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This week in the NFL had some interesting results, including a “barn burner” in the Meadowlands between the New York Giants and New York Jets. The Philadelphia eagles survived a thriller against the Washington Commanders to get to 7-1 while the Kansas City Chiefs had a surprising loss.

The San Francisco 49ers can’t beat anybody all of a sudden, while the Dallas Cowboys blew out another opponent. Once again, the NFL is a week-to-week league.

This week was a good one for overreactions. Which are actually overreactions and which are reality?

A.J. Brown is the best WR in the NFL
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

This has to be brought up after Brown finished with eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the Eagles’ comeback victory over the Commanders. Brown is the first player in NFL history to have six consecutive games with 125-plus receiving yards, giving him 49 catches for 831 yards and five touchdowns during the stretch.

Tyreek Hill has over 1,000 yards in eight games, but Brown is right behind him with 939 in his first eight games. Brown is on pace for 1,995 receiving yards on the year, looking to set a single-season NFL record (assuming Hill falls off from his historic pace).

Brown is a top-three wideout in the league this year and deserves to be in consideration for the best in the league. Right now, that honor goes to Hill — but Brown is right there in the discussion.

Vikings should tank the rest of the season
Overreaction or reality: Reality

This is really painful to write regarding any team, knowing how hard players work to win games. Regarding the Vikings, the front office may have to do what’s best after losing Kirk Cousins to an Achilles injury.

The Vikings did manage to win and get to 4-4, still in the thick of the NFC playoff race (and in the NFC North race if the Lions lose Monday). Minnesota will have to accomplish this without Cousins and however long Justin Jefferson remains on injured reserve. That’s their two best offensive players sidelined for a while.

Minnesota has Jaren Hall at quarterback and the franchise was already facing an uncertain future with Cousins anyway. Is Hall the future or does the front office have other plans?

Again, really tough to ask a 4-4 team that’s currently the No. 7 seed in the NFC to just punt on the year. For the long-term future of the Vikings — they may have to do that.

Jets-Giants was the worst football game of the season
Overreaction or reality: Reality

For those who decided to watch that battle of the MetLife Stadium teams for three-plus hours, that was not aesthetically pleasing to the game of football. The Jets won 13-10 in overtime, as both teams couldn’t figure out how to get out of each other’s way.

Both teams combined for 24 punts, the most in an NFL game in 25 years. The 16 combined three-and-outs are the most in a game since at least 2000 and they were 4-for-34 on third down — the worst by two teams in any game since 2009. The Giants and Jets were 0-for-18 on third down in the first half.

The Giants had -9 passing yards, the lowest in a game since the Browns in 2000. Some guy named Tommy DeVito, not the “Goodfellas” Joe Pesci version, played quarterback for the Giants.

This was the worst game of the year. Bar none.

Will Levis is the QB of the Titans
Overreaction or reality: Reality

After the performance Levis had in his first career start, the Titans can’t go back to Ryan Tannehill. Levis finished 19 of 29 for 238 yards and four touchdowns in Tennessee’s win over Atlanta. Levis connected with DeAndre Hopkins on three touchdowns, bringing back the fountain of youth in one of the league’s great receivers.

Levis freed up Derrick henry to rush for 101 yards as Tennessee put up 375 yards of offense. He’s the third player in NFL history with four passing touchdowns in his NFL debut (Marcus Mariota and Fran Tarkenton are the others).

The Titans put up a season high in total yards, passing yards, and points — and they won. Levis is a high second-round pick and clearly is good enough to play at this level for the rest of the year.

Tannehill is a free agent at the end of the year anyway. Easy decision to go to Levis.

Brock Purdy is not a clutch quarterback
Overreaction or reality: Reality

As the 49ers continue mired in a three-game losing streak, the league is starting to find some hard truths about Purdy. When San Francisco is tied or trailing in the second half, Purdy has three touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has eight touchdowns to zero interceptions when leading.

Five of those interceptions have come in the last three games. This after a performance when Purdy was 8 of 11 for 83 yards with a touchdown, interception, and fumble in the fourth quarter before getting 69 passing yards in garbage time at the end.

Purdy finished 22 of 31 for 365 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for a 94.2 rating. His second-half numbers when trailing are something to monitor going forward, especially with the 49ers at 5-3.

The Chiefs have no offensive identity
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Perhaps Taylor Swift needs to come to Chiefs games outside of Arrowhead Stadium, since the Chiefs offense put up just nine points and 275 yards of offense in a shocking loss to the Broncos. Patrick Mahomes had his first career game with no passing touchdowns and three turnovers as Travis Kelce was held to just six catches for 59 yards.

The Chiefs didn’t have anyone else stand up with Kelce slowed down. Nine players caught a pass, but no pass catchers had over 50 yards outside of Rashee Rice. Isiah Pacheco had 40 yards rushing and the rest of the team had 22. This is against a Broncos defense that was ranked 31st in points allowed and 32nd in yards allowed heading into the game.

