Micah Parsons and San Francisco’s Nick Bosa.
Travis Etienne (RB, Jacksonville Jaguars): Much was expected of the explosive Clemson standout when the Jags used a first-round pick on him in 2021, but his rookie year was wrecked by injury. Now Etienne is starting to display the sensational potential he possesses, and on a regular basis. He ran for 156 yards and a score in a losing effort to Denver in London, and has 427 yards in his last four games at an average of 7.4 yards a carry. Big-play ability on every down, and while the value is shrinking on his yardage props, he remains a very live threat in the TD markets.
A.J. Brown (WR, Philadelphia Eagles): The trade Philly pulled off on draft night to prise Brown away from Tennessee might yet go down as one of the smartest in NFL history. It made the Eagles a bona fide Super Bowl contender overnight, and it continues to pay off on a weekly basis. A.J. had his best game yet as an Eagle in Week 8, catching 6 Jalen Hurts passes for 156 yards and 3 TDs. Pretty astonishing that he is a 40/1 shot with Sky Bet for OPOY.
Tony Pollard (RB, Dallas Cowboys): We’ve bet Pollard to go over the line for his rushing yards every week so far in 2022, and it is netting us a nice profit. He still smashed a much tougher target of 80 on Sunday by rumbling for 131 yards and 3 scores on just 14 carries in that win over Chicago. It was the first time in 2022 he had been the featured back with Ezekiel Elliott out injured. It now remains to be seen whether Jerry Jones and the Cowboys brass will finally see what everybody else can. Stop feeding Zeke so much, and start feeding Tony some more.
Derrick Henry (RB, Tennessee Titans): Saquon Barkley is a worthy favourite for NFL Comeback Player of the Year, but we’re not sure why Henry remains as big as 12/1 in the betting for this annual award. He feasted on one of the NFL’s worst defenses on Sunday by rushing for 219 yards and two TDs in the win over Houston. That is four 100-yard rushing games on the spin now for Derrick, who is quite literally gathering momentum in 2022.
Christian McCaffrey (RB, San Francisco 49ers): We still believe the price San Francisco paid to get McCaffrey out of Charlotte was insane, but that doesn’t mean he is not a great talent who can do great things in the Bay Area. We got a nice glimpse of that on Sunday as he ran for a touchdown, caught a TD pass and threw a TD pass in that defeat of the Rams. He netted 149 rushing and receiving yards, proving he is the perfect gadget for evil genius Kyle Shanahan to exploit.
NFL Playoff Scenarios: Who makes the post-season?
It’s never too early to start talking about playoff scenarios, so here we are. If the post-season began today, these teams would be playing on:
AFC
- Buffalo Bills 6-1
- Tennessee Titans 5-2
- Kansas City Chiefs 5-2
- Baltimore Ravens 5-3
- New York Jets 5-3
- Miami Dolphins 5-3
- Los Angeles Chargers 4-3
NFC
- Philadelphia Eagles 7-0
- Minnesota Vikings 6-1
- Seattle Seahawks 5-3
- Atlanta Falcons 4-4
- New York Giants 6-2
- Dallas Cowboys 6-2
- San Francisco 49ers 4-4
NFL Game of the Week: Los Angeles Rams @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 20:25 GMT, Sky Sports NFL
This was always GOTW material, but 8 weeks into the season it has very different ramifications to those initially anticipated.
Back in September it looked like a potential NFC title game dress rehearsal, but now it pits two teams with losing records who are not even certain to make the playoffs.
On the face of it the Bucs are in better shape, they just need to figure out how to get that offense really humming. Tom Brady (now sans Gisele of course) is still putting up big yards despite his banged-up supporting cast. The running game meanwhile is a disaster.
The Rams appear to be on the brink of freefall after that 31-14 home loss to the 49ers. Their big issue is a heavily depleted offensive line which just struggles to block anybody. Matthew Stafford is spending most weekends running for his life, while they too have a toothless running game.
If you had to bet right now on one of these two teams figuring it out and getting back on track it would definitely be the Bucs, who are trading as 2.5-point favourites in the early going for this one.
As for Los Angeles, there is every chance that the reigning Super Bowl champions could be sat on the sidelines next January.
