Every week this NFL season, we will break down the highs and lows—and everything in between—from the most recent slate of pro football. This week, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and the other rookie quarterbacks shone. We can’t say the same for Doug Pederson. Welcome to Winners and Losers.
Winner: The Battle of the Beltway (Yes, It’s a Thing)
The Ravens-Commanders rivalry should be better. Their stadiums are a 40-minute drive from each other, and while the teams play only once every four years because they’re in different conferences, there is proper crosstown resentment between the two sides. But I can count the memorable moments from the “Battle of the Beltway” on one hand with plenty of fingers to spare—and one of those memories was in the preseason.
After Sunday’s thrilling game in Baltimore, a 30-23 win for the Ravens, there is hope that this rivalry could heat up over the next decade thanks to the teams’ respective quarterbacks. Lamar Jackson extended this season-long heater he’s been on, shaking off an unfortunate tipped interception on the opening drive to finish 20-of-26 for 323 yards through the air plus another 40 on the ground. The reigning MVP is on pace for over 4,300 passing yards and 1,100 rushing yards. He’ll eclipse those numbers if he runs into defensive game plans like the one Washington threw at him on Sunday. Dan Quinn blitzed Jackson on 40 percent of his dropbacks and played a ton of man coverage. That left the middle of the field wide open, and the Ravens quarterback peppered that area with impunity. Per Next Gen Stats, Jackson completed all eight of his passes targeting in-breaking routes and averaged 16.4 yards per attempt. Quinn never found an answer.
It’s even more difficult than usual for defenses to find an answer for the Lamar problem with Derrick Henry in Baltimore’s backfield now. Even with Washington loading the box, the Ravens faced little resistance on the ground. Henry rushed for 132 yards and found the end zone twice, with a lot of that production coming on outside runs. The Commanders tried their best to keep Henry in between the tackles, but Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken was a step ahead of Quinn all afternoon and the Commanders couldn’t stop the big back from breaking contain.
Henry now leads the NFL in rushing (by nearly 100 yards) and in touchdowns (by two). He’s been everything Baltimore could have reasonably expected after signing the 30-year-old to a two-year, $16 million contract in the offseason.
The play calling matchup on the other side of the ball was more balanced. Even in defeat, the Commanders offense, led by coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, continued its impressive run to start the season, and Jayden Daniels matched Jackson throw for throw. But a veteran Ravens defense made just enough plays to pull out the win. Baltimore zeroed in on Washington’s run game on early downs and didn’t surrender an explosive play on the ground, per TruMedia. It was the first time all season the Commanders were held without an explosive run. They didn’t pick up a first down on any of their designed run plays.
Daniels kept the offense afloat with timely throws. His precision on midrange throws has been impressive all season, and that carried over into Sunday’s game. And this was the first time we’ve seen him attack the middle of the field repeatedly, showing that the rookie is expanding his game in a hurry.
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Baltimore forced Daniels to play left-handed and win in ways we hadn’t seen. It took away the deep shots outside of the numbers and kept the rookie in the pocket for the most part. Daniels escaped on four scrambles but had a season-low scramble rate. He also had his highest time to throw (2.82 seconds), with the Ravens selling out to stop Washington’s run-pass option plays that get the ball out of his hands in a hurry. Baltimore executed its game plan, and Daniels still finished the game with a QBR of 74.2 and a traditional passer rating of 110.3. Washington didn’t win the game, but Daniels passed his biggest test to date.
Both teams played well. It was a clean game with just one interception on the first drive. The game featured only two three-and-outs. There were only nine penalties called. Five of the seven red zone possessions ended with a touchdown. In other words: It was good football.
We’ve come to expect this quality of play from the Ravens, and it looks like the Commanders have a quarterback who will create similar expectations. Hopefully this isn’t the last time these two square off in a highly anticipated game that lives up to the hype.
Loser: Coaching Job Security
The Jets unexpectedly kicked off the coaching hot-seat season by parting ways with Robert Saleh early last week, and now it’s starting to feel like no struggling coach is safe. It looks like Doug Pederson’s seat will never cool off after his Jaguars embarrassed themselves in London, losing to the Bears 35-16. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a coach as down as Pederson appeared to be on the sideline in this one.
Pederson also conducted one of the saddest halftime interviews I’ve ever seen. And to cap off his crappy day, his starting safety said this:
Andre Cisco’s comments came after Pederson said this during his postgame press conference: “I feel like the guys, they don’t quit. They keep fighting.”
It certainly appeared that Jacksonville quit at some point in the second quarter. Caleb Williams was able to march Chicago’s offense up and down the field, and the Jaguars defense showed little interest in making tackles (the Bears averaged 3 yards after contact in the game) or following the rules (Jacksonville surrendered three first downs via penalty).
