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Best, Worst, and Dumbest moments from NFL Week 8: Ravens' lost season, Doink City and trash talk

It was a bad day to be a field goal post or the Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson | Michael Owens/GettyImages

The NFL did us a favor by not making us wake up to watch an early international game but then punched us in the mouth with an ultra-terrible Sunday Night Football game. Was it worth it? No. Not really. It’s actually pretty messed up that they chose not to flex that game. (But thankfully, we got a heavyweight showdown on Monday Night Football to help make up for it.)

The seven hours of football before that Sunday night game were pretty awesome, though. So let's erase the Commanders-Eagles three-hour struggle for air from our minds… Let’s reminisce on the Best, Worst, and Dumbest things that we saw during Week 8 and give out some awards. Unfortunately, we kind of have to start with a bummer. 

Lost Season of the Week: Baltimore Ravens

We all really respect the way that Lamar Jackson plays football, right? The dude is a generational talent; the way that he’s able to manipulate defenses as a passer and a runner is something we haven’t seen since prime Mike Vick. And yet, this is another year where the Ravens are going to be without him for the majority of the season. 

On the first play of the game, he broke his thumb. Now he has to have surgery on it, and he’s going on IR. I’m not a doctor, but thumb surgery seems like one of those IR stints that’s longer than four weeks. 

Without him, this is going to be another lost season for Baltimore … and then they get to spend the offseason with their news feeds talking about Jackson and the team butting heads over contracts and stuff like that.

It’s rough stuff. This stinks for those guys. 

Rookie of the Week: Joe Fagnano

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Fagnano | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Other than Sonny Styles being an absolute monster for the Commanders on Sunday Night Football, there weren’t a whole lot of truly sick rookie performances on Sunday … So I kind of have to give it to Joe Fagnano, the Ravens QB3. 

He was Baltimore’s emergency quarterback going into the game, but with Lamar Jackson going down and Snoop Huntley getting his own injury 10 plays later, Fagnano ended up having to play.

He certainly wasn’t good, and it’d be fair to say that he actually kind of stunk (10-of-21 for 91 yards and an interception) … But the guy had the stones to go out there and play professional football in a meaningful game with absolutely minimal preparation. That’s impressive, and he deserves a meaningless Rookie of the Week award.

Revenge Game Winner of the Week: Baker Mayfield

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There were two big revenge games this weekend: Geno Smith played against the Raiders, who traded him over the offseason … and Baker Mayfield played against Kevin Stefanski.

If you don’t remember, Stefanski coached Baker in Cleveland for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. When Baker was traded to the Panthers in 2022, apparently Stefanski was pretty not-chill about it: 

Well, Geno Smith lost his game against the Raiders … But Baker? Oh, Baker won … and he did it with style. He threw the ball three times, completed zero passes … and the Buccaneers won the game 16-0.

If you’re going to truly win a revenge game, you can either have the best game of your life, or you can do absolutely nothing productive and watch your teammates carry you along. Baker chose the latter, and it worked out perfectly for him.

Indoor Cat of the Week: Michael Penix Jr.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Some quarterbacks play better indoors than they do outdoors, and that can be totally fine. Take Jared Goff: he’s an indoor cat, and he’s a pretty good quarterback despite having a rough time outside.

Michael Penix has officially entered the ranks of the indoor cats. It makes sense that quarterbacks are going to throw the ball worse during a monsoon … but Penix was 8-of-24 for 125 yards and four interceptions. The numbers were bad, but watching it was even worse. 

Now, the reason that Penix had more throws than Bijan Robinson had carries (19) is beyond me … but Penix was really bad at doing what was asked of him. Until further notice, Penix can’t be trusted outside. 

Fake stat of the Week: Passer Rating

Baker Mayfield and Michael Penix Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Alright, so we acknowledged that Baker Mayfield threw the ball three times and none of those were completions, and we acknowledge that Michael Penix tried throwing the ball and he did it really poorly … but he did do it. 

So obviously, Penix would have a higher passer rating than Mayfield, right? How could you be rated as a worse passer than a guy who just didn’t do it?

Well, reader who understands what I’m about to tell you … Guess what? Baker had a better passer rating than Penix: Mayfield’s was 39.6 (out of 158.3), and Penix’s was 12.0.

Passer rating is a fake stat, and from here on out I forbid you from using it. Not only that, but I implore you to tell anyone who brings up passer ratings that they’re a ding-dong and remind them of this game. 

Trend of the Week: Doinks

Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Unless you’re from Chicago, doinks are one of the most amazing things that can happen during a football game.

