Ten years ago, the wildcat ripped the league in half, Aaron Rodgers made his first start for the Packers, Brett Favre played 16 games for the Jets, the Patriots missed the playoffs, and most shocking of all, Jeff Fisher coached a team that won—you’re really not gonna believe this—13 whole games. If you don’t know where you’ve come from, then you don’t know where you’re going. So, to better understand what’s ahead in 2018, we’re spending this week looking back on what happened 10 years before. Welcome to 2008 Week!
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Welcome to NFL 2008 Week
A decade later, The Ringer explores the enduring impact of the 2008 season
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August 10, 2018
What Jon Gruden Can Learn From the Disastrous End to His Last Coaching Job
In 2008, the Buccaneers lost their final four games to miss the playoffs. It was a complete team meltdown that offers some lessons for Gruden as he heads back to Oakland.
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August 10, 2018
Redrafting the 2008 NFL Draft
With a decade of hindsight, how would teams have valued guys like Joe Flacco, Calais Campbell, and Matt Ryan?
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August 9, 2018
What the Brady-less 2008 Season Taught Us About Bill Belichick
Despite the sudden loss of perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time in the first quarter of Week 1, the Patriots still won 11 games. How’d Belichick do it? Matt Cassel and Rodney Harrison explain.
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August 9, 2018
The Year of Peak Safety Play—and the Position’s Steady Devaluation Ever Since
In 2008, Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu ruled the NFL. Ten years later, even the best safeties on the market struggled to find work. Has the game simply changed? Or is the explanation more sinister?
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August 8, 2018
Brett Favre Was Better With the Jets Than You May Remember
For 11 games, Favre raised New York to new heights. Then he tore his biceps, and everything fell apart.
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August 8, 2018
Ranking the 25 Best NFL Players Who Have Been in the League Since 2008
Who are the best of the vets?
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August 7, 2018
How 2008 Bucked the NFL’s Passing Trend and Became a Year for Running Backs
After the Patriots’ record-breaking 2007 season, you’d think 2008 would have been a year of high-flying NFL offenses. But it was actually the year of rushing attacks.
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August 7, 2018
How Did Jeff Fisher Go 13-3 in 2008?
That year’s Titans team was among the best in football—and was also the last time the NFL’s living embodiment of 7-9 posted a winning record
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August 6, 2018
Into the Wildcat
A decade ago, the Miami Dolphins put a running back at quarterback and a quarterback at wide receiver. The protagonists of one of the weirdest (and most successful) offensive experiments the NFL has ever seen tell us the story.
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August 6, 2018
The 2008 Lions Mastered Tanking Before It Was Cool
How much has the meaning of 0-16 changed in 10 years?