Judging biggest overreactions for NFL Week 8 games

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Was Jets owner Woody Johnson overreacting last week when he ripped quarterback Justin Fields in front of a group of reporters at the owners meetings? Probably not, given the way Fields played the previous two weeks.

Did Jets coach Aaron Glenn overreact and bench Fields for Tyrod Taylor? Well, we might never know if Glenn actually benched Fields, because Taylor was injured and couldn’t play, so Fields had to start for the Jets on Sunday at Cincinnati. And again, not sure it would have been an overreaction even if the coach had.

But the NFL is a week-to-week league, and things can look radically different one week than they did the one before. Such is the case in Florham Park, New Jersey, after a Fields-led comeback produced the Jets’ first win of the season and Glenn’s first as a head coach. And for one week at least, Fields gets to hold his head high, knowing there’s a very recent affirmative answer to whether he should continue to start for the Jets.

For all these reasons, Fields also gets to lead the Week 8 Overreactions column, where we sort through the weekly overreactions to try to figure out which ones might hold up and which ones are mirages.

Jump to:
Fields entrenched as Jets’ starting quarterback?
Garrett to win Defensive Player of the Year?
Did Falcons miss Cousins’ trade window?
49ers need to trade for a pass rusher?
Ravens still in the AFC playoff hunt?
Five fantasy-related overreactions

Justin Fields will be the Jets’ starting QB the rest of the season

Fields ended Sunday’s contest 21-of-32 passing for 244 yards and a touchdown pass. There was only one touchdown pass, because the Jets let running back Breece Hall throw the one that put them in the lead with just under two minutes remaining. Fields also rushed for 31 yards on 11 carries. Most importantly, he showed a level of poise and confidence in the pocket that he hadn’t shown since Week 1’s heartbreaking loss to the Steelers. If Johnson’s “if we could just complete a pass” was ringing in Fields’ ears Sunday, you wouldn’t have known it was bothering him.

Verdict: OVERREACTION

Cincinnati’s defense is one of the most permissive in the league and a perfect spot for Fields to get right after a rough recent stretch. But the Jets have a bye next week before playing the Browns, who have one of the least permissive defenses in the league led by a player, Myles Garrett, who sacked Drake Maye five times on Sunday. After that, the Jets get the Patriots, who excel at shutting down the run and forcing teams to pass — not the situation the Jets want Fields to be in.

Those games are also after the trade deadline, which means that Hall, who had 147 scrimmage yards, two rushing scores and that touchdown pass Sunday, could be on another team by then. If Fields can keep it together through the first two post-bye games, I’ll say he has a chance to hold the job. But if he looks as bad in those as he did against the Broncos in London two weeks ago or against the Panthers last week, then Glenn might still have some tough choices to make about his starting quarterback.

Myles Garrett will be Defensive Player of the Year … again

The Patriots scored 32 points in Sunday’s victory over the Browns, but it wasn’t because they contained Garrett. The All-Pro edge rusher had five sacks in the game, working over Patriots rookie tackle Will Campbell when lined up against him. Garrett also moved around the formation a bunch, so the Patriots didn’t know where to send the protection. It’s to Maye’s credit that he kept getting up and had the type of second half he did. But Maye is going to be sore on Monday morning, and he has Garrett to thank for it.

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION

Garrett won this award in 2023, when he had 14 sacks. The five he had Sunday give him 10 for the season with nine games left to play. It might be tough for players on losing teams to win postseason awards, and with the way the Browns play offense, it’s fair to assume they’re going to finish with a losing record. But if Garrett can keep delivering performances like he had on Sunday, he’s going to be tough to ignore. This is Garrett’s eighth consecutive season with at least 10 sacks, and he’s on pace to shatter his previous career high of 16.

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Myles Garrett goes in the Browns’ record book with fifth sack

Myles Garrett becomes the first Browns player to have five sacks in a single game.

The Falcons missed their window to trade Kirk Cousins

Cousins was pressed into starter’s duty on Sunday against the Dolphins due to an injury to Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Top wideout Drake London also was injured, which made things difficult. But Cousins was not impressive in this game. He was 21-for-31 for 173 yards, and the Falcons scored only 10 points against a Miami team that had allowed an average of 29.3 points per game over its first seven games. Cousins was expected to be the Falcons’ starter after signing a four-year, $180 million free agent contract during the 2024 offseason. But he was benched toward the end of last season for Penix, whom Atlanta drafted with the eighth pick a month after they signed Cousins.

Whether Cousins would be cut or traded was one of the big stories of the offseason, as he politely told the Falcons he’d prefer to go to a team where he had a chance to be the starter. The Falcons refused to cut him and asked more in trade talks than other teams were willing to pay, recognizing the value of a veteran backup to a young quarterback who entered the league with a significant injury history. Now, with the trade deadline a week from Tuesday and Cousins having turned in an uninspiring performance in his first start of the season, it might be tough to get anything for him even if they want to.

