Welcome to Staten News — where the clocks fall back Sunday and Baltimore still doesn't know who's taking the snaps.
Christian Watson left Lambeau Field in an ambulance on Thursday night. He came back in the third quarter with a broken rib.
That was the kind of night Green Bay had.
🧀 Thursday: Packers 27, Panthers 19
Watson already had 100 receiving yards when he went down in the second quarter, with the Packers trailing 10-6. Green Bay outscored Carolina 21-9 from there, and Watson still caught one more pass for 13 yards on the broken rib.
The real story was what happened to Bryce Young. The Packers sacked him six times and pressured him on 47.7% of his dropbacks. Young finished 22-of-39 for 200 yards, one touchdown and one interception, a tipped ball that Ty'Ron Hopper hauled in.
Carolina tried to rattle Jordan Love with 16 blitzes. Love answered with 14 completions for 126 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz, including a perfect 9-for-9 to open the game. He finished with 30 completions, the third most of his career. Josh Jacobs scored twice.
If you send the house 16 times and the quarterback throws two touchdowns against it, you're not blitzing anymore. You're donating.
Green Bay moves to 5-3. Carolina falls to 3-4 but still shares the NFC South lead with Atlanta. Both teams are off until Nov. 8.
🦬 Sunday's main event: Ravens at Bills
Baltimore at Buffalo, 1 p.m. ET on CBS. The Bills are 5-1 and 3-point favorites at DraftKings. The Ravens are 4-3 and sitting last in the AFC North after back-to-back division losses.
Everything hinges on Lamar Jackson. He hasn't played since the second half of Week 4 with an ankle injury, and he still hasn't logged a full practice since. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the Ravens expect him to play, and the line has already moved from Buffalo -3.5 to -3. That's a report, not a confirmation. Watch the final injury report.
The total sits at 54.5, tied for the highest on the board. If Lamar plays, that number makes sense. If he doesn't, the Bills are laying a field goal against a backup and the whole game changes.
📋 The rest of the board
Every line below is the DraftKings number listed on ESPN's schedule:
Chiefs at Broncos, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS: Kansas City -1.5, total 40.5
Eagles at Commanders, Sunday night, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC: Washington -6, total 40.5
Patriots at Dolphins, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS: New England -7
Cardinals at Cowboys, 1 p.m. ET, Fox: Dallas -7, total 54.5
Vikings at Lions, 1 p.m. ET, Fox: Detroit -3
Titans at Bengals, 1 p.m. ET, CBS: Cincinnati -12.5, the biggest spread of the week
Bears at Seahawks, Monday night, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN: Seattle -3, total 46.5
Read the Sunday night number again. Philadelphia is getting six points in Washington. That's the market telling you exactly what it thinks of this Eagles team right now.
Kansas City at Denver is the other one we're circling. A 40.5 total in a division game is the books expecting a rock fight, and the Chiefs are barely favored on the road.
The Giants, Saints, 49ers and Texans are on bye.
🎯 Where we land
Our lean, and it's only a lean: if Lamar is active, Baltimore +3 is the most interesting number of the weekend. A healthy Jackson getting a field goal is a price we'd look at. If he's out, we're not touching it.
This is the weekend the AFC finds out whether Buffalo is the clear best team in the conference or just the one that's been healthiest.
Sources: ESPN Packers-Panthers recap, ESPN Week 8 schedule and lines, SI Lamar Jackson injury update
— The Bandicoots 🏈🧀🦬