After taking a week off, as time was very limited last week, I’m glad to be back again for another version of “Week RECAP, What’s ahead”. After a week of rest, and preparation, I’m ready to get back into full gear. So, back, and better than ever, here’s another edition of RECAP/What’s ahead.

OPENING DRIVE – Bills, Jags – History was made last Sunday, when YAHOO! streamed a live telecasting of the Bills, Jaguars game in London for the first time ever. Now, I don’t know if the game was also on t.v, but I watched the game on YAHOO!, and it wasn’t the greatest thing someone’s ever thought of. As you can imagine, the connection wasn’t as great as a telecast would be, and occasionally the game would get blurry, or fuzzy. I would have much rather watched the game on television, but hey, that’s just me. As for the actual game, Jacksonville went into the half with a commanding 27-13 lead. Their defense made a lot of big plays, forcing 4 turnovers in the game. However, the second half was a little different. In the fourth quarter, the Bills scored 18 points, and made it a game again. With about six minutes to go, the Bills scored a goal line touchdown, and made it a three point game. Next drive, the Jaguars pushed the ball, and Blake Bortles tossed a beautiful 31 yard touchdown to Wide receiver, Allen Hurns . Bills ball, Jacksonville defense holds up, ball game. In the end, it was an exciting game for the most part, and a huge step in the right direction for Jacksonville, who now go into their bye week with a 2-5 record, in an AFC South division that isn’t really doing so good right now, seeing as the number one team, Indianapolis, is 3-4. As for Buffalo, they must’ve had a really long plane ride home from London after this loss, as they’re 3-4, but in dead last in the AFC East.

Jason Pierre Paul signs with Giants – After it seemed his career was over following a 4th of July fireworks accident, Jason Pierre recently signed a one year deal with New York Giants. Pierre Paul suffered multiple burns to his right hand, and even blew off two fingers. Hopefully for the Giants sake, Pierre Paul can play just as good with eight fingers as he could with ten. Pierre Paul’s leadership, and experience will definitely be needed with this group of Giants, who have a tough next three games, at New Orleans, at Tampa Bay, and vs New England. All three teams have been very good on offense this season, which doesn’t help New Yorks defense, or their eight fingered friend. However, rumors have it that Pierre Paul could make a return some time between week 10, to week 13.

Ravens, Cardinals Monday night thriller – Following yet another loss, the Baltimore Ravens were in high need of another win last weekend. SPOILER ALERT – They didn’t get it. For most of the game, the Cardinals offense dominated the struggling Baltimore defense. Carson Palmer Palmered, Larry Fitzgerald Fitzgeralded, Chris Johnson Johnsoned, you get the idea, you know how it is, entire domination by three guys who have really nice last names. Baltimore wouldn’t quit though. Down 26-10 late in the game, the Ravens special teams players went to work. The defense made a huge late 4th quarter stop, which lead to a blocked punt at the goal line, which led to a Joe Flacco – Kyle Juszczyk (full back who has a very difficult last name to pronounce.) Baltimore would also go for the two point conversion, and got it. Arizona’s offense again later blundered, which gave Flacco and the offense another chance. Baltimore marched down the field, and with less than thirty seconds to go got in the red zone! Woh ho ho! Yeah, but wait for it. Instead of writing it, the lazy side of me kicked in, so here’s a video to share, and relive the awesomeness of Joe “Elite” Flacco at his finest. JOE COOL —> LOL CITY HAHAHA!!! You see that? Oh boy, just when Joe Flacco leads his team to an impressive drive, he throws an interception at the goal line. Classic. Baltimore’s in a bad position right now, as they’re 1-6 to start their face palming 2024 season. As for Arizona, nice win, but they let Baltimore get back into the game, and they gotta fix that for future games.

Colts still frightening – You’d think that the return of Andrew Luck would help fix most of the Indianapolis Colts problems, but nope. Since Luck returned two weeks ago, the Colts have lost two back to back games. Close games, but still two games. If you looked at their record with just Andrew Luck starting, they’d be 1-4. As for their other QB, 40 year old Matt Hasselbeck , he’s 2-0 in his starts. Now… I’m not necessarily saying sit Luck, but then again … I’m not not saying it either. Even with this bad start, the Colts are still first in their division, with a very poo-poo record of 3-4. If the Colts don’t get these problems fixed, they’ll be in some tough, trouble. Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Houston are all 2-5, and quietly gaining on the Colts fast. However, I still do expect the Colts to be one of the six AFC playoff teams come January.

