As we approach midseason, Derrick Henry has more rushing yards than 23 NFL teams, Josh Allen has yet to throw an interception and the Commanders lead the NFC East.
Just like we thought.
OK, so the NFL is unpredictable. That’s why we’re here to answer the important questions. Heading into Week 8, FOX Sports’ NFL experts tackle several topics, including whether Henry can get two-time MVP Lamar Jackson to his first Super Bowl, whether the Lions can get there without Aidan Hutchinson, which recently traded wideout will help his new team the most, and whether the Giants or Jets are the bigger dumpster fire.
Let’s get started.
With Derrick Henry running wild, do the Ravens finally have enough to get past the Chiefs and get Lamar Jackson to a Super Bowl?
I think so. Part of it is Lamar Jackson needs to play like the superstar he is in the big playoff moments, but having Henry by his side in the backfield certainly takes significant pressure off him, potentially allowing the two-time MVP to play freer.
Keep in mind that Henry has historically thrived against the Chiefs, too. In five career games against Kansas City in the regular season, he’s averaged 5.4 rushing yards per attempt on 91 carries and has seven rushing touchdowns.
Henry also plays better as the season wears on. For his career, he’s averaging 4.1 yards per carry in September, 4.8 in October, 4.9 in November, 5.1 in December and 5.9 (!) in January. There’s legitimacy to defenders not wanting to tackle his 6-foot-2, 247-pound frame in the colder months. What he’s doing now is ridiculous — he’s pacing for more than 2,100 yards rushing at age 30 — so just imagine how much more of a handful he’ll be for the Chiefs and the rest of the AFC in the postseason. — Ben Arthur
I have to say yes, because I picked the Ravens to go to the Super Bowl. So, yes! But look, one of the big reasons the Chiefs beat Baltimore in the AFC Championship last year is that the Ravens couldn’t run the ball in that game. They were the No. 1 rushing team in football and were held to just 81 yards in part because they ran it only 16 times — and seven times on 35 plays in the second half. It was an inexplicable strategic decision that the Ravens know was wrong.
Now their rushing attack is much better. They’re averaging 210.9 yards per game (54.5 yards more per game than last season). And when they’re running RPOs (run-pass option plays), defenses have an impossible choice, whether to brace for the force of Derrick Henry, the flash of Lamar Jackson, or for Jackson to drop back and use his MVP-caliber arm.
It’s not an accident that they’ve averaged 35 points and 479 yards per game during their five-game winning streak. They’re like a boulder rolling downhill, and they’re going to keep getting better and faster. This time, even the Chiefs won’t be able to stop them in the end. — Ralph Vacchiano
The Lions showed their grit by beating the previously unbeaten Vikings on Sunday, but can Detroit actually win the NFC without Aidan Hutchinson?
Unless the Lions make a trade for a top-notch edge rusher, it will be an uphill climb to conquer the NFC without the team’s best defensive player. Winning in the postseason is about closing teams out in the fourth quarter, either on offense or defense. And Detroit is missing one of the best closers in football with Hutchinson out with a fractured tibia and fibula. Facing some of the top offenses in the league in the postseason, the Lions will be hard-pressed to replace that element with the roster as currently constructed. — Eric D. Williams
Sunday’s win at previously unbeaten Minnesota — without Hutchinson — shows that the Lions are still right there at the top of the NFC. It would make sense to deal for pass-rush help — perhaps Cleveland’s Za’Darius Smith or Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney — but Sunday showed what Detroit’s offense can do against one of the league’s top defenses. Jared Goff was 22-for-25 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, and Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for another 116 and two scores. The Lions finish the regular season at home against those same Vikings, and that game could have the NFC North title or even the NFC’s top seed on the line. — Greg Auman
In light of the recent wide receiver deals, will Davante Adams, Amari Cooper or DeAndre Hopkins help his new team the most?
I’m going to go with Hopkins. Cooper is a close second, but the Chiefs’ wide receiver situation was the most dire. The Jets didn’t need Adams (they have bigger issues on offense). The Bills had just three players averaging at least 38 receiving yards per game before adding Cooper (Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Dalton Kincaid). Kansas City has just one with Rashee Rice on IR: Travis Kelce, who doesn’t look like the same player.
