Each week on "Only the Best," we highlight some of the finest plays, performances and moments from the previous Sunday.
Gregg Rosenthal normally pens this column, but seeing as he's mired in a late brunch with Goodell, I'll take a shot at describing the week that was.
Besides, Sunday made it easy for me, with little debate over the game of the day.
Let's travel to Detroit, where the Lions engineered the season's most dramatic comeback in a 31-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys. On an afternoon that saw Calvin Johnson go otherworldly with 329 yards receiving -- second-most in NFL history and most ever in a non-overtime game -- Megatron was the best player on the field, but the hero's crown fell elsewhere.
With Detroit trailing 30-24 inside the two-minute warning, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford scorched his critics and the Cowboys with this masterful game-winning march:
I won't waste words on Megatron. There are none. Just watch:
Terrelle Pryor's handiwork in Sunday's win over Pittsburgh is a matter of perspective. The Oakland Raiders quarterback emerged with a 25.7 passer rating, the worst for a winning signal-caller against the Steelers since Craig Morton in 1972. But passer ratings be damned! Pryor makes the Raiders a fun watch. He was the best athlete on the field Sunday -- and even his own teammates can't believe this one:
"If you suck at passing, you suck at passing,"Pierre Garcon told reporters after Washington managed a mere 132 yards through the air in a 45-21 loss to the Broncos. Robert Griffin III is struggling -- we opined on that in Sunday's podcast -- but it wasn't all bad news:
Aaron Rodgers has been a cold-blooded killer inside the NFC North. Sunday's 44-31 romp over the Vikings gave the Packers quarterback 12 wins in his last 13 division games, with 31 touchdowns to just four interceptions against the North. This perfectly timed scoring strike to Jordy Nelson raises a fair question: Human, or robot assassin droid?
The scrappy Arizona Cardinals deserve their 4-4 record (and that's a compliment). Their talented defense stymied Atlanta on Sunday and the Cardinals got a nice boost on offense by one of our favorite rookies. Running back Andre Ellington has been a regular fixture in our Game Rewind notebook and finally earned his first start Sunday. Rashard Mendenhall, you're on blast:
It's not all offense around here. The Dolphins crumbled comprehensively down the stretch in Sunday's loss to the Patriots. New England scored the game's final 24 points, an insult to Miami's rebuilt defense and a tough pill to swallow for Ryan Tannehill, who won't forget this costly fourth-quarter pick in Patriots territory:
The latest "Around the League Podcast" has takeaways from every Week 8 game.
