Tag: 2023 NFL Week 8

Every NFL fan made the same joke about Justin Fields wearing sunglasses at night

Justin Fields wears sunglasses at night so he can keep track of the visions in his eyes.

In today’s NFL, Justin Fields is undoubtedly one of the league’s more polarizing figures. He’s clearly got the talent to thrive at this level but just hasn’t pieced it together as he enters the halfway point of his third season. But for the time being, conversations about Fields’ NFL success or lack thereof are tabled.

Fields is currently nursing a thumb injury and has missed the last two Chicago starts, with backup Tyson Bagent (somewhat) admirably filling in. On Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, an animated Fields had an interesting get-up on the Chicago Bears sideline. He, of course, had all the classic Bears gear adorned but with one notable addition — deep and dark sunglasses under the Los Angeles night sky. (Also, the Chargers’ stadium has a roof.)

It was frankly a little bizarre to see Fields with this sunglasses fit, inadvertently paying homage to Corey Hart’s musical tribute to looking silly indoors:

Naturally, with Fields shading his eyes so he can watch us weave and then breathe our storylines, NFL fans all made the same joke roasting the Bears quarterback.

We only hope he could see the light that’s right before his eyes.

NFL fans questioned Cris Collinsworth’s repeated praise of the struggling Tyson Bagent

Cris Collinsworth’s bizarre praise of Tyson Bagent went overboard.

We knew what we were getting ourselves into with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers squaring off on Sunday Night Football. In a matchup between two teams with a combined four wins coming in, there probably wouldn’t be much good football. Factor in an inexperienced former Division II player like Tyson Bagent starting at quarterback for Chicago, and a chance at exciting fireworks was implausible.

Well, unless you’re NBC announcer Cris Collinsworth, apparently.

Throughout the evening, NFL fans started to notice how Collinsworth kept praising Bagent despite him not achieving much of anything of note. On a night when the Bears were down 30-7 at the start of the fourth quarter (and would lose 30-13), Collinsworth repeatedly made it a point to discuss just how impressive Bagent’s “leadership” was.

Never mind that Bagent threw two picks and was mostly ineffective:

What was particularly striking to many was how Collinsworth said that Chicago incumbent starter Justin Fields could “study” from Bagent’s style of play. Again, Bagent was pretty nondescript, even awful sometimes, and Collinsworth said this with the Bears down over three scores:

Finally, while the conversation never really stopped, we ended with Collinsworth giving Bagent his flowers for throwing the ball away randomly in the middle of the field … who would then throw an interception on the very next play:

None of this is to detract from Bagent’s great story. In two starts for Chicago, it’s obvious he has the composed skill set of a guy who could be a quality long-term backup. Coming out of Division II and achieving this (gestures broadly) should be considered a massive win for Bagent.

But it’s also obvious Bagent doesn’t possess the ability to be a viable full-time starter. And Collinsworth going out of his way to specifically pump Bagent up while he struggled all evening was pretty ridiculous. That isn’t to say Justin Fields is the Bears’ long-term answer either — he probably isn’t — but he’s definitely better than Bagent. It’s not even a question, and it’s not a stretch to say Collinsworth went overboard.

Kirk Cousins knew his Achilles injury was bad but still cheered for his Vikings teammates from the cart

Kirk Cousins knew his season was over but still kept a positive attitude.

The Minnesota Vikings crawled back to .500 on Sunday at Lambeau Field, but it came at a tremendous cost. Kirk Cousins, clear star quarterback for the Vikings, tore his Achilles during a 24-10 win over the Green Bay Packers and will miss the rest of the season. Barring some significant additions at the upcoming Halloween trade deadline, the Vikings now face an emergency situation that will likely determine the rest of their 2023 season.

After his injury occurred, Cousins almost certainly understood the severity of his injury and what his teammates would face in his absence. But Cousins didn’t let that reality come crashing down on him when he needed help off the field. Right after Cousins sat in the injury cart on the sideline, he looked up and cheered his Vikings teammates on to finish off their crucial win.

I’m almost in awe of the strength Cousins showed in this tough moment:

Folks, this was a good lesson for all of us. Cousins showed us what it means to stay positive despite a worst-case scenario. Cousins is a pending unrestricted free agent this coming offseason. There is a distinct possibility this was his last moment as a Viking.

