On Mondays during in the fall, the conversation is so dominated by NFL football that the expression “Monday morning quarterback” has entered the vernacular. The phrase is defined by Google as “a person who passes judgment on and criticizes something after the event.” With the popularity of fantasy football, we now have Monday morning quarterbacks talking about football from two different perspectives. We want you to be able to participate in this great tradition, so all fall we’ll be running NFL One Liners on Monday. Use these tiny synopses throughout the day:
Week 8
Sunday, October 26, at 9:30 a.m. ET
Detroit Lions 22, at Atlanta Falcons 21 (In London)
A game of two halves. The Falcons won the first half, 21-0. The Lions won the second half 22-0. The Lions won the game, 22-21.
Lion: This wasn’t so much one close game as two blow-outs.
Sunday, October 26, at 1:00 p.m. ET
Buffalo Bills 43, at New York Jets 23
You gotta think this is the final nail in the coffin for head coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Geno Smith’s careers with the Jets. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if the Jets fired Ryan this week.
Line: The Jets are a mess!
Baltimore Ravens 24, at Cincinnati Bengals 27
We thought these two teams were closely matched and they were. I’m not sure we learned much about these teams this weekend.
Line: The Bengals won but the Ravens still look good.
Seattle Seahawks 13, at Carolina Panthers 9
A rare low-scoring football game. This game was the flip-side of the Ravens v. Bengals game. It was close but both teams looked pretty bad.
Line: Sometimes a low score means the teams were well matched and played well. This game was just sloppy.
Chicago Bears 23, at New England Patriots 51
The Bears showed themselves to be just about as dysfunctional as the Jets but unlike the Jets, there aren’t any easy scapegoats or changes to make. They’ll just have to go back to work and try harder. The Patriots, meanwhile, have won four in a row and are probably looking forward to testing themselves against the Broncos in their next game.
Line: The Bears need to fire someone but there isn’t really anyone easy for them to fire.
Houston Texans 30, at Tennessee Titans 16
The Titans aren’t good. The Texans are just good enough to beat up on bad teams but maybe not quite good enough to compete with the best.
Line: The Texans look great… when they’re playing the Titans.
Miami Dolphins 27, at Jacksonville Jaguars 13
The Jaguars are a young team that’s growing together. This game was a big episode of growing pains. Miami needs to beat someone better before we take them seriously.
Line: The next two games for the Dolphins, versus the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions will tell us more about them than this one did.
Minnesota Vikings 19, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13
Believe it or not, even though the Buccaneers had only won one game coming into this week, people were still saying they had an outside chance to make the playoffs. This result will end that talk in a hurry. At 3-5, the Vikings have a glimmer of hope but it’s flickering.
Line: These two teams aren’t doing anything special this year.
St. Louis Rams 7, at Kansas City Chiefs 34
The Chiefs are probably the team that’s taken the biggest shots this year in terms of losing players to injury and have been able to recover. They look like a legit contender for a playoff spot. The Rams try hard but they don’t have the players to compete.
Line: Rooting for the Rams has been a little like ramming your head into a wall for the last few years.
SUNDAY, October 26, AT 4:05 and 4:25 P.M. ET
Philadelphia Eagles 20, at Arizona Cardinals 24
The Cardinals are a remarkable team. No matter how many of their players get injured, they just keep on winning. I don’t think they’re a legitimate Super Bowl contender but they could certainly beat a legit contender in the playoffs.
Line: The Cardinals are like the watch in that commercial, they take a licking and keep on ticking.
Oakland Raiders 13, at Cleveland Browns 23
The Raiders remain winless. The Browns remain a winning team but one that’s decidedly nerve-wracking to root for.
Line: I’d rather be a Browns fan than a Raiders fan but either way, Sunday can’t be a very fun day.
Indianapolis Colts 34, at Pittsburgh Steelers 51
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck finally played a B- game and the Colts lost their first game in six weeks. Luck is great at football but it’s hard to count on him to be great every week in order to win. On the Pittsburgh side of the ball, Ben Roethlisberger set all kinds of team passing records in this game.
Line: If defense wins championships like people say, I guess these two teams are not going to win a championship any time soon.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, AT 8:30 P.M. ET
Green Bay Packers 23, at New Orleans Saints 44
The Saints finally got a replica of their normal offense back and unleashed it on the visiting Green Bay Packers.
Line: The Saints looked like the old Saints, finally!