The Ravens’ season, which began a promising 4-1, is suddenly on the verge of falling apart. They are now 4-4 and last in the AFC North. The defense under Jesse Minter, a former defensive coordinator, has allowed 71 points the last two weeks. And they face a huge challenge this week with a Thursday night game against the surging Jaguars, without much at quarterback. The Ravens signed street free agent Austin Reed on Monday, and are reportedly looking into trading for Bears backup Tyson Bagent, who worked with Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle last year in Chicago.
More importantly, though, is that Jackson’s future in Baltimore is in doubt. He’s under contract for one more season at $52 million with a no-trade clause, but the Ravens had hoped to sign him to an extension last year, and Jackson noticeably didn’t seem to engage. No one seems to know if Jackson wants to remain in Baltimore after nine seasons.
“There’s no testimony without a test,” Minter said. “So, we’ll do everything in our power to keep this thing going, to get it back on the right side, again with whatever that looks like, and whoever that’s playing.”
Other takeaways from Week 8:
⋅ It was only one loss for the Vikings, who fell to 6-1 with a 19-15 defeat to the Lions. And there’s no shame in losing to a strong division opponent. But the loss put a glaring spotlight on a big problem — Kyler Murray. He led the Vikings to just 266 yards and 24:17 time of possession against the NFL’s 23rd-ranked scoring defense, and for the season the Vikings rank 27th in points per game (20.0).
Coach Kevin O’Connell clearly doesn’t trust Murray. Facing fourth and 5 from their 33 with three minutes left, the analytics said to clearly go for it, but O’Connell punted, and the Vikings never saw the ball again. They probably need to go back to Carson Wentz or trade for a quarterback — perhaps Daniel Jones, Jacoby Brissett, Joe Flacco, or Aidan O’Connell — so they don’t waste their No. 1-ranked scoring defense.
⋅ The Buccaneers should play their games with leather helmets. Playing in a Florida downpour, they rushed for 324 yards in a 16-0 win over the Falcons despite Baker Mayfield going 0-for-3 passing. The Buccaneers became the first team since the 1974 Bills to win a game without completing a pass, yet Mayfield still finished with a higher passer rating (39.6) than counterpart Michael Penix (12.0), who was 8 for 24 for 125 yards and four interceptions.
This win came a week after the Buccaneers rushed for 258 yards in a 43-13 win over the Panthers. The 582 rushing yards over a two-week span are the most since the 2020 Ravens went for 653, and the sixth-most over the last 50 years. The Buccaneers have called 104 runs and just 16 passes the last two weeks.
Despite a 3-5 record, the Buccaneers sit a half-game out of first place in the NFC South and look like the favorites to win the division.
⋅ Minshew Mania is back! Now on his sixth team in eight years, Gardner Minshew entered the Cardinals’ game late in the third quarter, and led them to four straight touchdowns and a field goal in overtime to pull off a 33-30 win over the Cowboys. Dallas had led, 27-17, with just 3:58 left.
The last time a Cardinals quarterback threw three touchdown passes and won off the bench was Jim Hardy for the 1949 Chicago Cardinals.
**Tracking former Patriots**
**Commanders WR Stefon Diggs:** Caught three passes for 38 yards and a touchdown in a 27-10 win over the Eagles. He’s only on pace for 672 yards but already has five touchdowns, and he is healthy enough to play every week, which is more than can be said about A.J. Brown.
**Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett:** Threw for 119 yards and an interception before being replaced by Minshew, then got demoted to third string on Monday behind Carson Beck. It sounds like the Cardinals are willing to trade Brissett, and the Vikings, Ravens, and Eagles should be interested.
**Cardinals K Chad Ryland:** Picked a bad time to miss his first extra point in two years, but he redeemed himself with the winning 42-yard field goal against the Cowboys.
**Cardinals WR Kendrick Bourne:** Broke his tibia, finishing his 10th NFL season with 26 catches for 263 yards.
**Dolphins OLB Joshua Uche:** Had four tackles and a sack, his second of the season, in the loss to the Patriots.
**North Carolina coach Bill Belichick:** Put a scare in No. 1 Miami, but lost at home, 38-35. Had been 103-0 as a head coach in the NFL and college when his team scored at least 35 points.
**Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll:** Tennessee lost to drop to 1-6, but 36 points and 304 passing yards for Cam Ward (his first career 300-yard game) is a big improvement.
**Quick hits**
⋅ Scapegoat season has arrived. No head coaches have been fired yet, but the Panthers fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero on Friday, and the Saints fired offensive run game coordinator T.J. Paganetti on Monday.
⋅ The Colts’ Shane Steichen is a good coach, but that freight train is out of control. One more loss might be it.
⋅ If the Colts are dangling Jonathan Taylor as trade bait, why did they give him 12 touches for 47 yards in a blowout loss to the Jaguars?
⋅ The Chargers, now 0-7 after a hapless loss to the Rams, can’t continue with the status quo much longer. Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel was lucky to survive the bye week.
⋅ The Chiefs had four cracks from near the goal line and couldn’t punch it in. They have a talent problem on offense.
⋅ Jets coach Aaron Glenn messed up the analytics again, kicking early field goals instead of going for it in a 38-33 loss to the Raiders.
⋅ The Broncos won their 15th straight one-score game — in the regular season. They lost, 10-7, to the Patriots in the AFC Championship game (without Bo Nix, of course).
⋅ The Raiders have their highest-scoring offense through Week 8 (27.6 ppg) since 2002, the last time they made the Super Bowl (or won a playoff game).
⋅ The Eagles are 2-6 for the first time since 1999. Hopefully we get to see backup quarterback Joe Milton soon.
⋅ The Dolphins did get a win Sunday. The Vikings’ loss meant the 1972 Dolphins could pop the champagne bottles for the 54th straight year.
Ben Volin can be reached at [ben.volin@globe.com](mailto:ben.volin@globe.com).