Kansas City has been held to under 30 points six times in eight games, lacking the No. 1 wide receiver who can take the pressure off Kelce and get the offense going. The identity of the Chiefs is Mahomes to Kelce, but nothing if that connection is off.

The Chiefs are very good, but a top playmaker would make them great — again. No reason to worry after a bad performance, but a lot rides on Mahomes and Kelce to get the team moving.

When asked about the struggles of his old team last week on his weekly Pat McAfee Show appearance, Aaron Rodgers deflected a bit and instead pointed to the Minnesota Vikings and their win the night before over the 49ers and how quickly a team’s season can shift in this week-to-week league. He could just as easily make the same point after Week 8, with the Vikings recording one of the biggest pyrrhic victories of the season over Green Bay in a game that saw Kirk Cousins tear his Achilles and end his season.

The MRI coming seems largely perfunctory; the speed with which Cousins was ruled out, the way he was helped off the field, the images of Cousins sitting sullenly on the medical cart with a poofball hat covered a concerned and furrowed brow … it all seemed very obvious his season was toast.

Cousins, as the world found out during Netflix’s “Quarterback” show, takes incredible care of his body which has led to incredible durability. Cousins took over as the full-time starter in Washington in 2015, played under multiple franchise tags and then left in free agency for Minnesota. During that time, he never missed a game for injury.

The injury comes at a time when the Vikings had turned their once-concerning season completely around. After starting 0-3, the Vikings rallied to .500 with their 24-10 win over the Jordan Love-led Packers on Sunday. Their fourth win in five weeks — and the only loss was a one-score defeat to the Chiefs — was a second-straight dominant performance by an oft-criticized Vikings defense. Harrison Smith indicated after beating the Niners that he felt like the Brian Flores scheme was finally starting to click with the players; it’s possible the Vikings defense is starting to turn the corner, making the Cousins injury even more devastating.

Our SportsLine projection model only docks the Vikings 1.1 games on their season win total as a result of the Cousins injury, but that feels light to me. Rookie Jaren Hall replaced Cousins, and the pre-draft scouting report isn’t exactly favorable for the Vikings to assume the offense will keep operating at maximum efficiency. Sean Mannion (on Minnesota’s practice squad) and Nick Mullens (on injured reserve for at least one more week) could also be options for the Vikings if Kevin O’Connell thinks a veteran gives the Vikings a better chance at winning now. Colt McCoy in free agency or Case Keenum via trade are names to watch as well.

This injury will have some massive long-term effects as well. Cousins and the team restructured his deal over the offseason in order to free up cap space, That was in lieu of a contract extension, and it allowed Cousins to enter free agency this offseason. But his age — Cousins will be 36 when the 2024 season begins — and the nature of the injury — Achilles are always tricky, particularly with quarterbacks — could make it complicated to find suitors.

Minnesota could obviously be interested in bringing Cousins back, but it certainly felt like the Vikings were floating in purgatory already, unsure about what they would do at the position moving forward, whether they’d be in the mix for a high draft selection or whether they’d try and keep things going with Cousins, knowing their ceiling was likely capped out.

The Vikings went from an afterthought to a very interesting contender in two weeks, yet overnight they’re an enigma again. The schedule is soft enough not to pack it up, but hearing quotes from various members of the Vikings offense and listening to O’Connell suggest Cousins was having the best season of his NFL career, so it’s hard not to look at Sunday as a devastating victory for Minnesota.

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QB carnage
Cousins wasn’t the only quarterback who dealt with injuries in Week 8, as we saw a slew of quarterbacks leave their respective games. Starters like Deshaun Watson, Ryan Tannehill and Daniel Jones were already missing from starting lineups. And then a bunch more guys got hurt:

Matthew Stafford — Stafford had his throwing hand thumb go ~into~ a defender’s helmet trying to dodge a sack on his followthrough during a pass attempt. Stafford’s tough as nails and stayed in the game initially but got pulled for Brett Rypien with the Rams being blown out by 20-plus points thanks to a career game from CeeDee Lamb. Stafford is EASILY the biggest headliner of the non-Cousins quarterbacks; if he’s forced to miss any time or is severely limited by this thumb injury, it’s a major blow to a promising Rams season.

Tyrod Taylor — Jones was already missing, and you could argue that Taylor, who has had just the WORST injury luck when he’s been the starter over the last few years, was playing better and giving the Giants a better chance at winning football games. Tommy DeVito replaced him, and a matchup NFL on CBS announcer Andrew Catalon called “the ugliest, best game” only got uglier. The G Men losing that game is pretty brutal — Bob Wischusen included “and I’m not sure how” in his game-winning call on the Jets radio. Taylor will be spending the night in the hospital with a scary looking rib injury, so it’s tough to imagine him being ready immediately.

Kenny Pickett — No clue how there wasn’t a flag thrown on the Jaguars when Pickett got injured, and it was certainly controversial as to whether or not the Steelers should have gotten 15 yards for roughing after a previous call went against the Steelers for a similar situation. Mike Tomlin had no update on Pickett’s status, but Mitchell Trubisky is a comparable replacement. Obviously the Steelers want to start their first-round pick, however.

