Barnwell makes sense of a blowout-filled Week 8: One key takeaway from each of Sunday’s 11 games

Sunday of Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season won’t go down as a legendary day of football. After a 27-point blowout of the Vikings by the Chargers on Thursday night, all but one of Sunday’s games were decided by double digits, with the Jets-Bengals shootout as the lone exception. Including that Vikings-Chargers game, 11 of the 12 games we’ve seen so far in Week 8 have been decided by 10 or more points. That 92% clip is the highest for any week going back through 1990.

If the games felt as if they were missing something, they were: starting quarterbacks. Eight of the 24 teams that have played so far in Week 8 weren’t able to start their preferred quarterback. Six of the seven 1 p.m. ET games had at least one backup QB taking the field to start. And Washington’s Marcus Mariota will become the ninth backup to start this week when he takes the field on «Monday Night Football» against the Chiefs. Football usually isn’t this simple, but teams starting backup quarterbacks facing teams starting their preferred quarterback went 1-5 this week, with Tyler Huntley‘s victory against the Bears as the outlier.

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You get the idea: It wasn’t a very fun weekend of games to discuss. At the same time, there were nuggets and moments to enjoy, even if the games weren’t very competitive. Let’s find and celebrate the fun pieces from each of Sunday’s games. A great performance? A cool play? A return to form? There’s at least one takeaway to savor from all 11 matchups.

Let’s start with perhaps the most dominant player in football right now …

Jump to:
TEN-IND | NYG-PHI | NYJ-CIN
DAL-DEN | CLE-NE | SF-HOU
TB-NO | BUF-CAR | CHI-BAL
MIA-ATL | GB-PIT

Colts 38, Titans 14

Jonathan Taylor goes for three touchdowns … again

Ho-hum. Yes, the performance was against a Titans team without star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who might be the only reason people outside of the Nashville area even turn on Tennessee tape most weeks. But when you have four three-touchdown games by the midway point of the season and the rest of the NFL has eight combined, you’re doing something right.

After he torched the Titans for 174 scrimmage yards and three scores on just 14 touches, Taylor can make the case that he’s in the middle of a historic stretch of football. He has scored 10 touchdowns over his past four games. That’s the first time a player has scored 10 or more times over a four-game span since 2015, and Taylor is just the 15th player in NFL history to make it to 10 scores in four weeks of action.

In addition to having five more TDs than anybody else in the NFL (14), Taylor has recorded 3.9% of all the league’s rushing yardage by running backs this season (850). Since 2002, that’s the sixth-highest rate recorded by any back through eight weeks. And a league-best 31% of his touches are turning into first downs or touchdowns.

More than the numbers, what truly signifies a special season for me is seeing how a player can make other NFL players look foolish. Great backs having spectacular seasons, like Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry a year ago, have a way of making the angles and calculations in other players’ heads go haywire. Defenders are in a panic before they even get to the open field and melt down once they do get there.

Watch Taylor’s 80-yard touchdown run from Sunday and you see the Titans’ defense almost panic as he breaks through the first level of defenders. The Colts’ offensive line — which has done an excellent job of blocking for Taylor across all kinds of different run concepts this season — had no problem creating a hole on a pin/pull sweep, with star guard Quenton Nelson getting to the edge and driving cornerback Darrell Baker Jr. all the way to the sideline. But once Taylor breaks into the open field, Tennessee’s defenders simply have no hope.

Safety Xavier Woods starts moving to a spot where he thinks he’ll have a shot at pushing Taylor out of bounds, only to find that Taylor is about 3 yards past that spot once he gets there. Backside safety Amani Hooker is the last hope, but even with Taylor slowed down by Woods’ tackle attempt, the Colts running back is way too fast and prevents Hooker from getting close enough to attempt a diving tackle.

And sure, the Titans’ defense isn’t going to terrify opposing offenses, but Taylor has been doing this all season. He made superstar safety Derwin James Jr. miss on the first of his three touchdowns against the Chargers last week and then broke down Tony Jefferson‘s angle in the middle of the field on his third score. Taylor also shook Brandon Jones to the ground in the open field on his 68-yard run against the Broncos. It’s one thing for a speedster like peak Tyreek Hill to do this to NFL defensive backs. Taylor is 35 pounds heavier than Hill!

Simply put, Taylor is the surest thing in football right now.

