NFL Week 8 Winners and Losers: Cowboys Suffer Epic Collapse, Joe Burrow Delivers Historic Heroism

For several weeks, in a league as unpredictable as the NFL, the football world witnesses something so historically improbable that it is hard to believe. There were two such occurrences in Week 8, with the Dallas Cowboys enduring a fourth-quarter and overtime stretch as miserable as any in the last 25 years of franchise history and Joe Burrow delivering a stat line that no other quarterback has posted since the merger.

The highs of Burrow’s career and the lows of the Cowboys’ lead exemplify everything that makes the NFL such a successful entertainment product. What more could fans want than late-match drama and excellence from the world’s greatest soccer players?

Of course, there are two sides to every outcome. The Arizona Cardinals celebrated at the expense of the Cowboys. The Tennessee Titans were baffled by the quarterbacking they witnessed from their opponent.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from NFL Week 8.

Loser: Cowboys

Brian Schottenheimer left his offense on the field on fourth-and-one from his own 32-yard line in the first quarter, and the Cowboys turned the ball over on downs. It was the first sign that Sunday was not going to be their day. The coaching and offense failed them then, and the defense failed them the rest of the afternoon as they gave up 33 points to the Cardinals in a stunning three-point overtime loss. The same defense that hasn’t held a single opponent under 20 points all year, of course.

At home against a Cardinals team that could finish the year at the bottom of the NFC West, the Cowboys blew a 10-point lead with 3:54 left in regulation and gave up a game-ending field goal in overtime. They even had a chance to advance to the extra period, as it took a missed extra point by Arizona with six seconds left for regulation to end tied at 30-30.

Arizona is now 5-0 all-time at AT&T Stadium. This Cowboys loss stings as much as any of the previous four. The most painful part might be that the 30 points they allowed in the second half and overtime came with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew on the field for Arizona. Or maybe it’s the unfathomable splits in two-score games, where since 2000 the Cardinals were 1-174-1 when trailing by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter and the Cowboys were 69-0 at home when leading by 14 or more in the fourth quarter (per ESPN Insights). If they can’t close out a game against that kind of opponent, then the Cowboys basically can’t be trusted against anyone.

Winner: Joe Burrow

Ideally for the Cincinnati Bengals, they wouldn’t have needed Burrow to carry such a heavy load against the Titans. After all, their opponent entered Week 8 with just one win. This was, however, one of those situations where they should have felt lucky to have such a high-profile quarterback on their side, as most signal-callers aren’t capable of playing hero to the same degree that Burrow did in a 43-36 overtime triumph. The three-time Pro Bowler became the second quarterback in NFL history with 450 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the same game and the first such player in 75 years.

To be clear, Burrow would have been one of the main reasons the Bengals lost had they fallen short. He threw three interceptions. However, Cincinnati’s defense mostly held strong after those turnovers and limited the damage to just one basket. Essentially, Tennessee only gained a net point thanks to turnovers, as one of its later possessions resulted in a safety.

The five touchdowns match a career high. The 462 passing yards was his third-highest in a game.

Losers: Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley

The last thing the Baltimore Ravens could have expected when they reinserted Lamar Jackson into the starting lineup was that Joe Fagnano would end up spending more time under center than any other quarterback on the roster. However, two injuries pushed the undrafted rookie into action, as the Ravens lost Jackson to a thumb injury and backup signal caller Tyler Huntley to a toe issue. Fagnano was the Ravens’ third emergency quarterback and made his NFL debut in the second quarter of the 36–10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Losing Jackson on his very first play to a sprained ankle is the cruelest chance possible for a Baltimore offense that desperately needs him to stay healthy. The unit hasn’t scored more than 13 points in its last three games, all losses. A team with Super Bowl aspirations now sits at .500 and in last place in the AFC North, and with Jackson out for at least four weeks while he undergoes surgery, it will be difficult to turn things around.

