After eight weeks of football, we have a handle on what teams are doing well and what's still a concern. The Saints cracked the top three of our ESPN NFL Power Rankings for the first time, but the play of their 28th-ranked secondary has been, well, frightening for much of the season. But no team is perfect. In honor of Halloween, we had NFL Nation come up with scary first-half trends for all 32 NFL teams. How we rank: Our power panel -- a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities -- evaluated how teams stack up through the first eight weeks of the season. Previous rankings: 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Preseason Record: 8-0 Week 8 ranking: 1 The Rams are the lone undefeated team in the NFL, but they are convinced that there's plenty of room to improve. And they're correct, starting with the defense. The D has come through in the clutch on several occasions, notably in victories over the Chargers and Vikings. But it is the 13th-ranked defense in the league, and at times it has been susceptible against the run and more recently against the pass. -- Lindsey Thiry Record: 7-1 Week 8 ranking: 2 The Chiefs have had trouble finishing some of their games. They've had to sweat at the end of wins against the Chargers, Steelers, 49ers and Broncos after having big leads. Not all of this is on their defense, which played well down the stretch in some of those games. Mostly, the Chiefs haven't been good enough at killing the clock. They've had the disturbing tendency to go three-and-out when they need to maintain possession. -- Adam Teicher Record: 6-1 Week 8 ranking: 4 The Saints' defense came up big in Sunday night's win at Minnesota, forcing two game-changing turnovers. But it still ranks 28th in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game, 30th in passing yards per attempt allowed and 30th in opponents' passer rating. They need to continue their recent improvement -- especially with the Rams' potent offense coming to town in Week 9. -- Mike Triplett Record: 6-2 Week 8 ranking: 3 The Patriots entered their Monday night game against Buffalo having not played a game without a turnover on offense. For a team that traditionally is among the league leaders in turnover differential, it is an area of concern that has been noted weekly by coach Bill Belichick. -- Mike Reiss Record: 5-2 Week 8 ranking: 5 Can the Chargers be road warriors? With four of their next seven games on the road -- including two straight to start -- they will have to earn some victories away from L.A. in the second half of the season in order to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The Chargers are 9-18 on the road since the start of the 2015 season, which ranks 25th in the NFL. -- Eric Williams Record: 5-2 Week 8 ranking: 9 Aside from Sunday's win against Baltimore, the Panthers have been notorious for slow starts -- to both halves. And even against the Ravens, they fell behind 7-0 on the opening series. The two weeks before that, they fell behind 17-0. Although they're 5-2, they've been playing a lot of catch-up. -- David Newton Record: 4-2-1 Week 8 ranking: 8 The Steelers have been spooked into dropping the football too often. Pittsburgh's offense has 11 fumbles through seven games, including five for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and three for running back James Conner. The offense recorded 15 fumbles all of last season. Though many of the fumbles were recovered, coach Mike Tomlin values ball security above nearly all else. -- Jeremy Fowler Record: 4-3-1 Week 8 ranking: 6 The Vikings' inability to consistently win the turnover battle is becoming a concern. Whether it is Kirk Cousins' untimely miscues (he leads the league in fumbles and fumbles lost since becoming a starter in 2015) or the barrage of mistakes that occurred in the Vikings' loss to the Saints, Minnesota is 0-3-1 in games in which they are on the wrong side of the turnover differential. -- Courtney Cronin Record: 4-4 Week 8 ranking: 10 While offenses are scoring at an all-time clip, Philadelphia's has gone in reverse. The Eagles rank 21st with an average of 22.2 points per game, a decrease of more than six points from their Super Bowl season (28.6 PPG). They are getting high production out of Carson Wentz, Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz. The rest of the supporting cast needs to pick up their game if Philly is going to compete with the likes of the Saints and Rams down the stretch. -- Tim McManus Record: 4-4 Week 8 ranking: 7 Joe Flacco has struggled in throwing the ball deep. He has one of the strongest arms in the NFL, but the Ravens can't stretch the field. Over the past four games, Flacco is 1-of-13 on passes that travel at least 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The lack of explosiveness puts too much pressure on Baltimore to grind out long drives. His 5.89 yards per attempt in October is the worst in the NFL. -- Jamison Hensley play 2:12 Which Packers players will have the most fantasy production? Matthew Berry breaks down which Packers players will have the biggest impact going forward. Record: 3-3-1 Week 8 ranking: 12 The Packers can't win on the road. They've lost at the Redskins, Lions and Rams, and they have three of their next four away from Lambeau Field -- at the Patriots, Seahawks and Vikings. "We're 3-0-1 at home; we know we're tough to beat at home," Aaron Rodgers said after losing to the Rams. "Now we know we can play with anybody, if we didn't know that already, so we've got to go to New England and beat a really good football team." -- Rob Demovsky Record: 5-3 Week 8 ranking: 11<doc-sep>Week Nine of the NFL season should be the best week yet. Look at all the good games this week. We have the Los Angeles Rams at the New Orleans Saints, pitting the top-two teams in my Power Rankings. We have Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady for just the second time in their careers. The two best quarterbacks in the game go head-to-head when the Green Bay Packers face the New England Patriots in Foxboro, Mass. Then we have the always-fun Steelers-Ravens game, this one in Baltimore after the Ravens beat the Steelers earlier this year in Pittsburgh. l can't wait to see the Atlanta Falcons offense against the Washington Redskins defense and Russell Wilson against Philip Rivers. It shapes up as a heck of a week. The Rams stay at the top spot here after narrowly beating the Packers this past Sunday when a Ty Montgomery fumble cheated us out of a chance to see Aaron Rodgers with the ball down two and in his two-minute offense with a chance to win. Sorry to interrupt your reading, but just a quick PSA here. We have a pretty amazing daily NFL podcast you may not be aware of. It's hosted by Will Brinson and it's all the things you're looking for: news, fantasy, picks, really, just football stuff for football people. Subscribe: via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play. Los Angeles held on to stay undefeated, but the trip to New Orleans this week will be even tougher. The Saints are right behind them in the NFC with six straight victories after losing their opener to the Bucs. The Saints have improved on defense since that debacle against the Bucs. They've impressed winning road games at Baltimore and at Minnesota the past two weeks. The Saints-Rams game matches the two best play-callers in the NFL in Sean McVay and Sean Payton. It should be an offensive feast. The winner will have the top spot in the league at the halfway point, and also have the inside track to being the top seed in the NFC playoffs. It's the highlight game of a good NFL weekend. Let's hope it lives up to the hype.<doc-sep>Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, he’s proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.“There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering,” said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New York’s Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. “But they’ve done great.”A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGM’s development of “The Hobbit” franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, “Skyfall,” which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studio’s work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahn’s stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGM’s film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGM’s board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barber’s contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barber’s deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasn’t replaced him, instead operating an “office of the chief executive officer,” comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorage’s overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorage’s flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, “No Time to Die,” was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGM’s library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorage’s flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.<doc-sep>The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Cleveland Browns in Week 9. What other defenses can you pick up and plug in off the waiver wire this week? Week 8 was yet another solid week for our defensive streamers as all three options finished inside the top-12 of weekly scoring. On the back of a late pick-six by Devin McCourty, the New England Patriots finished as the best fantasy defense on the week. The Kansas City Chiefs racked up five sacks and two turnovers against the Denver Broncos to finish as the eighth-best fantasy defense. And the Pittsburgh Steelers came through with the week's 11th-best score in a win over the Cleveland Browns, which ultimately led to the ousting of head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Behind the Patriots' 20-point performance