By Ted Nguyen, Dan Pompei and Michael Silver

Each Sunday, three of The Athletic’s NFL writers react to the biggest news, plays and performances from the day’s games.

Wait, the tush push caused a controversy? Yup. Drake Maye and the Patriots piled up points in an impressive win? Also yup. The Falcons’ offense looked out of sorts, and the Bengals and Browns both suffered gruesome losses? Check, check and check.

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But everything wasn’t comfortable and familiar in Week 8. The Jets won.

NFL writers Ted Nguyen, Dan Pompei and Michael Silver share their thoughts on a week in which several heavyweights regained their footing, while at least one bottom dweller finally rose up.

Against a strong Browns defense, the Patriots piled up 32 points and 422 yards while winning their fifth straight. What’s their ceiling this season?

Pompei: Beating the 2-6 Browns isn’t cause for a parade, but the Patriots have been wonderful, one of the feel-good stories of the season, and a tribute to sound coaching, player development and a young quarterback who has played like a veteran. Their schedule is friendly (only two of their remaining opponents are above .500), and a playoff berth seems reasonable. They surely can keep it going if they stay healthy, but they could be more vulnerable to injuries than most teams because their depth is questionable. Either way, the future is bright for this team.

Drake Maye and the Patriots are sprinting forward. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

Nguyen: The most encouraging part about the win was that they found ways to run on a Browns defense that hasn’t given up more than 109 rushing yards all season and had yielded only two 100-yard games in seven weeks. The Patriots ran for 177 yards. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel finally got rookie TreVeyon Henderson involved on perimeter runs.