NFL Sunday awards: Hail Mary drama, Aaron Rodgers' worst fears and the Jameis Winston show

nfl Monday 28 October 2024 16:54, UK

Jayden Daniels' Hail Mary heroics, more misery for Aaron Rodgers' New York Jets and National Tight Ends Day - it's Week Eight awards time after an incredible NFL Sunday!

Noah Brown was just stood there, waiting harmlessly to be served at the bar, trying desperately to make eye contact with the bartender while knowing his chances of being served next were slim as a lone solider dwarfed by the brash groups of waving hands around him. But wait! He had been spotted! His night was about to begin, as was that of the Washington Commanders.

Where reference to 13-second sequences may resurface some haunting memories for Buffalo Bills fans, it is a 13-second sequence that could serve as the springboard moment for a new era of prospering contention for the Washington Commanders.

In a scene of beautiful carnage, an isolated Brown barely moved a foot as he cradled Jayden Daniels' 61-yard heave by way of some goalline pinball befitting of Hollywood slow motion to complete a stunning walk-off Hail Mary touchdown against the Chicago Bears. Daniels had held onto the ball for 12.79 seconds as he scampered right to left and back again in wait of the perfect moment to release with the clocks at zero, in doing so disorganising Chicago's downfield coverage before stepping into one last-gasp bomb.

In the meantime, Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had his back to the play in the end zone while goading fans with the belief his team were about to clinch the win having taken the lead through Roschon Johnson with 25 seconds remaining. Who would be the man to tip the ball to Brown? Yep, Tyrique Stevenson. It was a shameful offence that he will struggle to live down for many a year in the NFL, regardless of his subsequent apology.

Cue bedlam, cue chest bumps and hysteria - "It's why we play football," said Ndamukong Suh in the Sky Sports NFL studio.

It was the blockbuster closing act to the first instalment of a Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels rivalry we wish to see for years to come, the No 1 and No 2 Draft picks trading out-of-pocket excellence as two of the league's most enthralling young quarterbacks. On this occasion, it was Daniels who prevailed to all-but lock down the Offensive Rookie of the Year honour.

"That used to be me!" cried Aaron Rodgers at the sight of Daniels' Hail Mary heroics. Okay, he didn't, but his days of needle-moving theatrics might be over.

Last week's New York nightmare was a crushing defeat at the hands of Russell Wilson - making his first start of the season - and the Pittsburgh Steelers just days after the Jets had thrown a Hail Mary of their own to trade for Rodgers' best pal Davante Adams. Nobody had been fooled into thinking that would provide the answer to their dreadful form over the first seven weeks of the season.

The nightmare continued on Sunday when Rhamondre Stevenson bundled into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown followed by the two-point conversion with 22 seconds left to lift the New England Patriots to a 25-22 win over their AFC East divisional rival Jets.

It leaves the Jets 2-6 and hanging onto the season by a thread during a year prior to which they had been projected as Super Bowl threats in light of Rodgers' return from injury. But this isn't the Rodgers of old, and instead an ageing Rodgers lacking the mobility that had previously inspired his off-platform and off-script mastery in Green Bay.

He finished the game 17 of 28 for 233 yards and two touchdowns, so it isn't to say he is guilty of debilitating mistakes costing the Jets. Maybe that is the bigger concern: they merely aren't good enough.

They fired head coach Robert Saleh despite his defense being among the most effective in the league, they made a trade to reunite Rodgers with Adams and only just resolved the Haason Reddick issue. The margin for error from now until the end of the season might well be zero if they are to have any hope of reaching the playoffs.

Will Rodgers be back next year? His arm is still special enough to make every throw, and his field read is still shrewd enough to decipher a defense, but he is 41 and a shade of the player that collected four MVP awards when it comes to creating and improvising. Move on from him, though, and the Jets are staring at a $49m dead money cap hit.

It wasn't meant to go like this. It is going worse than Rodgers could have ever feared.

The Jameis Winston roller coaster is never too far away in the distance, it feels. Even when he isn't playing, you are reminded that he is still around, some divisive and ill-guided comments on fans booing Deshaun Watson evidence of as much.

When he is playing, you know about it. You may remember he once became the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 30-plus touchdown passes and 30-plus interceptions in a season.

Sunday delivered the good Winston in his first start since September 2022 as he stepped in under center to replace Watson, who was recently ruled out for the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury. The former No 1 overall pick was 27 of 41 for 334 yards and three touchdowns with a passer rating of 115.3 as the Cleveland Browns stunned the Baltimore Ravens 29-24, Winston neglecting the conservative option to target favourable field goal range in the final minute and instead delivering a perfect deep shot to find Cedric Tillman for a game-winning 38-yard touchdown. Classic Jameis.

