Top 10 takeaways from Sunday’s Week 8 NFL action

For many teams around the NFL, Week 8 of the 2015 campaign can go down as one of the most-frustrating slate of games we have seen.

From major injuries to star players in Pittsburgh and Baltimore to dud performances by the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers, a ton of teams are heading into the second half of the season with a sour taste in their mouths.

In Denver, the Broncos aren’t one of those squads. Following a dismantling of the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers, Gary Kubiak and Co. have to be feeling pretty darn good about themselves.

The same can be said for Denver’s closest competition in the AFC West, the Oakland Raiders. Yet another tremendous overall performance on Sunday has a 4-3 Raiders squad thinking playoffs.

These are among the top 10 takeaways from Sunday’s Week 8 NFL action.

Statement game from the Denver Broncos

Heading into Sunday night’s outing between two undefeated teams, the narrative in Denver was all about how its defense has kept the team afloat despite a less-than-stellar performance from Peyton Manning and the offense.

Following Denver’s 29-10 win over the Green Bay Packers, that narrative can be thrown completely out the window.

Returning to elite-level form, Manning completed 21-of-29 passes for 340 yards. His only blemish in the game was a garbage-time fourth quarter interception.

Finally receiving the necessary balance after entering Sunday with the league’s third-worst rushing offense, this aspect of Denver’s offense came alive big time. Led by Ronnie Hillman’s two-touchdown performance and C.J. Anderson’s 101-yard outing, the Broncos put up a whopping 160 yards on 34 attempts.

Defensively, it can only be defined as pure brilliance. Denver held Aaron Rodgers to 77 passing yards in the 19-point route. It was the worst statistical game of Rodgers’ brilliant career.

At 7-0 on the season and with a three-game lead over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West, Manning and Co. should have a smooth ride to the division title.

And if it plays like this moving forward, the New England Patriots might have a tiny bit of competition come January.

The Atlanta Falcons are in major trouble

If you want to be taken seriously in today’s NFL, you have to win those games against lesser teams. More than that, you have to mark your territory at home against a division rival that’s starting a rookie quarterback.

That simply didn’t happen on Sunday, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handed Atlanta an ugly home loss at the Georgia Dome.

Down 20-3 late in the third quarter, Atlanta put up 17 unanswered points to end regulation in a tie. However, the Falcons simply couldn’t bring that momentum to the extra period, enabling Tampa Bay to get out of dodge with a 23-20 win.

There are so many different things to look at here. Four turnovers, including three lost fumbles, were mostly to blame for this defeat.

Atlanta’s offense did tally nearly 500 yards of total offense and 28 first downs. It just couldn’t get out of its own way.

The Falcons’ final three drives of the first half ended in turnovers, two of them in Tampa Bay’s end of the field. Atlanta also committed a whopping 11 penalties for 124 yards. That’s simply not a winning formula.

At 6-2 on the season, the Falcons are clearly one of the favorites to earn a wild card spot heading into the second half of the campaign. Though, the Minnesota Vikings (5-2), St. Louis Rams (4-3), New Orleans Saints (4-4) and Seattle Seahawks (4-4) are clearly breathing down their back.

Even with an easy remaining schedule, Atlanta simply needs to play better football moving forward. Close wins against the Washington Redskins and Tennessee Titans isn’t a good sign. Losing at home against a team that won two games last year. Well, that’s definitely not a good sign.

Defense optional between the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants

With the Giants driving for a potential game-winning score late in the fourth quarter, these two teams had already tallied over 1,000 yards of total offense and 60-plus first downs. Drew Brees had tied the NFL’s single-game touchdown mark with seven in the 52-49 Saints win. Eli Manning was one short of matching Brees’ total with six scores himself.

For all intents and purposes, this was an Arena League football game masquerading as a NFL game.

We want to talk about the amazing performances these two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks put up. That’s fine and dandy. The larger takeaway here is just how horrendous both teams played on the defensive side of the ball.

For the Giants, it was an inability to cover the middle of the field against a tight end in Benjamin Watson who put up nine receptions for 147 yards on 10 targets.

For the Saints, it was all about failing from a schematic standpoint when it came to covering Odell Beckham Jr. You simply can’t give this electric second-year receiver the space New Orleans yielded to him on Sunday.

Both teams might be 4-4 heading into the second half of the season, but neither squad stands much of a chance without vastly improved defensive performances moving forward. In this, it really doesn’t matter how well Brees and Manning play.

