The 32 things we learned from Week 8 of the 2018 NFL season:
1. The deadline to trade players is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Hard to say if teams might be especially active or, with so many still viable, it's equally conceivable a seller's market just won't develop. Heading toward Week 9, 17 of the league's 32 teams are .500 or better, while another five are within a game of .500.
2. Week 8 has so far been devoid of overtime ... and we sure don't expect it in Buffalo on Monday. This is the first season to feature OT in each of the first seven weeks.
3. Speaking of OT, the Browns may be hitting the wall. They've played bonus football in half of their eight games but avoided it in Sunday's 33-18 loss at Pittsburgh. Cleveland's first two losses this year were each by three points. But they're succumbing by an average of 14 points in their current three-game skid, and that's despite a three-point OT defeat in Week 7.
4. Move over, Franco. Move over, Bus. Move over ... never mind, Le'Veon, you already made way. After finding the end zone twice against Cleveland, James Conner became the first Pittsburgh player with three consecutive games scoring at least two TDs. Conner now has nine total, two shy of Bell's high-water mark for a season.
5. Despite trailing by double digits for the first time this season, the Rams survived the Packers to improve to 8-0 for the first time 1969.
6. Sunday's matchup between Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and L.A.'s Jared Goff was the first NFL battle of Cal Bear quarterbacks since ... well, if you said Steve Bartkowski vs. Vince Ferragamo in 1983, you win our admiration.
7. The Chiefs failed to score on their opening drive for the first time this season, causing panic in the streets of Kansas City ... but only briefly. QB Patrick Mahomes burnished his MVP case with four more TD passes against Denver. He now has a league-high 26 (matching Alex Smith's 2017 total for K.C.), which also happens to be a record for a player's first nine NFL games.
8. Speaking of the MVP, the Rams' Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald could cannibalize the other's case for league honors even if both repeat as offensive and defensive player of the year, respectively. Gurley scored his 15th TD on Sunday but showed what a team guy he is by forgoing a 16th in the final minute, going to the ground rather than scoring so his team could kill the clock. Donald, meanwhile, collected two more sacks — he has 10 in his past five games, giving him the NFL lead — and could make a prophet of teammate Aqib Talib, who predicted Donald will finish with 22.
9. We understand it was a frenetic weekend for Los Angeles sports ... but couldn't the Coliseum grounds crew have avoided the "USC Rams" look? (Or did former Trojans LB Clay Matthews, who exhorted a heavily pro-Packers crowd Sunday, grease a few palms?)
10. NBC's pretty spiffy "Sunday Night Football" field goal “tracer” > NBC's still terrible "Green Zone."
11. Drew Brees' first INT of the season > Kirk Cousins' first pick-six of the season.
12. Vikings WR Adam Thielen tied Calvin Johnson's record by surpassing 100 receiving yards for the eighth consecutive game (Thielen also set the mark for most 100-plus-yard games to start a season). Does this dude get sufficient credit? Or are we thinking this remarkable run is more a byproduct of a pass-happy NFL?
13. It only took four games and 10 interceptions, including four Sunday at Cincinnati, for Tampa Bay QB Jameis Winston to go from the bench to the starting lineup and then back to the bench. He has at least two INTs in his past five starts and 17 turnovers in his last six appearances. The Buccaneers could have the most difficult quarterback decision to navigate next offseason. The contracts of backups Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Griffin will expire. The Bucs have already picked up Winston's $21 million option for 2019, but he could be cut without any salary cap ramifications — as long as he's not injured — if the franchise decides to reboot at the position.
14. Denver's Case Keenum is working on an INT streak himself. He has at least one in every game this season (10 in all, matching Winston and Sam Darnold for the most in 2018) and, going back to last season's playoffs with Minnesota, has been picked off in 10 straight games.
15. Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky has 15 TD passes so far, tying the career high of one-time beloved Chicago passer Jim McMahon, after adding two more in Sunday's defeat of the Jets. But Trubisky probably did a far better job of burrowing into the hearts of the Windy City faithful with that "Coach Mitchka" pre-game sweater.
