Winners and losers from NFL Week 8, plus Rams acquire Von Miller and Derrick Henry undergoing foot surgery

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

The day after Halloween is definitely one of my top seven favorite days of the year and that’s mostly because it’s the one day where I don’t feel guilty for eating 75 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Normally, I’ll cut myself off at 74, but on Nov. 1, I allow myself to eat 75. The only downside with eating so many of them is that my keyboard is now covered in both chocolate and peanut butter. 

Let’s be honest, though, no one cares about my candy-eating habits, so let’s get to the rundown, because we have A LOT to cover from the Von Miller trade to Derrick Henry’s impending foot surgery to Jameis Winston’s torn ACL, plus we’ll have our picks for tonight’s game between the Giants and Chiefs (Spoiler alert: I am not picking the Giants). 

As always, here’s your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them.

1. Today’s show: Week 8 winners and losers, plus full recap

It’s Monday, which can only mean one thing: I stayed up until 3 a.m. last night recording a podcast with Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson that touched on everything you need to know about Week 8, and let me just say, it’s probably for the best that you listen. We covered all 13 games from Sunday and I think everyone should know that I was 99% sure that I was going to faint at the end of the podcast since I made the dumb decision to wear the hottest Halloween costume of all time while we were recording (I was dressed as James P. Sullivan aka Sulley from Monster’s Inc.)

One thing we do every week is hand out our weekly winners and losers from Sunday’s action. For our winners this week, Brinson and I each went with a quarterback who was making their first career start while Wilson decided to go a different route. 

Ryan Wilson

• Winner: Sean Payton and the Saints. The Saints were down to their third-string quarterback, but somehow, they still managed to pull out an upset win over the Buccaneers. Payton and the Saints are now 3-0 in the regular season against the Bucs since Tom Brady took over as quarterback.  
• Loser: Kirk Cousins. Remember how bad Andy Dalton used to be in prime time? That’s Kirk Cousins now. Cousins laid an egg in prime time against the Cowboys in a game that the Vikings absolutely needed to win. You could also throw Mike Zimmer on the loser’s list for not knowing the rules of the NFL, even though he’s been coaching in the league since 1994 (Zimmer tried to call two straight timeouts in the fourth quarter, which led to a 5-yard penalty at a crucial point in the game). 

Will Brinson

• Winner: Cooper Rush. With Dak Prescott out, the Sunday night game could have gotten ugly for the Cowboys, but Cooper Rush didn’t let that happen. The backup QB came up clutch, throwing for 325 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-winner to Amari Cooper. 
• Loser: Bengals. Just when you think you can trust them, they go out and get embarrassed by one of the worst teams in the AFC. You can’t trust the Bengals. 

John Breech

• Winner: Mike White. The Jets backup QB helped his team pull off the biggest shocker of Week 8. The Jets probably would have been happy if White threw for 200 yards in this game, but he went out and more than doubled that, throwing for 405 yards. White became the first QB since Cam Newton to throw for more than 400 yards in his first start. 
• Loser: Tua Tagovailoa. Not only is he the quarterback of a team that’s lost seven consecutive games, but he has to spend the next 24 hours wondering if he’s going to get replaced. Tua has only been in the NFL for a year-and-a-half and his team is already trying to kick him to the curb. 

Not only did we list our winners and losers, but we also recapped every game from Sunday. To listen to today’s episode — and to subscribe to the best daily NFL podcast out there — be sure to click here. You can also WATCH today’s episode on YouTube by clicking here, and remember, if you watch the episode on YouTube, you’ll see me in full costume. 

2. Week 8 grades: Patriots get a ‘B’ for stunning the Chargers on road

Every week I team up with six of my colleagues here at CBSSports.com to hand out grades, and this week, the Patriots got a ‘B’ for shocking the Chargers.