Verdict: OVERREACTION

I say this for a couple of reasons. One is that, again, the Falcons don’t want to trade Cousins. He likely will get cut after the season, but they want to keep him around for weeks just like this and hope he will perform better the next time they need him. But the second reason is that teams always are looking for quarterback help, and the Falcons could probably find a team willing to give them a decent draft pick or two if they decide to deal Cousins, especially since they’ve already paid such a high percentage of his contract. I don’t think he gets traded, but I also don’t think it’ll be because the Falcons couldn’t find a trade partner.

The 49ers need to trade for a pass rusher more than any other team

Playing without star edge rusher Nick Bosa, who’s out for the season, as well as star middle linebacker Fred Warner, who’s also out for the year, the Niners had been hanging in pretty well. They took a 5-2 record into Sunday’s game in Houston. But they fell apart on defense against the Texans, as quarterback C.J. Stroud (playing without his top receiver in Nico Collins) did basically whatever he wanted against the Niners.

Stroud was 30-for-39 for 318 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was hit only six times and wasn’t sacked. He had been sacked at least twice in each of Houston’s first six games this season for a total of 15 sacks. San Francisco couldn’t bring him down nor get off the field on third down, as Houston converted nine of its 16 third-down chances.

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION

The Niners probably need more help than one trade deadline can provide. But if they’re to have any chance of surviving in the ultracompetitive NFC West, they’re going to need to be able to pressure quarterbacks — especially quarterbacks as easy to pressure as Stroud.

San Francisco’s injury situation has left it with multiple problems on both sides of the ball. You could argue the 49ers need to trade for a wide receiver, a linebacker, an offensive lineman — and almost any position you can think of. But if there are edge rushers available, that’s an upgrade that would most likely have a significant positive impact on the Niners’ chances the rest of the season. They won’t find the likes of Bosa, simply because there aren’t many like him. But they need somebody — and soon.

The Ravens are still in the playoff mix

Baltimore came out of its bye week with a 1-5 record, in desperate need of a win and without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson for the third game in a row. By the end of the week, they were in trouble with the league over their handling of Jackson’s status on the injury report and had the red-hot Bears coming into town.

A preseason Super Bowl favorite whose season was circling the drain before Halloween, the Ravens needed a win in Week 8 as bad as any team in the league. And they got one. Backup Tyler Huntley led Baltimore to a 30-16 victory over the Bears and improved the Ravens’ record to 2-5 heading into a Week 9 Thursday night matchup against the Dolphins.

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION

This was written before the Steelers’ Sunday night game against the Packers kicked off, and the Packers had a big second half to drop the Steelers to 4-3 on the season. So the Ravens aren’t remotely out of it, especially since they still have two games left against Pittsburgh. Having lost to the Bills, Lions, Chiefs, Texans and Rams, the Ravens face a remaining schedule that looks as if it should be much easier than the one they’ve played so far. The Steelers, Patriots and Packers are the only teams left on the Ravens’ schedule that currently have winning records.

The Ravens get another mini-bye after Thursday night, when Jackson is supposed to be coming back to help them beat the 2-6 Dolphins in Miami. The 2025 AFC North might be a division that only requires nine victories to win it, and if the Ravens can play anything like the team we thought they were before the season started, there’s no reason they can’t get there.

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Derrick Henry seals Ravens’ win with 2nd rushing TD

Derrick Henry gets stuffed initially, but bounces outside to score a touchdown.

Quick-hitter fantasy overreactions

• Breece Hall is an RB1 the rest of the season. OVERREACTION. Yes, he played like one Sunday. Yes, the Jets’ remaining schedule looks promising for fantasy running backs. But we don’t know if Hall is still going to be on the Jets in 10 days. What if he gets traded into a committee situation like the one the Seahawks have?

• Jaylen Waddle is a WR1 with Tyreek Hill injured. NOT AN OVERREACTION. Dude was the sixth pick in the 2021 draft; he’s supposed to be a WR1. With tight end Darren Waller also out with an injury, Waddle and RB De’Von Achane are the only truly reliable options Tua Tagovailoa has in the passing game.

• Jaylin Noel will be the top waiver pickup of Week 9. NOT AN OVERREACTION. Get him if you don’t already have him. Houston wants its rookie wide receivers — Noel and Jayden Higgins — more involved in the offense the rest of the way.

• Jordan Addison, not Justin Jefferson, is the Vikings receiver you want the rest of the way. OVERREACTION. Come on. It’s Justin Jefferson we’re talking about. Addison is an every-week starter assuming the Vikings’ passing game remains viable with J.J. McCarthy as the starting QB, but Jefferson is going to be the guy to whom any Vikings QB looks for when things get dicey.

• James Cook III, not Josh Allen, is the most valuable Bills fantasy player. NOT AN OVERREACTION. Love Allen, but an RB who can get you 200-plus yards in a game is fantasy gold. No reason to expect Cook to slow down the rest of the way, barring injury. And Allen will be happy to keep handing it to him.