Week 8 in the NFL saw a game-winning Hail Mary in the afternoon slate, a wild finish to the early slate of games that saw a Super Bowl contender (Baltimore Ravens) lose to a previously one-win team (Browns) and an NFC contender (Philadelphia Eagles) stack another positive performance as it returns to form.
And yet, one of the bigger storylines from the day is the utter implosion from the Aaron-Rodgers-led New York Jets, who are in free fall and now face questions about the direction the team should take, with another rebuild potentially looming.
Here are the winners and losers from Week 8 on Sunday.
WINNERS
Commanders need a little luck but prevail despite inefficiencies
Washington went 0-for-3 in the red zone and didn’t score a touchdown in its only goal-to-go situation against the Chicago Bears. The Commanders had to settle for field goals all game and didn’t score a touchdown until the final play, a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown that won the game 18-15.
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Yet, despite the offensive inefficiency the Commanders (6-2) clamped down on Chicago, limiting the Bears to conversion on just 2 of 12 third downs, and keeping rookie Caleb Williams reined in; Williams completed just 10 of 24 passes (41.7%) for 131 yards. Williams was effective on the ground and Washington benefitted massively from a bizarre play call in which the Bears handed it off on a third-and-goal from the one to backup center Doug Kramer Jr., leading to a fumble, but Washington (6-2) is now the No. 2 seed in the NFC and showed it can win even when it doesn’t play cleanly.
Fully healthy, balance is back for Philadelphia’s offense
The Eagles have fully embraced balance as part of their offensive identity, to excellent results. After missing time, receivers A.J. Brown (84 yards in Sunday’s 37-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals) and DeVonta Smith (85 yards and a touchdown) have brought consistency to Philadelphia’s passing attack, and quarterback Jalen Hurts is playing more decisively.
That has also opened up more opportunity for the rushing game, which continues to excel under Saquon Barkley. The Eagles (5-3) have won three in a row and scored the last 17 points against the Bengals. The Tush Push continues to be nearly unstoppable, and the Eagles have not committed a single turnover during their winning streak.
The Cardinals turn the corner
Arizona, in the second season of Jonathan Gannon’s tenure as head coach, has been a much-improved team. And in a 28-27 comeback win against the Miami Dolphins, the Cardinals showed just how difficult they can be to defend.
Kyler Murray killed the Dolphins with precision on crossing routes, finding rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. and tight end Trey McBride. It was a smart game planning move; Miami’s secondary lacks elite speed and couldn’t keep pace with Arizona’s targets on free releases. Arizona (4-4) is currently sitting in first place in the NFC West, thanks to tiebreakers. Still, it’s clear the Cardinals are an ascending team, building positive momentum.
In weak AFC East, Bills running away with (another) division title
The AFC has 16 teams. Two squads in the AFC East, the Patriots and Jets, are tied for 2-6 and currently sitting in the 14th and 15th seeds in the conference. The 2-5 Dolphins aren’t far better off in the 10 seed. That means that after a 31-10 romp against the Seahawks, the 6-2 Bills are almost certainly running away with yet another division title, which would be their fifth in a row.
Still, none of Buffalo’s six victories have come against teams that currently have a winning record. In fact, the combined record of opponents the Bills have defeated is 15-31 (.326). On one hand, the Bills cannot control which teams are on their schedule. On the other, Buffalo needs to show it can consistently top the tougher opponents it faces, with its two losses coming against the Ravens and Texans. A four-game stretch starting Week 11 that includes games against the Chiefs (7-0), 49ers (4-4) and Lions (6-1) should be telling.
LOSERS
This Jets season has been an abject failure
And New York, loser of five in a row, only has itself to blame. This when doubling down (tripling down?) backfires spectacularly. The Jets went all-in on this Aaron Rodgers build, surrounding him with old friends – emphasis on old, in several cases – which means the Jets (2-6) are staring down another rebuild, with no clear plan in place for the future.
Rodgers turns 41 in a little more than a month. He’s under contract for next season. Frankly, the Jets should consider an attempt to get out of it. This receiving corps, this offense, the shape of the coaching staff — it was all done to appease Rodgers, and his play simply has been nowhere near the costs of these investments. It’s time to wonder whether Rodgers will be committed for another season of this. Either way, the Jets should divert their focus entirely to landing a franchise quarterback in the draft.
Cowboys’ inability to run drags Dallas to dregs of NFC
The Cowboys entered Sunday already ranked dead last in the NFL in rushing offense as the only team to average fewer than 80 yards per game on the ground. With starting running back Rico Dowdle out against the 49ers, the Cowboys hoped that Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook, the latter activated off of the practice squad, would be able to sustain consistent production in the ground game.
Dallas ran for 56 yards on 19 carries for just 2.9 yards per attempt. San Francisco, by comparison, ran for 223 yards on 36 attempts. Dallas’ offense, when there’s no threat of a competent rushing game, becomes predictable and puts enormous pressure on Dak Prescott. Worse still: The Cowboys are a poorly constructed offense whose No. 2 and No. 3 receivers are 6-foot-1 and 5-foot-9, respectively. The Cowboys (3-4) fell to the bottom quarter of the NFC standings. They look like a team headed for an offseason marked by transition.
The Ravens let themselves down, again
It seems that, every season, Jon Harbaugh’s Ravens have an inexplicable letdown that calls into question their status as a legitimate contender. This year, it came against a Browns team that entered Sunday with one win and was starting Jameis Winston at quarterback.
In these letdowns, Baltimore (5-3) incomprehensibly goes against the very things on which they base their identity. The Ravens are the NFL’s top rushing offense; against the Browns, Baltimore ran the ball 21 times. Derrick Henry, who averaged 6.6 yards per carry against Cleveland, received only 11 carries. Baltimore, therefore, constantly faced third-and-longs and converted just 2 of 10 third-down tries. All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton dropped what would’ve been a game-sealing interception. The next play, Winston threw a 38-yard, game-winning touchdown after safety Eddie Jackson suffered a breakdown in coverage. Ravens receivers dropped passes all game long.
Shane Steichen gets mindlessly aggressive
This is when situational coaching costs teams games. Against the Texans, the Colts held the ball late in the first half — with 34 seconds left to play, to be exact — from their own 12-yard line. The game was tied at 10 and the Colts were set to get the ball back to start the third quarter. The glaringly obvious sensible move was to kneel the ball, regroup and start the second half strong.
Instead, coach Shane Steichen opted to call a pass play on a third-and-3, one that Texans safety Jalen Pitre intercepted. This, despite having 2021 All-Pro Jonathan Taylor at running back. On the next play, the Texans scored a touchdown. Anthony Richardson of course deserves blame for telegraphing the pass, but Steichen never should have put his young quarterback in that position. The Colts, in simplest terms, had nothing to gain from that passing play.
Indianapolis (4-4) would go on to lose the game by three.