Standouts include a running back trio. Plus, a former Packer slows down Kyler Murray, and a team without Tom Brady is leading the NFC South.
Week 8 on the NFL schedule is almost in the books (we still have Monday Night Football to go) and the best performances deserve to be recognized by our MMQB staff. Even if you’re feeling down because your team didn’t win, maybe one of your favorite players or coaches gets awarded a game ball by our staff.
Here are this week’s standouts:
Mitch Goldich: Tony Pollard, RB, Cowboys. The Ezekiel Elliott vs. Tony Pollard debate has been raging for some time now, and I don’t need to pour any more gasoline on the fire. But in the first game Zeke has missed this season, the No. 2 man on Dallas’s RB depth chart thrived. He racked up 131 yards on just 14 carries, taking three of them into the end zone. The Cowboys romped over the Bears 49–29, scoring touchdowns on their first drives and never looking back. We know how many playmakers are on this team’s defense, so it has to be heartening for them to see the offense come alive really for the first time all season. The Cowboys had not topped 25 points in a game all season. (Yes, we know the offense was piloted by Cooper Rush instead of Dak Prescott for many of those games.) So a running game like this can help Prescott get back into a rhythm (look how efficient he was on Sunday), as Dallas looks to hang in a tough NFC East.
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Michael Fabiano: Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints. Alvin Kamara puts up a 40-burger against the Raiders. Kamara was a treat for fantasy fans this week, as he totaled nine catches, 158 scrimmage yards, three touchdowns and 42.8 fantasy points in a win over Las Vegas. His scores came on a three-yard run and catches of 16 and 36 yards. It was his best game of the season, nearly doubling up the 23.4 points he scored in Week 5. It was also his best fantasy game since he posted six touchdowns and 56.2 fantasy points on Christmas 2020 against the Vikings. Kamara had gotten off to a slow start this year, but he’s been far better since the Saints benched Jameis Winston for Andy Dalton.
Claire Kuwana: Kamara. Talk about doing it yourself. With three touchdowns in the Saints’ 24-0 win over the Raiders (two receiving, one rushing) Kamara became the first player in NFL history to have 10 games with at least one of each in his first six seasons. After recording zero touchdowns in the first seven weeks of the season, the running back exploded on the field Sunday—conveniently timed after reports of trade talk, in which the Saints rebuffed the Bills’ potential trade request, came out—proving his price point should be a lot higher than it may have seemed, and helping New Orleans to one of the best efforts it's had in weeks.
John Pluym: Za’Darius Smith, DE, Vikings. One of the best acquisitions of the offseason might turn out to be how Minnesota lucked into signing the former Packer. Smith signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Vikings after backing out on the Ravens’ four-year, $35 million offer just a day after agreeing to it. The Vikings have needed Smith to provide most of their pass rush, and that’s exactly what he did against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. Smith had three sacks, including one that basically sealed the 34–26 win for the Vikings. Smith now has six sacks on the season for Minnesota, which struggled last year to close out games. That hasn’t been the case in 2022, with the Vikings now 4–0 in one-score games.
Conor Orr: Arthur Smith, head coach, Atlanta Falcons. No one wants to win the NFC South, you say? Arthur Smith wants to win this division! Yes, all it took for the Falcons to win this game was a missed extra point and field goal after an abhorrent surrendered Hail Mary, but the fact that he has this team on a playoff path to begin with is admirable.
Gary Gramling: Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers. Uh….. I guess I’ll pick McCaffrey? The pass-run-catch-a-touchdown thing is neat, but (with apologies to the late David Patten), it’s more of a statistical anomaly than anything else. His short rushing TD was set up by a long, winding run that fewer than 10 players in the NFL could have pulled off. His TD catch came on a second-reaction play (not his quarterback’s strength), where he figured out where he needed to be; then, his body control and footwork making the catch in the end zone were as good as any receiver’s. For all his value pre-snap when it comes to formationing and creating mismatches, McCaffrey’s value as, simply, a creator with the ball in his hands, is what makes him difference-making special.
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