If that ends up being the case, he went out like a great leader.

Will Levis passionately defended teammate Malik Willis after Titans fans booed him

Will Levis is a fantastic teammate and leader.

In his first career NFL start, Will Levis dazzled.

No one knew what to expect from the rookie quarterback, and he ended up surprising everyone — including his family — with a four-touchdown performance to help the Tennessee Titans beat the Atlanta Falcons 28-23. (He even opened the door to an awesome DeAndre Hopkins quote.)

But even though Levis shined, his backup and second-year Titans quarterback Malik Willis still received occasional snaps in a competition. With Tennessee playing at home, this led to a lot of strange booing of Willis by his team’s own fans. In his postgame press conference, Levis made sure to highlight this discrepancy, crediting Willis for helping him and the offense prepare. What’s more, he asked Titans fans to “treat him [Willis] correctly” next time.

Phew. Now that’s a great teammate:

Levis was under no obligation to stump for Willis. But even after the best performance of his young pro football career, he stood up for his teammate and friend. That is him showing off some remarkable character and leadership.

Bryce Young was so hyped after the Panthers’ first win and NFL fans thought it was because of C.J. Stroud

Sunday’s win seemed extra satisfying for Bryce Young.

Bryce Young has endured a lot of adversity in his first NFL season. For large portions, his Carolina Panthers have resembled the arguably worst team in the league. (Frank Reich also hasn’t done his players many favors.) Meanwhile, the quarterback drafted right after him, C.J. Stroud, has looked like a legitimate franchise quarterback elevating the Houston Texans more than the sum of their parts every single week.

With the Panthers playing the Texans on Sunday, Young had his opportunity to show there’s still so much to decide between him and his childhood friend. I’d say he did rather well, considering the circumstances. Young showed out in a 235-yard, one-touchdown performance where he also led Carolina to a game-winning field goal in the closing moments. Not only were the formerly winless Panthers now on the board, Young did it by beating Stroud head-to-head.

In a video courtesy of the Panthers’ video team, it seemed apparent that getting his first career win at Stroud’s expense meant a lot to the young Carolina quarterback.

To be fair, who wouldn’t have the same reaction?

(Warning: NSFW language in the video below)

Young and Stroud have only just begun their careers. Even with Stroud holding early pole position, Sunday showed us that Young might make this a neck-and-neck race just yet.

Joe Burrow showed his calf was fully healthy by breaking four 49ers tackles on absurd scramble pass

A healthy Joe Burrow is SCARY!

The Cincinnati Bengals’ first six weeks of the 2023 season were unfortunately defined by one thing — the health of Joe Burrow’s calf. Frankly, with how ineffective a relatively immobile Burrow was, the Bengals were lucky to even sit at 3-3 before a well-timed bye.

Well, it seems that rest was just what the doctor ordered for Burrow and the Bengals. After two weeks without games, a clearly fully healthy Burrow was absolutely sparkling against the San Francisco 49ers’ vicious defense on Sunday. He resembled the special Burrow everyone remembered from the first three years of his NFL career, who helped lead Cincinnati to back-to-back AFC title game appearances.

If there were any remaining questions about Burrow’s formerly ailing calf, he answered them by breaking multiple 49ers tackles inside the pocket before launching a third-and-long dime to Tee Higgins.

Oh my goodness. Yeah, I’d say that calf isn’t bothering him anymore.

Burrow was so dialed in against San Francisco that he completed his first 19 passes — a career-high thus far — and seemed generally unflappable against one of the NFL’s top teams. Burrow looking like an elite quarterback again is great news for the Bengals and awful news for everyone else in the AFC.

DeAndre Hopkins called back to an iconic Geno Smith quote after scoring 3 TDs against the Falcons

Geno Smith’s legend had a major impact on DeAndre Hopkins.

There’s no need to dance around the obvious. DeAndre Hopkins is one of the best receivers of his generation. But at the age of 31, while somewhat languishing with the Tennessee Titans this season, some had begun to wonder whether he still had the capacity to play like a No. 1 receiver.

