Week 8 featured what was unquestionably the most entertaining slate of games this regular season, with several teams pulling off shocking upsets and delivering some unforgettable moments.
Amidst the chaos, the Washington Commanders shocked the Chicago Bears on a walk-off Hail Mary, while the Baltimore Ravens were stunned by their AFC North rival Cleveland Browns.
Meanwhile, the New York Jets added another humiliating chapter to their miserable season, whereas the Kansas City Chiefs cruised to yet another victory to remain undefeated.
Here are some knee-jerk reactions from the eighth week of the NFL season:
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels locked up the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award
Even though there are still nine games left to play this season, Daniels delivered such a stellar performance against the Chicago Bears that the OROY race is essentially over. Daniels, who was a game-time decision for Sunday’s contest after suffering a rib injury last week, outplayed Caleb Williams in a duel between the top two picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Williams only completed 10 of his 24 passes for 131 yards. Daniels, on the other hand, finished 21-of-38 passing for 326 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 52 yards, though the box score doesn’t tell the entire story. The LSU product enjoyed several Heisman moments last season, but he had his OROY moment with two seconds remaining in Sunday’s contest while Washington trailed 15-12.
After scrambling around in the backfield, Daniels fired a 52-yard Hail Mary that bounced into the hands of Noah Brown to secure a thrilling 18-15 win.
The 2024 Jets are the most disappointing team in franchise history
The Jets have produced several awful teams throughout franchise history. However, after falling to 2-6 following an embarrassing 25-22 road loss to the rebuilding Patriots, it’s safe to say that no Jets team has been more disappointing than this one.
Despite missing the playoffs for the last 13 seasons, New York entered 2024 with something it hadn’t had in well over a decade: expectations. Not just expectations but legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
Looking at the names on the roster, it’s easy to understand why, yet the on-field product has been flat-out abysmal. The Aaron Rodgers experiment couldn’t have been more of a disaster, and with no straightforward fix in sight, it wouldn’t be shocking if the Jets continued to spiral.
Ravens defense will be the reason the team won’t get over the hump
The Cleveland Browns earned the most surprising upset victory of the season on Sunday, defeating Baltimore 29-24 at home behind a 38-yard touchdown by WR Cedric Tillman with just over a minute remaining in regulation. The loss not only snapped a five-game winning streak for Baltimore but also highlighted the ineffectiveness of the team’s defense, which is shaping up to be its potential fatal flaw.
In addition to scoring more than 20 points for the first time in 2024, the Jameis Winston-led Browns offense set a season-high in total yards (401). The absence of CBs Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins clearly played a role in the outcome, but Baltimore’s pass defense was already the worst in the league entering Sunday’s action.
While the Ravens boast arguably the NFL’s most complete offense, that won’t matter much if the defense can’t resolve its issues, which could ultimately cost the team in the playoffs.
National Tight Ends Day isn’t just a gimmick
NFL teams sure know how to celebrate a holiday. Sunday marked the sixth annual National Tight Ends Day, which George Kittle of the 49ers created in 2018, and seemingly every team joined in on the festivities. Overall, NFL tight ends scored 17 touchdowns on Sunday, breaking the previous National Tight Ends Day record of 12 combined scores by the position.
Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts and Tampa Bay’s Cade Otton led the way with two scores a piece, though the most impressive outing by a tight end on Sunday belonged to Arizona’s Trey McBride. During the Cardinals’ 28-27 come-from-behind road victory over the Miami Dolphins, McBride caught nine passes for 124 yards.
NFL defensive coordinators will surely have next season’s National Tight Ends Day marked on their calendars.
OC Shane Waldron and HC Matt Eberflus aren’t the long-term answers in Chicago
Hiring Waldron over now-Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury looks like one of the most regrettable decisions a team made in the offseason and one that could cost Chicago’s coaching staff their jobs. Waldron has a history of questionable play-calling decisions, but his gaffe with 6:25 remaining in the fourth quarter Sunday was undoubtedly his worst.
On third-and-goal at Washington’s 1-yard line, while Chicago trailed 12-7, Waldron called a running play for backup guard Doug Kramer, who immediately fumbled the ball, which obviously proved costly.
Even so, Sunday’s loss isn’t completely on Waldron, as the defensive-minded HC Eberflus’ decision-making greatly attributed to the result. Aside from letting Washington pick up an extra 13 yards on the play before Daniels’ Hail Mary, Eberflus surprisingly didn’t use any of his three timeouts to reset his defense.
The Bears are now 1-13 against winning teams under Eberflus, and since they have a potential franchise quarterback in Williams, they have no choice but to re-evaluate the coaching staff going forward.
Bengals should trade WR Tee Higgins
Cincinnati fell to 3-5 on the season after suffering a 37-17 blowout home loss against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Making the playoffs seemed like a long shot for the Bengals entering the contest. Now, Cincinnati must post a 7-2 record going forward to have a shot at a wild-card spot, which seems almost impossible considering its defense allows the 10th-most points and eighth-most yards per game.
Therefore, the Bengals should look to trade Higgins at the Nov. 5 deadline, assuming he heals from the hamstring injury that kept him out of Sunday’s game. Although the impending free agent is a key contributor, Cincinnati would have to pay Higgins a significant contract extension to keep him around, a massive risk given his extensive injury history.
With so many holes elsewhere, the Bengals would be better off spending the funds for a Higgins extension on other positions, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
A perfect regular season might be realistic for the Chiefs
QB Patrick Mahomes is off to the worst season of his career, completing 68.4% of his passes for 1,651, eight touchdowns and a league-leading nine interceptions. Injuries continue to pile up for the Chiefs, who’ve notably lost RB Isiah Pacheco for an extended period and WR Rashee Rice for the remainder of the year.
Yet, Kansas City finds itself with a perfect 7-0 record, and it’s possible it could post the first undefeated regular season since the 2007 Patriots.
The Chiefs haven’t played anywhere close to their best football this season, but the offense is steadily improving week-to-week as new key contributors RB Kareem Hunt and WR DeAndre Hopkins get more acclimated.
The Chiefs still have several difficult matchups left to play, including in Week 11 against Buffalo. Still, if teams haven’t beaten them while they haven’t performed near their full potential, it’s fair to wonder at this point whether anyone can stop them.