Jim Caldwell should be his own scapegoat

Firing multiple members of your offensive coaching staff just a day before your team headed to London for a game against another last place team. Doing so with yourself clearly on the hot set.

And then, leading your team to an ugly 45-10 loss across the pond. Yeah, Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell should see the writing on the wall here.

Detroit’s performance heading into its bye was beyond atrocious — an indication that Caldwell could very well be shown the door at any moment here. Detroit turned the ball over two times on interceptions by Matthew Stafford on consecutive first half drives.

While the knee-jerk reaction will be to blame Stafford for his mistakes, the much-maligned quarterback was sacked six times and hit a total of eight times in the game.

He’s now been sacked 13 times in two games after going down just nine times in the first six games.

Outside of the most mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, not a single player at this position would have success under those circumstances.

Equally as disturbing, Detroit’s defense yielded over 200 rushing yards against a team that’s missing Jamaal Charles. That’s simply not going to get it done.

A combination of bad coaching and being dominated in the trenches will not necessarily lead to much success in the NFL. And in reality, Caldwell himself is to blame for the Lions’ struggles heading into their Week 9 bye with a league-worst 1-7 record.

Another uneven performance in Minnesota Vikings win

Despite not playing its best football thus far this season, Minnesota finds itself at 5-2 following a close 23-20 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Seven games in, and we have no idea what this team is right now. Is it performing up to the talent level on the roster? Or, have the Vikings yet to break out?

A week after putting up 300-plus yards and two scores against Detroit, second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater regressed to early-season form. He completed just 17-of-30 passes for 187 yards with a touchdown and a pick.

Heck, not a single members of the Vikings’ offense caught more than two passes outside of the six receptions that Stefon Diggs recorded.

As long as the Vikings are winning, everyone in Minneapolis is going to be happy. But in order for this team to take the next step from playoff contender to conference championship contender, it is going to have to play much better football on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the passing game.

The Oakland Raiders may in fact be for real

Yet another dominating offensive performance has led us to believe that the Raiders may actually be for real. A week after putting up 37 against the San Diego Chargers, Oakland laid a 34 spot on one of the league’s top defenses.

After putting up three touchdowns and zero picks against a lackluster San Diego Chargers defense last week, second-year quarterback Derek Carr threw four more touchdowns without an interception. He did so going up against a Jets defense that is among the best in the NFL versus the pass.

Two touchdowns to Andre Holmes and another to Michael Crabtree tells us a story of a young quarterback that isn’t necessarily relying too much on Amari Cooper. That could be a big deal moving forward.

Overall, Carr has put up 14 touchdowns compared to three interceptions while leading the Raiders’ offense to an average of 25.4 points per game.

Defensively, the Raiders just continue to make plays. Showing youthful exuberance in an otherwise aged body, safety Charles Woodson picked off yet another pass for a league-leading five on the season.

Led by an amazing day from defensive lineman Denico Autry (one sack, two hits), the Raiders found a way to put pressure on Jets quarterbacks throughout the afternoon — racking up three sacks and seven total hits in the game.

If this unit continues to play at an above-average level, the Raiders should remain viable playoff contenders in the AFC.

Over the course of the next five games, Oakland takes on just one team that currently has a winning record. This could make the team’s Week 14 game against the Denver Broncos pretty darn important moving forward.

Even if the Raiders do miss out on the postseason, they have already shown that they are among the best young teams in the league. That’s a dramatic step forward from previous seasons.

Terrible day for injuries

Shortly after surpassing Cris Carter for 10th on the all-time receiving yards list, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith suffered a torn Achilles. He’s lost for the season, and could have potentially played his final NFL game on Sunday.

Both Le’Veon Bell and Matt Forte went down with knee injuries. Neither returned. For the Pittsburgh Steelers top rusher, reports indicate that he suffered a torn MCL and is out for the season. As it relates to Forte, Chicago has to be holding its breath.

San Diego Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen left his team’s game with back spasms and didn’t return. Meanwhile, San Francisco 49ers running back Reggie Bush suffered what looked to be a significant (and potentially career-ending) injury in his team’s disastrous loss to the St. Louis Rams.

We absolutely hate to see injuries impact a team’s ability to contend during the season. It has definitely taken a toll in Dallas, and now, the Steelers are feeling the effects of it.

Both teams entered the season with reasonably high expectations. Combined, they are now 6-9 on the campaign.

