NFL Week 8 doesn’t just bring team-on-team battles. It also turns on a handful of individual collisions that can swing a game if one side wins the trench fight.
A few of the most interesting ones on Sunday and Monday feature newly arrived stars, division rivals with real bad blood, and a defender the Ravens need to start changing games fast.
Jeffery Simmons and Quenton Nelson land in the same spotlight for different reasons. Simmons, listed here as a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears, is an All-Pro-level disruptor who was part of a blockbuster trade this week to join a contender. Nelson, now a guard for the Seattle Seahawks, arrived in a similar headline-grabbing deal and is exactly the kind of mauling interior blocker Seattle wanted to strengthen its run game.
Both fit what their new teams are asking them to be. Simmons should have more help around him than he’s had at points in his NFL career, while Nelson is there to clear space for the Seahawks’ rushing attack. And the setting only makes it bigger: the Seahawks are the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Bears are legitimate Super Bowl contenders, and this has the feel of a possible NFC championship preview.
Another matchup that jumps off the page is Jared Verse against Max Iheanachor. The Browns and Steelers are back in a rivalry that has found new life, with both teams sitting at 5-2 and battling for first place in the AFC North. There’s also no shortage of edge in the buildup, thanks to Verse’s bold trash talk leading into the game.
Now he has to back it up. Verse didn’t make much noise in the first meeting in Cleveland, which the Browns won, and he still does not have a sack this season.
Iheanachor, meanwhile, has been on the rise since stepping into the Steelers’ starting right tackle job. The rookie is the first-round pick, and he’ll be the one asked to handle Verse the most.
Then there’s Trey Hendrickson going against Dion Dawkins in a game the Ravens need badly. Baltimore is expected to get Lamar Jackson back, but that alone won’t solve everything. The offensive line still needs work, Derrick Henry is averaging less than four yards per carry, and the defense hasn’t been able to close out leads.
Hendrickson is part of that defensive picture, and so far the payoff hasn’t matched the expectation. The prized free-agent addition has only two sacks in five games, which puts him on pace for around 6.5 over a 17-game season, and he hasn’t consistently looked like the wrecking ball he was at his peak with the Cincinnati Bengals.
That matters now more than ever. The Ravens have dropped two straight, sit at 4-3, and are heading into a tough two-game stretch against the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. If Baltimore is going to survive it, Hendrickson has to start looking like the difference-maker they brought him in to be.
In Other News...
Seahawks Just Got An NFC West Opening Fans Have To Watch
The NFC West has a way of turning one teams bad break into another teams opening, and the Rams are dealing with enough injury trouble to make the division race feel a little more fluid than it did a few weeks ago. With Myles Garrett and Davante Adams both part of the conversation around what has gone wrong in Los Angeles, the Seahawks suddenly have a clearer path to chip away at the standings if they can keep taking care of business themselves.
Seattle does not need a perfect finish to benefit from the situation, but it does need to stay attentive to how the division unfolds around it. The Rams health issues have already affected their performance, and the Seahawks are positioned to make that matter if they can capitalize on the next stretch of games. For a team trying to climb in a tight race, this is the kind of opening that can disappear quickly if it is not seized. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Backfield Just Got Much More Interesting Before Monday Night
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Charbonnet and teammate Jadarian Price both carry no injury designations and are expected to play, giving Seattle another healthy option as it heads into a nationally televised matchup. For a team trying to sort out how its backfield will look moving forward, this is the kind of development that can change the conversation quickly, even if the full picture wont be clear until the game unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Face One Costly Problem That Could Decide Monday Night
The Seahawks get a prime-time chance to build on their win over the Chiefs, but Monday night brings a different kind of test against a Bears team that has found real rhythm on offense under Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson. Seattle has plenty to like after beating Kansas City, yet the margin for error shrinks fast in a game like this, especially when the opponent can stress a defense with speed and a quarterback who can extend plays.
For Seattle, the biggest concern is not just matching Chicago score for score, but cleaning up the details that can swing a close game. Red zone efficiency and pre-snap penalties loom as the most obvious trouble spots, and the Seahawks will need sharper execution to avoid giving away chances in a matchup that could come down to a few possessions. [Read more 🡒]