Week 8 of the 2019 NFL season is in the books. There weren't too many shocks this week though as the big teams won and the small ones, well, didn’t.

The New England Patriots crushed the Cleveland Browns' hopes of recovering their season with a statement win, marking Bill Belichick's 300th victory as a head coach.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers' offense showed that they are as serious as the defense and Aaron Rodgers has still got the 'it' factor.

Here are five things to take away from the weekend's action.

Kirk Cousins won't take the Vikings to the playoffs

Kirk Cousins has responded surprisingly well to being called out by his receiving corps.

A big division win against the Detroit Lions and then a prime time win against the struggling Redskins on Thursday Night Football has proved to some that Cousins still has the ability to make big throws.

In reality though, this is no changing of fortunes. The Vikings faced a team in Washington that are devoid of ideas, without a full-time coach and struggling for consistent play at quarterback.

This was by no means a statement win. The victory does mean that Minnesota can stay in touch with the Packers which is important, but Cousins is still exactly who we thought he was.  

Chicago Bears should consider trading for Cam Newton

From one dodgy NFC North quarterback to another.

The Mitchell Trubisky experiment is sort of over at this point.

Since his much talked about selection in the 2016 draft, Trubisky has failed to live up to the hype of the second overall pick out of North Carolina.

His lack of progression has meant that even with the outstanding defense that inhabits his own bench, the Bears are off the pace and out of the equation.

And speaking of Carolina, the performances of backup Kyle Allen prior to Week 8 have meant that  discussions about Cam Newton moving on have been real.

In a system of creativity under Matt Nagy, and one where a physical runner could support Tarik Cohen well, the 2015 MVP would be welcome in Chicago. 

Packers vs Patriots is the dream Super Bowl matchup

Sorry 49ers fans. Sorry Chiefs fans. The Packers and Patriots should be facing off in Miami.

Following the clinic that Aaron Rodgers put on against the Chiefs in Week 8, we should be treated to watching him against one of the greatest defenses of all-time next February.

The manner in which the Patriots disabled and destroyed the Browns offense on Sunday was impressive.

Forget new age teams and clever play design, one last slug-fest Super Bowl between Brady and Rodgers would be a real treat.

Dan Quinn’s days might be numbered

The Falcons defense is unreliable. Through the first 8 weeks of the season they rank second worst in passer rating.

Now, this team has talent. Deion Jones, Desmond Trufant and Keanu Neal are just some of the big-time names on this starting defense but the scheme they are playing is not so great.

Too regularly they get caught in zone coverage and are picked apart by teams who take advantage of this and work out route combinations that destroy the cover-3 system they attempt to specialise in.

Dan Quinn must take the responsibility for this. It’s his scheme, his play-calling and his coaching. It seems hard to believe that with the talent on this team, they could all be just playing bad individually.

Miami Dolphins have got together a nice receiving corps

The biggest shock of the weekend looked like it might come courtesy of the Miami Dolphins following the first quarter of Monday Night Football.

The Dolphins were playing well against the Steelers early on, who were looking like they were struggling to contain the Dolphins' impressive set of receivers.

Preston Williams, the rookie standout, continued to show people that he deserved to be drafted, and newly-acquired Allen Hurns got himself a touchdown as they powered past the Steelers in the first quarter.

Predictably the game ended up going the way of Pittsburgh, but Hurns, Williams, DeVante Parker, Albert Wilson and co. showed that with a solid quarterback and offensive line, they could make teams think twice about how they defend them.

Eventually the Dolphins did remember that they are the Dolphins and fell away, but it was a good sign for a team that is in full rebuild mode.