Desmond Ridder — Falcons fans were probably thrilled to see Taylor Heinicke under center, although it wasn’t for the reason everyone thought. Arthur Smith said he “didn’t take him out for performance reasons” and instead it was a possible concussion concern. Ridder was evaluated for a head injury but cleared — Smith added he “didn’t think Des was right” on the field. So it seems like Ridder’s still the guy going forward for Atlanta and Smith, even though there’s no way of telling when and how the Falcons are going to play on a given Sunday.

Rashan Gary will be lurking in Green Bay’s defense for the foreseeable future. The veteran pass rusher has agreed to a four-year, $107 million contract extension with the Packers that includes a $34.6 million signing bonus. Gary himself made the announcement, posting a video to X on Monday morning.

“Thanks to everyone in the Green Bay Packers organization, my family, business team, NFL, friends, fans, and supporters for taking this ride with me,” a note in Gary’s video reads.

Gary was in the final year of his rookie contract after the Packers had previously picked up his fifth-year option. This season, the 25-year-old was making roughly $10.9 million in base salary and this extension has an average annual value of $26.75 million. That AAV has him ranked third among outside linebackers in the NFL and only looking up to the Steelers’ T.J. Watt ($28 million in AAV) and the Chargers’ Joey Bosa ($27 million in AAV).

Gary has been with the Packers since the organization selected him with the No. 12 overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The Michigan product has been a key figure within Green Bay’s defense upon arrival and has bounced back nicely this season after suffering a torn ACL in Week 9 last season against Detroit that cut his fourth season in the league short. Through seven games played in 2023, Gary has totaled 4.5 sacks, 13 pressures, and eight quarterback hits.

In 63 career regular season games (32 starts), Gary has 27 sacks, 150 tackles, three forced fumbles, and 62 quarterback hits.

The Eagles moved to an NFL-best 7-1 with a 38-31 comeback victory over the Commanders. A.J. Brown had his sixth straight game with 125+ yards receiving — the longest streak in NFL history — while catching a pair of touchdowns. Washington, meanwhile, has lost five of six and is expected to sell at the trade deadline as another lost season looms.
The Chiefs dropped a shocker, 24-9, at the Broncos. Russell Wilson threw three touchdowns with Justin Simmons and Ja’Quan McMillian picking off Patrick Mahomes, who had been 12-0 against the Broncos. Mahomes had the first zero-touchdown, three-turnover game of his career
Will Levis joined Marcus Mariota and Fran Tarkenton as the only players with four touchdown passes in their NFL debuts, leading the Titans to a 28-23 win over the Falcons. Cody Benjamin named Levis one of this week’s big winners.
What a weekend in the Pac-12: Washington survived another scare, Arizona upset Oregon State and UCLA handed Colorado its fourth loss in five games.
Ohio State’s defense impressed again in a 24-10 win over Wisconsin.
🐅 Good morning to everyone but especially …
THE CINCINNATI BENGALS

Sometimes, the measure of a team is how it fares when things aren’t going well. Other times, it’s how the team fares when things are rolling. The Bengals stayed afloat during the early part of their season, through Joe Burrow’s injury struggles, and now they’re back among the NFL’s best. Burrow showed his patented pinpoint accuracy and some recently rediscovered scrambling ability as Cincinnati walloped the 49ers, 31-17.

Burrow completed 28 of 32 passes — a Bengals record 87.5% — and threw three touchdown passes. He also had six carries for 43 yards; his prior season highs were four carries and 7 yards. Seems like that calf is feeling better!
Perhaps just as importantly, the Cincinnati defense showed up. Brock Purdy threw two interceptions — to Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt — and lost a fumble.
The Bengals earned an “A” in our Week 8 grades via Tyler Sullivan.

Sullivan: “Cincinnati is starting to look like the team that we’ve come to know under Joe Burrow in recent seasons, and that’s largely because the quarterback’s health is moving in a positive direction in recent weeks. … He had an answer for anything that the 49ers defense was throwing his way and picked the secondary apart. The offense also carried the baton nicely from the defense which was able to create several turnovers.”
As for San Francisco, I said I wasn’t too concerned after the loss to the Vikings. I’m a little concerned now. Purdy was a risk taker (and mistake maker) at Iowa State, and that tendency is rearing its ugly head. He has five turnovers over the last two weeks. Christian McCaffrey can keep breaking records, but until Purdy starts taking care of the ball again, the 49ers will struggle.

👍 Honorable mentions
Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 men’s college basketball recruit in the Class of 2024, has committed to Duke.
The Cowboys’ 43-20 win over the Rams was scorigami. DaRon Bland set a franchise season record with his third pick six.
Nikola Jokic’s advice for Chet Holmgren is “be a little bit fatter.”
Tyson Fury defeated Francis Ngannou in a controversial split decision.
Magic Johnson is a billionaire.
The Oilers beat the Flames, 5-2, in the Heritage Classic.
The USWNT beat Colombia, 3-0.

