What’s hot and what’s Knott in football – Week 8

By Rhys Knott

We might be two months into the football season but with the first egregious, consequential missed call by an officiating team, we can finally say football is back baby!

The Vikings should have had a chance to start their final drive with the football on their 20-yard line with 96 seconds remaining at SoFi. But instead, the Rams were awarded a safety, and the game ended ignominiously. 

Elsewhere, well, everywhere around the National Football League really, National Tight End was observed with great reverence. And wild finishes were the order of the day in six Week 8 games.

Some head coaches must already have that sinking feeling.

What’s hot in football – Week 8

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Plain and simply, Puka Nacua. 2023’s rookie phenom hadn’t played since Week 1. He didn’t miss a beat though. He was reportedly on a pitch count, but only two receivers featured more than the 23-year-old.

In his 40 snaps, Nacua caught seven of his nine targets for 106 yards! The BYU product wasn’t the only Rams receiver who was hot in L.A., though. Demarcus Robinson might have only caught the football twice, but both his catches were touchdowns. 

Just because the Vikings lost doesn’t mean they didn’t have any standout performers. Justin Jefferson did Justin Jefferson things. The 25-year-old hauled in eight of his nine targets for 115 yards.

The Vikings’ pass offense was perfectly effective without dominating; it looks like there’s a piece missing. Fortunately, T.J. Hockenson returns in Week 9 when the Vikings face the Colts. 

But we can’t ignore the defensive side of the ball. The glory boys get plenty of love, but we all know defenders are the hardest workers in football. Jared Verse was a thorn in Sam Darnold’s side all Thursday night.  

The rookie out of FSU ended the game with 1.5 sacks. Verse already has 33 quarterback pressures this season! In addition to his 1.5 sacks, Verse ended Thursday night’s game with one tackle for a loss, three QB hits, and three total tackles. He’s not exactly Aaron Donald, but Donald would have been more than happy with that in a short week. 

The hottest man on planet football right now has to be rookie sensation Jayden Daniels. His 72.7 QBR (out of 100) is fifth in the league and only 2.8 points below Joe Burrow’s league-leading rating. Lamar Jackson is the only quarterback with more rushing yards in 2024, but Daniels has two more rushing touchdowns than Jackson. 

The former LSU Tiger is so hot that, not only did he throw the football for a whopping 326 yards whilst running for an additional 52, he also threw the game-winning touchdown pass a full 10 seconds after the clock had expired. Daniels led the Bears pass rushers a merry dance while he waited to unfurl a spectacular Hail Mary. All that talent and a sense of drama to boot! 

But, while Daniels’ performance might have been the most electrifying of the weekend it wasn’t the biggest surprise in football.

The shockingly hot quarterback of the week award (that might not be a real award by the way) goes to Jameis Winston. After Deshaun Watson’s ruptured Achilles in Week 7, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson injuring a finger in the same game it was Winston’s turn to see what he could do in Cleveland. 

He could do plenty. The 30-year-old signal caller diced the Ravens up defense like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle attacking a pizza. Winston threw the football 41 times (that seems like a lot, it’s no wonder their QBs are injured). 27 ended in compketions and went for 334 yards and three touchdowns! 

On the topic of quarterbacks who made mincemeat out of a defense it’s about time we talked about Kyler Murray. The best part of Murray guiding the Cardinals to a one-point win in Miami is it came the same week as the latest Call Of Duty game was released. So that’s all of those jokes out of the window. 

Murray recorded his first 300+ passing yard game of the season against the Dolphins and his 89.4 QBR was his highest rating since his 98.0 in Week 2 when Arizona lit up the Rams. 

Anyway, back to those tight ends. National Tight End Day is the third Sunday of October every year (but you knew that, right?). And this year everyone was celebrating, well, maybe not linebackers. Across the National Football League, tight ends caught 177 passes. That’s the most receptions by tight ends on a single Sunday ever!  

Trey McBride and George Kittle both racked up more than 100 receiving yards. Cade Otton and Kyle Pitts both caught two touchdowns in Tampa Bay. In all, 15 different tight ends grabbed touchdown passes on the 17th of October 2024! 

It wasn’t just the tight ends who were hot in Week 8 though. Running backs went off too, seven of them carried the football over 100 yards. 19 different running backs scored rushing touchdowns this week. Six different quarterbacks even got in on the act! Stuffing the run must be Knott then.

What’s Knott in Football – Week 8

Quite a few head coaches are absolutely Knott right now. It might be too early to begin “hot seat watch,” but with the spectres of Bill Belichick, Frank Reich, Mike Vrabel, and Pete Carroll (if he wants another shot in the NFL) looming large it’s relevant.

There are at least nine teams that could join the Jets in searching for a new head coach sooner rather than later. 

Dave Canales and Brian Callahan will be the most nervous guys right now, but there’s still time to turn it around (although the Panthers seem cursed). Dennis Allen must be on his way out of New Orleans and Mike McCarthy might as well start packing his bags now. Doug Pederson could end up paying the price for Press Taylor’s incredibly beige offense and talking of people who will pay the price for a lack of offensive production, Antonio Pierce can’t be getting much sleep in Vegas (but then who does?). 

Bad calls are obviously Knott, there are always plenty of subjective calls, like pass interference, that fans will claim have been “missed”. With a renewed emphasis on player safety within football (guardian caps anyone?) roughing the passer is becoming an increasingly controversial decision, but yanking a player’s head around by their facemask is very objective. 

Even Byron Young was expecting a flag, and he was the guy who nearly ripped Sam Darnold’s helmet off! Young put both hands on his head as we reeled away from the quarterback he’d just assaulted.

Whoever decided plays that result in a safety are not reviewable is absolutely Knott too, and, frankly needs to get in the bin immediately. “Every scoring play is reviewed” is one of the biggest cliches in football and when a defense scores two points for their team by forcing a safety it’s completely nonsensical not to review it.

Having said that the number of legitimate penalties some football teams have been giving away in 2024 is also very much Knott. The Texans, Seahawks, Ravens, Jets, and Browns are already over 60 penalties this season! The Jets’ 63 flags have cost them 567 yards! Maybe Aaron Rodgers should fire the refs too? 

In Week 8 the Bills and Seahawks combined for 24 penalties! Ron Tolbert’s arms must be sore after all that flag-throwing and signaling. 

Finally, the Vikings’ luck is very much Knott. J.J. McArthy’s shoulder injury and the tragic loss of Khyree Jackson during preseason were desperately sad. But, as if losing Christian Darrishaw against the Rams wasn’t unfortunate enough losing a game on a missed facemask call is simply miserable.

Minnesota now finds themselves behind the Packers in the NFC North.

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes 

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