Here’s a look at the grades from two notable games that were played Sunday:

Patriots 27-24 over Chargers (Click here for full recap)

• Patriots takeaway: For the second straight year, Bill Belichick devised a defense that absolutely befuddled Chargers QB Justin Herbert. Last year, the Patriots beat Los Angeles 45-0 and although they didn’t get a blowout this year, this win was probably just as sweet. Patriots safety Adrian Phillips came up with the biggest play of the game when he picked off Herbert and returned it for a TD in the fourth quarter to give New England a 24-17 lead. The Patriots’ offense wasn’t as flashy, but it was efficient as New England held on to the ball for more than 35 minutes in this game, which kept Herbert off the field. Grade: B
• Chargers takeaway: After scoring a touchdown to go up 14-7 early in the second quarter, the Chargers’ offense just disappeared. On the eight possessions after that TD, the Chargers didn’t even total 100 yards of offense, which means they were averaging less than 13 yards per drive during that span. The Chargers’ defense also struggled to get off the field as they let the Patriots convert 9 of 19 times on third down.  Grade: C

Rams 38-22 over Texans (Click here for full game stats)

• Rams takeaway: This was a game where the Rams played nearly perfect on both offense and defense. The score at one point was 38-0 before the Texans piled on some points in garbage time. Offensively, Cooper Kupp continues to be the one receiver in the NFL who no one can cover. The Rams receiver caught seven passes for 115 yards and 1 TD. Defensively, Texans QB Davis Mills had no chance against a Rams defensive front that had him on the run for nearly the entire game. The Rams ended up sacking Mills a total of five times with 1.5 of those coming from Aaron Donald. Grade: A
• Texans takeaway: Since the Texans seem to get a low grade for playing badly every week, we’re going to focus on the positive that happened in this game: Defensively, they stopped the Rams on a fourth-down play from the Houston 3-yard line in the first quarter. Offensively, Brandin Cooks caught a 45-yard TD. On special teams, they recovered an onside kick and eventually turned that into a fourth-quarter TD. Other than that, everything else was a disaster for them. Grade: D-

As for the other 22 grades we handed out on Sunday, you can check those out by clicking here. 

3. Week 8 injury news: Derrick Henry facing foot surgery; Jameis Winston tears ACL

There were two big injuries in the NFL on Sunday and both of them came from teams that ended up winning. The Titans‘ 34-31 overtime win over the Colts now has a black cloud hanging over it due to the fact that Derrick Henry got injured. In New Orleans, the Saints shocked the Buccaneers 36-27, but they lost Jamies Winston in the process. 

Here are the latest updates on both of those injuries. 

Derrick Henry

• The injury: Henry injured his lower leg early in the game and after having tests done, it turns out the Titans star broke the fifth metatarsal of his foot and will undergo surgery on Tuesday, coach Mike Vrabel announced. The crazy thing is that Henry returned to the field and finished the game even though his initial injury appeared to happen at some point in the SECOND QUARTER. 
• The recovery timeline: There’s good news and bad news here for the Titans. The bad news is that Henry’s injury could potentially end his season, but right now the Titans are not offering a timetable for his return. The good news for the Titans is that there’s an outside chance that Henry could return in early January. The most optimistic timeline (via NFL.com) has him returning after just eight weeks and if that happens, he’d be back just in time for the playoffs. 
• What the Titans are losing and their options going forward: The Titans entire offense pretty much revolves around Henry. On any given play, he either gets the ball or they run a play-action that involves him. Henry, who currently leads the NFL in rushing, had 219 carries through eight weeks, which is the most through eight games in NFL history. The ugly part for the Titans is that replacing Henry is going to be nearly impossible. Their second-leading rusher this season is Ryan Tannehill and no running back on the roster has more than 38 yards. Basically, it wouldn’t be surprising if they pull off a trade between now and the deadline on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. The Titans are already looking at one player and that player is Adrian Peterson, who will be working out for the team this week, according to NFL.com. 
• What this means in the division race: Even if Henry can return in January, it won’t matter if the Titans don’t make the playoffs, but thanks to their win over Indianapolis, they might still be able to get there, even without Henry. The Titans currently have a three-game lead over the Colts that’s actually a four-game lead since they swept the Indy. If the Titans can go just 4-5 to end the season, the Colts would have to go 8-1 to overtake them. The Colt still have to play the Bills, Buccaneers, Patriots and Cardinals, so 8-1 seems highly unlikely. As for the Titans, they still get to play the Texans twice plus the Jaguars and Dolphins, so getting four wins over the final nine weeks seems completely possible. 

