NFL Week 8 takeaways – What we learned, big questions for every game and future team outlooks

Week 8 of the 2021 NFL season had some close Halloween matchups, including the Cowboys edging the Vikings with Dak Prescott sidelined and quarterback Cooper Rush making his first start. The Titans and Colts went to overtime after a wild pick-six for Tennessee in the final two minutes followed by a game-tying drive for Indianapolis. The Titans ultimately won on a big OT field goal.

The Jets came from behind to beat the Bengals with Mike White under center, notching their second victory of the year. The Steelers navigated a 15-10 win over the Browns despite losing their kicker, and the Panthers got past the Falcons to get back in the win column. And on Thursday night, the Packers hung on against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals to hand them their first loss of the year.

But not every Sunday game was close. The Eagles blew out the Lions behind a dominant run game, and the Rams’ offense posted 38 points against the Texans. The Bills won against the Dolphins, who fall to 1-7 on the season, and the 49ers scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Bears.

In the afternoon slate, Tom Brady threw a late pick to end the Buccaneers’ comeback hopes vs. the Saints. The Seahawks destroyed the Jaguars, the Broncos beat Washington and the Patriots boosted their playoff hopes by stopping the Chargers.

Our NFL Nation reporters react with the takeaways and lingering questions from this week’s action. Plus, they each look at the bigger picture with their current team confidence rating — a 0-10 grade of how they feel about the team’s outlook coming out of the week. Let’s get to it.

Jump to a matchup:
TEN-IND | MIA-BUF | PIT-CLE
LAR-HOU | SF-CHI | CAR-ATL
CIN-NYJ | PHI-DET | GB-ARI
WFT-DEN | NE-LAC | JAX-SEA
TB-NO | DAL-MIN

Cowboys

What to know: Nobody could have expected this. Quarterback Cooper Rush entered Sunday’s game against Minnesota with one completion for 2 yards in his career. He left Minnesota with a win, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide…