1.) The Kansas City Chiefs – After the first three weeks the Chiefs had been written off by most everyone in the NFL, but with a win tonight they would stand alone atop the AFC West. Even with a loss they are still right back in the fight for the worst division in the AFC. Just think if they still had Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry.

 2.) The Steelers defense finally controls Tom Brady – The Patriots have dominated the Steelers in their recent match-ups, but the Steelers finally stopped the high powered Patriots offense. They also played the game without Aaron Smith, James Harrison, James Farrior, and Lamarr Woodley at the end of the game. Hey Warren Sapp, is this team still “old, weak, and slow?”

3.) Lesean “shady” McCoy – McCoy has quietly become one of the best running backs in the NFL. His increased performance and catching ability out of the backfield if a big reason why the Philadelphia “Dream Team” Eagles are back on track. McCoy has over 750 rushing yards and 138 receiving yards so far in the 2011 season.

4.) Tebow almost done as Broncos starter? – Reports out of Denver have stated that John Fox already questioned whether or not Tebow would be the starter next week against the Raiders. If Tebow continues to play as bad as he has don’t be surprised to see Brady Quinn playing QB in Denver. (For all the Tebow supporters: 3 TD passes and some passing yards against soft defenses in the fourth quarter does not count as strong QB play)

5.) Jared Allen dominating on Vikings defense – Jared Allen leads the NFL with 12.5 sacks and has recorded at least one sack in every game so far this season. If Allen continues this play he may have a shot at Michael Strahan’s sack record and will likely win the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year trophy.

6.) The Bungals? – The Cincinnati Bengals were supposed to be a reclamation project this year and Marvin Lewis was on the hot seat to keep his job. However, after eight weeks the Bengals have only two losses and are tied atop the AFC North, although they still have two games against both the Steelers and Ravens. They also traded Carson Palmer for potentially two first round draft picks and are already a very young team. Look out AFC these guys could be good for a while.

7.) CJ2K hoping for at least 1K – It’s a good thing Chris Johnson held out for that contract during the off-season because his performance this year isn’t worthy of anywhere near what he got paid. In fact he may be benched soon by the Titans due to his lack of performance on the field. Through 7 games he has 462 total yards; if this performance continues he may not even reach 1,000 total yards after being given the nickname CJ2K following the 2009 season.

8.) San Francisco a year behind – I picked the 49ers to be in the Super Bowl in 2010; they didn’t even come close to making the playoffs. In 2011, however, under their new coach they look like the team everyone expected entering last year. San Francisco would still have to get past some very good teams in the NFC including the Green Bay Packers if they wish to reach a Super Bowl this year, but they look like a definite contender in 2011.

9.) The St. Louis Rams Finally win – Much like San Francisco last year many people picked the Rams to win the NFC West this year, but after eight weeks the Rams have won only one game. Sure it was an impressive victory over a very good New Orleans Saints team, but they have not played well until this week. Maybe they will get on track now, but it will likely be too little too late for the Rams in 2011.

10.) Refs back off a bit in Week 8 – I would like to extend a thank you to the NFL’s refs for not throwing as many flags in Week 8. Week 7 saw a ridiculous amount of pass interference penalties leading Mike Greenberg of “Mike and Mike in the morning” to attack the refs along with many fans. Well it looks like the NFL heard our plea and told the refs to back of a bit and let these guys play.