This might be the first time we can say this earnestly: The Detroit Lions have the most fun offense in the NFL. They might be the most entertaining team in the NFL too.
The Lions’ 52-14 destruction of the Tennessee Titans was eye-opening in its efficiency. The Lions put up 52 points without even reaching 100 passing yards, which hasn’t happened in the Super Bowl era. The last team to score 50 points with less than 100 passing yards was the 1955 Chicago Bears, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.
It wasn’t like Jared Goff wasn’t good. He posted a 129.9 passer rating, continuing his hot streak. The Lions were just content finding creative ways to score. And they have many of them.
The Lions have had great players in Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, but not a full team offense like this before. The Lions had 35 points at halftime and Goff had just 28 yards passing. The Lions can score any way they want, whether it’s with their fantastic running back duo, on a trick pass from running back David Montgomery to Sam LaPorta or a 90-yard punt return touchdown by Kalif Raymond.
Having an excellent play-caller in offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and perhaps the best offensive line in the NFL opens up many options and Detroit is comfortable using them all. Six different players scored a touchdown on Sunday, tying a franchise record, according to the Fox broadcast. It was just the fourth time in franchise history the Lions scored 50 points in a game. If they really wanted to pour it on the Titans, they could have easily passed the franchise record of 55 in a game.
The Lions still don’t look great on defense since Aidan Hutchinson’s injury but are capable of making a few big plays a game. It might not matter because it’s hard to figure out how anyone stops them from scoring. The Lions are 6-1, their best start since 1956. Detroit came into this season with Super Bowl hopes after barely missing out on winning the NFC championship last season. Having the best offense in the NFL is a good place to start on that path.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 8 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Jayden Daniels: We’ll remember the ending of the Washington Commanders’ incredible 18-15 win for a long, long time.
Daniels couldn’t lead the Commanders to a touchdown until there was no time on the clock. That doesn’t matter. Many years from now we’ll still be seeing the clip of Daniels heaving a desperation pass on the final play of regulation, the ball being tipped up and backward and right to Noah Brown awaiting his miracle 52-yard touchdown in the end zone. The Commanders won 18-15 and are a shocking 6-2 this season.
Daniels was already having the type of rookie season that we’d remember for a long time. He has been spectacular all season. On Sunday, he made a play that will become a part of NFL lore. And a big part of Daniels’ likely NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year win.
Kansas City Chiefs’ defense: This Chiefs team isn’t like most of their other Super Bowl teams. It’s more like the 2002 Buccaneers or 2015 Broncos, with a phenomenal defense as the headliner.
Patrick Mahomes will always get the attention and he was good on Sunday, but the Chiefs’ strength is their defense. The Chiefs had a harder-than-expected 27-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, and the game turned on one key defensive sequence.
The Raiders intercepted Mahomes, who had the ball tipped as he released it from his end zone, and it was returned to the 3-yard line. From there, three Raider runs got nowhere and then Gardner Minshew II was sacked on fourth down. The game wasn’t over then, but it was clear to see where it was headed at that point.
The Chiefs are still undefeated. And they have the defense to keep that perfect record for a while.
Buffalo Bills, inevitable AFC East champs: The Bills might have a division title by Thanksgiving at this rate.
The Dolphins took a bad loss Sunday. The Jets are finished. The Patriots are no threat. But the Bills keep winning. Buffalo went on the road and plastered a sloppy Seattle Seahawks team in the rain, winning 31-10.
Seattle made many mistakes such as a botched shotgun snap at the 3-yard line that lost 19 yards, or a lineman stepping on Geno Smith’s foot causing him to trip on fourth-and-goal. But the Bills were clearly the better team. Josh Allen passed it well, Buffalo ran it well and the defense completely shut down Seattle’s run game and didn’t allow much in the air either. The Bills are 6-2 and the division has likely been settled already.
Malik Willis: He has helped save the Packers’ season.
Willis, discarded by the Tennessee Titans in a late-August trade, saved the Packers again on Sunday. Jordan Love exited with a groin injury and Willis came in. The Jacksonville Jaguars fought back to tie the game at 27-27, but Willis hit Jayden Reed for a 51-yard gain on a nicely designed throwback pass with a little more than a minute to play, setting up a game-winning field goal. The Packers pulled out the 30-27 win.
Willis has helped the Packers to three wins in three extended appearances, with two starts and Sunday’s relief effort.
The Packers (6-2) are going to have to keep Love healthy to be a true Super Bowl contender this season. But they’ve shown that even if Willis has to play, they can win games.
Jalen Hurts: The Philadelphia Eagles might have landed the knockout punch on the Cincinnati Bengals’ season, while continuing to revive their own chances.
The Eagles had a big second half and beat the Bengals 37-17, and Hurts led the way. He had three touchdown runs, and also completed 16 of 20 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. If the Eagles can get him to stick at that level, they’ll be fine. They’re 5-2 and in good shape.
The same can’t be said for the Bengals. They’re 3-5, and the second-half collapse — when they were outscored 27-7 — is more proof that they are incapable of being anything near a Super Bowl contender. But maybe the Eagles are still in that conversation.
Arizona Cardinals: When the Cardinals trailed 27-18 with less than 10 minutes left at the Miami Dolphins, it seemed like they were headed for another disappointing loss.
