Overreactions for NFL Week 8: Eagles offense better without A.J. Brown?

Leave it to NFL teams to eventually reveal the truth about themselves. The truth always comes out at some point in the season, and Week 8 certainly is justifying some theories. 

The Cincinnati Bengals are the prime example. Leave it to the Bengals to give the New York Jets their first win of the season, a game Cincinnati had on lock midway through the fourth quarter. The Atlanta Falcons continue to show they can’t be trusted after getting blown out by the Miami Dolphins. The New York Giants are still the Giants, even with their future a lot better with Jaxson Dart. 

Some teams are still giving a glimmer of hope they can make the playoffs, while others are starting to see those dreams slip away. This is the beauty of the NFL every week, and the fun of overreactions. The stories sometimes write themselves.

Which overreactions in the Week 8 Sunday slate are farfetched and which are reality?

The Eagles offense is better off without A.J. Brown

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The Eagles have been trying to figure out their offense all season, and got going in a big way. In a blowout win over the Giants, the Eagles put up 427 yards or offense, averaged 7.5 yards per play, and scored 38 points. Jalen Hurts threw four touchdown passes and Saquon Barkley finished with 150 rushing yards. The Eagles as a team rushed for 276 yards and averaged 8.4 yards per carry. 

This was their best offensive performance of the season, and A.J. Brown didn’t play because of a hamstring injury. Brown being unhappy with the Eagles and how he’s used in the offense is another discussion (and a mystery), but is this offense really better without Brown? 

Of course not, even with Hurts going 15 of 20 for 179 yards and four touchdowns and Barkley averaging 10.7 yards per carry. This team needs Brown, one of the top receivers in the league, to be a part of this offense. Brown can stretch the field and keep a defense honest, opening up the run game for Barkley and giving Jalen Hurts a downfield threat. 

No matter what Brown’s issues are with Hurts and the Eagles, they need their All-Pro receiver to win another Super Bowl. Period. 

Dak Prescott is not a big game quarterback 

Overreaction or reality: Reality

The Cowboys defense is atrocious and is the biggest culprit why they are 3-4-1 through eight games. Dallas didn’t have a chance to beat Denver with the way the defense played, a unit that’s looking like a square peg in a round hole.

You know who else didn’t show up either? Dak Prescott. 

This was a game for Prescott to change the narrative. He was facing a top five pass defense with elite cornerbacks, in the midst of an MVP-caliber season. Heading into Sunday, Prescott ranked fourth in the league in completion percentage (71.4%), second in passing yards (1,881), second in passing touchdowns (16) and eighth in passer rating (107.6). 

He put up a clunker against Denver, finishing 19 of 31 for 188 yards and two interceptions for a 51.5 passer rating. He went 4 of 7 for 81 yards and an interception (58.3 rating) on throws of 10+ air yards. The Cowboys didn’t move the ball consistently, looking like a shell of the offense that dominated opponents all year. 

No matter how bad the defense is, Prescott makes $60 million a year. The weight is on his shoulders — fair or not — to carry this offense and keep Dallas in the game. He failed to do that and the offense laid an egg against an elite defense. This is who Prescott is in Year 10 of his career. 

Good quarterback, but comes up small. There’s still time to change the narrative, but Sunday brought back those thoughts regarding how to define Prescott’s career. 

Packers have not proven they are an elite team

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

There will be a big deal made regarding the Packers’ win over the Steelers, but Pittsburgh isn’t a good team. The entire AFC North isn’t good, as the Packers have gotten the benefit of playing three of those teams already. Does that mean Green Bay isn’t an elite team? Of course not.

The Packers are one of the best teams in football, but it’s fair to question the team with the NFC’s best record. Their strength of victory (.472) is inflated by a Week 1 win over Detroit, and Green Bay did lose to Cleveland and tied Dallas. The Packers still have a good quarterback with a very deep wide receiver group that just got reinforcements in Christian Watson, and a premier running back and offensive line. Need we say more about what Micah Parsons has done for this defense? 

The Packers are one of the five best teams in the NFL, so they are elite. Are they the best? Green Bay will have to beat Philadelphia and Detroit in November. 

The AFC North will have a 9-win champion

Overreaction or reality: Reality

Watching the Packers clobber the Steelers in the second half makes you realize how bad the AFC North is. The Steelers have lost two in a row and still lead the division by two games in the loss column. The Bengals lost to the Jets (handing New York its first win) and the Browns are a rebuilding team that was beaten up by the Patriots. 

Cincinnati likely played its way out of the division and Cleveland is in the hunt for the top draft pick. We don’t know what the Ravens are because Lamar Jackson isn’t back yet, but the only reason Baltimore is in the division race is because Pittsburgh can’t run away with the title. 

Pittsburgh doesn’t beat good teams, so a double-digit win season seems farfetched at this stage. The Steelers have the Colts and Chargers in back-to-back weeks, and also play the Bills and Lions. There’s a really good chance Pittsburgh won’t win 10 games this year. 

The AFC North will have a 9-win champion — at most. 

Bengals playoff hopes are dead and buried

Overreaction or reality: Reality

Leave it to the Bengals to take away all their momentum after their biggest win of the season last week. Cincinnati was 3-4 and right in the thick of the AFC North race prior to facing the winless New York Jets Sunday, a golden opportunity to go 4-4. 

