NFL – 2024 WEEK 8 – STATS THAT STICK OUT

PASSING – JAMEIS WINSTON (QB – BROWNS) CLE 29 at BAL 24

In Week 6’s version of this column, I questioned the reluctance of Cleveland’s leadership to bring in former Pro-Bowler backup QB Jameis Winston to replace the struggling Deshaun Watson.  Much to the chagrin of Browns fans, HC Stefanski continued to hold onto the notion that the embattled QB gave them “the best chance to win” despite starting the season 1-5.  Well, after Watson’s Week 7 season-ending Achilles injury, fans got their chance to see what Winston could do and boy, did he deliver.  In an upset win on the road against Baltimore in Week 8, the 30-year-old backup completed 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards and threw 3 TDs.  The game marked the first time this season the Browns offense scored over 20+ points in a game and their signal caller threw over 200+ yards.  Not only did Winston give the fans hope that they wouldn’t be entirely embarrassed throughout the second half of the season, but it highlighted just how much of an albatross the Watson contract had become.  While I surmised the team kept Watson in for potential high draft picks next season, a Cleveland columnist’s explanation this past week might hold more merit.  According to Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show co-host Jason Lloyd, he thinks the Browns were hell-bent on trying to justify “The [Deshaun Watson] Contract”.  “[They were] trying to prove the contract was a valid decision.  It wasn’t… We knew that by the end of September.  And they wrecked their own season, they sabotaged their own season to try and prove some sort of point.”  He continued, “The season didn’t have to go this way.  They didn’t have to be a 2-and-6 football team and out of the playoffs already … whoever’s decision that was, whether it was (head coach) Kevin Stefanski or someone above him, whoever insisted they keep running Deshaun out there, shoulders the blame for what happened to this season.”  It’ll be interesting to see how the season turns out for the Browns and Stefanski.  But IMO, he should not continue to lead this team whether he made the decision to keep Watson in through Week 7, or not.  He said publicly that he thought Watson was their best choice at QB.  Either that was indeed a lie, or Stefanski believed Watson was the best choice.  Neither of those explanations are valid excuses.

RUSHING – TYRONE TRACY (RB, GIANTS) NYG 18 at PIT 26

This is the second time Tyrone Tracy finished the week as the league’s rushing yards leader this season.  The rookie running back had his first breakout game during Week 5 (18 carries, 129 rush yards) after Giants starting RB Devin Singletary was out due to injury.  In the 3 weeks since, Tracy has cemented his role as RB1 for the Giants by carrying the ball more times with more rushing yards than any other carrier (including Singletary after his return). But, in Week 8’s MNF contest on the road at Pittsburgh, the 24-year-old Tracy had his best career performance when he had 20 carries for 145 rush yards, (7.2 yards per carry) and a 45-yard TD run while adding 2 receptions for 5 yards.  Additionally, Tracy had 4 runs of 10+ yards and reached a top speed of 20.60 mph.  This is the fastest speed a Giants offensive ball carrier has reached over the last two seasons.  For this performance, Tracy was nominated for the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week for the third time this year.  Unfortunately, the young bell cow’s momentum might be halted in Week 9 after he missed Wednesday’s team practice as part the early stages of his concussion protocol.  During Week 8’s game, Tracy had smacked his head on the turf at the end of a run and appeared to come up woozy.  Reports are that he is “responding well” to physical activity and continues to move along through the 5 phases of the protocol and that he could be ready to go on short rest in time to play the Commanders at Metlife stadium on Sunday.  

RECEIVING – CEEDEE LAMB (WR, COWBOYS) DAL 24 at SF 30

Currently sitting at 3-4 and third in the NFC East division, the Dallas Cowboys have not started the season as expected.  Through the first 7 games, they had an unbalanced, pass heavy, below average offense supported by a struggling O-Line while their defense lacked in takeaways and allowed the second most points per game in the league, on average.  That’s certainly not a winning combination.  But one combination that was working in Week 8 when the Cowboys went on the road to San Francisco was between QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb.  The highest paid QB in the league connected with the second highest paid receiver in the league 13 times, enabling Lamb to gain 146 yards (11.2 ave) and score 2 TDs.  It became Lamb’s best game of the season, and the result was exactly what the duo had hoped for when they teamed up to work on their connection during their Week 7 bye.   Lamb said, “We love a bye week… Let’s just say that we took advantage of it. Anything we felt like we missed out on together as a unit, as a duo, we hopped on it and got right to work, used every day, every opportunity that we could to get better. I feel like it’s going to show.” It did, of course.  And despite the loss against the 49ers, Lamb’s Week 8 performance was an encouraging sign to Prescott.  He said after the game, “Everything is still in our control. We’ve lost 4, but we can get hot, and that’s the plan. We just got to keep building.” He added, “Nobody is shaken or giving up. Frustration is very high. It’s a long season.” 

DEFENSE – T.J. WATT (OLB, STEELERS) NYG 18 AT PIT 26

Perhaps more than any other NFL franchise, the Pittsburgh Steelers are known for their prolific legacy of great defensive players, 10 of which are enshrined in the league’s Hall of Fame.  And all 6 of the team’s Super Bowls showcased that defensive prowess.  For 2024, the tradition continues.  Through the first 8 weeks, Pittsburgh’s defense is Top 10 in yards allowed per game, ranks second in points allowed per game (14.9) and is particularly stout in stopping the run (fourth ranked – only allowing 90.5 rush yards/game).  One of the players responsible for these impressive accolades is perennial Pro Bowler and OLB T.J. Watt who HC Mike Tomlin said last year was the “best defensive player on the planet.”  The 8-year player (all with Pittsburgh) has numerous records already including leading the league in sacks 3 of his career years, twice led the league in tackles for a loss and once in forced fumbles. He also has the record for most single-season sacks (22.5 in 2021), has been named a Pro Bowler in all his playing years except his rookie year and an All Pro four times as well as being named Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.  So far this season Watt continues to do well, but he put on an absolute show in Week 8’s home game against the Giants when he recorded 7 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 QB hits.  He also earned the AFC Player of the Week award and jumped to 37^th all time in career sacks with 103.  Having only just turned 30 years old in October, it’s safe to say Watt will likely surpass his older brother (J.J. Watt) in this category (114.5- 24^th ranked) by season’s end.  Actually, J.J. said earlier this year he thinks T.J. may “surpass every single record I’ve ever set… Kid’s incredible.”  

