In addition to celebrating tight ends around the league on National Tight Ends Day, the Sunday of Week 8 features a group of compelling matchups throughout the day and night. First, behind a big game by Saquon Barkley, the Eagles got revenge on the Giants after losing to New York just two weeks ago. In the mid-afternoon window, the Cowboys visit Denver for a matchup between a top NFL offense and a top defense. And tonight, Aaron Rodgers faces the Packers for the first time ever as the Steelers host Green Bay.
We’ve got you covered across the league. FOX Sports’ NFL experts provide the lessons we’re learning from every Sunday game and what they mean for each team going forward.
Bills: Khalil Shakir is Josh Allen’s Julian Edelman.
The obvious storyline from this game was James Cook’s domination. He was outstanding. But anyone who sees the box score can deduce Cook made a big difference. So let’s look to someone whose performance in the Bills’ offense isn’t quite as heralded. Let’s talk about Khalil Shakir. He accounted for six of Josh Allen’s 12 completions and 88 of the QB’s 163 passing yards. The way that Allen and Shakir work together is reminiscent of Tom Brady and Julian Edelman — they just understand each other. Shakir is one of the most dangerous guys with the ball in his hands, and he’s impossible to cover around the line of scrimmage.
Panthers: Andy Dalton is noticeably worse than Bryce Young.
The Bills’ defense hasn’t looked good this year, so it figured that coach Sean McDermott would have the defense trending upward after a bye week. But the Bills flatout embarrassed Andy Dalton, who filled in for the injured Bryce Young and looked like a major downgrade. That’s good news for the former No. 1 overall pick, who hasn’t been exceptional this year.
Young might be playing to earn his job next year. But apparently, it could be much worse than Young for the Panthers at QB. Look, for example, at what Dalton did at the end of the first half, failing to throw the ball away with a few seconds left. Instead, he took a sack and eliminated the Panthers’ chances at attempting a chip-shot field goal. So, no, there’s no QB controversy brewing in Carolina. – Henry McKenna
49ers: Injury-depleted team needs Brock Purdy back on field.
Give Mac Jones credit: He’s been solid, playing through nagging injuries in keeping San Francisco competitive with starting quarterback Brock Purdy missing time due to a toe injury. But the Alabama product struggled to get San Francisco’s offense going while facing one of the more aggressive defenses in the league in the Texans.
The 49ers paid Purdy top-10 quarterback money for a reason. The injury bug continued to hit a San Francisco defense that has already lost its two best players in Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. The latest players suffering injuries on that side of the football include defensive lineman Sam Okuayinonu (ankle), defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (ankle) and linebacker Dee Winters (knee), who all left the game with injuries.
Jones is 4-2 as a starter, but the 49ers need their franchise QB back on the field leading to help score more points on offense.
Texans: Passing game finally shows signs of life with C.J. Stroud.
The Texans had been scuffling offensively under the direction of new OC Nick Caley. But with DeMeco Ryans facing one of his mentors in San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan on Sunday, Houston’s offense found some life. Third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud executed as he did during an impressive rookie campaign, throwing for 318 yards and two scores — the first 300-yard passing performance for Stroud this season.
Stroud’s favorite target was Xavier Hutchinson, who finished with five catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Houston also had balance on offense, totaling 157 yards on the ground. The Texans have a stout defensive front and playmakers in the back end defensively. And they have a playoff pedigree, having reached the postseason in back-to-back years. If Houston wants to get back for a third straight year, the Texans need Stroud to continue his high level of play in the passing game. – Eric D. Williams
Giants: Jaxson Dart is working without many weapons at all.
The impressive rookie quarterback was already reeling from the loss of receiver Malik Nabers (torn ACL) and now he’s facing the likely loss of running back Cam Skattebo, who dislocated his ankle against the Eagles. Nabers was the only really dangerous weapon the Giants had and Skattebo was becoming not just their best rusher, but their emotional sparkplug.
The lack of remaining weapons was pretty clear on Sunday in a game the Giants played constantly from behind, yet couldn’t find many big plays. Tyrone Tracy should be a decent replacement at running back for Skattebo, but isn’t the same kind of inspirational runner. And the 1-2 punch at receiver of Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton is a weak combo that lacks a true star.
It’s not ideal for the growth of the Giants’ quarterback of the future. But if he can make this work at all the rest of the way, the future will certainly be bright if the Giants can get him just a little help.
Eagles: Saquon Barkley is still Philadelphia’s biggest star.
It certainly helped that he jump-started this game with a 65-yard touchdown run on his first touch of the game, but Barkley showed once again why he’s the engine that makes the Philly offense go. He ran for 150 yards and caught four passes for 24 yards, and scored two touchdowns in by far his best game of the season. And it was one of the rare games this season where the Eagles’ offense didn’t look completely dysfunctional. They were able to build a relatively comfortable lead and give QB Jalen Hurts room to operate even though he was working without injured WR A.J. Brown.
To be honest, the Eagles still should have handed the ball to Barkley more than they did earlier in this game. But at least now they’ve gotten a reminder that he can still be the player he was a year ago. – Ralph Vacchiano
Browns: Of course I was thinking about Shedeur Sanders.
The Browns saw rookie QB Dillon Gabriel look largely unremarkable against the impressive New England defense. The larger the sample size gets, the less I think Gabriel is an NFL quarterback. It’s too early to say for sure, but Gabriel doesn’t seem to bring anything special to the offense. He had been steady and competent at avoiding mistakes — but he couldn’t keep that up this week.
