Coming into Week 8, all the attention was on Aaron Rodgers facing the Green Bay Packers for the first time since being traded, and it looked like he was in a prime position to make life miserable for his former club.
Then Jordan Love took over and flipped the script on his former mentor with a dominant second-half performance to secure an emotional victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For the longest time, there was a debate about whether the Packers were making the right decision to move on from Rodgers for Love.
Sunday's victory should leave no doubt going forward.
Love accomplished something that Rodgers had never done in Green Bay: He had 20 consecutive completions, which tied a mark set by Brett Favre. Love finished the night with 360 passing yards and three touchdown passes, and a 134.2 passer rating.
To his credit, Rodgers displayed flashes of the veteran brilliance we expected, throwing for 219 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough to sustain momentum once Love locked in.
It was an uncharacteristic performance for the Steelers defence, allowing the Packers to score 28 points in 27 minutes. It's a tough loss for Pittsburgh, but fortunately, they do have the advantage in the AFC North.
What is not in the Steelers' favour is that they have the Indianapolis Colts next up on the schedule, so that will be an even tougher matchup for this defence.
Here are the prominent takeaways from Week 8 in the NFL.
Taylor leads Colts with another MVP performance
Jonathan Taylor has been a man on a mission this season and is etching his name among the NFL's greatest running backs.
He secured his third-straight game with three touchdowns against the Titans to improve his total to 12 through seven games, putting him on pace to shatter his career high set in 2021 when he had 18.
Only four running backs in NFL history have had more touchdowns in their first 75 career games than the 63 that Taylor has earned: LaDainian Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith, Jim Brown and Adrian Peterson.
That's some pretty elite company.
MVP chants from fans rained down for Taylor and it's hard to disagree with that sentiment, but history isn't on his side.
Adrian Peterson was the last non-quarterback to capture the league's highest honour back in 2012. Quarterbacks have owned the award, but it's tough to ignore what Taylor is doing right now.
Taylor and the Colts are leading the NFL in scoring (33.8 points per game) and point margin (14.5 per game). He averaged 12.8 yards per carry and continues to show his versatility with his second receiving touchdown and no fumbles yet.
As long as the Colts can control the game offensively, it's hard to see them getting dethroned any time soon.
Winless no more
The NFL isn't really a league that does moral victories, but sometimes one win means more than it looks on paper.
For the New York Jets, their 39-38 thriller over the Cincinnati Bengals was more than just getting in the win column — it was a cathartic moment for a locker room that badly needed one.
Earlier in the week, Jets owner Woody Johnson had publicly criticized the play of quarterback Justin Fields, saying that “completing a pass would be nice.”
Fields wasn't supposed to be the starter heading into this game, Tyrod Taylor was ruled out, which meant that it was up to the Jets' starter to figure things out. He wasn't outstanding, throwing for 244 yards and a touchdown, but he didn't have a single turnover, which put New York in a position to make a fourth-quarter comeback.
After a couple of lacklustre performances, Breece Hall had his best game of the season and helped seal the deal with a trick play late in the game to help Aaron Glenn secure his first win as Jets head coach.
For the Bengals, blowing a 38-24 lead to a winless team raises clear red flags.
While Joe Flacco did enough to put the Bengals in a winning position, it was the defence that failed the quarterback in the end. They were outscored 23-7 in the fourth quarter.
At 3-5, the Bengals aren't out of the playoff picture, but they're creeping back into a familiar must-win territory once again. The real trouble is the lack of talent on defence, which was exposed by a Jets team that hasn't been a tough offence to stop.
Happy Tight End Day to all who celebrate
What began in 2018 as a running joke between San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle has now grown into a full-fledged NFL tradition.
Every fourth Sunday in October, the league recognizes one of football’s most demanding positions — the hybrid athletes asked to block 300-pound linemen one play and beat safeties the next.
In this edition of National Tight Ends Day, many performances reminded everyone why the position matters so much in today’s NFL.