The Jaguars will play in London again next week, so it’s unlikely the team will part ways with Pederson this week. But if Jacksonville can’t beat a struggling Patriots team (led by another rookie quarterback), Pederson may find that there is no seat for him on the plane home. The Jags coach, who hasn’t won more than nine games in a season since winning that many with the Eagles in 2018, said he believes he still has the full backing of team owner Shahid Khan, but another international embarrassment could change that.
On this side of the Atlantic, it’s Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy who’s feeling the most heat after Sunday’s results: Dallas lost to Detroit 47-9 on Jerry Jones’s 82nd birthday. Beyond the final score, the juxtaposition of the two offenses may have been the most damning aspect of the blowout for McCarthy’s job security. The Lions offense, coordinated by Ben Johnson, is everything that the Cowboys should be: balanced, inventive, and tough as hell. McCarthy is running a static offense in which most pass plays seem to be designed to gain exactly 7 yards. The run game is called with seemingly no regard for what the defense is doing.
Yet, somehow, the offense is not this team’s weak link. That would be Mike Zimmer’s defense. While multiple stars, including Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, are out with injuries, even when healthy this unit is not very good. McCarthy handpicked Zimmer as his defensive coordinator. It’s the third time he’s opted for a veteran defensive coordinator over a younger coach who may have fresher ideas for dealing with modern offenses. McCarthy’s belief in Zimmer’s experience has not paid off.
Dallas limps into its bye week with a Sunday night matchup against the 49ers on the other side of the break. Those haven’t gone well for McCarthy’s Cowboys. Another national embarrassment could be enough to spur Jerry into action.
Speaking of embarrassing coaching moments, Nick Sirianni celebrated a hard-fought win over the 1-5 Browns by chirping at fans in the stands.
While not fireable offenses, these moments will make it easy for Philly to move on from a coach two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance after this season eventually fizzles out like the last one. Once again, the Eagles are winning—they moved within a game of first place in the NFC East with Sunday’s win—but the vibes have been off all season, and Jalen Hurts isn’t playing any better. Philly is pot committed to Hurts, so if the passing game doesn’t meaningfully improve over the rest of the season, Sirianni will get the blame whether the Eagles keep winning or not.
The coach on the other sideline is also on the hot seat, but it appears the Browns will let Kevin Stefanski go down with the ship they hitched to Deshaun Watson. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, it appears Maxx Crosby’s love affair with the Raiders coaching staff could be on the rocks after the superstar pass rusher said he’d request a trade if the team didn’t retain Antonio Pierce in the offseason.
Pederson and McCarthy are looking like the coaches most likely to be fired next at the moment, but the competition could stiffen up over the next few weeks.
Winner: Rigoberto Sanchez
Unlike glory-hogging placekickers, punters rarely get to play the hero. Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez was presented with one of those precious opportunities on Sunday, and the 30-year-old didn’t waste it. With Indianapolis clinging to a three-point lead and only 22 seconds left in the game, Sanchez pinned the Titans at their 3-yard line, ending any real shot they had at getting into range for a game-tying field goal.
Since 2000, there have been 16 punts that were downed or went out of bounds inside the opponent’s 5-yard line when a team was leading by one score with under a minute to play, per TruMedia. Sanchez’s 57-yarder was the second-longest of all of those dagger punts, just behind Matt Turk’s 59-yarder in 2008. And it was only the third time somebody’s done it coffin-corner style. Reggie Hodges did it in 2012 for the Browns to close out a game against Pittsburgh.
A decade later, Corey Bojorquez pulled it off again against the same opponent in the same exact corner of the field.
But neither of those kicks was nearly as long as Sanchez’s. Hodges’s punt traveled just 35 yards and Bjorquez’s only 33. Sanchez cleared them by more than 20 yards. Considering the situation and the technique Sanchez used, this has to be considered one of the best punts we’ve seen in the history of the league. MVP voters need to remember this moment when filling out their ballots in January.
The Colts have won three of four and should be getting Anthony Richardson back next week after he served as the emergency third quarterback for Sunday’s game. Joe Flacco was just good enough to eke out a win over a Titans team that can’t get out of its own way but probably not good enough to stoke a quarterback controversy just yet. Against Tennessee, he completed 58 percent of his passes for 189 yards, two touchdowns, and a pick. He averaged just 5 yards per attempt. But the veteran backup didn’t throw away the game, and it’s unclear whether the Colts can trust Richardson to that extent, which is why we’ll continue to hear whispers about a potential quarterback controversy. Head coach Shane Steichen is adamant that Richardson is the starter. If Richardson struggles after getting back in the lineup, those whispers will get louder.
