We now have eight weeks under our belt in this exciting 2020 National Football League regular season. The NFL has the sporting landscape primarily to itself at the moment, as the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association are in a rare offseason in November due to coronavirus. Here are the five most interesting storylines from week eight.
5) The Cam Newton struggles continue. Throughout his career, Cam Newton has put up some outstanding statistics. However, when the game is on the line, Newton tends to not perform at the highest of his capabilities. On Sunday, Newton fumbled the football deep in the Buffalo territory with the Patriots trailing the Bills 24-21. At the time, the Patriots had the football on the Bills 14-yard line with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter. A field goal would have tied the game, and a touchdown would have won it. The Bills continue to lead the AFC East at 6-2, and the Patriots are 2-5.
4) A ton of upsets. Every week we may see an upset or two. However, in week eight, we saw seven. The Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals, Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos all entered the game as underdogs and came away as winners. The biggest underdog of the seven was the Bengals, who were seven-point underdogs to the Titans, but came away with a 31-20 win.
3) Two more key injuries for the 49ers. The injuries keep on piling for San Francisco. Heading into the week, their defense was hammered, and they had key injuries to their running backs. Now during their 37-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, they lost quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for six weeks with a high ankle sprain, and tight end George Kittle eight weeks with a broken foot. Yikes!
2) Dalvin Cook goes on fire. In only the third time in Minnesota Vikings history, a Vikings player found the end zone four times in a single game. Dalvin Cook was simply an absolute beast. The veteran running back had 163 yards rushing and three touchdowns, along with 63 yards receiving and another touchdown in a 28-22 upset win over Green Bay.
1) Pittsburgh Steelers remain undefeated. The Steelers are still the only team in the NFL without a loss and on Sunday they improved to a record of seven wins and zero losses. The Steelers star was linebacker Robert Spillane. The native of Oak Park, Illinois began the game with a first quarter 33 yard interception return for a touchdown, and ended the game with a fumble recovery which confirmed a 28-24 Pittsburgh win. Spillane also had a game-high 10 solo tackles, 11 tackles overall, and two pass deflections.
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