😯 And not such a good morning for …
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Getty Images
THE NEW YORK GIANTS

Jeff Kerr called it the worst game of the season. And it’s not hard to see why. The Jets’ wet, wild, so-bad-you-want-to-laugh 13-10 win over the Giants featured …

24 combined punts, most in a game since 1998
16 combined three-and-outs, tied for most in a game since 2000
-9 yards passing by the Giants — fewest by a team in a game since 2000 — after Tyrod Taylor (ribs) was injured, leaving Tommy DeVito (who?) to quarterback
And yet the Giants still had a great chance to win, leading 10-7 with 28 seconds left in regulation. Until …

Graham Gano missed a 35-yard field goal, his second miss of the day
Zach Wilson — awful all game — drove the Jets 58 yards in 27 seconds (with no timeouts) to set up Greg Zuerlein’s game-tying kick
The Giants went backwards 11 yards on their overtime drive, punted, committed a horrible pass interference and lost
Listen, it might be harsh to put the Giants here. It’s hard enough to have a competent starting quarterback, much less a competent third-stringer. But this was team-wide incompetency — starting from the top — and yet another embarrassing loss.

👎 Not so honorable mentions
Colorado State got penalized for its fans throwing snowballs at the Air Force bench.
Jasmyn Wimbish explains why it could get late early for the Grizzlies.

🤕 Kirk Cousins (Achilles) among several injured NFL QBs
Getty Images
Just as the Vikings seemed to be back on track, they’ve lost the player who led that turnaround: Kirk Cousins reportedly tore his Achilles late in Minnesota’s 24-10 win over Green Bay.

Cousins, 35, who has missed just one game due to health reasons in his NFL career (COVID-19 in 2021), is in the midst of arguably the best season of his career. He is tied for the league lead in touchdown passes, second in yards passing and third in both passer rating and touchdown-to-interception ratio this season.

I’ve generally been pretty high on Cousins, and this year he’s deserved the praise — especially when things have gone poorly around him. Justin Jefferson remains out, but the Vikings are 3-0 without J.J. Minnesota ranks in the bottom five in most rushing stats and hadn’t scored a touchdown on the ground until this week. The offensive line and the defense have been inconsistent. Through it all, Cousins had been terrific.

It’s hard to imagine the Vikings can overcome this one. Fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall — the presumed starter until Nick Mullens (back) returns — lost a fumble on his second career dropback. Cody has a dozen outside options for the Vikings.

This, naturally, brings up whether Cousins has played his last snap for the team. The two sides tabled talks about a contract extension this past offseason, and it’s unclear whether an expensive, aging quarterback coming off a major injury would fit Minnesota’s “competitive rebuild,” as termed by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah last year.

Cousins was far from the only notable injury for signal callers around the league:

Matthew Stafford (thumb) left and did not return for the Rams. Brett Rypien took over.
Desmond Ridder was checked for a concussion (later cleared) and replaced by Taylor Heinicke for the Falcons.
Kenny Pickett (ribs) left the Steelers’ 20-10 loss to the Jaguars and did not return. Mitch Trubisky took over. Quick aside: Jacksonville went 5-0 this month, the only team to do so. I’m really impressed.
As mentioned earlier, Tyrod Taylor (ribs) left the Giants’ game and didn’t return.
Will Brinson broke down the quarterback carnage, and here’s our full injury roundup.

⚾ World Series tied 1-1; Game 3 preview
World Series – Arizona Diamondbacks v Texas Rangers – Game Two
Getty Images
The World Series is now a best of five after the Rangers and Diamondbacks split Games 1-2 in Texas.

In Game 1, Corey Seager bashed a game-tying two-run home run off Paul Sewald in the ninth inning, and Adolis García walked it off with a solo shot in the 11th for a 6-5 win. The long ball saved Texas, wrote Matt Snyder, while Sewald’s blown save brought back bad memories, noted Dayn Perry.
In Game 2, there was no need for Sewald: Merrill Kelly turned in another ace performance as Arizona cruised to a 9-1 win. Ketel Marte ran his postseason hitting streak to 18 games, longest in MLB history.
Dayn has four things we’ve learned so far.
The Rangers desperately need Max Scherzer — pitching through a cut on his thumb — to throw well after Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery both struggled. Scherzer posted a 9.45 ERA across 6 2/3 innings in two ALCS appearances, and while it’s remarkable he’s pitching at all given his late-season shoulder injury, the World Series is the time for results, not good stories. Rookie Brandon Pfaadt will get the ball for Arizona.

🏈 Georgia, Oregon dominate as Oklahoma gets upset
USATSI
No Brock Bowers, no problem for No. 1 Georgia. The Bulldogs were the toast of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, beating Florida 43-20 in Jacksonville. Dennis Dodd says Kirby Smart’s team sent a message ahead of a big week.

Dodd: “The result reverberated all the way from here at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee meeting room in Irving, Texas. That’s where the first CFP Rankings will emanate from Tuesday. On Saturday, Georgia made a statement: The Dawgs deserve to be No. 1 in that first poll.”
Meanwhile, Oregon strengthened its playoff resume with an astonishing 35-6 rout at Utah, which hadn’t lost at home since 2020.

