Welcome to Week 8 featuring trades, trades and more trades. We’ve already seen quite a few big deals this week and we’ll likely see a few more leading up to Tuesday’s deadline. How will those trades impact games the rest of the season? We’ll start to get a good idea in Week 9. As for Week 8, there’s plenty of action to keep your eyes on, especially with New York’s teams and the Packers, who could fall to 3–5 with a loss to the Bills. So get ready for another crucial week on the NFL schedule.
To get it kicked off, Albert Breer and Conor Orr will take you through the Sunday and Monday games, noting the best matchups and what they’ll be watching.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
49ers at Rams, 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday: One of the NFL’s most entertaining rivalries gets renewed with a new character introduced—Christian McCaffrey, the running back the 49ers landed last week, outlasting a spirited pursuit from, yup, the Rams, to add the versatile weapon to their offense. The former Panther should have a much bigger role than he did last week, and it’s just in time for one that’s big for both teams, trying to avoid falling more than a game back of Seattle in the NFC West. But if there’s a matchup to watch here, it’ll probably be on the other side of the ball, with how the Rams’ beleaguered line manages a challenging matchup with a featured 49er front. —
Giants at Seahawks, 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday: A huge game that not a single one of us would have pegged as huge at the beginning of the season. Geno Smith faces another one of his former teams. The Giants try to climb to 6–1, while the Seahawks could pad their lead in the NFC West. Mothers, don’t let your kids grow up to be football prognosticators. In this one, I’m looking to see what Seattle learned from its loss to the Falcons, whose defense was probably the closest thing they’ll see to a Wink Martindale defense so far. The Seahawks have one of the highest offensive DVOA averages in the league, but Martindale’s unit adjusts incredibly well. The Giants have allowed one of the lowest fourth quarter touchdown percentages in the league this year. —
Packers at Bills, 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday: This was a top-five game for the season when the schedule came out in April. Now? It looks like it’s going to take everything the Packers have to keep a firing-on-an-all-cylinders Buffalo group from turning this into another national-television statement (the Bills have already had three of those this year). Obviously, to keep pace in Orchard Park, the Packers are going to need a lot more than they’ve gotten from Aaron Rodgers and their offense. —
