If Roger Goodell is considering Week 8 to be a throwback week, he’s doing it the most peculiar way.
Typically we’d see it through the lens of Nike’s fashion team as we’ve seen in Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks throwback jerseys already. And yellow seems to be the theme this week with the Pittsburgh Steelers going that direction and the Los Angeles Chargers’ electrifying outfits last week.
But I’m old, so I’m seeing it through an AARP lens, where we have eight vintage, veteran quarterbacks starting (or having started already) on the Week Eight, Thursday-Monday slate that have some – whaddya call it – experience?
Welcome to the Retirement League of the NFL.
What an opportunity for Ben Gay, Geritol, and Preparation H.
Carson Wentz was first up as he stood in for the seemingly-always hobbled J.J. McCarthy for the Minnesota Vikings in a horrendous 37-10 loss to the Chargers. Already going into the game, Wentz was 27th out of 36 quarterbacks in the league with a meager QBR of 48. Wentz had a rough night, with responses to hits so dramatically questionable, I thought Terry Rozier had money on that game. He’d finish 15-of-27 for 144 yards in the 27 point loss.
Tyrod Taylor seems to be getting the nod for the winless New York Jets tomorrow against Joe ‘Methuselah’ Flacco who has been surprisingly expedient in his assimilation to the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense (i.e. throw it to JaMarr Chase 16 times for 161 yards and you’ll beat the Pittsburgh Steelers). Last week’s game was the first time two quarterbacks at 40+ years of age squared off and it was arguable the best game of the week (although I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan so that skunking of the Las Vegas Raiders was my high point). Going into tomorrow’s game, Flacco has QBR of 100 to Taylor’s 36.6, and the Jets may be forced to go with Justin Fields after he was benched last week in favor of Taylor.
Andy Dalton (QBR of 123.2) will be dusted off as the Carolina Panthers host the Buffalo Bills, with the dynamic, and reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen as their general. It’s been a little over a year since Dalton last played for Carolina, going 4-for-7 and 60 yards against the Jets on October 20, 2024. But with Bryce Young nursing an ankle injury, we’ll get to see Ol’ Red this weekend as the Bills seek to snap a two game skid to the Panthers. Should see Young back next week.
Is it fair to lump Cooper Rush in with this bunch? Probably not, but with how poorly he’s played in his time with the Baltimore Ravens versus the success he had with the Dallas Cowboys, he’s sure looking like he needs an Icy Hot patch or two and maybe something more. Rush’s QB rating is in the basement right next to Wentz’s, which doesn’t bode well for the Ravens, as the Chicago Bears are getting more and more confident by the week. Lamar Jackson is still looking aways off from returning and it may be a toss-up between Rush and Tyler Huntley.
Kirk Cousins will finally get a chance to pay respect to that big bag o’ cash that the Atlanta Falcons paid him a year and a half ago, but is likely starting in place of Michael Penix, Jr. (pronounce it correctly) and his injured knee. How he’s sat so long this season without so much as a call while the Bengals and Jets have had quarterback woes is beyond me. Probably has a lot to do with not absorbing that contract, but he should look very fluid against a flailing Miami Dolphins team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Cousins may be responsible for the dismissal of Mike McDaniel, though.
Speaking of the Steelers, they have hung their hat on the again, yet still talented Aaron Rodgers … as long as he’s not tackled again by a celebrating 311 lb. teammates (someone get Broderick Jones a melatonin or something). Rodgers has thrown for 118 completions out of 172 attempts and 1,270 yards so far this season, and the game against Flacco and the Bengals was his best overall performance thus far, we need to remember what he said to Jones – “I’m 41 (years old), okay?” Sunday night, he goes against his former understudy, Jordan Love, where the teacher will see what the student learned in Green Bay.
Lastly, it looks like Marcus Mariota may get another opportunity in place of Jayden Daniels, as the Washington Commanders’ usual starter nurses a tender hamstring. Mariota started in place of Daniels in back-to-back weeks in mid-September, leading the Commanders to a 17-point win at home versus the Raiders, and then lost at Atlanta the following week. Despite the rustiness one might expect from the former Heisman award winner, he went 31-of-48 for 363 yards and three touchdowns over those two games and was horrible versus the Dallas Cowboys last week in mop up duty … or based on his stats, mopping up doody. I don’t expect him to fare much better Monday night against the Chiefs, as he will likely get to meet Chris Jones and George Karlaftis – repeatedly.
Hopefully things spring back to normal for the second half of the season, as we race toward playoff positioning and the once-favored Ravens decide if they should tank for the 2026 NFL Draft and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza or Oregon’s Dante Moore.
But in the meantime, enjoy this weekend’s games – and invite your dad or grandfather, so they can explain to you who these quarterbacks are (or were).
Don’t forget the Voltaren …
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Tracy ‘T-Money’ Graven is the Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com owner of TMoneyMedia.com and also has his posts on SubStack at allballs.substack.com
He has written the NBA, appeared as a guest on NBA Radio, and the last 25+ years for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show, NBARadioShow.com, and also tackles the NFL and NCAA. He’s spent 25+ years in locker rooms in Orlando, Boise (CBA, G League), San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta.
He has raised five kids, and now currently resides in the heart of SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee – home of the 2024 Men’s Baseball World Series Champion Tennessee Volunteers.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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