As for a top team going the wrong direction, Oklahoma’s dream season came to a halt in a 38-33 loss at Kansas. The Sooners earned a “D” in Barrett Sallee’s weekly grades, and Shehan Jeyarajah declared them one of the week’s biggest losers. Perhaps the only thing feeling worse than the Oklahoma defense are the Kansas goalposts, which ended up in Potter Lake.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys’ return home to AT&T Stadium was exactly what they needed to win their second game in a row against a Los Angeles NFL team. They squeaked past the Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California 20-17 in Week 6, and in Week 8, following their Week 7 bye, the Cowboys routed the Rams 43-20 for their 11th consecutive home win, extending the NFL’s longest active home winning streak.

Here is a look at some of the Cowboys’ biggest storylines from a wire-to-wire victory at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

The Cowboys are going undefeated at home
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Within the friendly confines of AT&T Stadium, Dallas has been downright dominant. The Cowboys own the longest active home winning streak in the NFL with 11 straight wins, and they have won all three of their home games in 2023 by a combined score of 111-33. The Cowboys have defeated each of their home opponents by 20 or more points, making them the only team in the NFL in the last 15 years to win each of their first three at home by 20 or more.

Cowboys by location this season

HOME ROAD
W-L

3-0

2-2

PPG

37.0

21.5

PPG Allowed

11.0*

21.8

Point Differential

+78

-1

Total YPG

382.0

305.0

Total YPG Allowed

249.3

316.0

Turnover Margin

+7

-1

3rd Down Pct

51.1%

45.3%

Time of Possession

37:37*

28:28

*Best in NFL

The 11 consecutive home game victories is Dallas’ longest streak since it also won 11 in a row spanning from 1991-1992, the latter season being the first of its three Super Bowl championship years in the 1990s.

That begs the question: Will the Dallas Cowboys go undefeated at home this season? The Cowboys have five home games remaining in 2023: Week 10 vs. the 2-6 New York Giants, Week 12 vs. the 3-5 Washington Commanders, Week 13 vs. the 5-2 Seattle Seahawks, Week 14 vs. the 7-1 Philadelphia Eagles and Week 17 vs. the 5-2 Detroit Lions. The Eagles, Seahawks and Lions are currently the top three teams in the NFC standings right now. Given those three teams are the Cowboys’ last three home foes, it’s unlikely they can run the table at AT&T Stadium in 2023. It is possible. Sure. Likely, probably not.

Lamb can make a run at his first First Team All-Pro nod
Overreaction or reality: Reality

CeeDee Lamb totaled career highs across the board against the Rams with 12 catches for 158 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. His big day propelled him to 308 catches in his four-year career, which makes him the quickest player in franchise history to hit 300 career receptions, doing so in 56 career games, as well as solidifying himself as the second-fastest Cowboy to reach 4,000 career receiving yards, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Bob Hayes, who did so in 52 games.

“Very satisfying,” Lamb said of his performance postgame on Sunday. “It proves my ability. It proves that I trusted myself, and it proves that my team trusted me, so I appreciate it for them and love that for me. We have to keep building. … Not necessarily surprised because that’s what we’re looking for week in and week out. That’s how we should play and that’s just more of a stepping stone to what’s to come.”

Lamb, 24, was primed for a peak performance from kickoff on Sunday, hauling in nine catches for 122 receiving yards and both touchdowns in the first half against Los Angeles. That included catching all three of his targets for 26 yards on the opening drive, a possession that was capped with an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dak Prescott, who finished with 304 passing yards, four touchdowns and one interception on 25-of-31 passing.

“I don’t know that we’ve had a more dominant role played by a receiver,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said postgame on Sunday. “I can’t remember who because he was in on everything we were trying to do on every series. Obviously, you’ve seen him play at that level. We’ve all seen him play at that level, but I don’t think he’s had so many opportunities [Lamb’s 14 targets are tied for his second most in a game in his career] as he had out there today. It was a phenomenal game for him, career game for him.”

player headshot
team logo
CeeDee Lamb
DAL • WR • #88
TAR
56
REC
46
REC YDS
633
REC TD
3
FL
0
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At the moment, Lamb’s 633 receiving yards rank as the eighth most in the NFL while his receiving touchdowns total (three, tied for 20th) and receptions (46, tied for 13th) rank outside the top 10 in the NFL.

So why the optimism Lamb could make a run at his first First Team All-Pro nod? In Weeks 6 and 8, the dates of the Cowboys’ last two games, Lamb has 19 catches, tied with Bills Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs and Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen for the most in the NFL. His 275 receiving yards in Weeks 6 and 8 are tied with reigning First Team All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins for the most in the NFL. Should Lamb produce like Hill and Diggs consistently going forward, he could make a strong charge for one of the three wide receiver openings on the 2023 edition of the exclusive club.

