Week 8 Recap

In a word, this week was ugly.  Not that that's such a bad thing if you like defense and upsets.  A stunning six teams had defensive touchdowns on Sunday, the Rams-Panthers game featured punches and ejections, and it'll be a while before we forget that very bizarre penalty in the Meadowlands.  Anyway, I certainly can't complain about not having anything to write about this week.  Here's your Week 8 Recap:

Week 8: The Good Stuff

Megatron's Megatons of Yards - It was a really good week in the picks, and yours truly saw the Lions tearing it up in the air in her crystal ball.  Still, nobody was expecting Calvin Johnson to put up 329 reception yards--the second most in a single game all-time--as part of the equation.  This guy has no peer in the NFL today, not even you, Dez Bryant.  He averaged over 20 yards per catch including an 80-yard scamper from a dump off and a clutch 20-yard play to set up the game-winning TD for the Lions with 12 seconds left in the game.  Overall, it was an ugly win for Detroit, but Johnson absolutely deserved it.  In fact, he caught more yards than all but three QBs including his own passed for this week.  Yow. Za.

Green Bay's Ground Game - Patriots and Falcons take note - no receivers means no problems for the Green Bay Packers these days.  You may have heard about the Packers' struggles on the ground in recent years; they hadn't had a 100-yard rusher in any game since their 2010 Super Bowl run until this season.  Fast forward to 2013 with rookie Eddie Lacy and James Starks trading hand offs and now Green Bay has a top five rushing team in terms of yards per game and yards per attempt.  This is huge for a team that has struggled to build and protect a lead in key games lately, especially in those rare situations where Aaron Rodgers and/or his receivers are out of sync.  Keep an eye on Lacy & co. as the season wears on and Green Bay needs to close out games at an icy Lambeau Field - it could be just one more form of punishment for visiting teams as the Packers try to reclaim the division lead.

Nailed It!  My Best Week 8 Prediction - Look at my waterproof logic!

• "I don't know what to do with these Steelers.  They suddenly look like their stingy ground-and-pound selves again, which would normally have me picking them in a game like this.  But that's just the kind of thing that I always whiff on so I've game theoried myself into thinking somehow the Raiders can do this."

Week 8: The Bad Stuff

Matt Ryan's Arizona Problem -The hits just keep on coming for the Falcons, who after going 13 - 3 a year ago are already sporting a 2 - 5 record.  Atlanta's problems are much larger than any one player or phase of the game, but Matt Ryan had one of his worst outings since, well, the last time he played the Cardinals.  In case you missed it in 2012, Ryan threw 5 interceptions and 0 TDs but somehow hung on for the win against sad, sad Ryan Lindley.  This time around, Ryan produced another 4 interceptions and they were just plain ugly.  Whereas the previous year, you could have made an argument that some of the passes were tipped, these interceptions were wild-pitch quality coming from Ryan.  The guy could hardly stay upright with a woeful offensive line and resorted to about four too many Hail Marys,  being the first QB in the modern era to put up 300 yards in passing for less than 5 yards per attempt.  Yech.

Only the Cowboys - Only the Cowboys could lose a game the way they did to the Lions on Sunday.  Dallas produced a 4+ turnover margin and had an air-tight 6-point lead on third down with a minute left on the clock and the Lions out of timeouts.  A team not called the Cowboys would have run the ball into the line of scrimmage and leave Detroit with 20 seconds to drive down the field and score a touchdown.  But the Cowboys like to do things just a little bit differently like earn themselves a holding penalty to stop the clock and then give Calvin "I already have 290 receiving yards" Johnson one-on-one coverage to take Detroit to the goal line in less than a minute.  It was only fitting that Dallas would then get totally punked by Matt Stafford's QB sneak to top off this improbable collapse.  I loved every minute of it, and now Dallas still finds itself just two games ahead of the godawful Redskins and Giants.

Shanked It!  My Worst Week 8 Prediction: Hey, look!  I jinxed the Falcons again, not that I'm complaining:

• "The last time the Falcons and Cardinals squared off, Matt Ryan was intercepted a whopping 5 times and still somehow managed to pull off the win.  Arizona's secondary is probably more thankful to be playing Atlanta without Julio Jones and Roddy White in tow, but they'd also probably much prefer playing against Carson Palmer than Matt Ryan."