My oh my, the NFL time does fly. Can you believe it’s already Week 9?! That’s half a season! And Week 8 didn’t disappoint at the turn, either. From Cooper Kupp’s London Invasion—catching 11 balls for 220 against the Bengals—to the 49ers’ defense to Matt Moore’s performance against the Packers, demonstrating Oliver Stone’s “titled” thinking: Any Given Sunday.
Well, almost…
And not only does Philadelphia Eagles’ Miles Sanders have one the greatest twitter handles of all time, but he also makes speedy locomotives look like late-years Johnny Unitas:
What a game!
And, did you notice the push from the O-line in that video? Those champions of the choppy steps, making a nice lane for Sanders?
Although not as strong as past weeks, there were a few substantial efforts from offensive lines in Week 8—with these five, in particular, deserving of basking in blocking glory.
5. New Orleans Saints
A successful effort against the Cardinals’ defense—ranked in the NFL’s basement—isn’t major news. But Arizona is a team that won three games in a row. Anyone who has watched Major League 2 knows that’s what’s called a “winning streak.”
Add in Drew Brees, making his first start after a thumb injury that sidelined him for five weeks, and you have yourselves a real challenge. And the Saints steamrolled the Cardinals. Brees was fantastic, going 34-of-43 for 373 yards and three touchdowns. While he got his footing, the line made sure part of that experience wasn’t getting sacked.
The running game was solid, too. Latavius Murray ran for 102 yards and one touchdown. Again, the Cardinals’ run defense is more abstract these days, with a blinking ‘Hey, we’re open!” sign floating in the blank space.
But let’s not dismiss the Saints’ effort.
Erik McCoy, Ryan Ramczyk, Will Clapp, Larry Warford, and Terron Armstead: Healthy thumbs up, men!
4. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles rolled into Buffalo, coming off an ugly loss against the Cowboys and Orlando Scandrick’s poor review of the team on Fox Sports’ Undisputed (after he was let go).
Ironically, there was no disputing the Eagles’ performance. The rushing attack totaled 218 yards and three touchdowns, led by Jordan Howard’s 96 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries. The strong ground game opened things up for the passing game, keeping the Bills’ third-ranked overall defense off balance.
Carson Wentz was 17-of-24 for 172 and one touchdown. Although he was sacked three times, Wentz was able to do just enough to keep drives moving, helping lead the Eagles to a badly needed win.
And kudos to the Eagles’ O-line for their efforts. Besides the Sanders scamper, they cleared the way for the running attack while doing a decent job handling the Bills’ pass rush.
Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, and Andre Dillard: Fly, boys, fly!
3. Kansas City Chiefs
Yep, the Kansas City Chiefs lost. But did anyone expect, with Matt Moore as the fill-in for Patrick Mahomes, playing on the road in Green Bay, that the score would end up 31-24?
Moore was only sacked twice—which isn’t bad considering the Packers are ranked in the top half of the league in sacks (20) and QB hits (44). That afforded him time to make a few plays, ending the day with a respectable 24-36, 267 yards, and two touchdowns. The running game, though nothing incredible, took some of the workload and added one touchdown.
A lot of the positives were directly related to the Chiefs’ O-line—which held its own in a difficult situation and atmosphere. They kept the pressure off of Moore, not complicating matters with a mistake-ridden game or a penalty surplus.
Martinas Rankin, Cameron Erving, Mitchell Schwartz, Austin Reiter, and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif: Sure, it wasn’t a win, but the effort up front deserves credit.
2. New England Patriots
Finally! The New England Patriots make their first appearance on this ranking—poor team just doesn’t seem to get a fair shake sometimes, you know.
Anyway.
Most of the credit, so far, this season has been directed at the Patriots’ strong defensive efforts. The offense has been good, but not front-page material. And that was the storyline heading into the Week 8 meeting with the Cleveland d Browns: Stoppable Offense vs. Unstoppable Defense.
While that was basically the case, with the Browns almost looking like they knew it was hopeless, a shining facet—in the gloomy, soggy weather—was the Patriots’ O-line.
Going up against the Browns’ fifth-ranked pass defense—yes, you read that correctly—the Pats did a great job protecting Ageless Tom Brady, giving him time make throws in a game that could’ve used a ton of Thompson’s Water Seal. Brady was sacked three times, but he wasn’t pressured any more than that, ending the day with 259 yards passing and two touchdowns.
The running game sloshed forward enough times to keep things moving, helping win the time of possession 32:15 to 27:45. A major factor with that was the Patriots’ front holding the blocks for Sony Michale and company.
So, Marcus Cannon, Joe Thuney, Ted Karras, Marshall Newhouse, and James Ferentz: Big-time effort, men. Today…today, you are all Tom Bradys.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
Before you clench your fist and shake it in a “This team played the Dolphins!” rage, think about this: The Dolphins, though winless, have a pass defense ranked 12th. That’s not bad. Mason Rudolph was coming back from a concussion—from what might have been the scariest hit/moments following the hit witnessed in some time. The Dolphins’ run defense, however, is toward the bottom of the league.
That left Monday night’s matchup in a typical Battle of the Weaknesses, and the Steelers came out on top.
The running game performed like you would want them to against a 30th-ranked run defense—still: extra high fives to the line for opening the way for James Conner, who ended the day with 145 yards on the ground with one touchdown.
And while the passing game (and protection) wasn’t anything special, there were enough substantial pockets to allow Rudolph much-needed time to read the defense and make throws like this one:
For whatever reason—whether it’s national television or perhaps people from other teams are scouting—the players, even on the worst teams known to man, seem to play…more inspired.
Mix all of that into the bowl of football opinion, and you have to give the Steelers some credit. To that, you have to give the O-line some credit—in fact, Alejandro Villanueva, David DeCastro, Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster, and Matt Feiler: Take the cake, because you guys are the Champions of the Choppy Steps.
