ClutchPoints
There wasn’t a ton of drama and intrigue in Week 8 of the NFL season, but sometimes that’s what it takes to draw some hard lines in the sand about who is for real and who is not as the season reaches its halfway point.
The week opened with a blowout on Thursday night, when the Minnesota Vikings got crushed 37-10 by the Los Angeles Chargers. Sunday followed suit with just one game that finished with a final margin of one score between the Bengals and the Jets.
Just because there wasn’t a classic Witching Hour on Sunday afternoon doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of important takeaways to take from the games. Some of the teams that got hit with a reality check on Sunday headline the list of losers from Week 8.
The Minnesota Vikings came into the year with high expectations despite an uncertain quarterback situation. Kevin O’Connell’s squad boasts one of the most talented rosters in the league, but it turns out the QB situation has doomed them in 2025.
Things came to a head on Thursday night in prime time, as the Vikings were blown out by the Chargers 37-10 with the whole country watching. After an Isaiah Rodgers pick-six was called back on the first drive of the game, nothing went right for the Vikings as they fell to 3-4 on the season with a tough stretch coming up.
Carson Wentz has played poorly since taking over for the injured JJ McCarthy, and now he is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Now, McCarthy is returning, but he also didn’t look great earlier in the season. The rest of the ream is either banged up or underperforming, and it is starting to look more and more like a lost season in Minnesota.
So far this season, there has been the good Falcons and the bad Falcons. The bad Falcons have been especially ugly at times, suffering a blowout loss to the Panthers and a lifeless performance against the shorthanded 49ers. Sunday’s showing, a 34-10 blowout loss at home against what’s left of the Dolphins, takes the cake.
Even with Michael Penix Jr. sidelined with an injury, the Falcons still should have been able to move the ball with Kirk Cousins at quarterback against one of the worst defenses in the league against the run and the worst unit in football against the pass. That was not the case, however, as Atlanta finished with the fifth-lowest EPA per play of the week on offense.
The running game was by far the most disappointing part of the game. The Falcons, normally a great running team, finished below only the Vikings with a negative-0.65 EPA per rush mark in Week 8. Now, Atlanta is sitting at 3-4 with a tough game against the Patriots coming up and its playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.
**Joe Flacco brings back the full...
