Sunday Rundown: Instant takeaways from early Week 8 games

Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward.

Early kickoffs

Tush push has to go

I truly didn't anticipate ending up on this side of the debate. The way I saw it, the NFL did the right thing in rejecting a ban during the offseason. And I still felt that way up until this week, even if a rule change felt inevitable in the wake of early officiating issues and the best non-football argument we've seen yet. But the latest controversy has to be the final straw. In case you missed it, the Giants were robbed of a critical turnover early in Sunday's game against the Eagles. Kayvon Thibodeaux had clearly stripped the ball away from Jalen Hurts as he crossed the line to gain on a tush push. But because officials had blown the play dead, it wasn't reviewable. The early whistle is just the latest evidence that officials simply have no ability to call this play correctly. While it certainly feels wrong to be taking away something that one team does so much better than everyone else, the league really has no choice at this point. Can the Eagles, who have now put together two straight promising offensive outings, take advantage of their last year with the cheat-code play?

Ravens stay alive

This feels like a potential turning point for the Ravens, doesn't it? A 1-5 start wasn't how anyone saw their season going. Much of it was their own doing, but injuries certainly made it difficult to deal with a tough opening schedule. A huge win over the up-and-coming Bears puts Baltimore in an extremely interesting spot ahead of Lamar Jackson's expected return next week. Not only is the offense likely to get back on track with the perennial MVP candidate under center, but there are some mildly encouraging signs from the defense, too. Prior to last week's bye, a much-improved effort against the run helped the Ravens hold the Rams to just 17 points. Prior to Sunday's 30-16 defeat in Baltimore, the Bears had been the only team to score 20-plus points in every game this season. Everyone's favorite preseason juggernaut still has a long way to go at 2-5, but a healthier Ravens roster could easily flip the script from here and take advantage of an easy schedule (at MIA, at MIN, at CLE, vs. NYJ, vs. CIN) to get to 7-5 heading into December.

Stroud back?

Speaking of slow starters, the Texans might not be done yet, either. Last week's game against the Seahawks wasn't exactly how they wanted to come out of the bye, but the Seattle defense tends to have that effect on opponents. Houston bounced back this week against the 49ers with its most impressive offensive performance of the season. C.J. Stroud completed 30 of 39 attempts for 318 yards, his biggest passing day since Week 5 of last season. Rookie wideouts Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel stepped into lead roles in the absence of Nico Collins, combining for nine catches, 97 yards, and a touchdown. Crucially, a beleaguered offensive line didn't give up a sack for the first time this year. Has the offense finally found the sort of pass-protection answers that might allow Stroud to get back to the player he was as a rookie? The apparent progress on that front will be put to the test in next week's home date with the Broncos. With a dominant defense leading the league in EPA/play, a league-average offense may be all Houston needs to make some noise in the second half of the season.

Bills' run game explodes

The Bills desperately needed a game like this. After back-to-back losses against the Patriots and Falcons, it was only natural to wonder whether this team had been overrated based on past accomplishments. I wasn't ready to go quite that far, but the offense clearly needed to be better if this was going to be the year for Buffalo. A career-best 216-yard day from James Cook en route to a 40-6 win over the Panthers is a big step in the right direction. The Bills will still need another receiver to maximize everything Josh Allen brings as a passer, and I tend to assume they'll be aggressive in addressing that need before the Nov. 4 trade deadline. But a run game like this gives the Bills' offense an excellent foundation to lean on no matter what's happening on the boundary. Let's see if they can build on it in next week's heavyweight matchup against the Chiefs. Nobody will remember the October hiccups if they can handle business there.

Falcons boggle the mind

I'm done trying to figure out this Falcons team. The offense being without Michael Penix Jr. and Drake London was undoubtedly a big part of Sunday's disappointing effort against Miami, but that isn't nearly enough to explain a 34-10 beatdown on home field against one of the worst teams in football. As was the case in a bizarre 30-0 loss to the Panthers in Week 3, all good vibes around this new-look defense went out the window as Atlanta allowed the Dolphins to march up and down the field. The Falcons allowed a struggling Tua Tagovailoa to post his first four-touchdown game since last November, and the Miami quarterback was pressured on just six of his 27 dropbacks. Even if this offense is healthy moving forward, it just seems like everything about this team is too volatile to have any real expectations this season. Now 3-4 with games against the Patriots and Colts on deck, the Falcons may be hard-pressed to chase down their first winning season since 2017.

Garrett deserves better

Myles Garrett is arguably the best player in all of football. His truly unmatched physical abilities were once again on display in Sunday's game against the Patriots, as the four-time All-Pro racked up a career-high five sacks. In most other situations, a pass-rush performance like this would at least give a team a chance to pull out a win. The Browns, unfortunately, are not most teams. A 32-13 defeat makes Garrett the only player to record five-plus sacks in a double-digit loss since the stat was first recorded in 1982, according to NFL research. Yikes. I'm on record as believing that a young Browns roster can help get this thing turned around once the Deshaun Watson contract is off the books. Perhaps Garrett agrees. After signing a four-year, $160-million deal to stand down from his offseason trade request, he isn't going anywhere, anyway. But at 29 years old, the Browns are already at risk of never getting to capitalize on a generational player. They can't afford any missteps if they're going to compete while Garrett is still in his prime.

Dan Wilkins is theScore's senior NFL writer.