32 things we learned in NFL Week 8: Shifting landscape ahead of trade deadline

The 32 things we learned from Week 8 of the 2023 NFL season:

1.The league’s deadline to trade players in 2023 expires at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Sunday might have been the final time Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry and WR DeAndre Hopkins, Washington Commanders DEs Montez Sweat and Chase Young and CB Kendall Fuller, Carolina Panthers OLB Brian Burns, Minnesota Vikings OLB Danielle Hunter, Denver Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy or Arizona Cardinals WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, among any number of others, play for their current clubs.

1a. And with so many quarterbacks banged up – starters like Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins, the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kenny Pickett joining those ranks Sunday – it’s worth wondering if a market might actually materialize for veterans like Ryan Tannehill (Titans), Jacoby Brissett (Commanders), ex-Viking Case Keenum (Texans) or Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh’s third-stringer.

2. Cousins entered Week 8 with a league-best 16 TD passes and added two more in the Vikes’ 24-10 win at Green Bay before suffering an Achilles injury that seems likely to end his season.

2a. Minnesota has won an NFC-best three games in a row after starting 1-4 but could face some tough decisions ahead of the deadline given the injury to Cousins.

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3. The Philadelphia Eagles swept the Commanders, winning 38-31 on Sunday after beating Washington 34-31 in Week 4.

3a. Philly is the only team in the NFL with seven wins.

4. Eagles WR A.J. Brown posted his sixth straight game with at least 125 receiving yards – 130 yards and two TDs – setting a new NFL record.

5. But Brown has some work to do to catch Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill, the first player to notch 1,000 receiving yards through eight games in the Super Bowl era (since 1966).

5a. Now with 1,014 yards after adding 112 on Sunday, Hill projects to finish with 2,155 for the entire season – putting him comfortably on track in his bid to become the NFL’s first-ever 2,000-yard receiver.

6. The Dolphins have won three in a row against the New England Patriots in South Florida. But this isn’t just a post-Brady thing, the Fins also taking eight of their past 10 at home against the Pats.

6a. It might be a Tua Tagovailoa thing, Miami’s quarterback improving to 6-0 wherever he plays Bill Belichick and Co.

7. Speaking of stellar receivers, WR DeAndre Hopkins had his best game for Tennessee – the former Houston Texans star decked out in a Houston Oilers uniform – three of his four receptions from rookie QB Will Levis going for touchdowns, tying his career high, in a 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

7a. Including Levis, Hopkins has caught the first career NFL TD pass from four different quarterbacks, tied for an NFL record (with Marvin Harrison and Joey Galloway).

7b. Hopkins claimed a share of another granular record, too, Levis becoming the 12th quarterback to hook up with “Nuk” for 100 yards in a game. Galloway and DeSean Jackson have also had 100-yard games with a dozen quarterbacks.

8. The Jets won the Battle of New York – and/or the New Jersey swamps – by beating the Giants 13-10 in overtime. And what a “battle.”

8a. The Big Apple’s finest combined for 24 punts, three shy of the record for a game in the Super Bowl era. They also teamed to produce a paltry 3.8 yards per play.

8b. But the Giants were truly hamstrung after being forced to turn to QB3 Tommy DeVito and finished with -9 net passing yards. RB Saquon Barkley caught three balls … for 0 yards. TE Darren Waller, who left the game early with a hamstring issue, tied for the team lead with 4 receiving yards.

8c. The Giants' lead in the all-time series with the Jets dwindled to an 8-7 advantage.

9. All four AFC divisional leaders sit at 6-2 after the Kansas City Chiefs’ run of dominance over the Denver Broncos ended at 16 consecutive victories in a 24-9 setback.

9a. Sunday was Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ first-ever loss (12-1) to the Broncos and his first road loss to an AFC West opponent after a 16-0 start. The reigning MVP, who was feeling under the weather, turned the ball over three times and didn’t generate a single TD.

9b. Mahomes’ streak of 29 consecutive games with a TD pass also came to an end.