Eagles 38, Giants 20

Saquon Barkley gets back on track (before getting injured)

There has never really been a reason to think something was missing or lacking in Barkley’s game that was leading the reigning Offensive Player of the Year to struggle in 2025. While Barkley didn’t have a single 20-yard run before Sunday, he did have a 47-yard touchdown catch against Denver, so it was clear there wasn’t some issue with his explosiveness. The Eagles’ offensive line has been banged up and hasn’t been nearly as dominant as it was in 2024, but the real explanation was probably just variance. Barkley ran incredibly hot in 2024 and had maybe been a little unlucky to not have the right hole open up at the right time so far in 2025.

As it turned out, all it took was a game against his former employer, which has the league’s worst EPA per play against designed runs this season, to get Barkley going. He racked up his first two explosive rushes of the season. The one that will stick with Eagles fans as hope that the real Barkley is coming back is the 65-yarder on the opening possession of the game.

The Eagles are running duo here, where they’re hoping to get double-teams at the line of scrimmage, climb to the second level and isolate Barkley one-on-one against a defender. The line does an immaculate job of blocking this up against an overmatched Giants front; Barkley has to decide whether he wants to hit this into the open gap directly in front of his face or sneak out the back side to take on safety Tyler Nubin.

With Jordan Mailata sealing off Kayvon Thibodeaux and Landon Dickerson climbing to take away Darius Muasau, Barkley doesn’t even need to address a Giants defender until he gets to Nubin, who has had halfbacks run away from him for big gains multiple times this season. It’s not a fair fight. DeVonta Smith has his hands up to celebrate before Barkley even makes it past Nubin and hits midfield. This was the running game the Eagles expected to have in 2025 after everything they showed in 2024, at least for one play.

Barkley then added a 28-yard run on a counter play later in the day, though that was his final carry of the game, as he felt a groin issue start to show up at the end of the run. The three-time Pro Bowler said after the win that he would have been able to come back in and play if the score had been closer. The Eagles were likely wise to sit their star back, especially with Tank Bigsby also joining the 100-yard club on nine carries as Barkley’s primary backup.

As much as this was about Barkley reestablishing his confidence, this might also have been about convincing the offensive line that it can be the same dominant unit we saw a year ago. Before Sunday, carries by Eagles backs were expected to gain an average of only 3.5 yards per run by NFL Next Gen Stats’ model, the third-worst mark in the league. Only the Texans and Browns were worse. Last season, carries by Eagles running backs were expected to produce 4.2 yards per carry, which was ninth best around the NFL.

The Eagles were up at 4.0 expected yards per carry Sunday, their second-best single-game mark of the season. Amid widespread frustrations and concerns in Philadelphia that the Eagles couldn’t reestablish their identity on offense after the loss to the Giants two weeks ago, Nick Sirianni’s team showed that it is capable of being great in back-to-back games. Last week against the Vikings, Jalen Hurts and the passing game led the way with big plays, averaging more than 14 yards per pass attempt and throwing three touchdown passes.

This Sunday, Hurts passed for four more scores but the running game carried the bulk of the load. This was the second-best performance by EPA per snap on offense the Eagles have had since Sirianni took over, trailing only the win over the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game last season. Suddenly, as the Eagles reach their bye week, they appear to be hitting their stride on offense.

Jets 39, Bengals 38

Breece Hall has perhaps his last great game for the Jets

We’ll see whether the Jets actually do trade Hall, who is a free agent after the season and a draftee from the now-departed Joe Douglas regime. Sunday gave both sides of a potential Hall trade debate ammunition. Jets running back Isaiah Davis has looked explosive at times over his first 40 pro carries and turned 12 touches on Sunday into 109 yards, including a 50-yard rush where he ran through a Barrett Carter tackle attempt in the third quarter. Trading Hall would open up more opportunities for players like Davis over the rest of a season that isn’t going anywhere, and the Jets would have a chance to find another back or two next offseason.

And yet, on a day in which the Jets didn’t have Garrett Wilson or Josh Reynolds and were starting an embattled quarterback in Justin Fields (who had been publicly dismissed by his team’s owner), it’s impossible to imagine this team scoring 39 points to win its first game of the season without Hall being the focal point of the offense. Hall ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns before throwing the 4-yard touchdown pass that won the game on a trick play.