Instead, the Bengals lost to the Jets. New York was down 38-24 with nine minutes left and rallied to beat Cincinnati, 39-38, a display of what the Bengals truly are through eight games — a team with a bad defense and their All-Pro quarterback sidelined. 

The Bengals are 1-3 when scoring 38+ points over the last two years and have allowed 27+ points in seven straight games. No matter how well the Bengals offense is playing with Joe Flacco (29.7 points per game, 378.7 yards per game), Cincinnati isn’t a playoff team with that defense on the field. Trey Hendrickson being hurt is icing on the cake. 

This defense hasn’t been playoff caliber all year, and losing to the Jets is unacceptable if a team is going to make a run at the division. Count the Bengals out of the AFC North race. 

Ravens are alive and well in AFC North race

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The truth of the matter is, regarding the Ravens — we really don’t know. Lamar Jackson was preparing to play this week, and then he was ruled out. Baltimore played without Jackson coming out of the bye week and started Tyler Huntley, who managed the game well enough to win on Sunday against Chicago. 

The Ravens get the Dolphins next week, and Jackson may not be playing in that contest either. Can Huntley and this defense — which held an opponent to 17-or-less points again — keep the ship afloat one more week before Jackson returns? 

The Ravens are 2-5 and need some help from the Steelers to get back in the AFC North hunt (and they got some of it with the Steelers losing to the Packers). A loss Sunday would have buried Baltimore, but the Ravens stayed alive just by winning a game. 

If Jackson is back next week, look out for Baltimore. If the Ravens are 3-5 when Jackson comes back (assuming it’s Week 10), they’ll be on notice.

Injuries will keep 49ers out of NFC West title hunt

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The 49ers have been bitten by the injury bug all season, and those wounds finally showed against the Texans. San Francisco finished with just 48 rushing yards and allowed 475 total yards in Sunday’s loss to Houston, a defense that clearly was affected without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner (both are out for the season). 

San Francisco’s defense had just two quarterback hits in the game, finishing with zero sacks. C.J. Stroud had his way against the 49ers pressure (or lack thereof), going 7 of 8 for 63 yards and a touchdown (139.1 passer rating). This loss was all the more surprising given how the 49ers defense has played without Bosa and Warner.

Are the injuries to those two — and others — becoming too much to overcome? Bryce Huff was also out Sunday, and the 49ers lost Jordan Elliott, Sam Okuayinonu, and Dee Winters on defense. On offense, Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, Ben Bartch, Jake Brendel, and Brandon Aiyuk are out. Purdy is expected back next week, and the same can be said for Pearsall. 

The 49ers are banged up, but this is a team that has weathered the storm to a 5-3 record. They aren’t out of the division race yet, but Sunday was a bad loss. 

The tush push will be banned after the season

Overreaction or reality: Reality

The excuses for the “Tush Push” have been well documented and discussed. While it’s embarrassing officials say they can’t officiate the play, that’s the reality of the situation. Officials have a very tough job already, but they miss holds, late hits, fumbles, and pass interference plays — and all this was in the Eagles-Giants game!

When the Eagles ran the tush push and the play was ruled down due to forward progress, it’s understandable. Jalen Hurts was still moving and fumbled the ball in a tie game early in the second quarter. That had nothing to do with forward progress, but the officials just missing a fumble that looked abundantly clear.

Again, officials miss calls constantly. This runs deeper than the tush push, but the play is a difficult one to officiate. This is why the tush push will not last past this year, because officials can’t officiate the play correctly. The play is controversial because it’s not anesthetically pleasing, and the league is trying to find a reason to eliminate the play.

They may have their example from Eagles-Giants in Week 8. 

Kirk Cousins will never start a game in the NFL again 

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

If Joe Flacco can start a game again, so can Cousins. Both of the older quarterbacks are in different situations regarding their NFL careers, as Cousins isn’t the same player coming off a ruptured Achilles suffered two years ago. Cousins got the start on Sunday for Michael Penix Jr. and struggled, going 21 of 31 for 173 yards with no touchdown, no interceptions, and an 81.8 passer rating (the Falcons only scored 10 points and had 213 yards of offense). 

This was more of a Zac Robinson failure than Cousins, as the Falcons had just 15 rush attempts and Bijan Robinson had only nine carries. That’s malpractice to Robinson and the Falcons offensive line, as Atlanta was still in the game midway through the second quarter. Cousins isn’t teh same player that can sling the ball 30+ times the game, nor should he be asked to in a spot start. 

Once Cousins gets out of Atlanta and makes backup quarterback money, he’ll get an opportunity to start a game again due to the injuries and nature of the position. Cousins just needs to get out of Atlanta, and the Falcons can’t wait until the dead money gradually decreases on that contract. 

The Cousins contract was a disaster, for all parties involved. Sunday was just another rough moment. 

Jonathan Taylor will break the single-season rushing TD record

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

With two rushing touchdowns on Sunday, Taylor is at 12 rushing touchdowns through eight games. The Colts running back was in the conversation to challenge LaDainian Tomlinson’s record of 28, but Taylor has vaulted himself into a legitimate chance to break the mark.

Taylor is on pace for 26 rushing touchdowns on the season, so he’ll be two short by that pace. Taylor does have nine rushing touchdowns in his last four games and 10 total, so he’s on a hot streak as the Colts offense continues to dominate opponents. The Colts offense runs through Taylor and the offensive line is getting stronger by the week.

There’s work to be done, but the Colts offense is a well-oiled machine right now. Taylor is the cog behind the success.