Jameis Winston

• The injury: The Saints QB suffered a knee injury during the second quarter of New Orleans’ win over the Buccaneers and today we learned he is out for the season with a torn ACL.  
• What’s next for the Saints: With the trade deadline roughly 24 hours away, Sean Payton is going to have to make a quick decision about whether he wants to try to make a deal for a quarterback or stick with the ones he has on his roster. The Saints currently have Taysom Hill, but he’s missed the past few games with a concussion. The team also has Trevor Siemian, who took over for Winston on Sunday. 
• What if Payton wants to add a QB? If the Saints coach doesn’t want to go forward with Siemian with Hill, there are two free agents that could makes sense: Cam Newton or Philip Rivers. Although Rivers is retired, he said over the summer that he’d be willing to return after he was done coaching high school this year and in a twist of fate, his high school season ended last month. If the Saints want to go the trade route, they could look into Mitchell Trubisky, Nick Foles, Andy Dalton, Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or Marcus Mariota. The only problem with going that route is that Payton won’t have much time to hammer out a deal since the trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. One option the Saints won’t have is Drew Brees. The former New Orleans QB has already taken himself out of the running as a possible replacement for Winston.

4. Eight crazy facts from Week 8

Every Sunday night, I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports, and every Sunday, that email always includes some amazingly wild facts about the games that were just played. 

With that in mind, here are eight crazy facts about Week 8: 

• Mike White makes NFL history. The Jets backup QB threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first player in NFL history to hit the 400-yard mark with three or more touchdowns in their first career start. The only other player who has ever thrown for 400 yards in their first career start was Cam Newton, who did it in 2011. White also became the first Jets QB to throw for 400 yards since Vinny Testaverde did it in 2000. White also started the game with 11 straight completions, which was the most by a QB in his first start since 1978. 
• Jets improbable comeback. The most shocking part of the Jets win is that they were trailing by 11 points with five minutes left to play before roaring back. Teams had been 0-59 this season when trailing by double-digits with five minutes left before the Jets came back to win. The Jets had also lost 40 straight games when trailing by double-digits with just five minutes left. 
• Cooper Rush name game. Rush’s game-winning TD to Amari Cooper wasn’t just notable because it helped Dallas beat Minnesota, it was also notable because it gave us an NFL first. Rush’s scoring throw to Cooper marked the first time in NFL history where the passer’s first name and receiver’s last name were an exact match, according to NFL research. 
• Cooper Rush makes Central Michigan happy. With two touchdown passes against the Vikings, Rush became just the second player from Central Michigan to throw a touchdown pass in the NFL. The twist here is that he joins Antonio Brown on the list. Brown threw a TD pass while with the Steelers in 2014. 
• Tom Brady makes more history. At some point, there won’t be any records left for Tom Brady to break, but it seems we’re not quite there yet. Brady threw four touchdown passes in Tampa Bay’s loss, which means he’s now thrown four touchdown passes or more in 38 games, which is an NFL record. It’s fitting that Brady pulled this off against the Saints because Brady had been tied with Brees for the record. 
• The Dolphins can’t figure out how to stop Josh Allen. The Bills quarterback threw two TD passes against the Dolphins, which means he has now throw multiple TD passes in all eight of his career games against Miami. This makes Allen the first player in NFL history to throw multiple TD passes in each of his first eight games against a single opponent.
• No one can guard Cooper Kupp. Thanks to his 115-yard performance on Sunday, Cooper Kupp now has 924 yards and 10 touchdown on the season, which makes him the first player in the Super Bowl era with at least 900 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdown in the first eight games of a season. 
• Eagles finally figure out how to run the ball. The Eagles ran wild against the Lions with 236 total rushing yards, which included two touchdowns from both Boston Scott and Jordan Howard. The reason that’s notable is because it marked the first time in 41 years that the Eagles had two players with multiple rushing touchdowns in the same game. 

5. Monday preview: Prepping you for Giants at Chiefs

The Chiefs have lost four of their past six games and although things have been ugly for them, they could put it all behind them by creeping back up to .500 with a win over the Giants tonight. On the other hand, a loss to New York could potentially send their season off the rails.   