I’m not sure there’s a single Bengals defender who didn’t whiff on an attempt to tackle Hall at one point or another during this game. Cincinnati came in with 81 missed tackles, 25 more than any other team in the league, and added to those totals Sunday. Hall ran away from Carter and then flew past Jordan Battle for a 35-yard run in the third quarter. Geno Stone couldn’t get him down on a 5-yard score to end that drive. With the Jets running a dart read concept, pulling a tackle and asking Fields to determine whether he would hand the ball to Hall or keep it himself, Hall outran edge rusher Shemar Stewart before hitting DJ Turner with the classic Lamar Jackson sideline hesitation and scoring from 27 yards out. That got the Jets back into the game with 8:01 to go.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn also deserves credit for being a little more realistic with his game management after some ill-advised decisions probably cost his team a win over the Broncos in London two weeks ago. The Jets attempted a fourth-and-1 early and didn’t get it, but Glenn didn’t shy away from an aggressive call later in the game. With the Jets going down by eight after that score at the eight-minute mark, Glenn went for two — a decision supported by the data, as ESPN’s Seth Walder broke down here. The Jets (narrowly) made the 2-pointer on a pass to Davis, and when Hall threw a touchdown pass to Mason Taylor, the extra point won the game.

The Jets were never going to be a good team this season. They’re not going to be in the playoff hunt. Beating a Bengals team that is starting Joe Flacco, can’t tackle and lost Trey Hendrickson during the game to a hip injury isn’t proof that they’re about to go on a winning streak. If it weren’t for Tyrod Taylor suffering a knee injury, Fields would have likely been on the bench, a place he’s still likely to end up later this season.

For the Jets, though, this has to feel like some sort of proof of concept. They were able to run the ball consistently and effectively, and they even hit a few big plays in the passing game without their star receiver. Their coach made what must have felt like an aggressive decision on the sideline, and it worked. The defense allowed 38 points without Sauce Gardner on the field, but it came up with a three-and-out and got the Bengals off the field on downs on the final two drives.

After a week when it felt like the Jets were essentially giving up on 2025, they suddenly started heading in the right direction. And maybe that encourages the Jets to hold onto Hall after all.

Broncos 44, Cowboys 24

Guard Quinn Meinerz has a double stack

One week after the Broncos waited three quarters before sparking to life on offense against the Giants, they didn’t take as long to get going against the hapless Cowboys defense. After a rough interception on the opening drive, Bo Nix did just about whatever he wanted for the rest of the day. The Broncos scored touchdowns on six of their next eight meaningful drives, rarely being threatened along the way. Rookie RJ Harvey had his best game as a pro, scoring three touchdowns.

Harvey got some help on his 40-yard score to open the touchdown floodgates from his All-Pro guard. Meinerz is an excellent run blocker, but I usually think about his work at or around the line of scrimmage as the place where he excels. I’d contrast that to someone like Quenton Nelson, who has been incredible pulling and getting out in space to bury linebackers and defensive backs.

Well, things are different now.

Meinerz gets things started early by simply obliterating linebacker Shemar James, who had a target on his back for most of the game. But Meinerz then climbs to the third level and sees safety Alijah Clark, who tries to take the coming hit on and gets driven into the ground. Clark probably wasn’t catching Harvey if he stayed upright, but the safety wasn’t going anywhere once he ran into Meinerz. In a game which felt like every Broncos offensive player had a big day, Meinerz might have had the play of the afternoon.

I’ll throw in one negative here: We missed out on a potential NFL record. Brandon Aubrey has arguably the strongest leg we’ve ever seen from an NFL kicker, having made five kicks from 60-plus yards over the past two-plus seasons. It’s clear that the Cowboys trust him to hit kicks from just about anywhere in that range, and former coach Mike McCarthy sent him out for a 70-yarder last season, though the kick wasn’t close.

That attempt came in Carolina, though. The Cowboys were playing in Denver on Sunday, where the thin air helps kicks travel further and expands kickers’ ranges. The weather was warm and the field was in great shape. This was likely Aubrey’s only chance to kick in the best possible conditions a mile high for a record-setting field goal for as many as eight years, given how the league’s scheduling process works. He might end up on a different team or play a home game in Mexico City, but this was our chance to see something truly spectacular. Could he have hit from 75 yards out?

