This might be the first time we can say this earnestly: The Detroit Lions have the most fun offense in the NFL. They might be the most entertaining team in the NFL too.
The Lions’ 52-14 destruction of the Tennessee Titans was eye-opening in its efficiency. The Lions put up 52 points without even reaching 100 passing yards, which hasn’t happened in the Super Bowl era. The last team to score 50 points with less than 100 passing yards was the 1955 Chicago Bears, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. It wasn’t like Jared Goff wasn’t good. He posted a 129.9 passer rating, continuing his hot streak. The Lions were just content finding creative ways to score. And they have many of them.
The Lions have had great players in Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, but not a full team offense like this before. The Lions had 35 points at halftime and Goff had just 28 yards passing. The Lions can score any way they want, whether it’s with their fantastic running back duo, on a trick pass from running back David Montgomery to Sam LaPorta or a 90-yard punt return touchdown by Kalif Raymond. Having an excellent play caller in offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and perhaps the best offensive line in the NFL opens up many options and Detroit is comfortable using them all. Six different players scored a touchdown, tying a franchise record according to the Fox broadcast. It was just the fourth time in franchise history the Lions scored 50 points in a game. If they really wanted to pour it on the Titans, they could have easily passed the franchise record of 55 points in a game.
The Lions still don’t look great on defense since Aidan Hutchinson’s injury, but are capable of making a few big plays a game. It might not matter because it’s hard to figure out how anyone stops them from scoring. The Lions are 6-1, their best start since 1956. Detroit came into this season with Super Bowl hopes, after barely missing out on winning the NFC championship last season. Having the best offense in the NFL is a good place to start on that path.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 8 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Malik Willis: Malik Willis has helped change the Packers’ season.
Willis, discarded by the Tennessee Titans in a late-August trade, saved the Packers again on Sunday. Love exited with a groin injury and Willis came in. The Jacksonville Jaguars fought back to tie the game at 27-27, but Willis hit Jayden Reed for a 51-yard gain on a nicely designed throwback pass with a little more than a minute to play, setting up a game-winning field goal. The Packers pulled out the 30-27 win.
Willis has helped the Packers to three wins in three extended appearances, with two starts and Sunday’s relief effort.
The Packers are going to have to keep Love healthy to be a true contender this season. But they’ve shown that even if Willis has to play, they can win games.
Jalen Hurts: The Philadelphia Eagles might have landed the knockout punch on the Cincinnati Bengals’ season, while continuing to revive their own chances.
The Eagles had a big second half and beat the Bengals 37-17, and Hurts led the way. He had three touchdown runs, and also was 16 of 20 for 236 yards and one touchdown passing. If the Eagles can get him to stick at that level, they’ll be just fine. They’re 5-2 and in good shape going forward.
The same can’t be said for the Bengals. They’re 3-5 and the second half collapse, when they were outscored 27-7, is more proof that they are incapable of being anything near a Super Bowl contender. But maybe the Eagles are still in that conversation.
Arizona Cardinals: When the Cardinals trailed 27-18 with less than 10 minutes left at the Miami Dolphins, it seemed like they were headed for another disappointing loss.
But the Cardinals are scrappy. They battled back, winning 28-27 on a field goal as time expired. It’s a huge letdown for the Dolphins, who had Tua Tagovailoa back, the offense looked much better and they still lost. They’re 2-5 and would need an incredible rally to get back in the playoff race.
The Cardinals are a fairly surprising 4-4. They finally got a big 111-yard game from rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., who might be getting comfortable in the NFL. Kyler Murray had 307 yards one of his best games of the season. The Cardinals have pulled off some close wins, and that’ll count as they continue to grow.
LOSERS
Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson: NFL coaches have an obligation to everyone in the locker room. At some point, you can’t lose while playing lesser options, especially at quarterback.
On Sunday, the Colts reached rock bottom with Anthony Richardson.
Richardson was an astonishing 2 of 15 in the first half. He had 81 yards, and 69 of them came on a wide-open pass to Josh Downs after a blown coverage. That was a pass any NFL quarterback could make. Richardson’s terrible interception near the end of the first half led to a Houston Texans touchdown, which proved critical in the Colts’ 23-20 loss.
Maybe the Colts wouldn’t have won if Joe Flacco started. But it’s hard to say he wouldn’t have been better than 2 of 15 in a first half that could have changed the outcome of the game. The Colts are sticking with Richardson, the fourth pick of last year’s draft, because he gives them hope for the future. But he’s hurting them in the present.
New York Jets: Aaron Rodgers said in the offseason that if he and the Jets didn’t perform this season, everyone would be gone when it was over. The Jets might be looking for ways to tear it down right now.
The Jets season is pretty much done. They went to face the New England Patriots, who hadn’t won since Week 1, and gave away a game. They lost despite the Patriots losing rookie quarterback Drake Maye to a concussion in the first half. With the season barely having any life left, the Jets let the Patriots drive down and Rhamondre Stevenson scored a 1-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left. The Patriots won 25-22. The Jets are now tied for last place in the AFC East.
That’s practically it for the Jets, despite all of the draft picks they traded and money they gave out to make a run with Aaron Rodgers. They immediately dug themselves a 2-5 hole to start the season. That meant they probably needed to go 8-2 to make the playoffs heading into Sunday’s game. And if you can’t beat the Patriots this season, you’re probably not winning eight games the rest of the way.
WR-less Buccaneers: If you asked before last week what the strength of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was, it was their duo of star receivers. When Chris Godwin was lost for the season and Mike Evans was knocked out for a few weeks, it was easy to predict what might happen next.
The Buccaneers looked average in a critical 31-26 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Tampa Bay did have a chance to win it late, but couldn’t complete a deep pass into the end zone for the win. Kirk Cousins played well, with 276 yards and four touchdowns. The Falcons and Buccaneers were tied at 4-3 atop the NFC South coming into the game, and now the Falcons lead by a game with the head-to-head tiebreaker clinched due to a season sweep. No Buccaneers wideout made an impact, limiting their offense. That’s probably what will be the case at least until Evans comes back. And it seems likely to cost them a chance to win the division.
Whoever made the decision to not bench Deshaun Watson: Whether Watson kept his job due to Cleveland Browns ownership stepping in or a weird stubbornness from coach Kevin Stefanski, that decision looked even weirder on Sunday.
Jameis Winston gave life to the Browns offense. The Browns scored 20 points for the first time all season and looked as good as they have all season. Winston hit Cedric Tillman for a touchdown with 59 seconds left to take the lead on the Baltimore Ravens, although Winston got lucky Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton dropped an interception one play before. The Browns got a stop after that and pulled off a massive 29-24 upset of the Ravens. Winston had 334 yards and looked miles better than Watson has for nearly his entire Browns career.
It makes the 1-6 start with Watson flailing around at quarterback look like a total waste. The difference in the offense with Watson and Winston was startling. Whoever was making the call to stick with Watson might have sabotaged the Browns’ season.
Watson is done for the season with an Achilles injury. And suddenly the Browns offense has some hope to look decent.