Sunday’s NFL Week 8 action saw Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins suffer a season-ending Achilles’ injury. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys handed the Los Angeles Rams a blowout loss as Dak Prescott put up his best performance of the season.
The late-afternoon action saw Brock Purdy struggle big time as the San Francisco 49ers lost their third consecutive game.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks took advantage of San Francisco’s loss with a narrow win over an injury-plagued Cleveland Browns squad.
Here, we look at the biggest winners and losers from Sunday’s NFL Week 8 action.
Related: NFL Week 8 power rankings
Winner: Dak Prescott returns from bye with a vengeance
The first six games did not necessarily go according to plan for Prescott. He threw just six touchdowns and turned the ball over five times during that span. Despite this, the ‘Boys headed into their Week 7 bye with a solid 4-2 record. They needed Prescott to return to form coming off said bye.
That happened at home Sunday afternoon as the veteran put up his best performance of the season by completing 25-of-31 passes for 304 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. That included two touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb.
If Prescott plays like he did during NFL Week 8 action moving forward, the Cowboys are going to be heard from as the season progresses. He was one of their weaknesses before Dallas destroyed the Los Angeles Rams by the score of 43-20.
Loser: Kirk Cousins final game as a member of the Minnesota Vikings?
Set to hit free agency this coming March, Cousins was in the midst of a damn good season heading into NFL Week 8. Unfortunately, he’s now done for the campaign with what the Vikings are calling a torn Achilles. He suffered the injury on a non-contact play in the fourth quarter.
While Minnesota did go on to defeat the Green Bay Packers, this is absolutely a major blow for the 4-4 team. From a micro perspective, Cousins will now have to undergo surgery and rehab from a torn Achilles as he enters free agency. There has been some talk that Cousins will not return to the Vikings next season. We shall see if Sunday’s injury impacts that.
Miami Dolphins get back on track with win over Patriots
Last week’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles could have very well been a wake-up call for Mike McDaniel’s squad. They just couldn’t keep up with the high-octane Philadelphia attack on offense. Set to take on a New England Patriots squad that was coming off a huge win over the Buffalo Bills, the hope was that Miami would return to form.
That’s exactly what we saw in a 31-17 home win over New England. Tua Tagovailoa completed 30-of-45 passes for 324 yards with three touchdowns. That included a 42-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill late in the first quarter with Miami down 7-0.
Taking care of business against an inferior team at home had to be in the cards for Miami in NFL Week 8. That’s exactly what the team did with its stars stepping up. Hill (112 yards) and Jaylen Waddle (121 yards) were the biggest contributors as Miami moved to 6-2 on the season.
Related: NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
Loser: New York Giants season is pretty much over
New York seemingly salvaged its season with a win over the Washington Commanders last week. The team was looking to win two consecutive as it took on the New York Jets during NFL Week 8. Almost immediately, it became clear that it was not going to happen.
Tyrod Taylor suffered an injury late in the second quarter and had to be taken to the hospital. He was replaced by Tommy DeVito under center, who completed 2-of-7 passes for negative one yard. While Saquon Barkley (36 rushes, 128 yards) did his thing, it was not enough for the Giants in a 13-10 overtime loss to the Jets. Now at 2-6 heading into the NFL trade deadline, New York’s season is pretty much over. Will this lead to the team being sellers?
Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars remain on a roll
Jacksonville won five consecutive to end last season, leading to a surprise playoff appearance in the process. Head coach Doug Pederson and Co. were looking to duplicate that accomplishment on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Led by a defense that picked off Steelers quarterback Mitchell Trubisky twice, the Jags won by the score of 20-10. This unit also held Pittsburgh’s offense to less than 300 total yards while Trevor Lawrence (24-of-32, 292 yards) did his thing on the other side of the ball. At 6-2 and winners of five consecutive, these Jaguars look like the real deal.
Related: NFL Week 8 defense rankings
Loser: Multiple Kansas City Chiefs winning streaks come to an end
Kansas City had won 16 consecutive games against the Denver Broncos heading into Sunday’s NFL Week 8 action. The defending Super Bowl champions were also in the midst of a six-game winning streak after losing their opener against the Detroit Lions.
About that? The Chiefs were a mistake waiting to happen in what ended up being a 24-9 road loss to Denver. Patrick Mahomes threw two interceptions, including pretty much the game-clinching pick into the hands of star Broncos safety Justin Simmons.
Kansas City turned the ball over a whopping five times in the loss. That included Mahomes losing a fumble himself as the quarterback committed three giveaways.
Teams are going to have bad days. The Chiefs are not immune from that. But what we saw on Sunday should act as a wake-up call for Kansas City heading into Week 9.
Winner: Seattle Seahawks now in first place
You read that right. At 5-2 on the season, Seattle finds itself in first place in the NFC West. That’s simply amazing given how the season started relating to both the Seahawks and division-rival 49ers.
Seattle’s most-recent win was not pretty. It took out an injury-plagued Cleveland Browns team at home by the score of 20-17. Despite Geno Smith throwing two more interceptions, it was the Seahawks’ defense that stepped up in this one. That included two interceptions of P.J. Walker, the last of which changed the dynamics of the game in a big way.
As you can see, Seattle was down 20-17 with roughly two minutes remaining. A first down here would have pretty much ended the game. However, Jamal Adams came up huge with the deflection. Smith would ultimately hit rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a nine-yard touchdown with 38 seconds left to give Seattle the huge win.
Loser: Brock Purdy crashes back down to earth
Last week saw Purdy throw two interceptions after suffering a concussion late in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He had thrown all of one pick through the first six games of the season. About that? The second-year quarterback was a mistake waiting to happen during NFL Week 8 as the San Francisco 49ers dropped their third consecutive game.
Purdy threw two interceptions in a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The first one came with San Francisco driving late in the third quarter in an attempt to tie the game.
Purdy threw another interception in the fourth quarter. One play later, and Joe Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase on a 17-yard touchdown to pretty much put this one away. The bye week couldn’t come at a better time for Purdy and his 49ers. That’s for sure.