We never got an opportunity to find out. The Cowboys had the ball on their own 48-yard line with 22 seconds left in the second quarter, which would have been a 70-yard attempt without any additional yardage, but Dak Prescott threw a pick into coverage to end the half. After the break, the Cowboys had a fourth-and-6 on their own 44-yard line, setting up a potential try from 74 yards out. Coach Brian Schottenheimer opted to punt instead, and there was never another chance to get Aubrey in range for a record attempt.

Aubrey maxed out with a 57-yard kick in pregame warmups, but he typically doesn’t try to hit anything from 60 or more unless it’s a game situation. Maybe the former soccer player told Schottenheimer that he couldn’t hit from 70 or more. But I sure would have liked to see Aubrey try.

Patriots 32, Browns 13

Myles Garrett has a five-sack day

This was a performance that makes you wonder whether Garrett might have wished that he had stuck with his offseason request to be traded. The defense gave Drake Maye some early trouble, but the Browns’ offense lost Quinshon Judkins to a shoulder injury and couldn’t do anything to stay in the contest. And despite getting five sacks from Garrett for the first time in his career, the defense couldn’t repeatedly slow down Maye, who eventually threw for 282 yards, had three touchdown passes, and ran for 50 more yards.

To be honest, I’ve actually seen more unstoppable games from Garrett this season. His sacks here weren’t instant wins off the line against overmatched linemen, in part because the Patriots had a clear game plan and tried to give their tackles help. It just didn’t work. There were two sacks where Garrett was chipped by a tight end, got up against Will Campbell and simply teleported past the Patriots’ rookie left tackle. Outside of a deliberately unblocked sack on a boot concept where Maye seemed to think he could outrun Garrett and found out otherwise in painful fashion, Garrett had to work for these sacks.

This was a great example of just how much Garrett or another great pass rusher can do to make life easier for a secondary. While he wasn’t winning instantaneously and completely blowing up plays, the Browns star basically limited Maye to one read or one glance upfield. When Maye held the football or didn’t make an immediate decision, his time was up, and Garrett was in position to take him down.

As the game wore on, the Patriots did a good job of pulling out all the tricks that good offenses use to slow down great pass rushers. They ran at Garrett. They moved Maye around to change the launch point and avoid making their QB a sitting duck, with Maye going 5-of-6 for 92 yards outside the tackle box. (Without pressure, Maye went 15-of-18 for 235 yards and three scores.) They read Garrett to try to take him out of the play without having to commit a blocker who probably wasn’t going to win. They also took advantage of the moments when Garrett was on the sideline, hitting a 39-yard touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte without Garrett on the field.

Garrett was spotted slamming his helmet on the sideline in frustration during the game. Afterward, he said what what you might expect: «I would throw the whole performance away for the win.» I don’t blame Garrett for taking what he was offered this offseason. And even if he hadn’t signed a new deal, I’m not sure the Browns were going to move a future Hall of Famer with two years left on his existing contract this spring. It can’t be fun to know, though, that someone can have what most players would consider the game of a lifetime and still not be able to spur the team to at least a close loss, let alone a victory.

Texans 26, 49ers 15

Every young Houston playmaker has at least one big play

This was an impressively dominant performance by the Texans. Facing a 5-2 Niners team, the Texans controlled this game from start to finish. Kyle Shanahan’s offense didn’t manage a first down until the final drive of the first half and failed to move the chains even once on six of its nine possessions. One week after his best game of the season, Christian McCaffrey was held to 25 rushing yards on eight carries, while most of the star back’s 43 receiving yards came late in the fourth quarter with the 49ers trailing by double digits. The Texans didn’t let McCaffrey beat them, and no other 49ers player was up to the task of taking over the game.

Without top back in Joe Mixon and their top two veteran receivers in Nico Collins and Christian Kirk, the Texans needed their young offensive playmakers to step up. Mission accomplished. C.J. Stroud delivered his best performance of the season, going 30-of-39 for 318 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception while adding 30 rushing yards in the process. Tight end Dalton Schultz had only 24 receiving yards, so the key runners and pass catchers for the Texans were all players on rookie deals. And they all had big plays.

