NFL Week 8 Winners and Losers
Winners
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are now 6-1, after beating the Minnesota Vikings 30-20 on Sunday night. After losing their first game of the season to the Tampa Bay Bucs, they have gone 6-0 have looked unstoppable. It has not just been legend QB Drew Brees running the offense. RBs Michael Ingram and Alvin Kamara each alternate good games. The defense has looked more consistent than last year. The rematch win from last year's "Minnesota Miracle" has to be a morale booster. Looking forward, they face an undefeated Rams team who has looked vulnerable at times so far.
Adam Vinatieri
Indianapolis Colts Kicker Adam Vinatieri is now the league's overall leader in points. With a field goal at the end of the second quarter, he passed Morten Anderson's record for the most points in someone's career. At age 45, Vinatieri is only going to be in the league for max of a few more years. From now until the end of his career, he will be growing his record. No matter what happens Vinatieri, you are a true legend, and should be remembered as one of the best kickers in NFL history.
DeAndre Hopkins
I genuinely upset that his catch didn't actually count. If you have no idea what I am talking about, let me explain. In the Texans' 42-23 win over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night, WR DeAndre Hopkins jumped, grabbed the ball with one hand, and secured the ball in-between his legs for a first-down. Sadly, Hopkins was called for offensive pass-interference, and the play got called back. Giving it a second look however, there was no interference. Hopkins is having an alright season, but he just added a catch-of-the-year candidate to his resume.
Honorable mentions: Houston Texans, Joe Mixon, Washington Redskins, and Byron Leftwich.
Losers
Jameis Winston
Welp, is it time for a return of Fitzmagic? Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston got benched late in the third-quarter. Going 18 for 35 and 4 interceptions, Winston is turning into an interception machine. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick took over starting QB for the rest of the game and almost led the Bucs to a comeback win over the Bengals, but lost to a late field-goal. It has since been reported that Fitzpatrick will start their next game against the Carolina Panthers. If Fitzpatrick stays consistent, Winston may stay as the back-up for the rest of the season.
Cleveland Browns
They looked so good after the first few weeks. Now, the Cleveland Browns are back to normal form and are 2-5-1. After their loss this weekend to the Steelers, the Browns' front office fired head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. There was reports that there has been conflict between the two in the past about various topics. Now that they are both gone, the hope is for a healthy locker room. The interim coach will be former DC Gregg Williams.
Ty Montgomery
Wow, what a weekend for RB Ty Montgomery. First, he fumbled the kickoff return for the Green Bay Packers when they were down by 2 with a little over two minutes left in the game. He was told by coaches to just take a knee, and let future hall-of-famer QB Aaron Rodgers take over. The Packers would go on to lose the game. At around 2 pm on Tuesday, an hour before the trade deadline, he got traded to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2020 seventh-round pick. I believe it was a mix of miscommunication with coaches and distress in the locker room that led to his trade. Hopefully, the Ravens can use him for efficiently than the Packers did.
Honorable mentions: Tom Brady, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, and Wembley Stadium.
