NFL Week 8: Winners & Losers

Week 8 of the NFL season has come and gone and we got to witness some amazing performances from the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Cleveland Browns. Let's take a look at three winners and three losers from last week's action.

Winner: John Lynch

The 49ers GM made a bold move two weeks ago by trading a ton of draft capital (a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in 2023, along with a 5th in 2024) for star running back Christian McCaffrey. San Francisco lost to Kansas City in McCaffrey's first game with the team, but on Sunday against the Rams (The other team that was heavily involved in trade talks for the stud RB), the acquisition of CMC payed huge dividends. McCaffrey totaled 183 yards (94 rushing, 55 receiving, 34 passing) and became the 11th player in NFL history to record a rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown, and a passing touchdown in the same game. Not only Lynch make a good move by acquiring one of the best offensive players in the league, but in the process, he also prevented a heated division rival from getting better as well. Not too shabby.

Loser: Zach Wilson

The Jets second-year quarterback had led his squad to 4 consecutive victories over the Steelers, Dolphins, Packers, and Broncos respectively before falling apart against the Patriots on Sunday. Wilson was all over the place, as he threw for 355 yards, but also tossed 3 interceptions as the Jets lost to the Patriots for the 13th straight time. The Jets are currently 5-3 and possess the 5th seed in the AFC playoffs. This franchise is finally back on track after being a pushover for the last decade. But it doesn't matter how good the rest of a team is if they don't have a quarterback. Wilson is young, and still has a lot of talent to figure it out. But plenty of eyes will be on him for the rest of the season and GM Joe Douglas could have some tough decisions to make this offseason.

Winner: Jalen Hurts/Howie Roseman

Hurts had put together an awesome campaign so far. But he took it to a whole different level in Week 8, throwing for 285 yards, and 4 touchdown passes, while compiling a 140.6 passer rating and 10.2 yards per attempt. The Eagles have an excellent job of surrounding Hurts with elite talent with guys like A.J. Brown (6 catches, 156 yards, 3 TDs on Sunday), DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and the best offensive line in football. GM Howie Roseman deserves a lot of props. Just two years ago, the Eagles were in a dire situation when they drafted Hurts, which coincided with Carson Wentz struggling. Roseman took a huge risk by trading Wentz and going with Hurts as the franchise QB. And safe to say, it's paid off big time.

 Loser: Cincinnati Bengals

Last week, the Bengals were on the winners side. But now, they're on the opposite side of the spectrum after suffering a blowout loss to the Browns on Monday Night Football. Joe Burrow and the offence struggled mightily without Ja'Marr Chase, and the defence got gashed repeatedly through the air (278 passing yards by Jacoby Brissett), and through the ground (allowed 172 rushing yards). They also lost their stud cornerback Chidobe Awuzie for the rest of the season. The Bengals are now 4-4, and 0-3 in division games (0-1 versus Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and now, Cleveland). There's still plenty of football left to play, but in a congested AFC, they have to start playing better immediately.

Winner: Tyreek Hill

Coming into the season, there were a lot of people who really thought that Tyreek Hill's production would fall off without Patrick Mahomes (happy to say that I was not a part of that group). Instead, Hill has put up monster numbers with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, most recently finishing with 12 catches for 188 yards against the Lions last week. The Cheetah is on pace for 2,042 receiving yards, which would shatter the regular season record that is currently held by Calvin Johnson (1,964 yards). And with the Chiefs boasting a 5-2 record so far, I think it's safe to say that this was a win-win trade for both parties.

Loser: Arizona Cardinals

A year after making the postseason for the first time in six seasons, the Cardinals have severely regressed, as they fell to 3-5 with a close loss to the Vikings last week. This is not a bad roster by any stretch of the imagination. But they're just 2-3 in one-score games and have already dropped two divisional games. Their next three games are against the Seahawks, Rams, and 49ers respectively. That upcoming stretch will ultimately make or break their season.