On Sunday, Hopkins used the Atlanta Falcons to give the best response to these questions when he lit them up for four receptions, 128 yards, and three touchdowns. This resembled far more of the player we remembered from his respective heydays with the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans. Hopkins was so great with this “Randy Moss” line that he helped Titans rookie Will Levis enjoy quite the starting debut.

After the game, Hopkins gave himself his flowers in a fantastic way that called back to recent NFL lore. In a selfie video, Hopkins quoted Geno Smith’s celebrated “they wrote me off, I ain’t write them back, though” line from last season in reference to his individual dominance against Atlanta.

I absolutely love every part of this:

That’s the power of Smith’s own resurgence in Seattle. His second act has clearly resonated with Hopkins, one of pro football’s more prominent stars over the last decade. And now, Hopkins can channel him as he builds the next act of his prolific receiving career.

Will Levis’s family adorably erupted in pride as he lit up the Falcons in his first NFL start

Will Levis’s family was BEYOND happy about his awesome Sunday.

Sunday was a momentous day for Will Levis. With an injury to Ryan Tannehill, the Tennessee Titans elected to give the rookie former second-round pick his first NFL start. Expectations for the young passer weren’t very high coming in. They may start to be astronomical moving forward.

Not only did Levis earn his first-ever win against the Atlanta Falcons, but it was his four touchdown passes that directly helped propel Tennessee to the victory. For an experienced veteran, it was quite the performance. For a rookie, it was a dazzling debut almost no one saw coming.

Naturally, Levis’s family was in attendance to support him. And after he dropped an absolute dime to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine for his fourth touchdown and the eventual game-winning score, cameras caught them exploding with joy.

Folks, this is what football is all about:

If Levis can continue building on his momentum in the coming weeks, the Titans might have their new franchise quarterback. I have a feeling, in this case, that it won’t be the last time we see his happy family at the stadium.

5 facts about Tommy DeVito, the Giants’ third-string QB replacing an injured Tyrod Taylor

No, he’s NOT related to Danny DeVito.

The New York Giants found themselves in a rather unfortunate situation against the New York Jets on Sunday.

Around halfway through the second quarter, veteran starter Tyrod Taylor — who was already filling in for an injured Daniel Jones — took a sack where he suffered a rib ailment. After further evaluation by Giants doctors, he’d make a visit to a local hospital and be ruled out for the rest of the game.

That meant Tommy DeVito, a 2023 undrafted free agent out of Illinois (and Syracuse), was forced to step in and try to lead the Giants against one of the best defenses in the NFL. Considering the challenging circumstances and his inexperience, DeVito did rather well by rushing in a touchdown to give Big Blue a lead:

Unfortunately for DeVito, the Giants would eventually lose 13-10 in overtime. At the time of this writing, it’s unclear how long Taylor (and Jones) will miss time for the Giants. That means DeVito could be featuring more significantly for New York in the coming weeks.

Here’s what you need to know about the young rookie quarterback.

J.C. Jackson got traded to the Patriots just to get scorched by Tyreek Hill again

Tyreek Hill’s Dolphins picked on J.C. Jackson like he’s their little brother. AGAIN.

Earlier this season, it was pretty clear that veteran cornerback J.C. Jackson wasn’t going to figure “it” out with the Los Angeles Chargers. In a Week 1 matchup, Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill took Jackson to task in an 11-catch, 215-yard, two-touchdown performance. (The Chargers, of course, lost.)

When Jackson would later be traded to the New England Patriots, that meant he had another (unfortunate) matchup on hand with Hill and the Dolphins. On Sunday, it finally went about exactly as you’d expect. Late in the first quarter, Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa launched a perfect deep ball to Hill, who seemingly sped past Jackson so easily for a score that he might as well have not even been covering the electric playmaker.

In other words, Hill picked up right where he left off by burning Jackson. Again.

If that weren’t enough, with the Dolphins driving in late in the second quarter, Tagovailoa found Cedrick Wilson Jr. with a precise pass while Jackson was draped all over him. This after being called for a seemingly erroneous pass interference penalty on Hill.

The poor guy just can’t catch a break against this Miami team:

Dear reader, that is Jackson being directly responsible for two Dolphins touchdowns after already getting humiliated by them earlier this season. It was a tough (but probably inevitable) break for the defender.