Cooks is set to break out
Overreaction or reality: Reality

The Cowboys trading for Brandin Cooks this past offseason was supposed to atone for their horrendous sin of trading away four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amar Cooper to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for late-round draft pick compensation. Entering Week 6, he had only nine catches for 73 yards on 19 targets. Against the two Los Angeles teams, the Chargers in Week 6 and the Rams in Week 8, Cooks has produced more yards (85) and more receiving touchdowns (two) on two fewer catches (seven). His 25-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter on Sunday occurred because Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy approved of Cooks’ play-call suggestion, highlighting the trust he has already in Year 1 with a new team. That’s the type of belief that indicates bigger and better performances are on the horizon.

Dak Prescott has his 4th TD pass, this one to Brandin Cooks!

📺: #LARvsDAL on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Quwvdzpx7G pic.twitter.com/jhrnvLgpCz

— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2023
“He is a guy that has done everything right from Day 1,” Prescott said of Cooks postgame on Sunday. “He’ll start reaping the benefits of the work that he’s put into this, what he means to this team. He’s a guy that has played a lot of ball and has a lot of experience. That last touchdown, I honestly didn’t know the conversation until afterwards, but that’s a play that he went to Mike and said, ‘I guarantee this will work’ because of past plays running something similar and complimentary from that play that allowed us to take a shot on that defensive back. That’s a guy that has a lot of knowledge and experience, communicates well. That touchdown was huge. He did exactly what he said he would do. He promised Mike, ‘Hey, if you call this, it’s going to be good.’ From the time that play came in, I knew it was going to be good. It was a play we’ve had success at going way back to the spring. It might have been the first one I threw him in training camp or even before then. The guys does everything the right way. He’s going to continue to do that and all the rest of the stuff just comes.”

The Cowboys can’t trust Tyron Smith to stay healthy in 2023
Overreaction or reality: Reality

Following the Week 7 bye, the entire Cowboys team practiced on Wednesday. Then, eight-time Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith, who is 32, popped up on the Thursday and Friday practice report with a neck injury. He was then ruled out on Sunday despite belief during the week that Dallas would have its preferred starting offensive line of Tyron Smith (LT), Tyler Smith (LG), Tyler Biadasz (C), Zack Martin (RG) and Terence Steele (RT) for the third game in a row.

“We all thought Tyron was going to go until the last second and probably better part of valor was to not play him today,” Jerry Jones said postgame on Sunday. “The Super Bowl might have been a different story, but we didn’t want him to get another stinger out there on top of what he has had. He’ll work through this as he always has throughout his career.”

Smith even spent a portion of his pregame routine in full uniform, not the actions of someone who thought they were going to be inactive.

“It was a medical decision,” McCarthy said postgame when asked about Smith not playing against the Rams on Sunday. “He worked out, and the medical staff decided that he wasn’t ready to go. Tyron was suited up and one of the first guys here today. He was ready to go, but after going through the examination, the medical staff decided he was not ready.”

Even though Smith appeared to be healthy this week, it’s clear Dallas truly won’t know what his status is for any given week until game day going forward. The toughest part about the Cowboys’ uncertainty at left tackle is they are now in a precarious position with their depth at that spot. Smith’s fill-in on Sunday, Chuma Edoga, left Sunday’s game with an ankle injury and did not return. The team will run tests on him tomorrow to determine the extent of his injuries. That means Dallas is down to fifth-round rookie offensive lineman Asim Richards. He has played in four games this season and started none. Richards was inactive in Weeks 5 and 6 prior to Sunday’s game. It would be wise for the Cowboys to look into trade options at the position prior to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline.

The Denver Broncos handily took down the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-9, in an AFC West tilt on Sunday. In fact, the Broncos took the upset win a step further and trolled the Chiefs by playing Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” right after the game.

Of course, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been dating the pop superstar in recent months.

Broncos celebrate win vs Chiefs with Taylor Swift music 👀 pic.twitter.com/3TFdN8InJC

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) October 29, 2023
The Broncos thoroughly dominated the Chiefs as they held Kansas City’s offense in check. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was battling the flu heading into Sunday’s game, completed 24-of-38 passes for only 241 yards and two interceptions.

Kelce caught six of his nine targets for 58 yards, but failed to do significant damage as he didn’t find the end zone. The Chiefs star had registered 303 receiving yards over his past two contests coming into Sunday.

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson may have only thrown for 114 passing yards, but he tossed three touchdown passes. Receivers Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton both managed to get into the end zone, while running back Javonte Williams also caught a touchdown pass.

This was the not the type of showing the NFL world has grown accustomed to when it comes to the Chiefs’ typically lethal offense. Considering the Broncos hadn’t beaten the Chiefs since 2015, they took advantage of the opportunity to troll their AFC West rivals.

It looks like the Tennessee Titans will give Will Levis the second start of his career this week. According to a report from ESPN, Titans starter Ryan Tannehill is expected to remain out for Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Titans will again start Levis.

