The Rich Top 5: The Unexpected NFL Week 8 Results That Could Change Everything

Every week has games that matter. Rich's Top 5 this week was about the results that would change the conversation, the possible Week 8 outcomes that would shake up the league if they happened.

At number five, Rich started with Vikings and Lions, and he talked himself in a circle before landing. His first instinct was that a Lions win would be the big one: Minnesota's first loss, Detroit back in the NFC North mix that Rich picked them to win before the season, and confirmation for people who think the Vikings don't have the offense to keep up. Then he flipped it. A Vikings win would be even more game-changing, because Minnesota would go 7-0 with the Lions a game further back. The Vikings would have already won in Chicago and in Detroit, and they could sit back and say, "Okay, Seattle, take care of the Bears for us." For a team everybody is still waiting on offensively, Rich said, that "would really solidify things."

Number four was Ravens over Bills in Buffalo's new stadium. Rich imagined Baltimore showing up and saying, you won the last three in the old place, but we're coming to your new one, and we've got Lamar. Buffalo is coming off its bye at 5-2, the Patriots are playing in Miami at the same time, and the Steelers and Browns are going at it too. Baltimore just blew a game to the Bengals with 35 unanswered second-half points. Rich compared the potential turnaround to Seattle, which was spinning its wheels at 3-3 before mopping the floor with the Chiefs. "I think this is a 'we're back, Mortimer' possible victory," he said.

Number three: the Broncos beating the Chiefs. Denver lost in Kansas City in Week 1 amid questions about the play calling, the offense and Bo Nix. A win now would split the season series and put the Broncos in first place. Kansas City would be looking at back-to-back losses, and Rich wondered whether the Chiefs would need to make a move, especially if Kenneth Walker III is out a second straight week. That outcome, Rich argued, matters more than a Chiefs win would.

Number two was Browns over Steelers. Cleveland would be 6-2 and would have swept Pittsburgh. Rich wondered aloud what it would look like if the Browns did it "without having to pull one out of their fourth quarter orifice." No matter what the Ravens or Bengals do, a Browns win puts them in first place. One voice in the studio summed it up: "That would be seismic."

Number one was the Bears in Seattle on Monday night. Rich pictured Chicago, with newly acquired Jeffery Simmons, taking care of the defending Super Bowl champs: Caleb Williams, Luther Burden, Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland and the running game getting it done, with Simmons in Sam Darnold's lap a couple of times. "In front of the whole country on the Disney family of networks," Rich said, the Bears would be saying "this is our time. Now is in fact now." Seattle would fall to 4-4, the ripples would hit San Francisco, the Rams, the NFC North and the whole conference, and "you'd have to start talking about the Bears being up there with the Niners about winning this entire conference."

Then came the bonus pick, and the studio knew what was coming. Rich added a sixth: the Dolphins beating the Patriots. Accused of trolling a colleague whose pick was New England, Rich insisted he was just backing up his Higher Register. Miami would have two straight wins, and New England would sit at .500 and have to ask what it does at the trade deadline. Rich wasn't talking about selling, since the Patriots are still in the playoff mix. His point was that everyone treats the trip to Miami as a homecoming game against a team basking in the glow of its first win. "Strange things happen, man," Rich said.

He ranked that ahead of the Cardinals beating the Cowboys, the Raiders beating the Jets, and even the Chargers beating the Rams, which he almost included. But none of those would have been as much fun for Rich to deliver to someone's face.