in Week 8, our top streaming option of the week is now averaging 13.4 points per game. That ranks as the best per game average among all defenses this season, three points better than the top overall fantasy defenses, the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears (10.1 points per game). Heading into Week 9, we're targeting two home favorites and a big road favorite facing a team at a crossroads. As always, every week in this column, we search the waiver wire to identify low-owned teams set up with a great matchup. The focus is on teams owned in about 50% or fewer of Yahoo fantasy leagues. Our goal is to identify teams poised to be a top-12 scorer (start-able in standard leagues) for that given week. Here are three defenses you can pick up off the waiver wire and play in Week 9.<doc-sep>
Need Fantasy Football lineup advice? Talk to CBS Sports on your Google Assistant to get insights on the best sleepers and to help decide between players. Just start with, "Hey Google, talk to CBS Sports." As someone who has only lived in South Florida a few years, it took me a while to recognize the need to prepare for the storm before it was ever on the radar. Because as soon as people start talking about it, the shelves at the store start to look bare. I hope you prepared early for the Week 9 Byenado, because at this point the streaming options on the waiver wire are starting to look like those store shelves. With one magical exception. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is back, and you should get excited. If you combine Fitzpatrick and Jameis Winston, you come to the startling conclusion that the Tampa Bay starting quarterback has been the best in Fantasy this season in four-point per passing touchdown leagues (second in six). Yes, better than Patrick Mahomes. Fitzpatrick doesn't have a great matchup in Week 9, but it doesn't really matter. You're starting any Tampa Bay quarterback at this point. It's partially because of great weapons like Mike Evans, Desean Jackson and Chris Godwin, but mostly because the Bucs defense can't stop anyone and game flow will dictate a lot of passing. Derek Carr delivered in a big way in Week 8, and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to him against the 49ers. San Francisco has given up the sixth most Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, and Carr is going to be winging it because -- as you'll see below -- I don't expect Oakland's defense to be any better. Carr has been inconsistent in terms of Fantasy, but a lot of that is just the sequencing of his touchdowns. Eight of his 11 touchdowns have come in two games this season, but he has at least 244 yards in every game but one, and he's topped 300 yards three times. He should give you a decent floor against a plus-matchup, but his upside is a far cry from that of Fitzpatrick. This is a matchup of two of the worst defenses in football in terms of defending quarterbacks in Fantasy, so hopefully C.J. Beathard and Carr can feed off each other. Beathard gave us three straight games of at least 20 Fantasy points before struggling the past two weeks against the Rams and Cardinals. I'd expect a bounceback against a bad Raiders defense, but I wouldn't expect a lot of upside. At quarterback, the important thing to remember this week is Fitzpatrick is the only quarterback worth adding and starting over someone you're rostering. Carr and Beathard are largely bye-week replacements, nothing more. Tight end This is just about the worst week we've had for tight end streamers, so I apologize to the Zach Ertz owners out there. The Dolphins just allowed two touchdowns to Jordan Thomas, and Chris Herndon has scored each of the past two weeks. That's the good news. The bad news is, he only saw one target in Week 8. That's terrifying, and reminds me a lot of C.J. Uzomah heading into last week. Still, he's the best option. Benjamin Watson has been featured in this column more than I'd like to admit, but this is a pretty good spot for him in Week 9. The Rams should score enough to keep Drew Brees passing, and they have struggled against tight ends. Watson had 10 targets in Week 6 and 7 combined before getting blanked in Week 8. I'd attribute that more to game script than anything else, Brees only threw 22 passes. I have Watson projected for five targets in Week 9 with about a 35 percent chance of scoring a touchdown. That tells you more about the state of streaming tight ends this week than how I feel about him. Jordan Thomas took advantage of that Dolphins matchups in Week 8. In Week 9 he'll face a Broncos team that has actually been worse against tight ends than the Dolphins. Thomas has been reliable this year, catching 83 percent of his targets but hasn't shown a lot of explosiveness, with a receiving average of just 8.0. How I feel about him in Week 9 will hinge of the availability of Keke Coutee and just how involved we expect new Texan Demaryius Thomas to be.