What we learned in NFL Week 8: 49ers continue mastery of Cowboys, Jets stumble into darkness

Jayden Daniels danced to his right, then backpedaled. He kept scrambling, kept holding the ball, and holding it, and holding it, buying himself a few more seconds before finally letting it fly. The quarterback with bruised ribs, who’d been sacked twice and hit seven more times by the Chicago Bears’ defense, launched the football 62 yards in the air.

It was the Washington Commanders’ last chance.

A moment later, after a fortuitous ricochet, that ball was resting in the hands of Washington wideout Noah Brown, who stood alone in the end zone. The Hail Mary had been answered. Brown was mobbed by teammates. Daniels, too. Coach Dan Quinn sprinted across the field celebrating and flung his headset. The sideline erupted. The entire stadium erupted.

Washington 18, Chicago 15.

The quarterback didn’t even see the catch.

“I just heard people screaming and the sideline rush the field,” Daniels said later. “That was kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Like, not too many people to experience that.”

A game that stumbled early sizzled at the finish, with two lead changes in the final 27 seconds. In the end, Daniels’ 52-yard touchdown to Brown with no time left won it, capping a classic between the top two picks from April’s draft. Daniels finished with 326 yards and the game-winning touchdown, outdueling the player who went one spot ahead of him, Caleb Williams, to remain in front of the Offensive Rookie of the Year race. Williams shook off a cold start to lead the Bears back in the second half, only to stand on the sideline in disbelief after watching Daniels’ pass fall right into Brown’s hands.

Washington (6-2) has now won six of its last seven and remains on top of the NFC East, while the loss for Chicago (4-3) is especially gutting. There’s no room for error in the NFC North, and the Bears had this one.

“We’ve practiced that play a hundred plays since we’ve been here,” coach Matt Eberflus said.

Elsewhere in the NFL, the Chiefs remained unbeaten after defeating the Raiders 27-20, and the Lions remained the league’s only one-loss team after routing the Titans at home, 52-14. Detroit quarterback Jared Goff continues to keep his name in the MVP conversation: he’s now recorded a passer rating of 125 or better in four straight games, becoming the third quarterback ever to do so. He’s also completed 83 percent of his throws over the last five weeks, surpassing Peyton Manning for the best completion percentage over a five-game span (minimum 100 attempts) in NFL history.

In Jacksonville, the Packers won their fourth consecutive game thanks to another game-winning field goal from Brandon McManus, but concern rests with quarterback Jordan Love, who left the 30-27 win over the Jaguars with a groin injury and didn’t return. The Packers (6-2) are just a half-game back of the Lions (6-1) in the division, and the two will meet for the first time this season next Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Two weeks ago, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was jawing with his own fan base after a win. He later apologized, but after that one — an ugly victory over a struggling Browns team — it was difficult to make sense of Philadelphia, a squad loaded with talent but struggling to find consistency. Now, it seems, the Eagles are finding their groove: Sunday’s convincing 37-17 win in Cincinnati was Philly’s third straight, and at 5-2, the Eagles are just a game back of the Commanders in the division.

In Tampa, the Falcons finished off a season sweep of the Bucs, 31-26, to grab sole possession of first place in the NFC South. Meanwhile, the Saints dropped their sixth straight in losing to the Chargers, 26-8. New Orleans has been in an absolute tailspin after starting 2-0. The Saints scored 91 points in their first two games, a pair of routs over Carolina and Dallas. They’ve scored 94 in the six games since.

In Miami, Tua Tagovailoa’s return to the field after six weeks away was spoiled by the Cardinals, who beat the Dolphins 28-27 on a 34-yard game-winning field goal from Chad Ryland. At 4-4, Arizona finds itself in a three-way tie atop the NFC West with Seattle and San Francisco after the Seahawks’ 31-10 loss to the Bills and the 49ers’ 30-24 win over the Cowboys Sunday night. The Rams, winners over the Vikings on Thursday, are a half-game back at 3-4.

In the AFC West, the Broncos posted an easy 28-14 win over the Panthers, who fell to 1-7. As of now, Denver is holding onto the fifth spot in the AFC playoff picture, a testament to the job coach Sean Payton is doing in his second season there.

Here’s what we learned in Week 8:

49ers make it four straight over Cowboys

Both of these teams needed this one. Badly.

Entering Sunday night’s game, the 49ers — likely the most injury-battered team in the league so far this season — had dropped four of six. The losses were taking a toll, especially on offense, and something wasn’t right with one of the NFL’s most consistent winners. San Francisco, remember, has played in three straight NFC Championship Games and was a fourth-and-1 stop away from a Super Bowl win last February.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, were utterly embarrassed the last time out, routed 47-9 at home by Detroit. And with the spotlight the Cowboys court, and the expectations they welcome, falling below .500 this late in the season would only incite more scrutiny and second-guessing.

The result this time? Par for the course in this series, a 30-24 win for the 49ers that keeps them tied atop of the NFC West. Brock Purdy shook off one of his worst starts as a pro — he threw three interceptions in last week’s loss to the Chiefs — to finish 18 of 26 for 260 yards and a touchdown. He added 57 on the ground and another score. George Kittle shined on National Tight Ends Day, hauling in 128 yards and a touchdown.

For Dallas, even after a stirring fourth-quarter comeback that came up short, it’s more of the same. More questions about the defense. More turnovers in timely spots.