On a semi-personal note, it’s hard not to feel bad for Smith. As one of the top receivers of this generation, and one of my favorite players in the game, I sure hope the future Hall of Famer finds it worth his effort to come back next season.

If not, let us not remember him for this injury — something that would take away from the passion he has played with during a tremendous career.

Signs of consistency in St. Louis

A Jeff Fisher-led squad beating two teams it should handle with relative ease in consecutive weeks. It seems minor in the grand scheme of things, but it’s something the Rams have struggled with during Fisher’s tenure.

By defeating a hapless San Francisco squad 27-6, the Rams are now 4-3 on the season and in second place in the NFC West. Equally as important, they are alive and well in the wild card race.

The major spark here is rookie running back Todd Gurley, who has now put up 140-plus total yards in each of the Rams past four games.

Sunday saw him go for 133 yards on 20 attempts, including an awe-inspiring 71-yard touchdown to put his team up for good in the second quarter.

Despite pedestrian play from Nick Foles, the Rams can indeed challenge for a playoff spot if they continue to get this type of performance from Gurley moving forward.

More than that, St. Louis’ defense appears to be in lock down mode. While the level of competition really wasn’t up to snuff on Sunday, this unit still allowed just two field goals against a NFL team (if you want to call the 49ers that).

Basically, it’s about dominating the trenches and playing ball-hawking defense in the secondary — something that has defined another NFC West team over the past several years.

Something needs to change in San Francisco

Whether it’s a coordinator getting canned or the starting quarterback being shown the pine, something drastically needs to change for a 49ers’ squad that simply isn’t competitive right now. Following a 27-6 loss to the Rams, San Francisco has lost its past two games by a combined score of 47-9.

Overall, the 49ers rank dead last in offense at 13.3 points per game. They are also in the bottom 10 in scoring defense and boast the league’s worst point differential at -12.3 points per outing.

Following Sunday’s disastrous performance, Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole reported that certain members of the 49ers believe the team should send Kaepernick to the bench.

And while Blaine Gabbert is in no way a sexier alternative, the much-maligned 49ers starter simply isn’t putting his team in position to win games. Sunday’s 162-yard performance was a prime example of this.

From a coaching standpoint, it’s been an absolute mess. An over-matched staff just hasn’t been able to make the necessary in-game and in-week adjustments to put its team in a position to be competitive.

It’s hard to imagine the organization admitting a mistake by moving on from head coach Jim Tomsula during his first season, but others might end up acting as the fall guys in this scenario.

With a bye following the team’s Week 8 outing against Atlanta, it’s possible that one or both coordinators could be given their pink slips.

At any rate, something must change here. As currently assembled, this 49ers team is right there with Detroit as the worst in the NFL.

And in reality, the blame has to be placed from the top down. CEO Jed York indicated an urge to win with class, but the organization isn’t representing either standard through seven games. That’s the harsh reality, and someone is going to have to pay the piper.

We just wish the man born with a silver spoon in his mouth — Mr. York himself — would answer to the mess he’s overseeing right now.

Multiple takeways from Seattle Seahawks win over the Dallas Cowboys

Seattle won by one point against a Cowboys team that had its backup quarterback put up less than 100 passing yards.

In Tony Romo’s stead, Matt Cassel was beyond atrocious against a Seahawks defense that’s returning to form. The veteran completed 13-of-25 passes for 97 yards without a touchdown or an interception.

For the Cowboys, it’s the second time in their five-game losing streak that they have failed to score a touchdown. At 2-5 on the season, it’s not completely over for Jason Garrett’s squad. By virtue of the Giants’ loss on Sunday, Dallas is just one game back in the loss column in the NFC East.

Though, it’s likely this team will have to win one of its next two prior to Romo’s Week 11 return if it wants to have a chance in the division moving forward.

Meanwhile, all the talk in Seattle will be about how its defense has returned to form during this small two-game winning streak.

While giving up a total of five field goals in two games is great, it must be noted that Seattle took on an embarrassing San Francisco team and a Romo-less Cowboys squad during that span.

Still, Seattle needed a game-winning drive in the last minute on Sunday to take down the Cowboys. That’s not necessarily the dominating team that has earned two consecutive conference titles.

At 4-4 on the season, Seattle remains in third place in the NFC West. In fact, it would miss out on the playoffs if the season ended today. Grasp that before concluding this team is back to its old self.