The NFL Roundup 2017: Week 8 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

(Getty Images)

I suppose that if there is one word to properly describe this past weekend in the NFL, it would have to be…appropriate. Because in so many ways, and perhaps for the first time this year, everything went as expected. Bad teams lost badly. Great teams rose to the occasion and week by week, the NFL Playoff Picture is getting clearer, and regardless of the fact that things are seemingly getting back to normal, there’s still plenty to discover about our favorite teams and here is what we learned from Week 8 in the NFL.
 
The San Francisco 49ers are dedicated to winning after all.
When a team goes 0-8, whether a franchise likes it or not, their fans question the team’s desire to win and I’m fairly certain that every single Niners fan in the bay area is wondering if their franchise is dedicated to success as of late. But late Monday night, we saw Rookie General Manager John Lynch make quite the savvy set of moves in order to help his team finally secure that elusive first win of the season by releasing QB Brian Hoyer, shortly after acquiring QB Jimmy Garoppolo from the Patriots. It shows that Lynch fully understands the need to have a seasoned veteran and leader at the helm and there’s a fair chance this trade will indeed help the Niners get their season back on track and most importantly…it’s obvious that Mister Lynch will do whatever he must to help his team succeed.
 
The Denver Broncos inability to change may cost them a shot at the playoffs.
What matters most in the NFL is how teams adapt and change once other squads have figured them out or when something just isn’t clicking and well, the Denver Broncos seem incapable of making any critical changes to their team in order to win right now. Trevor Siemian is downright awful at quarterback, yet, week in and week out, he stays in the game. Menelik Watson is a liability at right tackle, yet, he too is in the game when he’s healthy and after another embarrassing loss, this time to the Kansas City Chiefs, if Denver doesn’t do something drastic at both of those positions to get a spark going on this offense, there’s a fair chance the season will slip away. But the big question on everyone’s mind right now is…will Head Coach Vance Joseph make the necessary changes? I honestly don’t know at this point, but I do hope everyone in the Broncos front office finally sees that their ‘franchise QB’ is anything but and do what they must to get this team back on track.
 
The only thing holding back the Houston Texans from success, is their defense.
Man, the Houston Texans offense is a sight to behold. They can quite literally score at will all from a flick of the wrist from QB Deshaun Watson and considering how many points they put up per game, one has to wonder, why on earth is this team’s record so bad? Well, that’s easy, because their defense is downright awful. They simply cannot stop anyone in the secondary, and it’s costing them game after game. Which is why it should come as no surprise that Houston made a trade with Seattle for CB Jeremy Lane in the hopes of bolstering their secondary and if Jeremy is the missing piece needed for this ailing D, expect the Texans to start winning games left and right.
 
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are quite the disappointment this year.
It’s been a weird season in Tampa Bay. After all, they have a dynamic young quarterback with endless potential in Jameis Winston. He has all the weapons he needs on offense and they even added a bonus target in DeSean Jackson in the offseason and their defense is well known for playing stout football…so what the heck happened to this team? They should not be 2-5 and in the basement of the NFC South, but they are, and quite frankly, they’re a team that just isn’t executing. It just seems like week in and week out they’re not disciplined or ready for their opponents and that my friends, falls upon the coaches. So, if the Bucs want to salvage their dismal season and end it on a high note, the time has come for the coaching staff to focus on fundamentals and start building some confidence in these players, something that they desperately need right now.
 
It is time to take the Buffalo Bills seriously as a contender.
I think it’s safe to assume that many of us wrote Buffalo off as a proverbial loser for the 2017 season and with good reason. They haven’t been anything special for quite some time now, so why expect anything different this year? Well, as it turns out, the Buffalo Bills have forced me to eat a little crow because wow, is this team impressive. They’ve hung with some great teams and won games they normally would have lost and considering the fact that they’re 5-2 and a game behind the New England Patriots in the AFC East, it’s high time for myself and football fans everywhere to tip their cap in respect toward the Bills, because they’re a legitimate playoff contender and they’ve earned every ounce of success they’ve enjoyed this season.   

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