And that made me all the more curious what Sanders would look like running the show for Cleveland. Clearly, the Browns don’t think he’s ready. He’s the scout-team QB and the QB3, inactive on Sunday. But at some point, he’s going to have to see the field. And so on a day when Sanders couldn’t actually play, I kept wondering: When?!
Patriots: The Patriots worked their way through what could’ve been a trap game.
This has been the week of the Patriots. Analysts have anointed Drake Maye as one of the league’s elite QBs and declared the Patriots a playoff team. Those heightened expectations can give life to a trap game — with players getting ahead of themselves. And the Browns kept the score tight in the first half, with New England leading by just two points after 30 minutes.
But in the second half, the Patriots surged in every single phase. New England was, far and away, the better team. Maye was very good. OC Josh McDaniels called a terrific game, particularly in the second half, to neutralize Browns edge Myles Garrett. And Mike Vrabel’s defense was nasty, physical and fast. – Henry McKenna
Bears: Caleb Williams still has a long way to go to become a true franchise QB.
Lost in the four-game winning streak that the Bears were riding was the fact that Caleb Williams’ play wasn’t all that consistent. And those inconsistencies were glaring in Chicago’s first loss since mid September. Accuracy and timing issues showed up, though his completion rate was respectable (65.8%). Williams’ fourth-quarter interception, which set up the Ravens’ second-to-last touchdown, was a pass he threw behind receiver Rome Odunze. He didn’t manage the Bears’ final drive well either, where plenty of time was wasted.
Chicago’s defense needs to be better, of course. It’s too reliant on takeaways and giving up 30 points to a backup quarterback-led offense won’t get it done. But Williams needs to operate Ben Johnson’s offense at a higher level. He has a passer rating under 78 in three of his past four games.
Ravens: With Lamar Jackson set to return, Ravens are in position to go on a run.
The Ravens didn’t just snap their four-game losing streak. We’re seeing their defense start to find itself again. Baltimore gave up just 16 points to an explosive Rams team before its bye, and continued to show improvement Sunday by allowing a season-low 16 points to the Bears. The return of All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith, who missed the past two games, helped. And with Jackson — expected to return for the short week — rejoining an offense that showed promise with backup Tyler Huntley, it’s just a matter of time for that side of the ball to start ascending too.
Then you consider the Ravens’ schedule moving forward. Their next five opponents are below .500 (Dolphins, Vikings, Jets, Browns, Jets, Bengals). Baltimore is currently 2-5, but the possibilities we’ve imagined for the Ravens once they got healthier are starting to feel realistic. Injuries suffered by left tackle Ronnie Stanley and cornerback Marlon Humphrey against Chicago are worth monitoring, though. – Ben Arthur
Dolphins: Is it too late for a get-right game?
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for four touchdowns in a week when his leadership came into question. Coach Mike McDaniel, a run-game guru, got his running backs going after yet another week of job insecurity. The defense looked stout after getting hefty criticism all season long.
Let’s acknowledge that Miami looked like a team that hasn’t quit. That said, it’s all a little bit too late for the Dolphins to change the trajectory of their 2025 and 2026 seasons, right? This team is still headed for a rebuild. And it’s hard to imagine Tua or McDaniel will be part of it.
Falcons: Things were off with Kirk Cousins running the show.
It’s fairly astonishing that Cousins wasn’t simply a plug-and-play quarterback. He is widely considered the best backup QB in the NFL. (Or, he was.) But this was a tough outing for him, and there was plenty of blame to go around. He wasn’t on the same page with his pass-catchers for most of the game, often firing to empty spots on the field, where he clearly expected to have a receiver — but did not. After one of those misfires, Cousins was speaking animatedly with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
If the Falcons were looking to sell Cousins at the trade deadline, he didn’t help his stock. If the Falcons were looking for an improved QB option over Michael Penix Jr., who missed the game with a knee injury, they didn’t find it. – Henry McKenna
Jets: Woody Johnson is secretly a genius (no, really).
At the owners meetings last week, Johnson, the Jets’ owner, took the very unusual step of torching his team’s quarterback and basically blaming poor Justin Fields for all of new coach Aaron Glenn’s problems. Of course, at the time, it looked like Tyrod Taylor had taken Fields’ starting job. But then Fields was thrown back into the lineup because of an injury and look at what he did: He went 21-of-32 for 244 yards and a touchdown and ran 11 times for 31 yards. Most importantly, Fields led three fourth-quarter touchdown drives in the Jets’ wild, come-from-behind win, their first of the season.
OK, maybe it wasn’t because of Johnson’s words. It probably had more to do with the Bengals’ terrible defense — and a trick play by the Jets with two minutes left. But it was a reminder of the complex issues around Fields. He really can play. He has a strong arm and great mobility and is capable of big games. The only problem is that what Johnson said was kind of right. Games like this happen too infrequently. The Jets can win with Fields at quarterback, but probably not a lot.
Bengals: The only good thing about this team is WR Ja’Marr Chase!
Give old man Joe Flacco all the credit in the world for showing up in Cincinnati two weeks ago and reviving a dead offense. But to be honest, this is what Flacco did best: He realized that the only thing the Bengals can really rely on is passes thrown to Chase. Everything else with this team is a crapshoot — most notably an awful defense that was shredded by the winless Jets for three fourth-quarter touchdown drives.
The Bengals can’t stop anybody. They can’t run the ball. They don’t block well. But throwing to Chase really works. Flacco has thrown to him 42 times now in his two starts and Chase has revived his season with 28 catches for 252 yards and a touchdown in that span.
This is a serious suggestion: Just throw the ball to Chase on every play. Don’t try anything else. Let teams try to stop him. They probably can’t. It probably wouldn’t hurt at this point to try Chase on defense, too. – Ralph Vacchiano
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