Loser: The Defensive Revolution
So much for the NFL’s scoring problem. We spent all of September searching for answers to the league’s slumping offenses—including a passionate plea to ban two-high coverages from Mel Kiper Jr.—and the issue appears to have sorted itself out. The scoring average has been on the rise since Week 2 and hit its season-long peak, with teams averaging 24.8 points a game, in Week 6.
The Lions led the scoring charge with 47 points on offense (the Buccaneers dropped 51 on the Saints but scored a defensive touchdown). While other coaches have found it difficult to attack down the field and in between the numbers, play caller Ben Johnson has consistently created those opportunities for Jared Goff, thanks in large part to his overwhelming run game.
Some offenses are just trying to scrape by, but the Lions are so confident in their ability to move the football that they’re pulling off bits. They kicked off the game with a schematic nod to the controversial eligibility penalty in last year’s matchup between Dallas and Detroit.
Johnson dialed up a flea-flicker touchdown for Sam LaPorta.
He drew up a red zone target for left tackle Taylor Decker and then tried to run a hook-and-ladder for right tackle Penei Sewell (the play was called back due to an ineligible man downfield penalty).
Johnson wasn’t the only young offensive play caller who put on a show on Sunday. The Bucs’ Liam Coen could be on the fast track to a head coaching job if he can keep Tampa Bay’s offense humming like it has been all season. The passing game has done most of the heavy lifting for the Buccaneers, but it was the run game that led the attack in a 51-27 win over the Saints in New Orleans.
Coen’s master class was nearly derailed by Baker Mayfield’s second quarter from hell. He threw three interceptions and could have been picked a fourth time as the Bucs coughed up a 17-0 lead. And so Coen took the ball out of Mayfield’s hands in a dominant second-half display. The Buccaneers rushed for 220 yards over the final 30 minutes, and four of the six pass attempts were thrown behind the line of scrimmage. Those short throws averaged 21 yards a pop, per TruMedia. Everything Coen called seemed to work, and despite taking a back-seat role, Mayfield finished the second half completing five of six passes for 93 yards and with a perfect passer rating.
We also got strong outings from the Texans’ Bobby Slowik and Baltimore’s Monken, two assistants who, along with Johnson, interviewed for head coaching jobs last offseason. Kingsbury is coaching his way into another head coaching opportunity in Washington. With the way this season is trending, the head coaching market could be flush with young play callers in 2025.
Winners (Just Not on the Scoreboard): The Quarterbacks of the 2024 Class
Only one rookie quarterback managed to win on Sunday. That was Williams, who helped lead a 35-16 blowout of the hapless Jaguars in what was his best performance of the season to date. Williams threw four touchdowns, including this perfectly placed ball on Cole Kmet’s back shoulder.
Williams is growing more comfortable (and accurate) by the week. He’s routinely working deep into his progression and is already attacking tight windows over the middle of the field with the confidence of a 10-year vet. He’s calling shots before the snap with that same level of confidence. Now that he’s getting more support from Chicago’s run game, this Bears offense resembles the unit that had many wondering whether Williams was stepping into the best situation ever for a first pick. The Bears are 4-2, and Williams’s worst stretch is already behind them. The playoffs aren’t just an attainable goal. It would be a disappointment if the Bears don’t make the postseason at this point.
The same goes for Washington, which is also sitting at 4-2 after losing a competitive battle with Baltimore. Daniels starred once again. We’ve already covered how this performance differed from his earlier games, but the one consistent feature of all of these games is his pinpoint accuracy. Against Baltimore, Daniels completed over 68 percent of his passes for the fifth time in six games, but it felt like every pass he attempted gave his receiver a chance to catch the ball. And every time Washington needed its rookie to make a throw to keep the team in the game, Daniels completed it. He didn’t do enough to overcome a brilliant performance from Lamar, but he made a believer out of Baltimore’s vets.
Drake Maye and Spencer Rattler made their debut starts and ended up on the wrong side of blowouts. But both acquitted themselves nicely, and neither looked out of their depth. Maye had some stray passes, including his first two career interceptions, but the Patriots offense looked more explosive than it did under Jacoby Brissett.
Rattler also had his moments while trying to lead a comeback against the Bucs. He showed off good arm strength and mobility and made enough plays to keep the Saints in the game after a 17-0 start. Rattler was dealt the worst hand of any of the rookies starting on Sunday, and he didn’t fold. That’s an encouraging sign for a rookie quarterback and a welcome one for a fan base that is growing tired of watching Derek Carr.
Bo Nix also played.
But, seriously, even Nix, who struggled before garbage time in a 23-16 loss to the Chargers, contributed to what ended up being a historic day for the 2024 rookie class of quarterbacks. Williams, Daniels, Maye, Rattler, and Nix threw for a combined 12 touchdowns, which set a Super Bowl–era record for touchdown passes from rookie quarterbacks in a single week. Nix threw two of those, so we’ll add his name to the A-worthy group project from the young passers.
