NFL 2025 Week 8 (NFC East)

28 October, 2025. 705 words.

Last week I declared that the Dan Quinn/Jayden Daniels dynasty in Washington is already over, which means that going into week 8 it was fairly certain that the Washington Commanders would lose to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night. So to minimize the damage and keep any hope of reaching the playoffs alive, we need to see The New York Giants win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Dallas Cowboys lose to the Denver Broncos. The first is unlikely, the second is possible.

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Eagles did not cooperate with my plans as they trounced the New York Giants 38-20 at home in the early Sunday game. The Eagles improved to 6-2 and remain uncontested in the NFC East, while the Giants fell to 2-6, their season effectively over unless they decide to tear off a 10-game winning streak (they also lost their star running back Skattebo to a season-ending ankle injury).

Speaking of injuries, is it just me, or are there so, so many injuries in NFL football now? It seems like there’s way more than ever before. It might just be that the players have learned to stay down if they feel the slightest twinge of pain after a play, leading to a lot of play stoppages for things that turn out to be nothing. I keep reading that major injuries are way down in the NFL, but I have no way to confirm or deny that. All I can say is it sure seems like one or more first string players leave every single game at some point.

Back to the NFC East, in the late Sunday game, Denver absolutely mauled the Dallas Cowboys 44-24 at Mile High Stadium (and it was not as close as the score indicates), so the Cowboys dropped to 3-4-1. Great news in the Commanders’ chase for second place in the division, but rather concerning considering the Commanders have to play those same Broncos in Week 13 after their bye week.

And in the last game of the week, the great hopeless endeavor, the Washington Commanders and their last-place-and-it-shows defense traveled to Arrowhead Stadium (or whatever it’s called now) to play the resurging Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night. There was no chance whatsoever that the Commanders would be competitive in this game for even a single quarter, let alone four quarters. But they still have to play the game. There’s always a chance, right? That’s what sports is all about… that crazy improbable chance that the underdog could actually win. And then…

Well, the Commanders lost. As expected. They came to play and were shockingly competitive in the first half, though they had several missed opportunities. But then halftime happened, they apparently left the game early, and it was all Chiefs in the second half. They made the Commanders look like the college games where everyone runs around with no idea what to do. I turned the game off after the third quarter. The Commanders dropped to 3-5 and remain in third place in the division behind the hated Cowboys, and only one game ahead of the hapless last place Giants.

On a side note, when that dude started the National Anthem, I didn’t think there was any chance he’d hit those high notes, but dern he nailed it. (I’ve always thought the U.S. has one of the hardest-to-sing anthems in the world; those notes go all over the ding-dong place.)

I need to think about a backup team to root for, one with a realistic chance of making the playoffs. Geographically speaking, the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and Tennessee Titans are the next closest teams to me. I’m fond of the Jacksonville Jaguars for reasons I can’t fully explain. I think it was from back when they had the bruiser quarterback Steve Brunell. And I like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, except during that one time Tom Brady was the quarterback. So it would probably be one of those teams, if I were to pick. Oh, and I like the Buffalo Bills, too. How can you not root for the one team that lost four Superbowls in a row?

Week 8 Philadelphia Eagles 6-2 Dallas Cowboys 3-4-1 Washington Commanders 3-5 New York Giants 2-6

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