NFL The Final Word: Hail Mary hero Jayden Daniels transforms Washington, while Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions dazzle again

nfl Wednesday 30 October 2024 09:55, UK

From Hail Mary drama to another Detroit Lions demolition job, Sky Sports NFL presenter Neil Reynolds has his final say on Week Eight of the 2024 season on the road to Super Bowl LIX...

Week Eight in the NFL was one of the wildest I have seen in quite some time, and a reminder that you never really know what you are going to get on an NFL Sunday... more on that later.

We are going to lead with one of the brightest young stars in the NFL, Washington's Jayden Daniels.

I will get to Daniels' Hail Mary in a moment, but his game on Sunday just showed the poise and playmaking ability of a guy who is going to be a star in the NFL for many years to come. It wasn't perfect and there were just four field goals for the Commanders until that Hail Mary touchdown to Noah Brown, but Daniels still made you say 'wow' every now and again. He makes you believe and ran around for 12.79 seconds before throwing up that prayer into the sky. Washington are a team transformed, a city transformed and a fanbase transformed because they have hope now at the quarterback position.

Sunday alone in the NFL was just wild. There were nine one-score games across the league on a dramatic night when headline after headline was served up. Not just that amazing finish between the Commanders and the Chicago Bears, but we had walk-off field goals for the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals, a last-minute victory for the Cleveland Browns over the Baltimore Ravens led by Jameis Winston. The NFL continues to serve up great drama, week in week out, night after night.

The Detroit Lions moved to 6-1 on the season with their 52-14 win over Tennessee, and in the past month the Lions have scored 42, 47, 31 and 52 points. And what is so impressive is they are winning in different ways: there are times this year when the defense has played well, obviously the offense is loaded, but on Sunday the Detroit attack racked up 225 total yards but were boosted by 262 return yards including Kalif Raymond's 90-yard punt return touchdown. The Lions are winning in many different ways, they are the cream of the crop in the NFC and I think they will make a Super Bowl run in January and February.

I think the Philadelphia Eagles are getting better and better. They turned a 17-17 third-quarter tie with the Cincinnati Bengals into a 37-17 win. They flexed their muscles down the stretch and showing all of the weaponry that made them a Super Bowl team in the 2022 season. Jalen Hurts hasn't turned the ball over in three weeks, AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith are making big catches downfield, Saquon Barkley brings pizazz and balance on the ground, and the defense has 14 sacks in three games. They are 5-2 and looking good.

It seems all the Cleveland Browns need to do is move on from Deshaun Watson every year. Last season saw a late bump and a playoff run led by Joe Flacco when Watson got injured. Watson is now out with a torn Achilles, in came Jameis Winston off the bench and he threw for 334 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a stunning 29-24 victory over the Ravens. This one was decided on Cedric Tillman's touchdown with 59 seconds to play, but it could have been worse for the Browns, because Baltimore safety Kyle Hamilton dropped a gimme of an interception a couple of plays before. Winston and the Browns took advantage and energised a fanbase that loves nothing more than beating the Ravens, who were of course born out of the old Browns when they left Cleveland in the late 90s.

I thought Winston played with great energy, and just boosted that team. He is just fun to watch and a nightmare to watch at times if you are a fan of his side, when he throws the ball it can land with your receiver or the opposing defensive back; it is a wild ride all the time. The numbers speak for themselves, he had a clean game - just about - and delivered an incredible win against, to me, the best team in the AFC.

What was so good about this is the way Daniels was able to extend the play, and every second that passes heaps that little bit more pressure on the defensive backs for the Bears. That meant that Brown was the deepest man in the end zone, there should have been a defender back there, he effectively catches quite a simple pass in the end once it has been tipped by Tyrique Stevenson - more on him in a moment - and Washington escaped with an incredible win that leaves them in a very good position at the top of the NFC East.

His Lions just continue to roll. They are working without Aidan Hutchinson on defense, but they don't need him at the moment when they score so prolifically. What has been more impressive is the fact Campbell set the bar high for the Lions at the start of the season. He told them everybody would give them their best shot and that they had to be ready, and his team has been ready. It is a credit to him and his coaches and he has Detroit looking like a true contender.

On my radar is what the Chicago Bears do with Tyrique Stevenson, their defensive back. My guess is absolutely nothing because he is a second round Draft pick from 2023, his value to the team is immense, he is a good player and they need all the defensive backs they can get, so he should survive, but he has a lot of making up to do to his team, fans and coaches. He had his back turned on the Daniels Hail Mary play for a good three or four seconds, taunting the fans before scrambling along the line and tipping the ball to Noah Brown. It was just a terrible look for Stevenson, I have never seen anything like it. If he was a lower round Draft pick it would 100 per cent be a cuttable offence, so his stock has saved him and now he has some making up and growing up to do.

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.

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