That starts with Woody Marks, who has done everything possible to convince coaches that he should be the lead back in a rotation with Nick Chubb. Marks had a 50-yard scamper on a checkdown when the inexperienced 49ers linebackers thought they could come after Stroud as rushers, only for Marks to slip out uncovered for a huge gain. He also carried the ball 11 times for 62 yards, with the highlight coming on a duo run in the fourth quarter, when Marks recognized that the 49ers had lost contain outside and sprinted around the edge for 23 yards.

Receiver Xavier Hutchinson led the team with five catches for 69 yards, including a 30-yard score in the fourth quarter. With the 49ers in single-high coverage, he was simply too fast for safety Ji’Ayir Brown on his crossing route, running away from Brown and deep safety Malik Mustapha without leaving any viable tackling opportunities before hitting the end zone. The third-year pro also made a tough catch on a Stroud floater with corner Upton Stout in his face for an 18-yard completion. This was Hutchinson’s best game as a pro.

Second-round pick Jayden Higgins chipped in with 34 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown against a static 49ers defense in zone coverage. The more exciting rookie might have been former Iowa State teammate Jaylin Noel, who turned 16 routes into five catches and 63 yards, including a 44-yard catch in the second quarter. The Texans ran a classic quarters-beater to spring Noel, with Higgins running a curl to occupy one safety while Noel ran a deep post behind him. Stroud’s throw didn’t give Mustapha any chance to catch up, and Noel came away with another big catch after racking up three 20-plus-yard completions last week.

This was one game against a 49ers defense absolutely torn apart by injuries, but it was also an important one for the Texans. Staying on track to compete for a wild-card spot is crucial, of course, but their team-building model has to evolve, too. Most of the moves GM Nick Caserio made to remake the offensive line didn’t work this offseason. The Texans will have to pour more resources into fixing things up front in 2026. Plus, Stroud is due for an enormous raise after the season, and while the Texans could wait on that deal, teams typically sign their young quarterbacks to long-term contracts the first chance they get. On top of that, Will Anderson Jr. is also eligible to get paid after the year.

While Collins is on one of the best veteran deals in football, the Texans are going to need to make cutbacks and save money at some spots on their roster. The second and third wideout slots are obvious places to target. It’s unclear whether Tank Dell will be able to return to the form he showed in 2023 and 2024, and players like Mixon and Schultz probably aren’t going to be back next fall. The Texans will need some of these young cost-controlled players to hit so they can devote resources elsewhere in the years to come. Sunday was a sign that the youngsters might be up to the task.

Buccaneers 23, Saints 3

The Saints stop the Bucs seven times from the 1-yard line

There aren’t going to be many highlights this season for the Saints, who are now 1-7 and facing a trip to Los Angeles to face the Rams. Coach Kellen Moore decided to bench Spencer Rattler in the middle of this game for second-round pick Tyler Shough, who went 17-of-30 for just 128 yards and an interception in his first extended NFL action. Rattler hasn’t been perfect by any means, but he has made some absolutely perfect throws this season, even if they haven’t always ended up as completions. He is probably not the future in New Orleans, but Rattler has been the most entertaining part of Saints games this year.

The defense has been more frustrating than productive, but Sunday delivered what will likely be the unit’s most impressive stand of the season. Facing a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the second quarter, the Saints stuffed Sean Tucker for no gain, only for Carl Granderson to be flagged for offside. Fair enough. But New Orleans then came up with four more consecutive stops of Tucker and Rachaad White from the 1-yard line, delivering a massive momentum-shifting stop in front of the home fans. Rattler threw a pick-six into the arms of Anthony Nelson two plays later, which brought an end to those vibes, but it was a fun moment for the diehards in New Orleans.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Bucs again took the ball to the 1-yard line. This time, they learned their lesson — but it didn’t seem to help. Baker Mayfield threw incomplete on first and third down, and in between, Tucker was stuffed again for no gain. Facing a fourth-and-goal (yes, still from the 1-yard line), Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles kept the faith with his offense and was finally rewarded, as Tucker fought through a tackle to score a short-yardage touchdown for the Bucs.

The Saints were close to doing something no team has done in quite a while. ESPN’s play-by-play data goes back to 2007, and over that time, no one has ever come up with eight stops from the 1-yard line in a single game, let alone in a row. No team had managed seven stops from the 1-yard line in the same game since 2013, when the Titans somehow stopped the Broncos, one of the best offenses in NFL history. The Bucs aren’t quite on that level, especially with all of their injuries up front, but the Saints should be proud of how long they held out before finally capitulating on fourth-and-goal. And given that no other team has more than three stops from 1 yard out in a single game this season, I would expect this to be the best goal-line performance of the year.