Hopkins immediately slots in as a top-two healthy receiver on the Chiefs’ roster, and likely makes the difference between a deep playoff run and a three-peat for 6-0 Kansas City, whose offense is now positioned to take off. — Ben Arthur
I’ll go with Hopkins as well. He’s got a huge catch radius and a knack for making big plays. Hopkins will quickly get on the same page with Patrick Mahomes. He’s unselfish and a good teammate. And he will improve Kansas City’s ability to execute in got-to-have-it moments on third down, in the red zone and in the fourth quarter. Adams and Cooper also will upgrade the offenses for their respective teams, but the Chiefs getting Hopkins makes them even tougher to beat — and they’re already the only unbeaten team in the league. — Eric D. Williams
I’m taking Amari Cooper. The Jets are beyond help at this point. And the Chiefs are undefeated — and don’t really seem to need much help. So Cooper can improve a Bills team that has yet to beat an opponent that is currently .500 or better. Buffalo’s 5-2 record is less convincing when you see they’ve beaten the Titans, Jets, Jaguars, Dolphins and Cardinals.
So the Bills were smart to upgrade at receiver. Allen’s open target percentage (39.2) is the lowest since 2019. Receiver Khalil Shakir and tight end Dalton Kincaid are good pieces, but they’re clearly not ready for an offense to function around them. Cooper is. He showed as much in his first week with the team when he had 66 yards and a touchdown. That’s one heck of a start for a wideout with just a few days of preparation — and who didn’t seem to know much of the playbook. It’s only up from here for Cooper and Allen. — Henry McKenna
Was calling his team soft a good move for rookie Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo? Was Bill Belichick right to call out Mayo for doing so?
I’m not here to tell Jerod Mayo how to coach his team, but I find myself questioning what calling your team out publicly does, exactly. We hear all the time how players and coaches talk about not listening to the noise between fans and media. So Mayo is making statements he doesn’t intend on his team hearing? Feels a little high-school gossipy to me.
I’m all for coaches holding their players accountable, but I think it’s contradictory to use the media to do it. Keep that in-house — especially when it’s such a blanket and arbitrary statement. This isn’t a call-to-action that needed publicity. I think it would have the same amount of impact if it were done at a team meeting. Maybe that’s a little too old school of me and today’s coaches want to use the media as a tool for motivation like that. If that’s the case, and you find it works, you do you.
As far as Belichick’s criticism of Mayo, while BB has his own agenda, I think it was totally warranted because of how Mayo handled this in the first place. If you’re going to bring the team’s business out into the public, then you have to be accountable for those comments in public, too. You can’t have it both ways. — Carmen Vitali
Mayo seems to have violated some sort of coaching code, because — to me — he had every reason to call his defense soft. The Jacksonville Jaguars ground that defense to pieces with Tank Bigsby and D’Ernest Johnson. Now, should Mayo have avoided saying the criticism publicly, rather than keeping it in-house? If the word “soft” triggers a defense, then maybe that defense is soft. Maybe their reaction only reinforces what Mayo is saying.
As for Belichick, I hated the way he challenged Mayo. Belichick has done multiple appearances where he says the same thing: It’s best to keep those criticisms private. The coach needs to publicly shoulder responsibility. That’s a fine and reasonable take, even if I disagree in this case. But then there was this part:
“Last year, the Patriots led the league in rushing defense in yards per carry,” Belichick said. “No. 1 in the league. This year, they’re 26th or whatever it is. It’s the same players. I don’t think some of those players on defense are soft, but they haven’t stopped the run very well.”
But it’s not the same players. New England is missing defensive tackle Christian Barmore, linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and safety Jabrill Peppers. Those are the team’s three best players and major absences at all three levels. So come on, Bill. Stop trying to make this about you while also pretending you’re not making this about you. You’re taking the low road. We can see it. — Henry McKenna
Are the Giants or Jets, both 2-5 headed into Week 8, in worse shape right now and why?
It’s the Giants. The Jets have been a dumpster fire, but they have a glimmer of hope that Aaron Rodgers — with the addition of Adams and a still-talented defense — can turn things around in the second half of the season. There’s no reason to be optimistic if you’re rooting for the Giants. They let the franchise’s best player go to the team’s division rival in free agency, and Saquon Barkley predictably came back to bludgeon the Giants on their home field. Next, they are probably going to move on from QB Daniel Jones. First-round pick Malik Nabers has been productive when healthy, but the Giants are looking at a full reset next season, while the Jets at least have a shot at reaching the postseason this year. — Eric D. Williams
It has to be the Giants. Only the Dolphins have scored fewer points this season, and New York has scored 10 — total — in its last two losses. The Jets are actively adding pieces like Davante Adams, while the Giants could be trading off spare parts in the next two weeks. And while owner John Mara said he does “not anticipate making any changes in the offseason,” it doesn’t look good for Brian Daboll moving forward. The defense has promise, but this will be a franchise seeking a coach and a quarterback this offseason — and almost certainly picking higher than the Jets as a result of this year’s continued struggles. — Greg Auman
The following writers contributed to this story: Ben Arthur (@benyarthur); Greg Auman (@gregauman); Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis); Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano); Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV); Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams).
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