Looking back on Week 8 in the NFL:
The Los Angeles Rams played what amounted to a road game at home as the Green BaY Packers fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum made it seem like a Packers home game. But the Rams showed they don’t need a home field edge as they edged the Packers, 29-27, to finish the first half of the season with a perfect 8-0 mark. The Rams find out in the next three weeks if they have a serious shot at 16-0 when they go to New Orleans and play the Kansas City Chiefs in Mexico City sandwiched around a game against Seattle. The Rams needed the help of a bonehead decision by Ty Montgomery to ice the game. He took the kickoff out of the end zone after the Rams took a two-point lead. He fumbled, the Rams recovered and Aaron Rodgers didn’t get a chance to drive the team for a game-winning field goal. The Packers then traded Montgomery to the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday.
2. The New Orleans Saints got revenge for their last-second loss in the playoffs to the Minnesota Vikings last January by posting a 30-20 victory. They took advantage of two Minnesota mistakes to take control of the game — a fumble by Adam Thielen that set up a score and a pick-six by P.J. Williams off Kirk Cousins, although Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs may have been at fault by running the wrong route. The Saints now host the unbeaten Rams next Sunday in one of the biggest games of the season.
3. The Denver Broncos got another reminder that it is going to be difficult for them to compete in the AFC West until John Elway finds a quarterback to compete with Patrick Mahomes, who threw for four touchdowns and 303 yards in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 30-23 victory. The Broncos defense couldn’t stop Mahomes, and Case Keenum couldn’t keep up with Mahomes. The balance of power has shifted in the division to the Chiefs, and Elway has to find the team’s quarterback of the future.
4. Former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich had a successful debut in his first game as the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator as the Cardinals beat the 49ers, 18-15. Rookie quarterback Josh Rosen brought the Cardinals back from a 15-3 deficit as he completed 23 of 40 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns with one pick. Leftwich, who said he wanted to call plays that were a good fit for Rosen, used screens effectively against the 49ers defense.
5. The Buffalo Bills are still paying the price for going into the season with Nathan Peterman as their backup quarterback. When Josh Allen was injured and Peterman flamed out, they had to sign Derek Anderson off the street. Not surprisingly, Anderson hasn’t put a touchdown on the board the last two games, and he threw a critical pick-six in a 25-6 loss to the New England Patriots and suffered a concussion. So the Bills have to go back to Peterman for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. With a better quarterback, the Bills might have had a chance to upset the Patriots because the Patriots were ahead only 12-6 going into the final period and Tom Brady didn’t throw a touchdown pass despite throwing for 324 yards. Job One for the Bills in the off season has to be getting rid of Peterman and finding an adequate backup.