He isn't the long-term answer for Cleveland, but Sunday's performance should have been the final reminder that the Browns cannot go back to Watson once he returns from injury.

Sunday marked National Tight Ends Day, because that is actually a thing now. And you may roll your eyes at the gimmick, but tight ends account for 16 touchdowns across the NFL while making 177 catches - a record for tight end receptions on a single day.

Travis Kelce enjoyed one of his better outings of the season as he led the Kansas City Chiefs with 10 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown in their 27-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, for whom standout rookie Brock Bowers made five catches for a team-high 58 yards to continue his incredible rookie year as the next in line to dominate the position.

George Kittle inspired the San Francisco 49ers to a 30-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys with six catches for a season-high 128 yards and a touchdown, while Atlanta's Kyle Pitts rumbled to four catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns and Tampa Bay's Cade Otton reeled in nine catches for 81 yards and two scores as the Falcons beat the Buccaneers 31-26.

The big takeaway from it all? Just how good NFL tight ends are at marketing themselves. I can't remember the last time I didn't hear 'National Tight Ends Day' uttered in a sentence.

Anthony Richardson remains one of the NFL's most absorbing and confusing case studies, the unprecedented quarterback athlete with the arm strength to incite downfield destruction but the accompanying ability to make the easy look taxing and to fade under pressure.

He had completed just two of 15 passes for the Indianapolis Colts against the Houston Texans when he exited the game to be replaced by Joe Flacco for one play in the third quarter, later revealing he had requested a break due to fatigue.

"Tired. I ain't going to lie," he said. "That was a lot of running right there that I did, and I didn't think I was going to be able to do that next play."

Not quite the PR mastery of a Jude Bellingham or NFL tight ends. Richardson eventually finished the game 10 of 32 for 175 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 23-20 defeat, Shane Steichen's offense still seemingly trying to figure out what it wants to be behind the 2023 fourth overall pick.

It feels like the first real moment of heightened scrutiny on Richardson and his long-term starting credentials.

I'm of the belief Justin Herbert makes at least one jaw-dropping throw on a weekly basis. Sunday's came on a nine-yard touchdown strike to Ladd McConkey during the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Chargers' 26-8 win over the New Orleans Saints, Herbert escaping pressure in the pocket with a climb-and-slide before opening up his body and fizzing an off-platform laser to his rookie receiver in the corner of the end zone.

He had delivered a rare remainder of his ability on the ground earlier in the game on a tuck-and-run scramble amounting to 38 yards, at the end of which he even dared to take on Tyrann Mathieu. Herbert finished 20 of 32 for 279 yards and touchdowns while continuing to elevate a make-shift receiving core led by McConkey, Josh Palmer, Will Dissly and Jalen Reagor.

Herbert is doing a lot with very little while Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman continue to operate with a run-heavy offense through J.K. Dobbins. He makes throws only a handful of quarterbacks in the league would be capable of, and with any luck will get his opportunity to mix it with his fellow elite one January sooner rather than later.

Kyle Pitts is heating up in Atlanta. Arthur Smith kept his unicorn under wraps during his time as Falcons head coach, the rest of the NFL pleading with him to let Pitts loose as one of the most explosive and uniquely gifted tight ends in the league. But the former fourth overall pick is beginning to find some consistency as a key component to Kirk Cousins' offense.

Pitts chalked up his first-ever multi-touchdown game since entering the NFL in 2021, taking the top off the Bucs defense for a 36-yard score on fourth-and-three in the first quarter before steam-rolling away for a 49-yard catch-and-run to the house in the second.

And with the latter comes the latest public service announcement - STOP SLOWING DOWN AT THE GOALLINE. Pitts was almost guilty of a viral clanger when he eased up to allow Antoine Winfield Jr to punch the ball out, the absence of a camera angle down the line ultimately saving him from what looked like a non-touchdown.

"The tight end gods - they saved us today," Pitts said after the game. "Never get comfortable."

But seriously, stop slowing down at the goalline. How many times?

For this, it's over to Seattle Seahawks duo Derick Hall and Jarran Reed.

Week Nine in the NFL begins Thursday night when the Houston Texans face the New York Jets live on Sky Sports NFL from 12.15am in the early hours of Friday; Also stream with NOW.