Ravens since Lamar Jackson’s ankle injury

• Week 4: Beat the Titans, 24-18 (Jackson injured ankle)
• Week 5: Beat the Falcons, 30-23
• Week 6: Lost to the Browns, 13-10
• Week 7: Lost to the Bengals, 35-13
• Week 8: Lost to Bills, 30-16 (Jackson returns and injured thumb)

Winner: Broncos One-Score Game Fortune

The moral of Sean Payton’s tenure with the Denver Broncos is that if his team is in a close game, they are bound to win. The Broncos’ 28-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs marked their 15th straight victory in one-score games dating back to last season, tying the NFL regular-season record. They are also now 5-0 in games decided by seven points or fewer this year alone, matching their best Week 8 record since 2000.

It takes immense effort in the fourth quarter to stay undefeated in tight situations, and the Broncos showed plenty of timely play in their latest triumph. They trailed the Chiefs by 11 points with just under nine minutes to play and scored two touchdowns to take a commanding lead. They got a little help in the form of a missed field goal by Harrison Butker, but they also stepped up on both sides of the ball and finished the game with a fourth-down sack by Patrick Mahomes.

It was far from the first time the Broncos came from the jaws of defeat during a 15-game losing streak. At this point, it’s hard to say it will be the last.

Losers: Florida Weather and the Offenses It Stifled

Who needs completed passes? The 1974 Bills didn’t do it, nor did the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8. They were the last two teams to win a game without a single completion. Baker Mayfield went 0 for 3 in the Buccaneers’ 16-0 shutout victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The running game did all the work with Bucky Irving rushing for 170 yards and the game’s only touchdown and Kenneth Gainwell adding 139 yards. Mayfield ran for 14 of his own.

Tampa Bay is now on a two-game winning streak with a total of 59 points during that stretch. Mayfield completed just seven throws for 64 yards in the previous victory.

The quarterback on the other side had an even worse day. Michael Penix Jr. completed only eight of his 24 attempts and threw four interceptions. Two of those picks came in the first quarter when Alex Anzalone fell them both, and by halftime Penix had more turnovers than completions. He finished the day with more interceptions than in any game in his college or professional career.

The main cause of the offensive disaster was the torrential rain that persisted throughout the contest in Tampa Bay.

Winner: 1972 Dolphins

It took two months for the obligatory reminder to arrive: The 1972 Dolphins are the only team in NFL history to complete an undefeated season. They will continue to be alone. The Minnesota Vikings lost on Sunday, leaving no undefeated teams. The NFC North leaders entered the week with a 6-0 record as the only perfect team in the league and left it with a divisional loss to the Detroit Lions. They fell 19-15 in another of their patented defensive battles.

Could the Vikings play for a quarterback at the trade deadline? This loss illustrates how the lack of a competent offense could prevent them from maximizing Brian Flores’ elite defense.

Loser: Jim Harbaugh

The bye week would have been a smart time for the Los Angeles Chargers to move on from offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel after finishing their first six games as the worst-performing team in the NFL. Instead, Jim Harbaugh stood by his assistant, praised his talent and then quickly watched his unit score a measly nine points in Sunday’s 24-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Harbaugh must acknowledge that he could have made a player change and that by not doing so, the offense continued to stutter.

Justin Herbert threw two more interceptions to return to sole possession of the league top. The rushing attack only posted 64 yards. The unit failed to score double-digit points for the second time in as many games.

As he sits 0-7 and enters the third month of the season as the NFL’s only winless coach, Harbaugh is now under perhaps the most powerful microscope of anyone in his role. He had the opportunity to fire a scapegoat during the bye, and if he doesn’t think making a change would be in the best interest of the offense, then the focus intensifies on his own inability to correct the group’s woes.

Winner: Steelers home field advantage vs. Browns

The AFC North is a battle. The Pittsburgh Steelers took a crucial step toward potentially winning one of the NFL’s most competitive divisions with a 27-6 win over the Cleveland Browns. History suggested they would handle business against their rival, and they only reinforced long-standing trends that favor the home team in this series.

In matchups between the Steelers and Browns, the home team has now won 11 straight games dating back to January 2022. This is the longest such active streak in any series. Pittsburgh has also won 24 of its last 25 regular season home games against Cleveland. The Browns – who had -1 yard of total offense in the first quarter Sunday – have just two total wins at Acrisure Stadium, which opened in 2021.