16. Panthers QB Cam Newton, deemed a "fast dinosaur" by Baltimore S Eric Weddle last week (it was meant as a compliment), went Jurassic on the Ravens — descendants of dinosaurs, right, William Hayes? — for three TDs in Carolina's convincing 36-21 win.
17. Speaking of dinosaurs, it's the Ravens who are suddenly flirting with extinction. They've now dropped three of four and currently reside outside the AFC playoff field.
18. Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson threw his first career TD pass to fellow 2018 first rounder Hayden Hurst, the first time he found an NFL end zone. So who gets that ball in their trophy case? Considering it came in garbage time of an ugly loss, does anyone even want it?
19. Adrian Peterson won't forget Sunday's win over the Giants. The Redskins' veteran back rushed for a season-high 149 yards, passing Tony Dorsett for ninth on the all-time list. "AD" also scored twice, including a 64-yard run. His next TD run of at least 50 yards will give Peterson 16 and break his tie with Barry Sanders for most in league history.
20. When experience playing in London matters: The Jaguars definitely know were to go clubbing in the UK (even if they're not so good at keeping track of their bar tab).
21. When experience playing in London doesn't matter: The Eagles, playing their first regular-season game abroad, beat Jacksonville 24-18. This was the sixth consecutive year the Jags have played a "home" game at Wembley Stadium.
22. The Eagles may have finally found a solution to their running back conundrum. Rookie Josh Adams — the 6-2, 225-pounder began the year on the practice squad — piled up 61 yards on just nine carries Sunday after totaling 46 yards in his first five appearances.
23. Jaguars K Josh Lambo's career-best 57-yard field goal was also the longest ever at Wembley. Leave it to a former soccer player (Lambo was drafted by MLS' FC Dallas in 2008) to shine on a soccer pitch.
24. Houston, we have no problem. After losing their first three games, the Texans suddenly have two more victories than anyone else in the AFC South after running their winning streak to five. They only have one opponent left on their schedule, Washington, that currently sports a winning record.
25. After watching them outclass Brock Osweiler and the Dolphins on Thursday, let's give the Texans renewed credit for a gutsy decision. They surrendered a second rounder last year to Cleveland in a salary dump to admit Osweiler was a $72 million mistake — and that was before Deshaun Watson was on Houston's roster. Clearly it was the right move, especially after Watson matched his career high with five TD passes while becoming the third player in league history (joining Hall of Famers Kurt Warner and Dan Marino) with at least 30 in his first 15 games.
26. Newly acquired run stuffer Damon Harrison made his Lions debut and had a nice stat line (7 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack). Unfortunately, he couldn't do what his new team really needed as Seattle bowled over Detroit for 176 rushing yards.
27. Russell Wilson (14-for-17, 248 yards, 3 TDs) finished with a perfect 158.3 QB rating for the first time in his seven-year career as the Seahawks downed Detroit for their fourth win in their last five outings. (What? We predicted Seattle would win four games after all ... )
28. Congrats to the Colts, who won their third game. (Sigh ... we predicted they'd only get two ... )
29. Congrats to Indianapolis K Adam Vinatieri. Despite a groin injury, he managed to overtake Morten Andersen as the NFL's all-time leading scorer. Vinatieri (2,550 points) will eventually join Andersen and Jan Stenerud as the only pure placekickers in the Hall of Fame.
30. Congrats to Raiders QB Derek Carr, who scored the first rushing TD of his career Sunday and added three more through the air. Yes, his gutted Oakland club lost, but Carr kept the Raiders competitive against Indianapolis and hardly looked like a guy who'd lost his teammates' faith.
31. Finally, congrats to new Cardinals offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. In Leftwich's first game calling plays, Arizona spit out a season-best 321 yards in an 18-15 squeaker against San Francisco.
32. Hey, @BortlesFacts, your favorite quarterback had 24 completions Sunday, his most in five visits to London. (Had to dig for that one.) BB5 also threw his 100th career TD pass, making him the fastest Jaguar (70 games) to reach that plateau ... meaning, basically, he beat out Mark Brunell. Note: Former first rounder Leftwich had 51 as a Jag.
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Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis
