Cardinals rising, Cowboys dropping and an battle of the remaining undefeated, week seven had it all in the NFL., Here are five storylines to look forward to in week eight.
Arizona Shootout
On Sunday night, Kyler Murray went toe to toe with Russell Wilson and ultimately came away victorious. Murray and the Arizona Cardinals kicked a field goal in the dying seconds of overtime to win 37-34 over the Seattle Seahawks.
While many have looked at Wilson as the MVP so far, his three interceptions cost his team in the end. They left points on the board and their defence on the field even longer than it needed to be.
Murray on the other hand, tallied 427 total yards, four touchdowns, and countless magical plays that kept his team alive.
The Cardinals now sit at 5-2 with wins over division rivals San Francisco and Seattle setting themselves up for a chance at the playoffs.
Clash of the Titans
The Pittsburgh Steelers are now the only undefeated team in the NFL after taking down Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans.
Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offence handled their business in the first half, but almost blew the game late as a costly interception gave the Titans a chance to tie it up. Fortunately for them, the kick was missed, but the effort shown on both sides was remarkable.
Tennessee’s constant dosage of Henry was slowed down by the front seven of Pittsburgh, but A.J. Brown and Ryan Tannehill kept them alive as they combined on a 73 yard touchdown.
Selfishly I hope this ends up as a playoff matchup as it would be interesting to see how these teams match up a second time.
Another Blown Game!?
Yes the Atlanta Falcons blew another game, but this time it came at the hands of the Detroit Lions. Matthew Stafford recorded the 36th game winning drive of his career as he hit T.J. Hockenson on an 11 yard touchdown as time expired.
Detroit only got the chance to win the game thanks to Todd Gurley falling into the endzone instead of keeping the clock running with the lead. After that, Stafford went 75 yards with 1:04 left on the clock, with no timeouts to use.
Atlanta may look to join Minnesota in the tank for Georgia natives Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields after the 1-6 start, but with the trade deadline looming, the question then becomes, “what do you do with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones?”
Cam Cools Off
After being labelled the comeback player of the year after two wins, Cam Newton has fallen back to reality where his inaccurate passing has led to stalled drives and turnovers.
This especially was on display against San Francisco in the 33-6 thrashing of New England. Cam’s rough outing, which saw him finish with 98 yards and three interceptions on 60% completions was ended prematurely by coach Belichik.
After Newton threw his third interception, he was benched in favour of Jarrett Stidham. While the benching was not a permanent move by New England, If Newton continues his poor play, they team may be forced to go in a different direction as they continue to slide below .500.
Rams Keep Climbing
The Los Angeles Rams added to the bottleneck atop the NFC West as they improved to 5-2 with their 24-10 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.
During the game, the Rams moved the ball steadily against what has been an excellent Chicago defence all year racking up over 200 yards passing and over 150 on the ground.
As the Rams continue to stack wins, they do so in a well balanced fashion with a stout defence limiting teams with Aaron Donald in the middle and taking advantage of teams’ mistakes.
Chicago’s loss drops them behind Green Bay for the division lead but more importantly, they showed that they cannot solely rely on their defence to win every game.
Miss last week’s storylines? check them out right here.
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