Sunday officially was National Tight Ends Day. Whoever put that on the calendar was just a little bit off.
It turned out Sunday was more like National Wide Receivers Day. Just look at what Rams receiver Cooper Kupp and Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans did. Both were spectacular and they highlight 9 things we learned from Sunday of Week 8 of the 2019 NFL season.
Mike Evans | Sean Payton | Jameis Winston | Melvin Gordon |
Dan Quinn | Minshew/Foles | Aaron Rodgers | 49ers | Cooper Kupp
9. Mike Evans is still The Man in Tampa Bay
There had been some talk that Chris Godwin had replaced Mike Evans as the Bucs’ No. 1 receiver. That’s understandable because Godwin had outperformed Evans so far. Until Sunday. Evans had 11 catches for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He was unstoppable and he might be the league’s most underrated receiver. But it’s inexplicable that he didn’t catch a pass in the fourth quarter of a close loss to Tennessee. Give the defense some credit, but put most of the blame on Tampa Bay’s coaching staff for not getting the ball to Evans when it mattered most.
8. Don’t question Sean Payton
With a game against a mediocre Arizona team followed by a bye, there was speculation the Saints would stick with Teddy Bridgewater for one more game and give Drew Brees a little more time to recover from an injured thumb. There was logic behind that because Bridgewater had gone 5-0. But Payton trusted his gut and went with Brees. It paid off as Brees threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns. Brees showed he’s healthy and now he’s got a week to rest as the Saints appear headed for a deep playoff run.
7. The story of Jameis Winston’s career
This game summed up how inconsistent the Tampa Bay quarterback still is in his fifth season. His start and finish were disastrous. In between, he was pretty good, finishing with 301 passing yards and two touchdowns. But Winston spotted Tennessee an early lead, first having a snap hit him in the facemask that was lost as a fumble and he followed that up with an ugly interception at the first quarter. After that, Winston looked good – until the end. In the fourth quarter, Winston lost a fumble and threw and interception on a last-gasp drive. This game only adds more uncertainty to Winston’s future in Tampa Bay. He’s in the final year of his contract and did nothing to earn an extension. Unless, he does something dramatic the rest of the season, the Bucs will be left with two choices. They can put the franchise tag on Winston and give him another year. Or they can let him walk into free agency and keep the streak of Tampa Bay never signing a quarterback it drafted to a second contract.
6. Melvin Gordon may not be on the trading block
There have been persistent rumors that the Los Angles Chargers would deal the running back before Tuesday’s trade deadline. That’s probably not going to happen. Although Austin Ekeler had been outstanding during Gordon’s holdout, the Chargers tipped their hand in Sunday’s victory against Chicago. The Chargers only ran the ball 12 times. But, when they did, Gordon got the bulk of the carries. Gordon rushed eight times for 31 yards and a touchdown. Ekeler rushed three times for zero yards, but did catch a touchdown pass. There’s room for both running backs, with Gordon continuing to take a bigger role.
5. Dan Quinn is done
By the time you read this, the Atlanta coach already may have been fired. The Falcons are 1-7 and headed into their bye week. Owner Arthur Blank has to be out of patience with Quinn after paying for a roster that’s loaded with individual talent. The bye week is the perfect time to pull the plug because the Falcons are well past the point of no return. Blank will make a splashy hire (Urban Meyer? Jim Harbaugh?) after the season. But he has to go with an interim coach for now. The Falcons have three former NFL head coaches – Mike Mularkey, Dirk Koetter and Raheem Morris) on their staff. One of them will finish out a lost season.
4. Gardner Minshew or Nick Foles?
I’ve been more hesitant than most to buy into the hype created by Minshew, who took over as the Jacksonville starting quarterback after Foles was injured in the opener. After all, the Jaguars were only 3-3 in Minshew’s first six starts. I had been saying Foles should return to the starting job as soon as he gets healthy. But I changed my mind after watching Minshew led the Jaguars to a win against the Jets on Sunday. Minshew, a sixth-round pick this year, had his best game yet. He threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns. When you’re in playoff contention, you stick with the hot hand. I can think of one other team that stuck with a sixth-round quarterback and it worked out well. That was New England with Tom Brady in 2000.
3. Aaron Rodgers threw the best pass of the season
The Green Bay quarterback threw plenty of nice passes on a night when he completed 22 of 33 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns. That’s why a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jamaal Williams may not look like much on the stat sheet. But you had to see the pass to believe it.
Rodgers was under heavy pressure and scrambling. He appeared to be trying to throw the ball away into the right corner of the back of the end zone. There was only a tiny window where Williams could catch the pass. But Williams stepped into that window and made the catch with 13:57 left in the game to give Green Bay a 24-17 lead. Also, I would remiss if I didn’t mention Green Bay running back Aaron Jones, who had a near perfect game. Jones rushed for 67 yards. More importantly, Jones had seven catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns (he also had two other touchdowns called back because of penalties).
2. The 49ers are for real
Even though San Francisco was undefeated, a lot of people weren’t taking them seriously. That’s mainly because their wins came against the Bucs, Bengals, Steelers, Browns, Rams and Redskins. But the 49ers showed they weren’t overrated Sunday when they manhandled a good Carolina team. The defense beat up on quarterback Kyle Allen, who won his first four starts of this season in place of the injured Cam Newton. Allen threw three interceptions and was sacked seven times (including three times by Nick Bosa). San Francisco has the Cardinals twice in its next three games. But the schedule is about to get much tougher. The 49ers still have to face the Seahawks (twice), the Packers, Ravens and Saints. They won’t go undefeated, but will cruise into the playoffs.
1. Cooper Kupp is better than ever
The Los Angeles Rams receiver already had shown he was fully recovered from a knee injury that forced him to miss the final eight games of last season. Before Sunday’s game against Cincinnati in London, Kupp already had 51 catches for 572 yards and four touchdowns in seven games. But, against the Bengals, Kupp had the best game of his career. He caught seven passes for 220 yards and a touchdown. That gives Kupp 58 catches for 772 yards and five touchdowns – in eight games. His best season was his rookie year in 2017 when he had 62 catches for 869 yards and five touchdowns. He still has half a season to destroy his rookie numbers.
Pat Yasinskas has covered the NFL since 1993. He has worked for The Tampa Tribune, The Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com and writes for numerous national magazines and websites. He also has served as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