Bills 40, Panthers 9

The Buffalo defense roars back to life

James Cook III ran all over the Panthers for 216 yards and two touchdowns, but I suspect coach Sean McDermott might have been happiest about what he saw from his defense. With the Bills placing Taylor Rapp on injured reserve during the week and replacing him with 34-year-old Jordan Poyer, a Bills defense that has been missing starters all season was facing another potential hole in the lineup. Things only seemed to get worse when Ed Oliver went down with a biceps injury after 18 snaps, which could cost the star defensive tackle significant time if it’s a tear.

Instead, the Bills comfortably delivered their best defensive performance of the season. While they played from ahead for most of the game, the Bills’ pass rush sacked Andy Dalton seven times, with debuting lineman Michael Hoecht racking up 1.5 sacks and a team-high three quick quarterback pressures. Dalton was pressured on nearly 44% of his dropbacks. And while Rico Dowdle almost broke off another long score on a 24-yard run in the first quarter, the Bills were bailed out by a touchdown-saving tackle from rookie safety Jordan Hancock, who was playing his first defensive snaps of the season. Two plays after the Dowdle run, the Bills got the ball back when Greg Rousseau swatted the ball out of a scrambling Dalton’s hands.

The takeaways probably made McDermott particularly delighted. The Bills forced three turnovers against the Panthers, with two strip-sacks of Dalton and an interception on a quick screen by AJ Epenesa, who came within a yard of scoring on the return.

Last week, I wrote about how the Bills defense had relied heavily on turnovers in 2023 and 2024 but hadn’t been able to piece together regular takeaways in 2025. After 21 multi-takeaway games over those two seasons, this was the first time the Bills forced multiple turnovers in a game in 2025. Buffalo is 18-3 when it generates at least two takaways over that span, and you can understand how devastating it must be to hand an offense with Cook and Josh Allen short fields.

We’ve seen bye weeks galvanize defenses in the past, with the 2024 Eagles as the quintessential and most recent example. I’m not sure that sort of jump is coming for the Bills, but this season-best showing came with different personnel. Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi returned from suspensions and made their presence felt up front. First-round pick Maxwell Hairston made his NFL debut and played 25 snaps, allowing zero catches as the nearest defender in coverage. Hancock made a critical play to save a touchdown. And while Poyer probably isn’t the long-term solution at safety given that he wasn’t great for the Dolphins last season and wasn’t on an active roster until October, he knows the McDermott defense and where to line up.

I’m not convinced that the Bills have things completely figured out on this side of the ball, but this was a promising return to form.

Ravens 30, Bears 16

Keaton Mitchell gets back in the mix at running back

The Ravens also had a defensive return to form in their win over the Bears. While the 17-3 loss to the Rams in Week 6 might have felt like the beginning of their improvements, a closer look at that game suggested that the Rams left a lot of yards and potential scores on the field with misses from Matthew Stafford. Like the Bills, the Ravens looked much better after returning from the bye, although they were aided by bumbling operations and clock management from Chicago at the end of each half, costing the Bears 10 points in the process.

Instead, I want to look at the offensive side of the ball, where I was heartened to see a young player look like he was finally showing signs of his pre-injury form. Mitchell was a lightning bolt for the Ravens in 2023, turning nine carries into 138 yards and a touchdown in his first game with a rush attempt. The Ravens used Mitchell in a part-time role, with the former East Carolina back averaging more than 8 yards per carry across 47 rush attempts.

Just as the Ravens seemed willing to expand Mitchell’s role, though, he tore his ACL in a December 2023 win over the Jaguars. The undrafted free agent missed the rest of the season, and when the Ravens added Derrick Henry the following offseason, Mitchell’s path to regular work disappeared. After missing most of 2024, Mitchell managed 15 carries for 30 yards down the stretch, serving mostly as the team’s kick returner. He was a healthy scratch early this season before carrying the ball three times in the loss to the Texans.

On Sunday, though, Mitchell got four carries and turned them into 43 yards. He took a pitch in the third quarter and made it around the edge for a 25-yard gain, maxing out at 20.3 mph in the process (per NFL Next Gen Stats). In the fourth quarter, the Ravens ran a bash read concept and had quarterback Tyler Huntley hand the ball to Mitchell, who outran Daniel Hardy to the sideline and picked up 13 yards. Again, Mitchell topped out over 20 mph, which isn’t easy to do on such a short run.

Mitchell is not about to take over for Henry, but the Ravens need something to spark their run game. Even before Lamar Jackson went down with his hamstring injury, the Ravens were struggling for consistency on the ground, despite some explosive runs. They’re 28th in the league in success rate on carries by their running backs, which suggests that they’ve been struggling to stay on schedule and keep the offense out of third-and-long situations. Jackson’s sack rate had spiked before his injury, and while Cooper Rush was running a sub-2% sack rate before he was benched for Huntley, that version of the offense wasn’t moving the football.

Mitchell is more of a home run hitter than a between-the-tackles runner, but he might have a viable role to play in this offense, especially with Huntley operating the QB run game. The Ravens need to keep Henry fresh for a potential postseason run, and while he scored twice on Sunday, the legendary back mustered only 71 yards on 21 carries. The Ravens play the Dolphins in four days, and the short week limits both the amount of time Henry has to recover and the chances of Jackson returning to the lineup to face one of the league’s worst teams. A handful of Mitchell carries would make sense, and if they look like what we saw on Sunday, this could be a nice change of pace for Todd Monken’s offense.

Dolphins 34, Falcons 10

Tua Tagovailoa quiets the critics, at least for one week

Put yourself in Tagovailoa’s shoes. Your Dolphins are 1-6, and there have been widespread reports that coach Mike McDaniel — who helped take you to the next level as a quarterback — is on thin ice. Your top receiver, Tyreek Hill, is out for the year. You’ve thrown six interceptions over the past two games, and while a couple of those picks against the Chargers weren’t on you, it would be harder to make that same case for the three INTs against the Browns. There’s at least public conjecture that you could be benched or playing for your job in 2026. Oh, and when you woke up Sunday morning, your eye was unexpectedly swollen shut.

Does that sound like a recipe for your best game of the season?

Somehow, it was just that. Facing the same Falcons defense that slowed down Josh Allen and the Bills earlier this season, Tagovailoa delivered a vintage performance. After a three-and-out on the opening drive, the Dolphins had only one more of those the rest of the way, a major improvement for a team that had the fifth-highest three-and-out rate (28.2%) of any offense before Week 8.

What was striking about Miami’s win is just how the Dolphins attacked the Falcons with the pass. This game plan wouldn’t have looked out of place for the 2023 Dolphins, even if there was less talent around Tagovailoa, Hill and Jaylen Waddle. That team thrived by working off play-action, moving linebackers and attacking the middle of the field with in-breaking routes.

Guess what happened here? Tagovailoa went 7-of-8 for 66 yards and a score on play-action. On in-breaking routes, Tagovailoa was perfect, going 8-of-8 for 134 yards and two touchdown passes. He posted a perfect passer rating on those throws. His best pass of the day was a 43-yard touchdown to Waddle, on-time off a fake pitch and perfectly weighted to give Waddle the ability to bring it in without slowing down and create yards after the catch. The pass left Jessie Bates III, who left the game late with an ankle injury, no chance of getting near Waddle.

The Falcons might have missed linebacker Divine Deablo, who had been a valuable part of their blitz packages before suffering a fractured forearm last week. Atlanta had gone from being the worst-blitzing team of the past decade in 2024 to ranking 10th in QBR allowed against the blitz this season. But on Sunday, Tagovailoa went 8-of-12 for 114 yards and three touchdown passes versus rushes of five defenders or more.

The other factor that made this a vintage Tagovailoa performance? The timing. Owing both to the speed of the operation and an attempt to keep Tagovailoa from being hit, the Dolphins were lightning-fast at getting the ball out of their quarterback’s hand when their offense was at its best. Between 2022 and 2023, Tagovailoa’s average pass came out after just 2.46 seconds, the fastest rate of any QB in the NFL. Through seven weeks in 2025, with the offense a little slower and teams taking away Tagovailoa’s first reads more often, that figure had jumped to 2.67 seconds (to be fair, still fifth fastest).

