NFL Musings, Week 8

Another week is almost through and some new insights have been revealed. Some teams have made a case for the playoffs, and some slipped further into the postseason abyss. I'm lookin' at you, Chargers. Anyways, more on that and some other stuff when you click through.

1. First and foremost, I'm gonna have to stop denying the Carolina Panthers their true status as serious playoff contenders. They barely pulled a win over Arizona today, but that means more than it used to. I'm liking them for the Division win at this point.

2. Dallas won! I didn't see that coming.

3. Baltimore introduced a nice little play package today involving Troy Smith was quite reminiscent of the Wildcat package. I believe they called it the Wild Bird. Anyways, the result was Troy Smith gaining some big yards on the ground and the longest reception ever recorded by a quarterback, a 43-yarder to Joe Flacco. Ouch, Raiders. Ouch.

4. How hot is Clinton Portis right now? He joins O.J. Simpson as the only two players ever to have two separate streaks of five or more 120+ yard games. Nice.

5. In breaking news, the AFC West has just had its playoff rights stripped away due to no apparent contender in the mix. Not really, but it's worth considering.

6. It's time for teams to start really taking St. Louis seriously and for me to stop using them as the butt of my jokes. It's not really funny anymore. They look like a different team don't they?

7. Detroit still sucks. They'll take St. Louis' spot until further notice.