Overreaction Monday: Time For Cowboys To Make Big Changes? Bo Nix Is Mr. Clutch?

Week 8 taught us again that anything can happen on any given Sunday. The Arizona Cardinals not only completed one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 season (again), but they also had the second-biggest comeback win of the year in their overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys. We saw another dramatic comeback win in Denver, too, as the Broncos rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. And neither of those games featured arguably the biggest result from Sunday’s slate. The Detroit Lions took down the Minnesota Vikings, handing their division rival their first loss of the season. As we near the halfway mark of the year, which grand statements from Sunday’s games should we take seriously? Let’s overreact to Week 8. Sunday was a game the Dallas Cowboys must have had circled for a win, and it was one that they should’ve won, too. They comfortably led the Arizona Cardinals, 24-10, early in the fourth quarter as it appeared they were about to get their season back on track and improve to .500. But the game flipped when the Cardinals made a quarterback switch late in the third quarter. They went from Jacoby Brissett to Gardner Minshew II, who led the Cardinals to four straight touchdown drives to end regulation as running back Tyler Allgeir also put up an electric performance (191 total yards). The two helped the Cardinals complete the rally in overtime, with Arizona getting a 33-30 win. It’s the first time in franchise history the Cowboys lost a home game after leading by at least 14 points in the fourth quarter, according to FOX Sports Research. The Cowboys had been 202-0-1 in those situations before the loss to the Cardinals. And Arizona improved to 5-0 against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, extending its NFL record for the most wins without a loss at the stadium. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters he doesn’t intend to make a coaching change before the season is over. However, something drastic is needed to shake the Cowboys out of the doldrums, as they have lost three of their past four games. The Cowboys brought in Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant, but that change has not improved a defense that went through wholesale changes this offseason, including a new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker. Dallas has allowed at least 20 points in 15 straight games, the longest streak in the NFL, according to FOX Sports Research. If Jones doesn’t want to make coaching changes, he at least must think about the individuals calling the plays on both sides of the ball as a way to try and improve his team in a very winnable division in the NFC East. In just his third NFL season, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix has proven to be one of the best in the league at snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. And at home against his AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oregon product was at it again. With his team trailing 24-13 entering the fourth quarter, Nix led the Broncos to 15 unanswered points, with rookie running back Jonah Coleman scoring the winning touchdown on a 5-yard run with 35 seconds left. Denver’s defense engineered a goal-line stand to complete the comeback victory, sacking Patrick Mahomes on the final play of the game from the Broncos’ 6-yard line. Denver upped its record to 6-2 with the victory, taking over the top spot from Kansas City (5-2) in the AFC West. Conclusion: Overreaction … For Now We won’t call Nix the most clutch quarterback in the NFL yet, but he has earned the nickname “Captain Comeback.” He has 13 career fourth-quarter comebacks in his first three seasons (including playoffs), breaking a tie with John Elway and Derek Carr (12) for the most for any quarterback through the first three seasons of their career. With the win over the Chiefs, Nix became the ninth quarterback since starts were first tracked in 1950 to win 30 games in his first three seasons. Nix now has 16 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime, which is the most through a quarterback’s first three seasons since at least 1950. Those are impressive accomplishments by Nix but also highlight his struggles early in games and the fact that the Broncos need him to create more explosive plays in the passing game to take pressure off the defense to carry the team. However, it appears that, like his main adversary (Mahomes), Nix has the clutch gene. The Minnesota Vikings finally faced a team that wasn’t completely overwhelmed by defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy scheme and needed Kyler Murray to get something going on offense. And while Murray threw for 210 yards and led the Vikings in rushing with 35, he could not make the plays Minnesota needed in critical moments, leading to the Vikings suffering their first loss of the season. They fell to the Detroit Lions, 19-15. The 15 points were the fewest a team has scored against Detroit this season. The setback continued to expose the struggles between head coach Kevin O’Connell and Murray in developing a consistent way to lead the offense and move the chains. Specifically, Justin Jefferson remains one of the best receivers in the league but is visibly frustrated on the sideline after unsuccessful drives as the Vikings fail to consistently get him the football. Jefferson finished with five catches for 33 yards and a score. Conclusion: Overreaction The Vikings (6-1) were the last remaining undefeated team to lose this year and still sit a game ahead of the Chicago Bears (5-2) and the Lions (5-2) in the NFC North. O’Connell understood there would be growing pains as Murray learned a new offense that was more complicated than what he was used to running with the Arizona Cardinals. Fortunately for the Vikings, they are winning while Murray goes through the predictable growing pains of learning a new offense. But at some point, the reps must kick in, and Murray needs to be playing at his best when the season matters the most, in December and January. The Vikings still have time to make that happen. After missing three games with a high-ankle sprain, Lamar Jackson didn’t make it through the first play of the game in the highly anticipated matchup with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Jackson hit his right thumb on his throwing hand on Buffalo edge rusher Greg Rousseau’s hand as he attempted to knock the ball down. Jackson had to leave the game for further evaluation and did not return. Jackson’s replacement, Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, also had to leave the game and did not return with a right toe injury, meaning Joe Fagnano, an undrafted rookie out of Connecticut, had to finish the game for the Ravens. The Ravens dropped to 4-4 with a road loss to the Buffalo Bills and Jackson is headed to the injured reserve because of surgery to fix his right thumb injury. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti chose Jackson over John Harbaugh when he fired the longtime head coach and brought back Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to lead the team. However, Jackson struggled to stay healthy and lead the team on the field the past two seasons. Jackson missed four games because of a hamstring injury in 2025, Baltimore’s second losing season in a decade. Jackson has missed at least two games in four of his last six seasons. The two-time MVP desires a new deal that makes him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, but will the Ravens sign Jackson to a lucrative new contract if he can’t stay on the field because of injuries? Huntley has been a serviceable replacement for Jackson. But at some point, the Ravens must take a long look at what to do at quarterback for the long term and decide if it makes sense to go with a younger and cheaper option at the position instead of investing in a franchise quarterback who has struggled to stay on the field over the last two years. Stick a fork in the Philadelphia Eagles — they are done for the 2026 season. With a disheartening 27-10 setback on the road to the Washington Commanders, the Eagles have now lost six straight games for the first time since 2012. It’s also Philadelphia’s first 2-6 start since 1999. Even in the nose-pinching NFC East, it’s time for Eagles general manager Howie Roseman to start working the phones and seeing what he can get for his foundational players that he doesn’t envision as part of a rebuild and see what he can get in terms of draft compensation before the trade deadline. And at the top of that list should be running back Saquon Barkley. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction Barkley only finished with 30 yards on 13 carries, but you can point to Philadelphia’s struggles up front for the Penn State product’s lack of production, along with a nagging hamstring injury that’s slowed him down. However, once fully healed, Barkley can still be an impact runner in the right situation. At 29 years old, Barkley still has some gas left in the tank. Along with Barkley, the Eagles should be looking to see what they can get for players like cornerback Riq Woolen, tight end Dallas Goedert and edge rusher Nolan Smith. They all could make sense as trade pieces, as each of them is either on an expiring deal or only has one year left on their contracts. Just like the Indianapolis Colts, Roseman’s Eagles should be sellers at the trade deadline. The Los Angeles Rams played the worst team in the league, defeating the winless Los Angeles Chargers, 24-9, in the “Battle of LA.” Still, Los Angeles won its second game in a row to scratch back to the .500 mark. The Chargers have not scored a touchdown in nine quarters, going 27 straight drives without scoring a touchdown. Opening the season as heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl, the Rams would be on the outside looking in if the playoff were today. However, the Rams are finally looking like the team NFL observers expected to see when the season started. One of the Rams’ prized offseason additions, cornerback Trent McDuffie, had his best game with his new team, finishing with a season-high nine tackles and an interception. On defense, the Rams held the Bolts to under 300 yards and forced Justin Herbert to throw two interceptions. And Los Angeles should be even better on that side of the ball when Myles Garrett returns from his knee issue. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction One thing head coach Sean McVay can be pleased about is an improvement in the kicking game. The Rams had veteran kicker Brandon McManus and Joshua Karty active for the game, becoming the first team to have two kickers on their game-day 48-man roster since the New England Patriots in 2022. McManus finished 3-of-3 on extra points and converted his only field goal, a 30-yarder, while Karty handled kickoffs and had two of his attempts fall short of the landing zone, allowing the Chargers to start drives at the 40-yard line. But overall, the Rams were finally more buttoned up in the kicking game. The Rams also ran the ball effectively on the ground for a second straight week, finishing with 129 rushing yards on an efficient 4.8 yards per carry. Give Cleveland’s Todd Monken credit for creating a winning culture in his first year as head coach, leading the Browns to their first 5-2 start that had them in first place in over 30 years. However, the Browns were exposed on the road in a humbling loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In a game for the top spot in the AFC North, Cleveland was never in contention to win on Sunday. The Browns scored six points, didn’t get in the end zone and didn’t score a point in the second half. Deshaun Watson finished with decent numbers, completing 27 of 39 passes for 324 passing yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions as Pittsburgh’s defense constantly harassed him throughout the game. Watson was sacked a season-high eight times and leads the league in sacks taken with 33. The Browns totaled 34 rushing yards while the Steelers rolled with 200 rushing yards. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction It’s understandable why Monken went with Watson as his team’s starting quarterback to start the year. He’s still on the books for $46 million in guaranteed money for the 2026 season, and is the most talented, experienced quarterback on the roster to lead this team. However, this season has always been about who the Browns should start at quarterback in 2027. And we know it will not be Watson. After making the drastic mistake of trading for Watson and signing him to a guaranteed $230 million deal, it’s unfathomable that owner Jimmy Haslam would double down and sign Watson to a new contract. Right? Instead, with the Browns clearly not in position to compete with the best team in the AFC North, it’s time for Cleveland to see what they have behind Watson in Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, now that he’s healthy. Give Watson credit for playing good enough football to lead the Browns to a winning record at this point of the season. But he’s not the long-term answer. Cleveland has two first-round selections in 2027, giving the Browns a chance to secure their franchise QB next spring.