NFL Week 8 overreactions: Commanders best NFC East team? Saints to fire head coach?

Week 8 in the NFL is one for the ages, thanks to the thrilling finish between the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears. Jayden Daniels threw a Hail Mary to Noah Brown with no time left to give the Commanders a thrilling 18-15 victory and keep them in first place in the NFC East heading into November. 

The Bears had a huge win taken away from them on the final play, leaving their playoff fate in the balance as the second half of the season is approaching. That final play against Washington could be the determining tiebreaker towards a wild-card spot when all is said and done. 

The Commanders and Bears weren’t the only thriller in Week 8, but it garnered the most attention — and plenty of overreactions. Week 8 ended up being one of the craziest weeks, as this is the fourth week since 2000 with five game-winning scores in the final minute of regulation.  

With all the crazy finishes this week, which of the Week 8 results from the Sunday afternoon slate are actually overreactions and which are reality? 

Commanders are best team in NFC East

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The Commanders are 6-2 after their incredible win over the Bears and off to their best start since 2008. Washington has been rejuvenated thanks to the play of Daniels, but are the Commanders the best team in the NFC East? 

Even with the walk-off win by virtue of the Hail Mary that kept the Commanders in first place, the Eagles are right behind Washington with a 5-2 record — and Washington still has to play Philadelphia twice. The Bears are still the only team the Commanders have beaten with a winning record, so the Eagles will be a true test to see how good the Commanders are. 

This is a playoff team, but Washington will be challenged the second half of the season. It’s too soon to say if Washington is the best team in the division. 

Bears lost game well before Hail Mary

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The Bears had the game won if any defensive back knocks that ball down properly, no matter how far Daniels threw the Hail Mary pass. Still, Shane Waldron deserves a lot of criticism for the goal line fumble earlier in the quarter that would have given Chicago the lead. 

With 6:27 remaining in a 12-7 game, the Bears called in backup offensive guard Doug Kramer as eligible and decided not to hand the ball to one of their running backs. It turned out to be a disaster. There was a botched exchange between Kramer and Williams, which led to a fumble and a Commanders recovery. The Bears were about to score and take the lead; instead, they ended up with nothing. 

Perhaps the sequence of events changes if Chicago scores on that possession instead of fumbling, but the Bears still had the lead when the clock initially hit 0:00. They just had to knock down the Hail Mary. 

Jayden Daniels is best quarterback in NFC East

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott are still in the division, but Daniels is certainly making his case for being the best quarterback in the division. Through seven games, Daniels has the division lead in passing yards (1,736), yards per attempt (8.4) and passer rating (104.3). Not forgetting Daniels also has the division lead for quarterbacks in rushing yards (424) and yards per attempt (5.7) to go along with four rushing touchdowns. 

Daniels is a difference-maker and a franchise quarterback. Is he the best quarterback in the NFC East already? He is making his case, but will have to beat Hurts and Prescott over the next month to stake that claim. Daniels is certainly the most explosive player in the division thus far (and yes that includes Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown). 

Bills will clinch AFC East by start of December

Overreaction or reality: Reality

Just take a look at the AFC East standings. The Bills somehow extended their AFC East lead even further with their blowout win over the Seahawks on Sunday. The Dolphins lost to the Cardinals, and the one-win Patriots beat the Jets (New England has the same record as New York). 

The Bills are up three games in the loss column in the division — and the only team in the AFC East with more than two wins. They are 6-2 while the Dolphins are 2-5 and the Jets and Patriots sit at 2-6. Buffalo can extend its division lead even further with a win over Miami next week.

The AFC East is over and the Bills may have the division won by the end of next month. It sure is looking that way. 

Ravens lost AFC North with blunder against Browns

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The AFC North is already a gauntlet, even with the Bengals and Browns struggling. Division games are always tough to win, but the Ravens had a bad loss to a one-win Browns team playing with a backup quarterback — especially with how well Baltimore was playing. 

Cincinnati isn’t out of the division race yet, but the Bengals are playing their way out of the running. The Steelers are 5-2 and play the Giants on Monday, so the Ravens could lose the division lead this week. 

While the loss to Cleveland was bad, Baltimore didn’t lose the AFC North with that defeat. The Ravens still play the Steelers twice, but winning the division will be harder. 

Falcons have full control of NFC South

Overreaction or reality: Reality

The Falcons just completed a season sweep of the Buccaneers, a team that doesn’t have Mike Evans or Chris Godwin for the time being. Evans and Godwin may both be out for multiple games (Godwin is on injured reserve), but it doesn’t matter. 

The Saints have lost six in a row and the Panthers are the Panthers. The Falcons are 4-0 in the division and have a one-game lead over the Buccaneers, who they’ve already swept. Atlanta is the team to beat in the NFC South.

Dennis Allen will be the next head coach fired

Overreaction or reality: Reality

The Saints just can’t get out of their own way. Whether Derek Carr is injured or not, New Orleans’ season has spiraled after the 2-0 start. The Saints have lost six in a row to fall to 2-6, the first team in NFL history to lose six straight games after winning the first two games of a season by 20-plus points.

New Orleans has averaged just 15.7 points per game and allowed 29.5 points per game during the skid, this after averaging 45.5 points per game during the 2-0 start. This is the Dennis Allen experience, as things spiral out of control before things get corrected when the Saints are eliminated from the playoff race. 

This losing streak shouldn’t save Allen this time. The Saints are a bad team in a bad division. It’s time to cut the cord on Allen’s tenure as head coach. 

Travis Kelce is still a top-3 TE in football

Overreaction or reality: Reality

Prior to the start of Week 8, Kelce was ranked as the No. 6 tight end in football so far this season. Over the last three weeks, Kelce has proven why he’s still one of the best in the game.

Kelce finished with 10 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown in the Chiefs‘ win over the Raiders, giving him 30 catches for 266 yards and a touchdown over his past four games. The yards per catch is still lower than usual (8.8), but Kelce is the player defenses key in on for the Chiefs offense. 

While Kelce isn’t an All-Pro tight end anymore, he is still a receiving threat and one of the best in the game. The field as caught up to Kelce, but he’s still considered top-3 at his position based on how he’s played over the last month.