Come on--did anyone really think the Jacksonville Jaguars had a shot at beating the San Francisco 49ers in London? This team continues to find new ways of disappointing each week and the Jaguars' defense had zero answers when it came to stopping Colin Kaepernick and Frank Gore.
That hot seat just keeps heating up for Greg Schiano as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers failed to come through once again in a home loss to the Carolina Panthers. The only positive thing to take away from this team is Vincent Jackson has looked solid over the last couple of weeks, but it's not like that's even going to matter since the Buccaneers won't make the playoffs.
The Minnesota Vikings are bad--really bad. Even if they were overmatched against the Green Bay Packers, Christian Ponder proved once again that he may turn out to be one of the biggest first-round busts of all time--if he hasn't already.
With the way things have gone this season, the Houston Texans needed the bye week more than any team in the league as they've lost five in a row following a 2-0 start. Unfortunately, their first game back won't be easy as they square off against Andrew Luck and company.
Looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers received too much credit for their two-game winning streak after they were embarrassed by the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. Once again, the ground game was a major issue as the team finished with just 35 rushing yards--which is unacceptable.
This was a game the Washington Redskins could have won and it would have been huge for the NFC East standings, but no team can expect to win when they allow 31 points in the fourth quarter.
The Cleveland Browns knew they were in for a tough matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on the road, but give the team credit for hanging in and keeping it close. On a positive note, at least Jason Campbell (22 of 36 for 293 yards with two touchdowns) and Josh Gordon (five catches for 132 yards with one touchdown) had a decent game for the Browns.
10 points over the last two weeks--and they shouldn't have even scored that lone touchdown on Sunday against the New York Giants. The Philadelphia Eagles are falling fast and even though he's a rookie--Matt Barkley sure is having trouble with adjusting to the NFL level.
The Atlanta Falcons are never going to win games where Matt Ryan is forced to throw the ball 61 times as they suffered another disappointing loss on Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals. It's hard to believe this was the team with the best record in the NFC during the regular season last year as the defense has become an absolute joke.
Let's be honest--nobody expect the Buffalo Bills to end up on the winning end against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday with Thad Lewis at quarterback. The defense simply had zero answers for Drew Brees and company, but give them credit for making the game closer than originally expected.
This was a game the St. Louis Rams could have won at the end of the game, but in the end--the defense of the Seattle Seahawks was simply just too much for them to handle. It's hard to believe the Rams lost this game despite holding Russell Wilson to 139 yards passing and Marshawn Lynch to 23 rushing yards--but they did.
The Oakland Raiders absolutely dominated the Steelers when it came to the ground game as Terrelle Pryor started the game off with a 93-yard rushing touchdown and Darren McFadden finished the game with 74 rushing yards to go along with two touchdowns. This team is still difficult to figure out, but at least Pryor is doing better at this point in the season than most of us expected.
It's simple--this was a game the Miami Dolphins should have won. Instead, they let the New England Patriots come out on top in one of the most bizarre ways possible as Ryan Tannehill struggled once again.
The Tennessee Titans certainly look like a playoff contender at this point in the season, but let's hope the bye week can help them put an end to their three-game losing streak.
To say the New York Jets were embarrassed by the Cincinnati Bengals would be the understatement of the year. Once again, Geno Smith struggled to stay consistent and this game was over before it even got to the second quarter.
Not only was it an impressive defensive performance by the Arizona Cardinals, but props to rookie running back Andre Ellington--who finished the game with 154 rushing yards with one touchdown.
With the way this season has gone so far, the Baltimore Ravens needed the bye week as the offensive line has struggled to provide Joe Flacco with the protection he's needed all year. Plus, with the way the Cincinnati Bengals have been playing, the defending Super Bowl champions will need all of the wins they can get in the second half of the season.
At this point, the San Diego Chargers are still one of the most difficult teams to figure out, but they're still in the hunt for a playoff spot in the AFC. It will be interesting to see how they perform against the Redskins this weekend--that's for sure.
With all of the injuries surrounding the Chicago Bears, this team desperately needed a bye week, but it won't be easy to stay in the NFC North hunt over these next couple of weeks with Jay Cutler out of the lineup.
Is it time to finally start believing in the Carolina Panthers? This defense hasn't allowed a single touchdown in the first half all season--which is beyond impressive.
There's absolutely no excuse for the Dallas Cowboys when it comes to what happened at the end of the game--none. Better yet, how is this team 1-8 in games when Dez Bryant has multiple touchdown catches?
Once again, Matthew Stafford showed us why he's becoming one of the league's best quarterbacks, but the main headline in this game was the ridiculous performance displayed by Calvin Johnson as the wideout caught 14 passes for 329 yards with one touchdown--which is more yards than some quarterbacks put up in a single game.
It may not have been pretty, but the New England Patriots somehow came through with a win against the Dolphins to build a two-game lead in the AFC East. It's hard to believe the Patriots won a game in which Tom Brady was held to just 116 yards passing.
Despite all of the team's injuries, the Green Bay Packers continue to find impressive ways to win with new weapons and may be one of the top teams to beat in the NFC. It's hard to imagine the Packers would have a strong running game as Eddie Lacy is turning out to be a steal from this year's draft.
The Indianapolis Colts seem to have control of the AFC South at this point in the season and should be well rested after a bye week following their big win over the Denver Broncos. Unfortunately though, this team still has to adjust to life without Reggie Wayne--which certainly won't be easy in the passing game.
Four touchdown catches by Marvin Jones? Andy Dalton throwing 11 touchdown passes over his last three games? Look out--the Cincinnati Bengals are beginning to heat up and look like one of the top contenders in the AFC.
Even when Jimmy Graham is struggling to stay healthy, the tight end still manages to come through for the New Orleans Saints. The Saints certainly have the talent to be one of the top teams in the NFC and Drew Brees (five touchdown passes against the Bills) proved once again why he's an MVP candidate.
It would not have looked good for the Denver Broncos to lose at home to the Redskins, but luckily this team managed to put up 31 points in the fourth quarter. While Peyton Manning is the obvious difference maker for this team, the Broncos have to be pleased with the way Knowshon Marino has looked this season.
Frank Gore and Colin Kaepernick had monster games for the San Francisco 49ers against the Jaguars in London--is anyone really surprised by this? After a slow start, the 49ers continue to be one of the hottest teams in the league heading into Week 9 and they don't look like they're going to slow down any time soon.
Good teams find ways to win football games in the craziest of ways and that's exactly what happened on Monday night for the Seattle Seahawks as they barely held on to the win against the Rams--who were playing without Sam Bradford. Once again, the defense led the way in this one as the Seahawks continue to live up to the hype from the offseason.
Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs continue to be the biggest surprise of the 2013 season as they kept their unbeaten streak alive against the Browns. This team still has plenty to prove considering they still have to play Manning and the Broncos, but this defense is certainly playing on a high level to keep the Chiefs in the top spot for the second-straight week.
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