My good buddy Jared Dubin wrote our deep-dive preview for this game here at CBSSports.com, and here’s how he sees the game playing out:

• Why the Giants can win: This might seem like a mismatch on paper, but the bottom line is that the Chiefs defense is so bad that any team has chance to beat them, including the Giants. The Giants also have played surprisingly well in primetime. Although Daniel Jones has a career record of 0-6 in night games, those six losses have come by an average of 5.67 points per game (The Giants are also 4-2 against the spread in those games). Basically, Jones has been playing well enough to win in primetime, he just can’t actually win. If the Giants are going to pull off the upset, they’re also going to need to put some serious pressure on Patrick Mahomes.  
• Why the Chiefs can win: If Patrick Mahomes can simply play a turnover free game, there’s a good chance the Chiefs will be able to win. Through seven weeks this year, Mahomes has been an interception machine with nine picks, which is tied for the NFL lead even though he still hasn’t played his eighth game like some other quarterbacks. The Chiefs are definitely the more talented team and as long as they don’t make any ugly mistakes, they should be able to escape with a win.

You can get a full preview of the game from Dubin by clicking here. The Chiefs are currently a 10.5 point favorite. 

Dubin’s pick: Chiefs 33-27 over.

My pick: Chiefs 31-24 over Giants.

If you’re thinking about betting on the game, Tyler Sullivan put together a full gambling preview. 

• ONE PROP TYLER LIKES: Patrick Mahomes OVER 22.5 rushing yards (-110): “Mahomes has gone over this rushing yards prop in five straight games heading into Monday night and seems to be the most solid bet in this game.”
• ONE PROP I LIKE: Graham Gano OVER 1.5 field goals (+115): If Giants coach Joe Judge has proven one thing in his short time as a head coach, it’s that he loves having his kicker attempt field goals. Gano has gone over this number in five of New York’s past six games and I won’t be surprised if it happens again tonight. 

You can check out Sullivan’s full gambling preview by clicking here.

6. Rams pull off blockbuster trade for Von Miller

With the NFL trade deadline just around the corner (4 p.m. ET, Tuesday), you should probably go ahead and expect things to get kind of crazy over the next 24 hours and that craziness started on Monday with the Rams pulling off a trade for Von Miller. 

Here are the details of the deal: 

• Rams get: Von Miller. 
• Broncos get: 2022 second-round pick and 2022 third-round pick. 

Takeaway: No one loves to make a big trade more than the Rams. The team just traded for Matthew Stafford less than 10 months ago has now pulled off another shocker by adding Miller. The eight-time Pro Bowler will now join a loaded Rams defense that already includes Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey. The trade means that the Rams won’t have a first- or second-round pick in the 2022 draft, which means barring a future trade, they won’t be making their first selection until the third round. The Rams have been the one team in the NFL that seems to care zero about draft picks: They’ve shown that they prefer proven players over unproven rookies. 

From a salary cap perspective, one reason the Rams can afford to make this deal is because the Broncos are going to eat a lot of Miller’s salary. According to ESPN.com, the Broncos will be paying $9 million of the $9.7 million that Miller has remaining on his contract this year. This is basically a three-month rental because Miller’s contract expires after the 2021 season. 

Finally, here’s a quick look at the NFL news you might have missed from over the weekend: 

• Kyler Murray has a sprained ankle. The Cardinals QB got banged up on Thursday against the Packers and now has a sprained ankle that could take one to three weeks to heal, according to Fox Sports. That doesn’t mean Murray will miss one to three games, but it does mean that if he’s on the field over the next few weeks, he’s going to be hobbled while he’s playing. 
• Calvin Ridley taking time away from football. The Falcons didn’t have their star receiver after Ridley missed Sunday’s game due to personal reasons. Ridley later announced on Twitter that he’s going to step away from football to focus on his mental well-being.  
• DeSean Jackson on the trade market. Don’t be surprised if Jackson gets traded between now and Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. Jackson and the Rams have apparently mutually decided that a trade would be the best for all involved. 
• Vikings might have just lost Danielle Hunter for the season. The hits just keep coming for the Vikings. Not only did they lose to the Cowboys, but Hunter appears to have suffered a torn pec during the game, according to NFL.com. If an MRI confirms that as the injury, Hunter will be out for the season.  
• Packers tight end Robert Tonyan out for the season. Aaron Rodgers lost one of his weapons over the weekend. Tonyan, who caught three passes for 49 yards in Week 8, tore his ACL against the Cardinals and will now be out for the season.