5 reasons to watch Dolphins vs. Ravens on ‘Thursday Night Football’ in Week 8

Last Thursday was awesome! Who would have thought between the Rams-49ers and Chiefs-Raiders, we’d have two of the NFL’s best games of the year on Thursday Night Football? Not this guy.

With all of the developments we’ve seen this season, there’s not a matchup that sounds a lot less intriguing than Dolphins-Ravens. But that’s not why we’re here.

Let’s talk about why you should watch Thursday Night Football this week.

This is a good and bad thing. The bad, is that we won’t get another great Jay Cutler meme, which is almost a given on poopfest Thursday. Cutler memes are among the best in sports.

Look at this guy:

Grumpy ol’ Cutler on a short week against a menacing defense? We’re missing out on some gold here.

On the other hand, we don’t have to watch Cutler mope around the football field and get mad at his teammates’ shortcomings. Or at least, what he believes to be his teammates’ shortcomings.

That allows us to...

These are two really talented receivers that haven’t had tons of consistency at quarterback because of Ryan Tannehill’s injuries. This week, they’ll have Matt Moore delivering the pigskin to them, and that’s reason to watch.

Landry is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL. This season he’s got 45 receptions for 365 yards and three touchdowns.

He’s as passionate as they come:

He also makes plays like these:

I’m biased and love good wide receiver play, but if you love football, Landry is a player to tune in for to see. That’s no matter who is throwing him the football.

Joe Flacco hasn’t been good this season. The Ravens are 3-4 in his seven starts. He’s completing less than 64 percent of his passes for 1,189 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions. Not elite!

The Dolphins have a middle-of-the-pack pass defense at 17th in the NFL. Things won’t be easy for Flacco on Thursday, but you never know when he just could pop off. I mean, he’s got to do it eventually, right?

This was his most elite work this season when he tripped himself up and completed this third-and-5 to Jeremy Maclin:

I am only rooting for a good game. I would not be mad if that means Moore and Flacco combine for something silly like seven or eight combined touchdown passes.

I’m not counting on it, though.

Ajayi had a breakout season last year and was one of the most fun running backs to watch. Last season, he had 1,272 yards with eight touchdowns. He had three games over 200 yards rushing, and two of those came in consecutive weeks.

The best part about Ajayi is that every time he touches the football, he runs like his life depends on it.

Last year against the Bills was perfect evidence. He got pushed back to the 8-yard line, hardly had an angle, and still got in:

Those are the must fun running backs to watch. Every time it’s like the scene in the “Battle of the Bastards” episode of Game of Thrones when a sea of people and horses are coming at Jon Snow.

Folks, there’s not a whole lot to this one. As a football fan, it’s healthy to consume at least one game from each team a year, so you can learn to appreciate what some teams do well over others.

It’s also good to just know what’s going on around the league, even if those teams are not good.

Enjoy the poopfest!