It all started with Kittle, the originator of the holiday, who found the end zone on a 17-yard reception, reminding everyone the tradition still matters. Dallas Goedert caught two touchdowns in the Philadelphia Eagles’ blowout win over the Giants.
However, the day belonged to Packers tight end Tucker Kraft, who was relentless, scoring two touchdowns on seven receptions for 143 yards.
Bills get back to contending form
There were a lot of concerns about the Bills' direction following a tough two-game losing streak heading into their week.
Unfortunately, the last thing you want to do is face Josh Allen when he's had a week off. The Bills quarterback improved to 8-0 coming off the bye, and didn't need to throw the ball much to get the win.
Allen finished 12-of-19 for 163 yards against the Carolina Panthers, but also ran for a score and connected and was able to establish a connection on a deep ball with Khalil Shakir for a 54 reception that allowed Buffalo to put the game out of reach in the third quarter.
However, the real star for the Bills was running back James Cook, who rushed for a career-high 216 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Cook got back to being a big-play threat with a 64-yard touchdown run.
Defensively, the Bills got back on track with seven sacks on Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton and forced three turnovers in a 40-9 blowout win.
There's still more we need to see from Buffalo before we claim that they are all the way back as a Super Bowl contender but this was a crucial result to give this group confidence before hosting the Kansas City Chiefs next.
Broncos bring Cowboys back down to earth
The Denver Broncos have had the Dallas Cowboys' number for years and they ensured their winning streak over Jerry Jones remained intact in a big way.
The last time Denver lost to Dallas in the regular season was back in 1995, an eight-game stretch.
While the Cowboys were coming off a big win over the Washington Commanders, the Broncos reminded them why they are a contender in the AFC.
Bo Nix was efficient, throwing 19 completions on 29 attempts for 247 passing yards, four touchdown passes and just one interception. However, it was the run game that was crucial for the Broncos, who had 179 yards, 6.4 yards per attempt and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Denver held Dak Prescott in check as the Cowboys quarterback saw his touchdown streak come to an end and just the second time this season he's thrown for fewer than 200 yards.
The Broncos are among the hottest teams in the NFL right now and will now look to maintain their lead in the AFC West with the Chiefs on the schedule in a couple weeks.
For the Cowboys, this was another setback, especially on defence, where they just couldn't compete on the Broncos' level.
Dallas got off to a good start with an interception on the opening drive, but for the rest of the game, Denver only punted the ball once.
Just how bad was the Cowboys defence? Michael Irvin made his feelings quite clear.
Dallas ranks second-worst in yards allowed with 404.5 per game. They're also second-worst in points allowed, giving up 31.3 per game. Only the Bengals are worse.
Yes, trading Micah Parsons took their most talented player off the roster but there are more glaring talent issues.
Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus received a vote of confidence by Jones. Can the Cowboys pull off some trade magic to give this unit a boost?
He has some draft capital to make improvements, but it'll be hard to focus on just one player to bring in.
Maye continues to bring Patriots back to prominence
Drake Maye was presented with a real stingy test going up against the Cleveland Browns defence and the New England Patriots quarterback was more than up for the challenge.
Despite being sacked five times by Myles Garrett, Maye was able to shrug it off, throwing for 282 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
The MVP chants rained down at Gillette Stadium and it's certainly deserved as the Patriots quarterback is bringing his team back to prominence.
New England’s record improved to 6-2, its best start since the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady Pats started 8-0 in 2019. Maye has certainly shown the poise and talent that was once a staple during the "Patriots Way" era.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Maye had 200-plus passing yards and a 100-plus passer rating in his seventh straight game Sunday, tying Patrick Mahomes for the longest such streak in NFL history by any quarterback 23 or younger.
Maye entered Week 8 with the NFL's best completion percentage among quarterbacks (75.2 per cent) and passer rating (116.4). That rating will only improve after posting a 135.8 mark on Sunday.
It's a remarkable turnaround for a Patriots squad that was looking lost after back-to-back 4-13 seasons but seems to have found its way under Maye and head coach Mike Vrabel.
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