And one more loss to the 49ers, the Cowboys’ fourth in a row to their longtime NFC rival, including two in the playoffs. It’s fair to start wondering, as uneven as the Cowboys have played this season, what kind of path they have to a potential playoff spot in the NFC. Three of their next four are against teams currently leading their divisions.

Jets stumble into the darkness

Earlier in the week, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers used some splashy words to calm the concerns about his struggling team.

“Thankfully, we’re not to the denouement of this season,” the four-time MVP said. “There’s still a lot of time left. It’s important that we all stay as sanguine as possible.”

One can imagine how sanguine Jets fans were after Sunday’s 25-22 loss to the lowly Patriots. Or if the denouement Rodgers spoke of arrives anytime soon.

Hey, maybe that means a merciful end to what’s been an absolute mess of a season.

Consider: with Zach Wilson — and not Rodgers — at quarterback, the Jets were 4-3 at this point last season. Currently, they’re 2-6.

With their loss to the Patriots on Sunday, the Jets fell to last place in the AFC East. (Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)

No word salad from Rodgers can dance around the Jets’ new reality, which, eight games into the season, feels a lot like their old reality. They’re among the worst teams in football. After all the offseason hype, after the 2-1 start, after the surprise firing of coach Robert Saleh, the demotion of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, the trade for Davante Adams and finally ending their stalemate with Haason Reddick, this is what it’s gotten them: five straight losses and the second-worst record in the entire AFC.

“We say that’s not who we are, but that’s who we are until we demonstrate otherwise,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said after the loss, which drops him to 0-3 since he took over. Ulbrich called this “a moment of darkness” for his team.

“I’ve been in the darkness,” Rodgers added. “You’ve gotta go in there and make peace with it.”

The Jets will have to make peace with this: they couldn’t even beat a Patriots team that entered on a six-game losing streak and lost its starting quarterback, Drake Maye, in the first half.

That means, before the halfway point of the season, the AFC East race is effectively over. The Bills, 31-10 winners over the Seahawks on Sunday, are 6-2 and the only team in the division above .500.

Jameis seizes his ‘one shot’

The Browns hadn’t won a game in five weeks. They shipped their top wide receiver, Amari Cooper, to Buffalo earlier this month. Their $230 million quarterback, Deshaun Watson, was lost for the season after rupturing his Achilles last week. And in a surprise move, coach Kevin Stefanski decided to surrender play-calling duties.

The season was crumbling.

The Browns entered Sunday’s game with the Ravens — winners of six straight — as eight-point underdogs.

By late afternoon at Huntington Bank Field, Jameis Winston, fresh off a 334-yard, three-touchdown day, was quoting Eminem in a postgame interview. “You only get one shot,” the veteran quarterback said. “Do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity lasts once in a lifetime.”

Winston could do that because he’d just rallied the Browns from a fourth-quarter deficit to a stunning upset of a Super Bowl contender.

Maybe it’s just an unexpected win and nothing more. Or maybe it’s the spark the Browns needed to climb back to respectability. Either way, this was a result no one across the league saw coming: Cleveland 29, Baltimore 24. The Browns had been abysmal on offense all season, never scoring more than 20 points with Watson under center. Enter Winston, making his first start in over two years, and Cleveland finishes with 401 yards of total offense and scores 29 points against a team that hadn’t lost a game since Sept. 15.

The clincher came with 64 seconds left, when Winston went deep to wideout Cedric Tillman, who slipped past the Ravens’ secondary. The 38-yard touchdown won it for the Browns (2-6), who’ll face the Chargers next week.

Richardson holding Colts back

Barring an untimely injury to C.J. Stroud, the AFC South race is Houston’s to lose. Eight games in, the Texans (6-2) are effectively three games up on the Colts (4-4) after sweeping the series with a 23-20 victory Sunday. The bigger issue for Indianapolis — and one that likely lingers into the offseason — has been the disappointing play of second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson, whose accuracy and decision-making have regressed this season.

It’s obvious to anyone who’s watched this team this fall: the offense was far more effective when 39-year-old Joe Flacco was under center.

This season was about getting Richardson, the fourth pick in the 2023 draft, as many starts as possible, and seeing if he’s worth building around for the future. So far, the returns aren’t encouraging. Richardson finished the first half Sunday just 2 of 15; his completion percentage (13.3) was the worst for an NFL starter (minimum 15 attempts) in over 30 years. His biggest mistake came just before halftime, deep in his own territory, when Richardson forced a throw into heavy traffic that was intercepted by safety Jalen Pitre. Houston found the end zone one play later and never trailed again.

It’s the type of mistake Richardson has made far too often this season, and it’s losing the Colts games.

He was a bit better in the second half, but 10 of 32 for 175 yards, a touchdown and an interception — Richardson’s final tally Sunday — won’t cut it in this league. On the season, he’s thrown four touchdowns and seven interceptions. And Richardson’s completion percentage is a dismal 44.3, worst of any starter in the league.

He’s now made 10 starts in his career across two seasons — missing 15 due to injury — and he’s yet to throw for more than 224 passing yards in a game. If the Colts end up missing out on an AFC wild-card spot, one of the biggest reasons will be because the starting quarterback was far too inconsistent.

(Photo of George Kittle: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)