The Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals kicked off Week 8 of the NFL season with a marquee matchup on Thursday Night Football.

It certainly lived up to the hype.

Rasul Douglas picked off Kyler Murray with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the Packers held on for the 24-21 win, handing the Cardinals their first loss of the season.

I’m still not sure what impressed me more, between the finish and the fact that Green Bay was in position to put that game away the way they did in the first place. 

Here’s the Morning Coffee for Friday Oct. 29, 2021.

Packers Hand Cardinals First Loss

The Cardinals opened as a 3.5-point favourite for Thursday Night Football.

With Davante Adams, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling all sidelined for the Packers, that number ballooned to Arizona -6.5.

Limited with what they could do through the air, Green Bay dominated on the ground, averaging 4.4 yards per carry for 151 yards and a touchdown.

Their 34 rushing attempts were the most in a game this season.

Seventy eight of their 151 rushing yards came after first contact, which is their second-most in a game this season.

On a night when the Cardinals defence knew that the Packers would want to move the ball on the ground, they couldn’t stop the run.

Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers went 22-of-37 for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

Do you think Rodgers was happy after that win?

Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Rodgers averaged 2.25 seconds from snap to release, his lowest in a game since 2016.

He completed only one pass thrown more than 10 air yards down the field.

Randall Cobb caught both of Rodgers’ TD passes.

Cobb was +1700 to score 2+ touchdowns.

Aaron Jones had a combined 110 yards rushing and receiving.

A.J. Dillon ran for 78 yards.

After a loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 1, the Packers have won and covered in seven straight.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Murray didn’t account for an Arizona touchdown for the first time in a game this season.

Murray went 22-of-33 for 274 yards and with two interceptions.

His interception late in the fourth quarter was his first red zone interception of the season.

It certainly didn’t help that the Murray didn’t have his best receiver at full strength with DeAndre Hopkins hobbled.

Still, on a night when Green Bay was without its top three receivers, there’s no excuse for the Cardinals.

If you bet the under, you were very fortunate to escape with the win after Murray’s interception.

An Arizona touchdown would have pushed the total over 50.5.

A Cardinals’ field goal at that point would have forced overtime, which would have meant a field goal from either team in overtime would have been enough to push the total over.

Flames Complete Sweep On Road Trip

The Calgary Flames (-110) completed the sweep of their five-game road trip with a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

Jacob Markstrom made 45 saves for the shutout.

Calgary outscored its opponents a combined 21-7 over the course of the five straight wins.

The Flames scored three goals or more in all five games.

On October 18th, Calgary was +1300 to win the Pacific Division.

Fast-forward 11 days later, the Flames are down to +450 to win their division.

They’ve gone from -125 to make the playoffs on opening night to -270 to make the playoffs now.

Elsewhere, Jake Allen delivered his best performance of the season for the Montreal Canadiens (+110) with a 45-save shutout in a 4-0 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Montreal opened the season at +180 to make the playoffs.

As of this morning, the Habs are +440 to make it.

The Winnipeg Jets (-105) beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 for their fourth straight win.

They’ve scored 18 goals combined in those four wins.

Finally, the Buffalo Sabres (+110) beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime to improve to 5-1-1 this season.

Only the Florida Panthers have a better record in the Eastern Conference right now.

Buffalo was +1360 to make the playoffs on opening night.

As of this morning, the Sabres are +610 to make the postseason. 

Road teams went 6-3 and the under went 6-3.

World Series Shifts To Atlanta

The World Series continues tonight with Game 3 in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Braves (-120) are a small favourite to win Game 3 with Ian Anderson set to get the nod opposite Luis Garcia for the Houston Astros.

Still, the Astros remain the favourite to win the World Series at -140, which is a small drop off from -150 to win it all entering Game 1.

Atlanta went from +125 to win it all before Game 1 to -155 to win it all before Game 2, and now +115 to win it all entering Game 3.