Somehow, a guy kicks a ball from at least 20-ish yards away and is able to hit it so perfectly that it smacks off a four-inch pole, and then it makes one of the loudest and most indistinguishable sounds in the world. 

In Week 8 (going back to Thursday), at least six doinks. These are the ones that I remember, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed one. 

Two notes: the Dolphins one was the loudest sound in human history, and the Eagles one might have doinked off the tippy top of the upright.

Darnell Washington play of the Week: Darnell Washington

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If there is one Darnell Washington fan, it is me. If there are zero Darnell Washington fans, I am dead. If the world is against Darnell Washington, I am against the world.

Whenever Darnell Washington makes a play, it’s the most impressive thing that you've ever seen. At 6-foot-7 and (probably) 330 pounds, the dude is the most massive tight end in the NFL, and all he does is flex his size. 

This week was different; instead of smashing through a bunch of defensive backs who are 150 pounds lighter than him, he decided to show his dexterity.

That giant piece of man tiptoed down the sideline for 10 dadgum yards. Guys that size shouldn’t be allowed to run at that speed with that accuracy. He rocks, plain and simple. 

Future Pro Bowler: Amani Hooker

Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Just about every defensive player in the NFL would be ecstatic to have three interceptions in a season. Amani Hooker, the Titans safety, has five this season … and three of those came against Joe Burrow on Sunday. 

If he wasn’t there for those picks, the Bengals would’ve dropped a cool 60 points on the Titans' head … So those were dignity-saving interceptions.

This game definitely turned him into a Pro Bowler, and it could serve as one hell of a springboard for an All-Pro season. I just want us all to remember this whenever those Pro Bowl rosters come out, and we’re all wondering why there’s a single Titan on the list. 

Interview of the Week: Jaquan Brisker

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Going into the Steelers Week 8 game against the Browns, Jared Verse (Cleveland’s edge rusher) was jacking his jaw pretty good. 

During some weekday pressers, Verse was feeling himself and started talking about how he didn’t respect the Steelers' offensive line. 

If you’re going to talk like that, you had better light the world on fire. In Verse’s defense, he has backed up his talk in the past … like back in the 2024 postseason when he was with the Rams, when he said he hated Philadelphia and then had an awesome game. 

That didn’t happen this time. Instead, he logged one QB hit, was part of one tackle, and literally got dumped on his head.

The Steelers ended up winning the game in a 27-6 blowout. So obviously, the Steelers got to back their physicality up with some trash talk of their own … And Jaquan Brisker took full advantage of his opportunity:

I have to be honest with you: I wasn’t familiar with Brisker’s quote game. My man was on a roll … AND he did it while wearing a leather jacket, Matrix-style (popped collar and lapel). That’s awesome. Good for him.

Most predictable loss ever: Cowboys

Arizona Cardinals vs. Dallas Cowboys | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Any time the Cowboys have a game that makes people think that they’re a real team, they follow it up with a terrible game that shows just how unserious a team they really are …

And would you look at that? Dallas whooped up on the Eagles in Week 7, and people thought they could be real contenders in the NFC East. 

The problem is that A. the Eagles are terrible, and wins against them shouldn’t count, and B. they were playing the Cardinals, and the Cardinals always beat Dallas. As fate would have it, the Cowboys had a 10-point lead with 3:54 left in the game … and they still lost … to Gardner Minshew.

WAG of the Week: Brittany Mahomes

Brittany Mahomes | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Did you know that the quote, “Behind every great man is a great woman,” is a football quote? Back in 1945, Meryll Frost was Dartmouth’s quarterback. His face got all burned up during World War II, but he came back to play and he was dubbed the Most Courageous Athlete of 1945. 

When he got the award, he acknowledged his wife, Pauline Frost, and said, “They say behind every great man there’s a woman. While I’m not a great man, there’s a great woman behind me.” That’s pretty cool. I guess Pauline was supporting Meryll the whole way through recovery and everything like that.

In 2026, things are a little bit different, and Brittany Mahomes supports her husband in a different way … by making Instagram stories.

She’s obviously referring to the false start that was called on Jaylon Moore on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. That penalty turned it into a fourth-and-goal from the six-yard line … which ended with Mahomes getting sacked as the clock expired. 

It makes sense that she would get mad about a ticky-tack call that cost the Chiefs a game. That ALWAYS happens to them. I mean, look at this bad call. He didn’t even really jump.

Oh … Was that the wrong clip? Huh. Weird.

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