In Week 8, though, Tagovailoa held the ball for an average of just 2.37 seconds, comfortably his fastest of the season. The Falcons sacked Tagovailoa only once, and their 28.6% pressure rate was below their season average. Were the Falcons curiously conservative in coverage, or was this a legitimate bounce-back from Tagovailoa and the Dolphins offense? We’ll find out more against the Ravens, who have to prove that their return to form on defense is real, on Thursday night.

Packers 35, Steelers 25

Tucker Kraft ascends to the top of the tight end charts on national television

For years, we’ve wondered which of the young Packers wide receivers would break out and become the offense’s top target. So many of the team’s draft picks have flashed, but owing to injuries, inconsistency and what was a league-low pass rate in neutral game scripts before 2025, nobody really grabbed the job for themselves. Josh Jacobs even argued that the Packers needed to acquire a No. 1 wideout last offseason.

Well, one of the Packers’ young pass catchers has emerged as a star — but it’s not one of the wideouts. It’s Kraft, who wasn’t even seen as the future lead receiver at his position when GM Brian Gutekunst selected him out of South Dakota State in the third round of the 2023 draft. The Packers had selected Luke Musgrave one round earlier, and while those two finished neck-and-neck during their rookie seasons, Musgrave’s 66 receiving yards in the postseason helped draw attention his way. Heading into 2024, Musgrave looked like he might be the more featured receiver of the two in the Packers’ offense.

Since then, Kraft has taken over. Jordan Love completed 20 straight passes against a hapless Steelers defense Sunday night, and Kraft was his favorite target. The third-year pro caught seven of the nine targets thrown his direction for 143 yards and two touchdowns. One of the two incompletions was a throw into the ground by a pressured Love. Kraft dropped the other one, but when he’s averaging more than 20 yards per completion, the Packers will deal with one drop.

There just aren’t many tight ends who have Kraft’s ability to outmuscle defenders and run away from coverage into the open field for long completions or yards after catch. Kraft’s 59-yard gain was a lob from a desperate Love under pressure, but he was able to outmaneuver DeShon Elliott for the football, then turn upfield and fend off a flailing Juan Thornhill for extra yardage. (Elliott appeared to suffer a serious knee injury at the end of the play.) When the Packers picked struggling linebacker Patrick Queen on a throw to Kraft in the flat, the standout tight end had the ability to cut away from Joey Porter Jr. on the sideline and get back inside for 13 additional yards.

Also, Kraft’s scores showed off different skills. The first came on a screen where Kraft had good blocking but still needed to get past Elliott and Cole Holcomb, neither of whom was able to bring Kraft down before he crossed the goal line. On the other, Kraft appeared to be running a choice route, where he has the ability to break inside or outside or settle down against zone coverage. Here, he broke inside and ran away from Chuck Clark and Thornhill; neither got close enough to attempt a tackle until it was too late, and Kraft scored from 24 yards out.

Kraft is in rarified company among receivers. It’s one thing to lead all tight ends in yards per route run, as Kraft does through eight weeks. It’s another to be up near the league leaders at wide receiver, too. There’s admittedly a big drop-off from Jaxon Smith-Njigba (4.5 yards per route run) to Puka Nacua (3.5) and then to the rest of the NFL pack, but Kraft is fourth among all pass catchers in YPRR at 2.8. That’s ahead of superstars such as CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Justin Jefferson.

Kraft is being thrown shorter passes than them, of course, but Kraft has also become a yards-after-catch star. Kraft is third among all receivers in yards after catch over expectation (YACOE) this season, trailing only DK Metcalf and Bijan Robinson (NFL Next Gen Stats). The only other tight end in the same ballpark is Oronde Gadsden II, who ranks 15th in YACOE. And while YACOE can be influenced by one long catch, Kraft ranked fourth by this same metric last season, trailing only Ja’Marr Chase, Lamb and George Kittle. He had 131 yards after the catch in Sunday’s win, which NFL Next Gen Stats noted were the third most by a tight end in any game since the start of the 2016 season.

With Travis Kelce falling back to earth after years of elite production, there has been an opening for top tight end in football. Brock Bowers inherited that role almost by default last year given his production as a rookie, but the knee injury hampering the Raiders’ star has limited his output in 2025. Tyler Warren has been excellent, and Kittle is the best all-around tight end in the game, but I’m not sure I could argue for anybody besides Kraft as the most impactful receiving tight end in the NFL right now.