Tannehill suffered a high-ankle sprain last week and missed Tennessee’s Week 8 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Levis started in his place and in the first action of his pro career completed 19 of 29 passes (65.5%) for 238 yards (8.2 YPA) and four touchdowns without being intercepted.

Each of Levis’ four scoring tosses came from at least 16 yards out, with the rookie finding DeAndre Hopkins three times and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine once. It’s worth noting that 157 of his 238 passing yards came on those four plays, and he was otherwise just 15 of 25 for 81 yards. That said, Levis’ arm strength is his calling card and setting him up to throw those kinds of deep balls is probably the best path to his finding success early in his career.

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The Steelers have allowed the NFL’s fourth-most completions or 20 yards or more (28), per Tru Media, so there could be opportunities for Levis to fire the ball down the field again on Thursday night. The trade deadline does occur between now and then, though, so there is the possibility that one or both of these teams’ rosters looks different by the time the game kicks off.

ARLINGTON, Texas — There is a cliché that the NFL stands for Not For Long, given that the average player’s career length is just over three years. However, that saying can also be applied to Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s period of being dormant, from Weeks 3-5 when he caught 12 passes for 138 and one touchdown combined across in a stretch that included a home win over the Patriots and road losses at the Cardinals in Week 3 and at the 49ers in Week 5.

Following the loss at the 49ers, Lamb, who totaled four catches for 49 receiving yards, said “I don’t know” three times postgame when asked what the Cowboys’ offensive identity was. His thoughts on the team’s offensive identity couldn’t have been more in contrast to that statement on Sunday following consecutive 100-yard games in a Dallas sweep of the Los Angeles Chargers — the Cowboys won 20-17 at the Chargers in Week 6 as Lamb caught all seven of his targets for 117 receiving yards — and the Los Angeles Rams: the Cowboys won 43-20 versus the Rams at AT&T Stadium in Week 8 on Sunday.

“We’re explosive and physical,” Lamb said postgame on Sunday. “I say that with full ability and capability, we know what we can do week in and week out, and we can definitely take the top off a defense.”

The 24-year-old totaled career-highs across against the Rams with 12 catches for 158 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. His big day propelled him to 308 catches in his four-year career, which makes him the quickest player in franchise history to hit 300 career receptions, doing so in 56 career games, as well as solidifying himself as the second-fastest Cowboy to reach 4,000 career receiving yards, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Bob Hayes, who did so in 52 games.

“Very satisfying,” Lamb said of his performance Sunday. “It proves my ability. It proves that I trusted myself. and it proves that my team trusted me, so I appreciate it for them and love that for me. We have to keep building… Not necessarily surprised because that’s what we’re looking for week in and week out. That’s how we should play and that’s just more of a stepping stone to what’s to come.”

He was primed for a peak performance from kickoff on Sunday, hauling in nine catches for 122 receiving yards and both touchdowns in the first half against Los Angeles. That included catching all three of his targets for 26 yards on the opening drive, a possession that was capped with an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dak Prescott, who finished with 304 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and one interception on 25-of-31 passing.

“I don’t know that we’ve had a more dominant role played by a receiver,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said postgame on Sunday. “I can’t remember who because he was in on everything we were trying to do on every series. Obviously, you’ve seen him play at that level. We’ve all seen him play at that level, but I don’t think he’s had so many opportunities [Lamb’s 14 targets are tied for his second-most in a game in his career] as he had out there today. It was a phenomenal game for him, career game for him.”

His first touchdown occurred in the first few minutes of the second quarter when Lamb hit his defender with a lean to the left before chopping his feet and hitting a hard in-cut back to the right for a 10-yard score on a slant route, extending Dallas’ lead to 23, 26-3.

CeeDee TD! @dallascowboys up 26-3.

📺: #LARvsDAL on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Quwvdzpx7G pic.twitter.com/WSlOvggWzY

— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2023
“I got started early and it kind of opened up the offense for us,” Lamb said. “It’s huge, honestly, just get in the game early get the defense on their heels, obviously they’re going to be focused on me, so giving them a reason to focus on me and then I want all my guys to explode.”

The second score displayed the obvious on-field chemistry between Prescott and Lamb. Prescott and the Cowboys offense coaches spoke at length multiple times over the last two weeks — after their win against the Chargers, during the Cowboys’ bye week and in the lead-up to this Week 8 showdown — about the quarterback involving his legs more throughout the game, as both a designated rusher and scrambler looking to pass. Prescott performed the latter function on this play, and Lamb shadowed his movement perfectly to find the gap in the Rams’ zone coverage for a wide-open, 22-yard touchdown pass.

“Honestly, it wasn’t a bit scheduled, Dak did a great job scrambling out of the pocket and then I did my best of being open and staying open.”

.@_CeeDeeThree scores his 2nd touchdown 🔥

📺: #LARvsDAL on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Quwvdzpx7G pic.twitter.com/wFjF33IABD

— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2023
The scoring strike appeared natural, but that’s the kind of play the Dallas duo has been working on for months, if not years.

