NFL Week Eight Star Performers
Week eight is in the books and the Eagles continue to roll over everyone who comes their way. OK, this week it was paltry opposition in the form of my beloved Steelers but you can only beat what’s in front of you and beat like a freshly skinned drum, they did.
The Chiefs took in their bye week and can look ahead to the Week Nine slate of games with fresh legs and fresh minds, whilst the Chargers have hopefully used the time to get healthy and reflect on a mediocre start to the season.
Anyway, Jonny Bisby does the offGrid NFL weekly review, I’ll stop taking his thunder and do my job as I pick out the superstars from this weekend’s games. Let’s go!
Christian McCaffrey
RB, San Francisco 49ers, W 31-14 @ Rams
A few guys in the backfield could have been up for this shout this week. King Henry absolutely mashed the Texans defence, Tony Pollard ran three in and Nick Chubb made mincemeat of the Bengals D (much to my embarrassment – see my last post) but a week ago I started out by saying that one man doesn’t make a team. I stand by that. Mostly.
Christian McCaffrey was unstoppable against their division rivals. Kyle Shanahan has owned the Rams (excepting the mild snafu made at the NFC Championship game last January) during his tenure and his new play thing pulled off a rarity in the NFL and became only the 11th person in league history to, in the same game, pass, catch and rush in a touchdown. 94 yards on 18 carries, each as mazing and impossible to stop than the last. And this against a defence showcasing some serious talent.
The NFC West is a very different place today than when we started back in September and the significant rise in the 49ers ceiling has really set them up to be the team to beat this season now. Just got to take care of those pesky Seahawks now.
Za’Darius Smith
LB, Minnesota Vikings, W 42-26 vs Cardinals
With several exceptional line-backers stepping up to the mark this week I figured one of them had to make my list. Fred Warner backed up the ‘Niners offence by making life difficult for Matt Stafford in their win over the Rams, and Leonard Floyd was working his proverbial off to try and break things up for the Rams on the other side of the ball.
But it was over at US Bank stadium that Za’Darius Smith picked up THREE sacks to go with his seven tackles against a tough-to-hit Kyler Murray where my plaudits go this week. The two-time Pro-bowler is now averaging over a sack a game and should be on the radar to be nominated again if he can maintain the rate up over the remaining nine games.
Tyreek Hill
WR, Detroit Lions, W 31-27 @ Lions
My third pick wasn’t easy. I could have easily split my picks between a couple of RBs, AJ Brown made absolute toast out of the Pittsburgh secondary (six catches FOR THREE TDs). And, actually, Tua had a pretty damned good game here too but I’m going to throw it in for The Cheetah.
Tyreek Hill’s speed was a dominating factor in the Dolphins win over the, surely now, washed up Lions. Needing only 12 grabs on 14 targets to pull together 188 yards of gain, whilst he didn’t score, he did all the donkey work putting Miami into the redzone and kept the AFC East truly spicy by defeating a division rival in the frisky Jets.
Yes, he was expensive, but it is already paying dividends. The more he plays, especially with Jalen Waddle running the other line, the more he stops seeming expensive but just high value and there really is a difference between the two.
A week to forget for… Derek Carr
QB, Las Vegas Raiders, L0-24 @ Saints
I sat through most of the final London game wondering who would win the QB turd-off this week only for Derek Carr to absolutely bomb out during the main slate. The Raiders failed to make a scoring drive against a defence that, despite some big names, has really failed to live up to the hype this season.
The numbers in New Orleans don’t lie though and Carr, who finished with a QB Rating of 50.3 managed to complete only 15 throws for 101 yards, was sacked three times and managed to toss up an interception for good measure.
This is just a week to forget, buddy. Reapply that eyeliner and get back on the horse next week when you have a good chance to rack some points up in Jacksonville.