The return of Dez Roethlisberger? Could you imagine if you somehow combined Ben Roethlisberger with Dez Bryant ? It’s be like a husky, always hyper, bull of a man running around the field 24/7. Wouldn’t that be something special?It’d be incredible! Well, the reason I bring these two stars up, is because they’ve both been sidelined for sometime now, and could possibly return sooner than we all thought. Ben with an MCL injury, and Dez with a broken right foot. Both injuries occurred in September, and now there’s a good chance both guys return either this week, or next week. So pretty exciting for fans of the two players, and fans of their teams. Since Ben went down, the Steelers have had a record of 2-2, are currently 4-3, and second in the AFC North, only behind the unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals. Not bad for a team without their franchise Quarterback. Dallas however has been struggling heavily since the loss of their best receiver. Bryant went down in the week 1 game, and since then ‘the Boyz’ have lost four of their opening six games, leading to a record of 2-4. Not only that, but they’ve also been without their Quarterback, Tony Romo for quite some time as well. So not a ton of good news at all for The Cowboys right now, but as I wrote this, a notification popped up saying Bryant is likely to play Sunday vs the Seattle Seahawks. Should be a game worth watching for. Pittsburgh also has an exciting matchup Sunday, as they’ll be getting their first crack at the unbeaten Bengals this week.

Are the Oakland Raiders for real? At the start of the season, a division that had a lot of questions to it was the AFC West. A lot of people predicted the Denver Broncos to of course come out, and earn another playoff spot, and some thought the Chargers, or Chiefs could possibly hit a wild card. One team almost everybody left out though was the Oakland Raiders. Shame on you everyone. Anyways, seven weeks in, and the Raiders are 3-3, and currently second in their division. The offense of Derek Carr , and rookie sensation, Amari Cooper has led this team to new heights, and could possibly even lead them to a playoff birth. Here on out, the Broncos have some tough match ups going for them, and a struggling offensive line, and offense in general. The Chiefs lost Jamaal Charles a few weeks back, and have been struggling for a while, and the Chargers haven’t exactly played like themselves lately. So to answer my question, the Oakland Raiders are indeed VERY for real. I could see them competing for a wild card spot, and could even see them make some noise come playoff time.

Who loses last? For the first time in the history of the NFL, five teams have started the season off 6-0. Among those teams, we have the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos. Question is though, which team will last the longest, and remain the last undefeated team standing? Well let’s look at each team’s next three games, shall we?

Patriots – vs Dolphins vs Redskins, at Giants – All three games should be wins for these rolling Patriots, but I expect all teams to put up a fight. The Dolphins, and Giants games should be exciting ones, but I think New England takes all three wins with them.

Packers – at Broncos, at Panthers, vs Lions – Green Bay will have to play two of their next three games AGAINST undefeated teams, talk about tough. I expect them to lose one of these next three, so Green Bay could go down very soon. If not this week, then next week.

Panthers – vs Colts, vs Packers, at Titans – Not given games, but the Panthers should do well against the muffling Colts, and Titans. Green Bay should be a very good game next week however, and they could struggle heavily against Aaron Rodgers.

Bengals – at Steelers, vs Browns, vs Texans – As good as this team looks, they’re gonna go down soon, I’m very confident one of these games will be a loss. Just to make it interesting, it’ll be the Monday night affair vs the Houston Texans in week 10.

Broncos – vs Packers, at Colts, vs Chiefs – After nine games, Denver goes 8-1. First loss comes this week to Aaron Rodgers and the Pack.

So, Denver loses this week, Green Bay’ll lose next week, Cincinnati’ll lose week after that, Carolina and New England will end up being the final two undefeated teams. When or if they lose, I have no clue.

Week 7 PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Miami Dolphins RB, Lamar Miller – After going into the bye week 1-3, the Miami Dolphins stuck in interim head coach, Dan Campbell , and switched their game play up a bit. One player who’s benefited strongly since the Dolphins coaching change, is running back, Lamar Miller. Miller tallied 113 rushing yards in a week 6 victory over the Titans, and then more impressively racked up 145 rushing yards, and 236 total offensive yards the very next week. Along with that, Miller had an amazing rushing touchdown of 85 yards, and was one of the big factors why the Dolphins beat the Texans, 44-26, and are now 3-3. To see more of Lamar Miller’s incredible week 7 performance, hit this link : Lamar Miller highlights ! It’s no surprise that Lamar Miller’s my week 7 player of the week!

AB’s Fantasy Dream Team of Week 8

QB – Philip Rivers , SD

RB – Todd Gurley , STL

RB – Adrian Peterson , MIN

WR – Keenan Allen , SD

WR – Julio Jones , ATL

TE – Rob Gronkowski , NE

FLEX (extra RB or WR) – DeAndre Hopkins , HOU (WR)

DST – Arizona Cardinals

K – Stephen Gostowski, NE

AB’s week 8 winners – Patriots, Lions, Chargers, Cardinals, Vikings, Bengals, Texans, Giants, Rams, Falcons, Jets, Seahawks, Packers, Panthers

Thanks for reading, enjoy the Halloween weekend, and enjoy week 8 everybody!

Alex B.