“A lot of work and a lot of time put into it,” Prescott said postgame on Sunday of his and Lamb’s on-field connection. “We talk about the positive of work and being able to withdraw when you need to and you can go back into the offseason from the time we started back in April or even before then in my backyard. The time we spent in minicamp/OTAs, trips out to Atlanta, a lot of time invested, a lot of trust in that guy. He runs, he knows what I’m thinking, and we’re always communicating. I think that’s why when it’s not going our way, it’s frustrating because we put so much into it. We’re reaping the rewards of everything we have put into this and it’s only going to continue to grow because all that does is give everybody – himself, the whole team, the play-caller, everybody more confidence in getting him into positions and allowing us to go to work.”

“Staying open man, that’s all I can do, and at my position he’s relying on me and I’m relying on him,” Lamb said. “We built the trust coming in, this year three together, or four, dang, I’m getting old! But it’s year four together, a lot of trust.”

For Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy, the team’s offensive play-caller, is more than happy to keep pressing the “throw to Lamb” button over and over again because on Sunday, those plays looked easy.

“You can clearly see the connection,” McCarthy said postgame. “It obviously started last year but with the offseason, these guys have spent a tremendous amount of time together. The one touchdown throw was a new wrinkle. You only have that kind of patience as a quarterback unless you truly trust the receiver at the top of the stem there [on the first touchdown pass to Lamb]. It was a tight window too. Hopefully, it just keeps going too. We obviously know that people are going to continue to try to double and tilt towards him [CeeDee Lamb] and it’s important to keep moving him around. Yes, Dak [Prescott] and CeeDee [Lamb] are definitely connected and they had a big day today.”

Prescott’s and Lamb’s connection became even stronger after the two worked through the receiver’s frustration with not being as involved in the offense in Weeks 3-5 as the fourth-year pro would have liked, but now the results they are reaping on the other side are exactly what both were hoping to achieve with hope of even more explosive days going forward.

“That was just doubling down and making sure he and we understand we put a lot of work into this, ‘don’t get frustrated,'” Prescott said. “‘Don’t allow people to see your frustration of when things aren’t going our way.’ That’s the National Football League. None of this is going to be easy, but that’s when we’ve got to be better. That’s when we have to trust one another more…. These last two two games have been a big picture of that. It’s only going to get better, and we’re only going to continue to work and communicate with one another. Mike is doing a great job of putting him in positions to create matchups.”

LANDOVER, Md. — A.J. Brown saw a group of reporters at his locker and smiled. The man who set the NFL record with the most consecutive games with 125-plus receiving yards knew who they were waiting for.

Brown made sure Julio Jones knew, too.

Jones appeared surprised they were waiting after most of the locker room cleared out and took a businesslike approach as he put his throwback Philadelphia Eagles hat on. All Jones did was catch the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter that gave the Philadelphia Eagles a 38-31 comeback victory over the Washington Commanders, throwing it back to when the future Hall of Fame receiver was making plays like that on the regular in his prime.

“It’s football. I mean, I’ve been playing it for a long time, right?” Jones said. “They know I can make plays. My number was called, I needed to be clutch and do my job. Regardless of the score, there was an opportunity for me and I needed to take advantage of it.”

The Eagles practiced the play all week where Jones made the go-ahead touchdown catch to give the Eagles a 31-24 lead with 7:17 left. Jones was the primary receiver on the play, just two weeks after arriving in Philadelphia as a much-needed elder statesman in a locker room with a lot of young, but productive wide receivers.

Jason Kelce thought Jones was smacked in the head when he made the catch, knowing the ball was coming to him. Once Jones caught the touchdown, the leaders on the Eagles were fired up for the 34-year-old wideout showing he still can make those catches at a high level.

“I mean … he got smacked,” Kelce said. “Regardless he held on to it. Didn’t phase him. It was just a great play. We were all excited to see if it was gonna work out for him.”

“He’s supposed to hit me, it’s football,” Jones said. “I don’t blink. I’ve been doing it for a long time, so it’s not like I freak out when somebody’s gonna hit me on the head. My job is to focus on the football and catch it.”

Lane Johnson sprinted to the end zone to celebrate with Jones once the touchdown was made, knowing how hard Jones worked to get to that point.

“I’m still just a huge fan,” Johnson said. “Any time you get a Hall of Fame-caliber player like that, I mean, he’s on the last part of his career and still making plays. I was super hyped for him, seeing how hard he works. He did what Julio Jones does.”

Jones is the No. 3 wideout on the Eagles behind Brown and DeVonta Smith, yet his presence in the locker room is clearly felt. On a team with plenty of leaders and Super Bowl champions over 30, Jones is also a role model for the younger stars who grew up watching him dominate.

Sunday’s catch was reminiscent of when Jones was in his prime, so seeing him find the fountain of youth was extra special.

“He made a big-time play in a big-time moment,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “He’s been in those moments a lot of times in his career. It was cool to see. Cool to see, cool to do. Cool to see him making a play for you.

“Out of all my years I never thought I’d say I’d be throwing touchdown passes to Julio Jones, but here it is.”