Even with Patrick Mahomes sidelined, the Sunday Night Football showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers rates as one of the NFL’s best games in Week 8.
Some weeks of NFL action have plenty of appointment viewing so that you can plan your entire week around the best football games. Others are a bit lighter in the entertainment department, and Week 8 is more of the latter.
There are plenty of matchups featuring either two bad teams or a good team playing a bad one, so the options were a bit slim for which ones to feature this week. But we did still find three intriguing games to watch this week.
Unsurprisingly, both of the league’s unbeaten squads made the cut.
Cleveland Browns (2-4) at New England Patriots (7-0)
This game may look like a mismatch on paper, and it probably is, but there is something to be said for the desperation factor. The Browns certainly have it in spades, as all of the offseason hype has come crashing down on them with a 2-4 start.
The task in front of Cleveland is gargantuan as they will travel to Foxboro to take on the undefeated Patriots, who absolutely embarrassed the Jets on Monday night at MetLife Stadium. The one edge the Browns have is that they were on bye in Week 7, so they had an extra week to prepare for New England. They will need every bit of that time to come up with a winning game plan.
Carolina Panthers (4-2) at San Francisco 49ers (6-0)
The NFL’s other unbeaten team is the San Francisco 49ers, who have won in all kinds of ways over the first seven weeks of the years. The 49ers made very quick work of the Washington Redskins on Sunday, beating them 9-0 in just over two and a half hours in a very rainy FedEx Field.
The degree of difficulty for the 49ers should increase substantially this week when they play host to MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey and the Carolina Panthers. McCaffrey and company have won four straight since switching to Kyle Allen at quarterback after an 0-2 start and a Cam Newton injury, and they are playing well enough to make it five and take down San Francisco by the Bay.
Green Bay Packers (6-1) at Kansas City Chiefs (5-2)
Yes, this matchup lost a lot of sizzle when Patrick Mahomes went down with a kneecap injury last week, but the Sunday night matchup should deliver some fireworks at Arrowhead. Aaron Rodgers is still playing for the Packers, and he is coming off the best game of his career, compiling a perfect passer rating as he tossed five touchdowns in a win over the Oakland Raiders.
This game is also intriguing for Kansas City since they will need to find a way to beat one of the NFL’s best teams without the reigning MVP. Matt Moore stepped up big time in last week’s beatdown of the Broncos, and he will need another good performance to take down the Packers.