Five Wide: 2026 Week Eight
By Thomas Willoughby
Not talking about the Falcons/Buccaneers game this week. Whatever those sides did at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday evening wasn’t football and therefore we will not give it any airtime whatsoever.
Felt like a bye week for the overseas fan this week. A week off from the International games to let us reset, but left me with nothing to do at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Spent 4 hours staring at my slippers, I think. A good use of time, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Anyway, another week in the books. The season’s slipping away, isn’t it? Time is fleeting. Before you know it, it’ll be Christmas. I feel myself withering away. I can see the light. Oh God.
Here’s Five Wide.
Minshew-Mania v3.0
How many times a day do you find yourself asking the question “who employs Gardner Minshew now?” At least once, surely? No? Just me? Oh ok. Well, I got the answer to that question this weekend. The ultimate NFL cult hero is cashing cheques in Arizona now, apparently, and has been given a golden opportunity to reintroduce himself as more than just a meme. Not many players get that chance.
The Cardinals were down bad when he came in, too. And history was not on their side. With under 14 minutes to play, the Cowboys led 24-10, at home no less. That’s a death sentence for teams chances of winning. Since 2000, the Cowboys were 69-0 when leading by 14 points in the 4th quarter at home. And the Cardinals were 1-147-1 when losing by that same amount, in that same time frame, anywhere. Do you think that’s gonna deter Gardner Minshew’s lad? No! Gardner Minshew II stepped up, and got to work. Touchdown passes to Tyler Allgeier, Trey McBride, and Michael Wilson, with Cowboys field goals sprinked between them, got the score up to 30-30 with time expiring and set up a winning extra point opportunity for week 6 hero Chad Ryland, who promptly fluffed his line and took the game to overtime.
The Cardinals did, however, get a stop, and set up a 42 yard redemption field goal attempt for Ryland, who didn’t miss a second time. 33-30, Cardinals win. And Minshew, who orchestrated the comeback, is back in the public consciousness. Minshew-mania. In 2026. I didn’t see it coming, I really didn’t.
Busted Flush
The league is awash with poorly run football teams. I’d wager you support one. Hell, I support one. What we all have in common, mind, is that there’s always someone more poorly run. I think that this week has cemented one name as the worst run team in the league right now. It’s probably not who you think it is, either.
One year ago today (at the time of publishing), the Indianapolis Colts sat at 7-2 and were the envy of the NFL. Sensing an opportunity, they decided to take a swing at one of the leagues name cornerbacks, to sure up their defense and strengthen their defense. They traded a 2026 and a 2027 first round pick to the New York Jets for Sauce Gardner. They ended the season 8-9 following a Daniel Jones injury, but felt good that, with him back in 2026, they’d pick up where they left off and make another push.
2026 has been nothing short of a disaster for Indianapolis. They lost 42-7 this weekend, to a Jaguars side on a rampage. The Colts are 2-6, and selling their parts for a pittance in an attempt to build up enough currency to kick start a rebuilt they did not expect to need for a while yet. Quenton Nelson is gone. DeForest Buckner is gone. Jonathan Taylor hasn’t gone yet, but the Colts are apparently open to him leaving. Indianapolis are in tank mode, without a first round pick to tank for.
What a difference a year makes. Their window to make a run seemingly slammed shut just as quickly as it opened. With Shane Steichen seemingly coaching the rest of the season for his job, they’ve opted to stick by Jones for now. Will they eventually turn to Anthony Richardson to breathe some life into the quarterback position at some point? Quite possibly. An unfathomable position for them to be in on the 4th of November 2025. The Indianapolis Colts: the worst run team in football.
Bare Minimum
If the Colts are the worst ran team in the league, the Chargers are the worst coached team in the league. Yeah, I know I went after them 2 weeks ago, but they had a bye week and look even worse than before. What’s worse, though, is that they admitted to being poorly coached. Or, rather, the inexplicably still employed Mike McDaniel did.
The bye week is supposed to be an opportunity to reset. A week off to rest up and to attack the rest of the season with new vigour. The Chargers went in at 0-6, so you’d think that this was would be the perfect opportunity to get at fixing the mistakes of the first 6 weeks. And, it would appear, that McDaniel and Justin Herbert agreed, as they arranged some film sessions across that week off.
Bear in mind, the bye week is just that: a week. They spent 4 hours watching film, across two 2 hour sessions. Now, I’ve never played the sport. For all I know, four hours out of one week might actually be above and beyond. But it doesn’t feel like it. It actually feels like a comically low figure to quite when trying to justify your existence.
And clearly it didn’t pay off. The Chargers lost again. They haven’t scored a touchdown since week 5. Their season is over, and they are for sure about to blow the whole operation up and start again in 2027. If only they’d watched 5, or even 6 hours of game footage, we might be having a totally different conversation.
Offensively Gross
Well that was quick. It was only last week that I was talking about just how legitimate the Minnesota Vikings defense is, given their status as the last remaining unbeaten side in the league. One trip to Detroit later, and their streak is over. The Vikings lost 19-15. Though, to be fair, I’m not sure we can really blame that defense here.
That Vikings offense is a joke. Like an actual practical joke. They’ve got Justin Jefferson hauling in circus catches. Aaron Jones clearly on the decline, but should be doing more than he is right now. But the swing at Kyler Murray has just not worked. Since coming back from his week one injury, Murray has thrown 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. His trademark mobility seems to have been lost, too. If things don’t tighten up, the team stellar defensive play will be for naught.
The next two games are vital, now, in terms of proving that they were more than fools gold through the first 6 weeks of the year. The Bills and Packers are fine opponents, and will be the perfect litmus for whether that defeat on Sunday was a fluke, or something more.
Kitwatch 2026: Part VIII
All quiet on the fashion front this week, but the league did treat us to a rarity: a Rivalries double header.
We start in Jacksonville, then, whose new threads clearly gave them the push needed to get it done against the Colts. I’m not sure what to make of this. It seems the theme for 2026 is “washed out”, and that’s what I’m feeling with these jerseys. Like they’ve been washed with colours one too many times without changing the colour catcher. I do like the font, though. The teal helmet is striking, and the black pants feel like an underline to a decent effort? I don’t hate it.
The Detroit Lions unveiled their Rivalries uniform, too, with, what I can only describe as, a Panthers away uniform. Last week’s blue helmet returns, paired with a white jersey, black numbering, and blue detailing. It’s nice! I like it, but it is very Panthers-y. A decent job.
Features Image Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
Thomas Willoughby
NFL ANALYST
THOMAS IS A WRITER, AND REGULAR GUEST ON THE TOUCHDOWN REVIEW SHOW PODCAST, FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU CAN FIND HIM @WILLO290592 ON TWITTER