10. The San Francisco 49ers have not been the same since LT Trent Williams and WR Deebo Samuel were hurt in Week 6, dropping their third in a row and surrendering first place in the NFC West to the Seattle Seahawks (5-2).

11. However Niners RB Christian McCaffrey did score a pair of TDs, his 17th consecutive game (including playoffs) reaching the end zone – tying him with Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the NFL record.

11a. CMC extended his own mark for consecutive games with a TD from scrimmage.

11b. After pulling off the double Sunday, McCaffrey needs one more game with both a rushing and receiving touchdown to tie Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk’s all-time record (15).

12. New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara also had a rushing and receiving score Sunday, something he has now managed 11 times in his own sterling career.

13. Conversely, the Cincinnati Bengals, who beat the 49ers in Silicon Valley, appear all the way back after winning for the fourth time in their past five games. QB Joe Burrow is moving much better since his previously debilitating calf injury, passing for 283 yards and three TDs and rushing for 43 more yards in a 31-17 victory.

14. CB DaRon Bland became the first Dallas Cowboys player with three pick-sixes in a single season after taking a Stafford INT back for six in a 43-20 beatdown of the Rams.

14a. Bland can tie the NFL record for a single season if he houses one more interception in 2023.

15. Dallas has 11 in a row at AT&T Stadium, the league’s longest current run of dominance at home.

16. The Cowboys' 43-20 decision qualified as a never-been-done "Scorigami" result.

17. Look out if the Baltimore Ravens reach Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas – where you could make a pretty strong bet given QB Lamar Jackson is now 17-1 all-time against NFC opponents following Sunday’s defeat of the Arizona Cardinals, the best mark by any quarterback against the opposite conference since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

17a. Entering Week 8, the Ravens were the only team that had scored first in all its games. Sunday, they allowed the lowly Cardinals to post a TD on the game’s opening drive.

18. The Carolina Panthers became the final team in the league to notch its first win, defeating the Texans on Sunday in a matchup of rookie quarterbacks.

19. The Panthers and Cardinals are the only clubs with fewer than two wins.

20. The Panthers-Texans clash was the first in the common-draft era (since 1967) to feature the top three picks playing in the same game in the same year they were drafted. Carolina QB Bryce Young got the best of Houston QB C.J. Stroud and DE Will Anderson Jr.

21. Ten years ago, the top three selections of the 2008 draft – Jake Long, Chris Long and Matt Ryan – shared the same field as sixth-year veterans.

22. This was also the fifth time that quarterbacks drafted first and second overall squared off as rookies. Young’s triumph conferred a 3-2 edge to the ones drafted first overall.

23. It may not be the sexiest division in the conference, but the NFC South could wind up being the most compelling with a mix of packed, if average, clubs. The Falcons and Saints, both 4-4, are now tied for first place with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a half-game back at 3-4.

24. The Saints posted 511 yards of offense in Sunday’s 38-27 defeat of the Indianapolis Colts. It was their most yardage in the post-Brees/Payton era and most since 2018.

25. Seattle Seahawks LB Boye Mafe has a sack in five consecutive games, one shy of the team record.

25a. He also showed off a strong hat game while getting into the throwback spirit (more on that soon).

26. What a glorious weekend for uniform aficionados.

27. In a very rare move, the Cowboys wore their dark blue jerseys at home.

28. The Titans looked resplendent, sporting their “Luv Ya Blue” Oilers uniforms for the first time since 1998 while hosting several franchise greats who played for the team when it was based in Houston.

29. Even better, neither the “Oilers” or Falcons (black) wore white jerseys, a rarity for an NFL game.

30. The Seahawks also turned back the clock, wearing their original uniforms – with silver helmet – for the first time at Lumen Field, which opened in 2002.

31. The Dolphins’ dominance over the Patriots occurred in their 1972-era throwbacks.

32. And the uniform variety show will continue Monday night, when the Detroit Lions will debut their new alternate helmet for the first time at Ford Field as they host the Las Vegas Raiders.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.