Jayden Daniels releases Maryland Miracle; Dak Prescott continues to be cold

The midpoint of the season often provides clarity on where teams are headed.

But that’s not the case in the NFC West, where three of the four teams sit at 4-4 through the first eight weeks of the regular season, and the Rams are a half game back at 3-4. On Sunday night, the 49ers kept their Super Bowl aspirations alive by holding off the Cowboys to get back to .500, putting San Francisco in a tie with the Cardinals and Seahawks atop the division.

While the NFC West is stacked, some teams have distinguished themselves at the top of their divisions. The Buffalo Bills held a 3.5 game lead in the AFC East and looked like a Super Bowl contender with a big road win over Seattle.

And the Kansas City Chiefs keep winning, moving to 7-0 with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders and now holding a 2.5-game lead in the AFC West over the second-place Denver Broncos (5-3).

Yes, Week 8 gave us the Maryland Miracle as rookie Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels beat rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears in a Hail Mary on the final play of the game. The Commanders are the surprising leaders of the NFC East during the season.

Let’s take a closer look at who’s hot and who’s cold in Week 8.

WHO’S HOT

James WinstonQB, The Browns

In his first game starting in place of the injured Deshaun Watson, Winston gave hope to the city of Cleveland. The FSU product finished the Week with 8-high 334 yards passing and three touchdowns, without an interception in a comeback win over the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens.

Supported by defensive end Myles Garrett and an outstanding defense, the Browns ended up looking like the playoff contender most NFL viewers expected – if they get a good quarterback play.

Sitting at 2-6 and led by Winston’s consistent belief, the Browns will see if they can continue next week at home against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Cardinals

A statistical disappointment during the first half of the season, the rookie out of Ohio State is heating up, developing better chemistry with quarterback Kyler Murray.

On Sunday against the Dolphins, Harrison finished with six catches for 111 receiving yards and a score on seven carries. It was only his second 100-yard effort of the season and his first since Week 2. Harrison’s effort helped the Cardinals record back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2021 season.

Jayden DanielsQB, Administrators

Playing with a bruised rib against one of the best defenses in the league, Daniels delivered a clutch 52-yard Hail Mary to Noah Brown for the game-winner. Daniels finished 21-of-38 for 326 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran for 52 yards.

According to FOX Sports research, Daniels threw the second longest game-winning touchdown as time expired by a rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl season. Only Tim Couch’s 56-yarder to score from Kevin Johnston on Halloween 1999 was longer.

George KittleTE, 49ers

Not surprisingly, Kittle had one of his best games of the season on National Tight Ends Day. In a game San Francisco needed after a tough loss to Kansas City last week, Kittle led the 49ers with six catches for 128 yards and seven touchdowns.

According to research by FOX Sports, tight ends completed 177 catches on the day, which set the NFL record for receptions by tight ends in one day.

Kyle PittsTE, Bow down

Add another tight end playing on his team’s big day at Pitts. He finished with four receptions for 91 yards and two touchdowns on five carries in Atlanta’s big win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The win helped the Falcons move into first place in the NFC South at 5-3. Atlanta has a 4-0 record in the division.

WHO’S THE ONE?

Anthony RichardsonQB, The Colts

In Richardson’s second NFL season, the boom ended as he continued his inconsistent ways in a 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans. He completed a miserable 10-of-32 passing for 175 yards, a touchdown and a 48.3 passer rating.

Even more troubling, Richardson asked to leave the game after the concussion — something rarely seen in a healthy NFL quarterback. He said he was tired and needed to rest. With a talented backup sitting on the sidelines in Joe Flacco, can head coach Shane Steichen keep Richardson as his starter and risk losing the locker room?

Dak PrescottQB, Cowboys

The highest paid player in the league continues to give the ball to the other team. In yet another loss to San Francisco, Prescott threw two more touchdowns, becoming the first Dallas quarterback with more interceptions in three straight games since Troy Aikman in 1992.

Prescott now has the eighth pick this season for the Cowboys, who sit at 3-4 on the season and aren’t looking anywhere close to a playoff team.

Derrick HallLB, The Seahawks

Late in the first half, Hall drilled Buffalo linebacker Josh Allen late, denying an illegal shift penalty to Buffalo’s Khalil Shakir. The resulting red-headed Hall penalty was Buffalo’s first down at Seattle’s 12-yard line.

Two plays later, Allen found tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 14-3 lead and the streak was on. The play led to a scuffle between Hall and fellow defensive lineman Jarran Reed on the sideline after a collision, as Seattle appeared to be pulling away at halftime.

Hall and Reed later resolved their issues, but Hall’s recent hit was symbolic of the Seahawks’ overall sloppy performance. Seattle finished with 11 receiving penalties for 82 yards and was unable to get a touchdown on consecutive drives that reached the Buffalo 2- and 1-yard lines.

Matt Eberflus, HC, Bears

Eberflus had a bad day at the office. Late in a highly anticipated game, he flashed a call by offensive lineman Shane Waldron with offensive lineman Doug Kramer carrying the ball from the 1-yard line, making Perry’s best impersonation.

Running back D’Andre Swift rushed for 129 yards against the Commanders. Either he or short-yardage back Roschon Johnson was clearly the better option, as Kramer fumbled and Washington recovered, keeping the Bears from taking the lead.

However, the Bears forced Washington to punt. Caleb Williams and the Chicago offense got the ball back, marched down the field and this time gave it to Johnson for the go-ahead goal with 27 seconds left.

But worse than the decision to give the ball to Kramer, former defensive coordinator Eberflus didn’t put his players in a position to stop Daniels’ successful Hail Mary. The loss earned three wins, sending the Bears back to Chicago with a 4-3 record and last place in the NFC North.

Tyrique StevensonCB, Bears

Stevenson was the defensive player seen waving goodbye to Washington fans during the final play of the game. He then ran into the scrum and instead of dropping the ball, he passed it back to Brown, who hauled it in for the winning touch.

Stevenson had a terrible mistake afterwards, apologizing for his actions.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, including Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers of ESPN and Seattle Seahawks of the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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