What We Learned: NFL Week 8
LeSean McCoy
Shady put on a show on Sunday Night Football, rushing for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns against the league’s number one rush defense. McCoy is making a strong case to be mentioned among the NFL’s elite running backs. He ranks second in terms of rushing yards with 754 and is as explosive with the ball in his hands as anyone in the NFL. Shady McCoy is doing it all and it’s just a matter of time before he’s mentioned in the same sentence with the like of Adrian Peterson.
Philip Rivers
After Monday night’s debacle I’m absolutely convinced there’s something wrong with Philip Rivers, whether it be mental or physical. Rivers is considered by many, including me (see my qb rankings here), to be a top 5 quarterback in the NFL, but thus far he’s been far from it. Rivers leads the NFL in total turnovers with 16 and interceptions thrown with 11. In fact, his measly 7 touchdown passes is good for 23rd best among quarterbacks, putting him behind players like Kyle Orton, Alex Smith, and rookies Cam Newton and Andy Dalton.
Mike Shanahan
The Redskins have been one of the most unorganized teams in the NFL since Mike Shanahan took over as head coach. The Skins fell to 3-4 as they were blanked for the first time in Shanahan’s entire coaching career. Shanahan has had tussles with former players Albert Haynesworth and Donovan McNabb and is insistent on screwing with the quarterback and running back positions. In my opinion, he’s widely overrated as a head coach and should be kissing John Elway’s and Terrell Davis’ feet for putting him on the map.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have shown a ton of resolve and fight over the last 4 weeks, going a perfect 4-0 and climbing out of an 0-3 start to sit atop the AFC West. Matt Cassel has built a nice rapport with new receivers Jonathan Baldwin and Steve Breaston while linebacker Derrick Johnson and cornerback Brandon Flowers have solidified themselves among the best at their respective positions. I look for the Chiefs to definitely stay in the hunt for the division crown.
The Sports Factory 
Good point about Rivers. He looks unsure of himself which is kind of strange considering the comfort level he’s had with Jackson, Floyd and Gates. Hard to figure…
K.C. Has been coming on strong and look, they stil beat NFL teams. Maybe not elite teams but if the Saints can lose to the Rams and the Giants could almost be beaten by the Dolphins then a win is a win…
Nice one Mat!
It’s not that the Redskins problems were going to be solved in one or even two seasons, but Shanahan has proved himself to be an overrated coach and idiot when it comes to personnel decisions (Bruce Allen shares some of the blame here). I wrote last season that Shanahan should have been fired simply because of his bumbling of McNabb and the quarterback position.
I’m still skeptical on about the Chiefs. Yes, its a great story, the team coming back from 0-3 to win four straight games. However, they beat the McNabb quarterbacked Vikings, the Manningless Colts, a quarterbackless Raiders squad, and a Chargers team which prefers shooting themselves in the foot to winning games. If KC is competitive against the New England in three weeks then I’ll start paying attention.
Cheers!