SPECIAL TEAMS – KALIF RAYMOND (K, LIONS) TEN 14 at DET 52

For the first 4 years of his career (2016-2020), dual-threat WR Kalif Raymond played for 4 different teams (DEN, NYJ, NYG, TEN).  And it was a struggle.  He wasn’t playing well and at one point during that difficult time, he thought about quitting the NFL altogether. But he decided to stay the course and see what would come out of hard work and tenacity…  After not playing for any team for a year, he would get a chance with the Titans to become a punt returner in 2019-20.  Then his big break came in 2021 when Lions GM Brad Holmes and HC Dan Campbell were first hired.  As Holmes was scouting for prospects, Raymond’s work in TN turned his head.  He went to Campbell and asked what he thought about bringing him in and Campbell agreed that he seemed to have a spark they were looking for.  They signed the then free agent and ever since, the Georgia native never looked back. Since 2021 with Detroit, Raymond built a reputation for being a consistently good punt returner and wide receiver.  But his career would culminate in record breaking fashion during Week 8 of this season when he would do something no other Detroit Lion has done.  In addition to recording 190 punt return yards on five returns (which included a 64-yard return and 90-yard TD return), Raymond would have 2 receptions for 14 yards and score a TD.  No other Lion has ever recorded a punt return TD and receiving TD in the same game.  The league took notice of this accomplishment and honored him with an NFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award…  After the game, HC Campbell spoke about how he has used Raymond’s life story and “journey” in the NFL to help influence young players, “I tell guys all the time, ‘Go talk to (Raymond)’ Some of these young guys. I’m like, ‘You want to know reality in this league? Go talk to him.. He’ll give you some perspective.’ You don’t know, what is it going to take? Why did the things happen that they did? It could be circumstance, it could be the coaching staff just doesn’t see the value, it could be he’s too small. It could be, ‘Well, he’s a returner only.’ It could be, ‘Well at that time, he wasn’t playing with confidence.’ And I’m using him as an example, but there’s so many factors that go into it. And I know this, everything for him, it’s been perfect, and it’s been the right mixture and the environment’s been great. And he’s been outstanding and his confidence level and everything that he brings to us as a player. I can stand up here and go all day talking about (Raymond). What a stud he is..”  As for Raymond, he did what excellent journeymen players do and that was to receive his thanks but throw his effort back into a collective team effort.  He said, “That’s what good teams do, they play team, complementary ball. That’s what we just did. Love y’all. I thank God for this, and I appreciate you guys.”

WHERE WILL THEY GO FROM HERE? – SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The halfway point of an NFL season is the time of year when we get a feel for which teams seem to be on their way to the post season and which are not.  With my 49ers sitting at 4-4 going into a bye week plus all the devastating injuries we’ve had this year, I have no idea where this team will finish at the end of the regular season, let alone make the playoffs. 

Frankly, it’s hard for me to believe that less than a year ago, San Fran almost beat the Chiefs in the 2023 Super Bowl in OT. Yet here they are at .500 after Week 8 while Kansas City sits on the top of the world undefeated, mostly healthy and surreptitiously replenishing their roster right before the Nov 5 trade deadline.  

Does that mean all is lost for a SB rematch between the Chief and 49ers this year?  

Probably. No team in NFL history has ever started a season with a 4-4 record and then gone on to win a Super Bowl.  

But there is a slim possibility it could be done.  And San Fran might have the team to do it as injured players are scheduled to come back soon.   

One major sign of hope may be right after the bye in Week 10 when WR Christian McCaffrey (CMC) is expected to make his first start of the season.  The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year had missed the first 8 games of the season with Achilles tendonitis.  But if/when he does come back, he’ll have an immediate impact on the offense.  One of the issues with 49ers this season has been Red Zone Scoring.  Through Week 8, they only got TDs 48.57% of the time when in the Red Zone (ranked 27th).  They finished 2023 with the best record in this category (68%).  Part of the issue has been the lack of CMC’s aggressive playmaking abilities.

Other crucial Niners are also on the mend like WR Jauan Jennings, LB Dre Greenlaw and S Talanoa Hufanga, all due back in the lineup in the coming weeks.

Another reason to be hopeful that San Fran can salvage their season is that the other 3 teams in the NFC West are struggling mightily.  If San Fran can go on a run the rest of the season, they could possibly win the division and sneak into the playoffs.

There’s also trades that the 49ers can make before Tuesday’s deadline.  Perhaps they can find reinforcements?  Will they entertain this option?  Or have they thrown in the towel on this season already?  Are they just looking forward to next year now?

In the end, only time will tell what the Niners will do and how they will end up this year.  But HC Kyle Shanahan said this week that all options are currently on the table. As for the immediate future and any possible trades, “We try to look into everything… But it has to do with what options are out there with stuff that we can pull off that doesn’t totally hurt us, that helps us now and doesn’t hurt us for the future. There’s lots of decisions that go into it. So, we’ll look into everything, but a lot of times that’s just kind of living in hope. Those answers aren’t always out there.”

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