Week 8 of the NFL season is in the books, and we have one new obituary in the old, mismanaged, delusional New Orleans Saints.
Obituary: Saints (2-6)
The Saints were the toast of the NFL after the first two weeks of the season after blowing out the Panthers 47-10, and the Cowboys 44-19. Derek Carr looked like an MVP candidate, a rejuvenated Alvin Kamara had scored five touchdowns, and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak appeared to be on a fast track to a head coaching job. Now? Not so much.
The Saints have since lost each of their last six games by a combined score of 177-94, including four straight losses by at least two scores.
The Saints are one of the worst run franchises in the NFL. Even after Drew Brees’ retirement after the 2020 season, they’ve been kicking the can down the road with aging, declining veterans, delusional that they were still contenders, and all they have to show for it is a 27-32 (0.458) record the last three-plus years, no playoff berths in the worst division in football, the second-oldest roster in the NFC, a 33-year-old quarterback in Carr who is going to count for $50 million in dead money if they cut him next offseason, and just general cap hell otherwise (click the 2025 tab in this link). Sorry, that was a long sentence.
Will they finally take their medicine and trade off some of their decent, aging assets at the trade deadline, and commit to fixing their cap while starting over with youth next offseason like they should have years ago? History says they won’t, because they’re dumb.
Graveyard
Hierarchy
12) Rams (3-4): It’s kind of remarkable how quickly fortunes can change in the NFL. The Rams were 1-4, and almost dead in the water. But… they beat the Raiders Week 6 and in Week 7 they surprisingly got Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back in time to play the Vikings.
Kupp and Nacua combined for 12 catches for 157 yards and a TD, and the L.A. offense looked like it was back.
Oh, and hey, they’re also lucky that the rest of the NFC West hasn’t pulled away. The NFC West now looks like this:
| NFC West | Record | Div record |
| Cardinals | 4-4 | 2-0 |
| 49ers | 4-4 | 1-2 |
| Seahawks | 4-4 | 0-1 |
| Rams | 3-4 | 1-1 |
The Rams have as good a chance of winning that division as anyone.
Last week: 13
11) Cardinals (4-4): In each of their last three wins, the Cardinals’ opponents were kinda cruising right along and then “OH GOD NO WHAT HAPPENED!”
10) Seahawks (4-4): Oh hey, old friend Josh Jobe picked off Josh Allen on Sunday.
That’s fine and good, but that also means that Josh Jobe has some kind of role in Seattle’s defense. 😬
He actually played 51 snaps against the Bills.
Last week: 10
9) Bears (4-3): I’d be curious how often teams successfully convert Hail Mary plays when the defense rushes 5 guys, but in this video it’s all either 3 or 4 (mostly 3). It’s probably also not a great idea to be talking shit to fans while the play is underway, like Tyrique Stevenson did on Sunday:
The videos yesterday didn’t really convey to me just how long Tyrique Stevenson’s taunting went on. He didn’t make a game-like move until the receivers were inside the 20! pic.twitter.com/5pnj9v0W2H
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) October 28, 2024
Also, maybe don’t give the ball to the backup offensive lineman on 3rd and Goal from the 1.
The Bears got outplayed by the Commanders on Sunday, still had a chance to win, and ultimately didn’t.
Last week: 6
7) 49ers (4-4): The Niners are “poised” to get Christian McCaffrey back after their Week 10 bye.
The Niners’ run game hasn’t really suffered much with McCaffrey out. Jordan Mason is third in the NFL in rushing, and he’s averaging 5.1 yards per carry. But obviously, McCaffrey can do a whole lot more in the passing game.The Niners would be wise to allow Mason to keep a prominent role in the offense down the stretch, limit McCaffrey’s touches, and then step on the gas with McCaffrey during the playoffs. Will Kyle Shanahan be able to help himself from overusing McCaffrey in regular season games, like he has since the Niners traded for him?
Last week: 9
2) Packers (6-2): Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley were sort of the posterchilds (posterchildren?) of the “Are they washed?” questions this offseason after joining their respective new teams. But Josh Jacobs has been killing it for the Packers this year too after a bad year in Las Vegas in 2023. The NFL’s rushing leaders:
| Player | Rush | Yards | YPC | TD |
| Derrick Henry, Ravens | 145 | 946 | 6.5 | 9 |
| Saquon Barkley, Eagles | 130 | 766 | 5.9 | 5 |
| Jordan Mason, 49ers | 134 | 685 | 5.1 | 3 |
| Josh Jacobs, Packers | 145 | 667 | 4.6 | 3 |
Henry, Barkley, and Jacobs are going to give teams with good offensive lines confidence to go out and pay for aging veteran running backs.
1) Lions (6-1): This is nuts:
The Lions look like the best team in the NFL right now.
