Every week of the NFL season brings with it a ton of new questions… and answers some old ones, too. Let’s recap what we learned in Week 8… and what we’ll wonder about in Week 9 and beyond.

ANSWER: Jayden Daniels is the truth

We always want to believe that we’re witnessing generational greatness the moment it happens, and I’m confident that we actually saw an NFL highlight this week that we’ll be watching on reruns for as long as there is one NFL gives:

With a “Hail (to the Commanders) Mary,” Jayden Daniels changed the fortunes and perception of an entire franchise, wiping away the last stains of the Daniel Snyder era and establishing himself as one of the must-watch QBs. Playing with sore ribs, Daniels threw for a whopping 326 yards – 75 of them in the final 12 seconds and 52 on the final play of the game. Now The is a game-winning drive.

Everything about that moment – ​​from defeat to victory, the cinematic progression of football, the explosion of the home crowd, even the Tyrique Stevenson – it’s as perfect as football gets. The euphoria, the jubilation – whenever someone tries to denigrate the sport with one of those condescending little “sports ball” slurs, don’t be mad, just feel a little sorry for them that they’ll never experience that kind of unfettered joy her life.

Oh, and apologies to Bears fans. But if the troubled Washington franchise can have a moment like this, yours will too.

ASKED: Could Jameis Winston… be a franchise savior?

Look, literally anything in Cleveland would have been better than the ineffective, expensive quarterback play the Browns got from Deshaun Watson this season. But when noted weirdo Jameis Winston shows up, you know something memorable is going to happen, one way or another, even before the game starts:

Lo and behold, Winston threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns – with no interceptions! – to lead Cleveland to an upset of the mighty Ravens. Even by the NFL’s Any-Given-Sunday standards, this could have been the Any-Given-Sundayest game of the year, a team that had shown no discernible pulse all season stepping up and beating the AFC North’s bullies in the face.

Is it sustainable? Probably not; Winston will likely come back and throw three INTs and no touchdowns. Could Winston lead the Browns to the playoffs? No; Only Tennessee has a worse record in the conference.

ASKED: Is Kirk Cousins ​​ready to lead the Falcons on the run?

There was plenty of legitimate skepticism about the Falcons’ future-changing plan to go all-in on Kirk Cousins. An underperforming franchise going up against an underperforming quarterback? What could go well? A lot so far – the Falcons are now in two-step-forward, one-step-back mode, and things were definitely moving forward on Sunday against the Bucs.

A statement win against the division’s only true challenger, capped by the kind of defensive standoff last game that the Falcons have blown all too often… these are the moments that lead to something more. Cousins ​​threw another four touchdowns on Sunday, and Raheem Morris’ regime appears more willing to utilize the Falcons’ full array of offensive weapons. This team isn’t at Detroit’s level yet, but it’s more than good enough to make some noise in the playoffs.

The immediate future favors the Falcons; Atlanta faces Dallas, New Orleans and Denver before the break, while Tampa Bay faces Kansas City and San Francisco before the break. This is a good opportunity for Atlanta to create even more room in the division between itself and the Bucs, more time for Cousins ​​and the offense to settle into a winning rhythm. Let’s see if it continues.

ANSWER: Whether the sun sets on the Bengals’ 2024 season

It’s still too early to shut down any team outside of Tennessee, Carolina and the two New Jersey-based teams, but after Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, the Bengals already feel like they’ve got their attire for the holidays outside of the Prepare for the season. If your leading rusher has 32 yards and your leading receiver has 73 yards, your offense isn’t working. And if you are tied by 17 points with 4:16 minutes left in the third quarter and then lose 37:17, the defense doesn’t work either.

The Bengals are now 0-4 at home, 3-5 overall, and their only wins have come against Carolina, Cleveland and the Giants – not exactly a trio of playoff squads. “We’re not good enough,” Joe Burrow said after Sunday’s loss. “We’re not good enough, so we have to get better.” If only it were that easy.

ASKED: When is a punt a win?

Sometimes when the season is over you enjoy the little things… you know, like a good punt. Check out this beauty from the Jaguars’ Logan Cooke:

That was a 73-yard boomer that hit the 10-yard line and bounced out at the 1, pinning the Packers deep in their own territory. It’s the punt version of golf’s perfect approach, 350 yards to kick-in eagle. The Packers went three-and-out on the next series, but unfortunately the Jaguars tied the game on the road, allowing a last-minute drive that led to a game-winning last-second field goal. Jacksonville sits atop the division at 2-6 and four games behind, but at least the deciding game is on point.

ANSWER: Well, National Tight End Day is a thing

Have you ever noticed that National Donut Day occurs about every six weeks? Social media loves made-up holidays like this, times when you can argue about pizza toppings on National Pizza Day or show love for your brothers and sisters on National Siblings Day. These are not sacred dates like Christmas or Halloween; These are purely marketing mixes, and they work because we enjoy them.

The NFL has never seen a trend it couldn’t adopt, and now we have National Tight End Day, a manufactured holiday that the league and its broadcast partners cheerfully shoved in our face all day Sunday. But here was the weird thing: the tight ends actually gained weight! The tight ends scored 16 touchdowns on 177 receptions Sunday, the most in league history. It’s almost as if the NFL has a script and forces its teams to stick to it!

Hey, wait a minute…

Anyway, now that the door is open to made-up holidays, let’s get a little weird. Let’s have National Overmatched Backup Quarterback Day, National Surly Postgame Wide Receiver Day, and National Don’t Put Up Big Numbers While You’re On My Fantasy Bench Day. All of it. Let’s do it!