But the Cardinals are scrappy. They battled back, winning 28-27 on a field goal as time expired. It’s a huge letdown for the Dolphins, who had Tua Tagovailoa back, the offense looked much better and they still lost. They’re 2-5 and would need an incredible rally to get back in the playoff race.
The Cardinals are a fairly surprising 4-4. They finally got a big 111-yard game from rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., who might be getting comfortable in the NFL. Kyler Murray had 307 yards for one of his best games of the season. The Cardinals have pulled off some close wins, and that’ll count as they continue to grow.
LOSERS
Dennis Allen and Doug Pederson: In a race nobody wants to win, Allen and Pederson are closing in on a photo finish for which coach is the next fired.
The Jaguars lost to a Packers team that lost Jordan Love to a groin injury but still won anyway. Allen’s loss wasn’t any better. The New Orleans Saints have injury issues but they’re still playing some of the worst football in the league outside of the Panthers. The 26-8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers was unwatchable football. The defense was at least a little tougher than the past couple games but it didn’t matter because the offense was inept. Getting Derek Carr back from an oblique injury will help but it probably won’t fix everything.
The Saints and Jaguars are going nowhere this season. The seats for both of those coaches are beyond hot.
Carolina Panthers’ truly bad defense: It’s hard to remember a defense much worse than what the Panthers are putting on the field this season.
The Panthers took a 7-0 lead and that was about it for highlights against Denver. Broncos rookie Bo Nix carved up the Panthers’ defense while Bryce Young didn’t look much better in his second stint starting at quarterback than he has throughout his NFL career. The Panthers’ season was summed up in one play: Trailing 21-7 the Panthers tried a fake punt and punter Johnny Hekker — who has had success in his career throwing on fake punts — totally missed a wide-open receiver for the first down. Denver went on to a 28-14 win.
The Panthers are bad this season and there’s no way out of that. Their defense, which allowed 257 points in its first seven games this season, will ensure the Panthers aren’t competitive in many games the rest of the season.
Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson: NFL head coaches have an obligation to everyone in the locker room. At some point, you can’t lose while playing lesser options, especially at quarterback.
On Sunday, the Colts reached rock bottom with Anthony Richardson.
Richardson was an astonishing 2-of-15 in the first half. He had 81 yards, and 69 of them came on a wide-open pass to Josh Downs after a blown coverage. That was a pass any NFL quarterback could make. Richardson’s terrible interception near the end of the first half led to a Houston Texans touchdown, which proved critical in the Colts’ 23-20 loss.
Maybe the Colts wouldn’t have won if Joe Flacco started. But it’s hard to say he wouldn’t have been better than 2-of-15 in a first half that could have changed the outcome of the game. The Colts are sticking with Richardson, the fourth pick of last year’s draft because he gives them hope for the future. But he’s hurting them in the winnable present.
New York Jets: Aaron Rodgers said in the offseason that if he and the Jets didn’t perform this season, everyone would be gone when it was over. The Jets might be looking for ways to tear it down right now.
The Jets’ season is pretty much done. They went to face the New England Patriots, who hadn’t won since Week 1, and gave away a game. They lost despite the Patriots losing rookie quarterback Drake Maye to a concussion in the first half. With the season barely having any life left, the Jets let the Patriots drive down and Rhamondre Stevenson scored a 1-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left. The Patriots won 25-22. The Jets (2-6) are now tied for last place in the AFC East.
That’s practically it for the Jets, despite all of the draft picks they traded and money they gave out to make a run with Rodgers. They immediately dug themselves a 2-5 hole to start the season. That meant they probably needed to go 8-2 to make the playoffs heading into Sunday’s game. And if you can’t beat the Patriots this season, you’re probably not winning eight games the rest of the way.
WR-less Buccaneers: If you asked before last week what the strength of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was, it was their duo of star receivers. When Chris Godwin (ankle) was lost for the season and Mike Evans (hamstring) was knocked out for a few weeks, it was easy to predict what might happen next.
The Buccaneers looked average in a critical 31-26 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Tampa Bay had a chance to win late, but couldn’t complete a deep pass into the end zone. Kirk Cousins played well, with 276 yards and four touchdowns. The Falcons and Buccaneers were tied at 4-3 atop the NFC South coming into the game, and now the Falcons lead by a game with the head-to-head tiebreaker clinched due to a season sweep. No Buccaneers wideout made an impact, limiting their offense. That’s probably what will be the case at least until Evans comes back. And it seems likely to cost them a chance to win the division.
Whoever made the decision to not bench Deshaun Watson: Whether Watson kept his job due to Cleveland Browns ownership stepping in or a weird stubbornness from head coach Kevin Stefanski, that decision looked even weirder on Sunday.
Jameis Winston gave life to the Browns’ offense. The Browns scored 20 points for the first time all season and looked as good as they have all season. Winston hit Cedric Tillman for a touchdown with 59 seconds left to take the lead on the Baltimore Ravens, although Winston got lucky Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton dropped an interception one play before. The Browns got a stop after that and pulled off a massive 29-24 upset of the Ravens. Winston had 334 yards and looked miles better than Watson has for nearly his entire time in Cleveland.
It makes the 1-6 start with Watson flailing around at quarterback look like a total waste. The difference in the offense with Watson and Winston was startling. Whoever was making the call to stick with Watson might have sabotaged the Browns’ season.
Watson is done for the season with an Achilles injury. And suddenly the Browns’ offense has some hope to look decent.
