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Each week, we’ll offer up the very best of the NFL for a given week, kind of like the fantasy football team you wished you had.
We’ll pick one quarterback, two running backs, two receivers and a tight end – OK, this is sounding a lot like a super-hindsight fantasy football team – as a way to look back on the weekend that was.
Running backs thrived in Week 8, while the quarterback spot was filled by the starter on the best team in the NFC. Let’s get into it:
QB: Jordan Love, Packers
You could go with any of this week’s four-touchdown gang – Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa, Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts or Denver’s Bo Nix – but Love was so efficient in how he out-dueled Aaron Rodgers in prime time, we have to look his way.
Love completed 20 straight passes at one point as he led Green Bay on a 28-3 run to turn a nine-point halftime deficit to a 35-19 lead late in the fourth quarter. He threw for 360 yards and three scores without an interception, and he helped the Packers keep the best record in the NFC, beating the guy he took over for in a high-profile showdown in primetime.
RB: James Cook, Bills
Simply put, this was a monster game for Cook, who ran the ball 19 times for a career-best 216 yards – the most in any game this season – and two touchdowns in a rout of the Panthers. His previous career high was 179 yards.
Cook is now averaging 107.6 rushing yards per game this season, which is just ahead of Jonathan Taylor at 106.3. (Taylor is otherworldly with 12 rushing TDs, to Cook’s seven.) Cook is averaging 6.0 yards per carry for the season, which would put him in very rare company if he can maintain that over the course of an entire season.
We could put Taylor in here just about every week, so in a close call, we’ll go with Hall, who was a huge part of the Jets pulling out their first win of the season.
Hall ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and he even threw a touchdown pass for the winning margin with less than two minutes left. Hall had 112 of his rushing yards in the second half, and all three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Jets rallied from a 15-point deficit.
It was a rough week overall for receivers. No one had more than 114 yards, and the top two in yards had no touchdowns in losses.
The only two-touchdown game of the day was Franklin, who had two touchdowns as a rookie last season and two this season before today. He finished with six catches for 89 yards.
Including Franklin is also a little bit of a makeup call for not giving Nix the quarterback nod despite his strong performance.
WR: Michael Pittman Jr., Colts
Again, we’re making up for not picking Jones at quarterback.
Pittman has already matched his career high with six touchdown catches. Only Amon-Ra St. Brown and Dallas Goedert have caught more this season. Pittman’s 95 yards were a season high, and eight catches on nine targets is good, efficient football.
Indy’s receiving corps is seen an ensemble cast sometimes, but Pittman has caught six of their 13 passing touchdowns. Not many receivers have a larger share that way.
TE: Tucker Kraft, Packers
Just when it seemed like an underwhelming National Tight Ends Day, Kraft came through with a huge nightcap – seven catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns, continuing a breakout third season. The yards reset a career-best for him.
Kraft’s output was easily enough to get the nod here. We considered the Eagles‘ Dallas Goedert, who had two touchdowns but with just 28 yards. Kraft is that rare tight end who’s been his team’s best offensive weapon, a key part of Green Bay’s impressive 5-1-1 start this season.
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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