Welcome to the Riker Report, where I open up my game day files each week and share a quick-hitter observation or development from each of the eight NFL divisions. Though the Kansas City Chiefs maintained their undefeated record in a convincing divisional victory over the Raiders, the rest of the NFL had an abundance of down-to-the-wire results. And in honor of the World Series, I’m adding a special spotlight on the Los Angeles teams. These are the Week 8 storylines with staying power from around the league.
AFC East: Tua Tagovailoa comes up just short in return to action against Arizona
Miami dominated storylines in the 2023 season with its 70-point outburst against the Broncos and its electric bid for the AFC East title, but its 2024 campaign has had a polar opposite feel. The main reason has been the absence of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who left the Dolphins’ contest against Buffalo with a concussion and has been out of practice and Miami’s lineup for weeks as a result. The Dolphins struggled to find a capable backup quarterback option to fill Tagovailoa’s role, but Miami’s top-tier receivers struggled as well: All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill failed to score a touchdown or register 70 receiving yards without his quarterback, and Jaylen Waddle hasn’t topped 50 receiving yards since Tagovailoa’s exit.
In his first game back in action, Tagovailoa elevated Miami’s offense out of the lull it has found itself in most of the fall, but the offensive production wasn’t enough to avoid a familiar result. Tagovailoa completed 28 of his 34 pass attempts and did not turn the ball over, but Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray spoiled his afternoon with three scoring drives in the Cardinals’ final three possessions. The good news: Miami is, somehow, still in the top half of the AFC East, and their QB1 is back in the mix.
NFC East: Jayden Daniels one-ups Caleb Williams in thrilling matchup of draft’s top rookie quarterbacks
Switch out the quarterbacks and the head coaches, and the Commanders still have a penchant for games decided by unbelievable Hail Mary throws. Just over a year after Russell Wilson’s desperate deep heave found the hands of Denver’s Brandon Johnson on the final play of regulation against the Commanders (only for the Broncos to fail the two-point conversion), Washington found itself on the winning side of a Hail Mary pass once again, though this time one from their own strong-armed quarterback.
Like a plot twist movie that collects its due from its ending rather than the entirety of its plot, the first pro matchup of the NFL Draft’s top two picks lacked intrigue throughout the game, then heated up in the final minutes. Chicago’s combination of quarterback Caleb Williams and D’Andre Swift put the Bears on the board and in the lead with a pair of second-half touchdown drives, and Washington had less than half a minute to reverse the Bears’ late lead. Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels picked up first downs on throws to tight end Zach Ertz and wide receiver Terry McLaurin, then launched a deep pass on the final play of the game from Washington’s side of the field. Daniels’ pass deflected off a dense pack of Bears and Commanders players and into the hands of receiver Noah Brown, who was positioned perfectly for the deflection and held on for the game-sealing touchdown. The long-tortured Commanders fans at Northwest Stadium have had plenty to cheer about through a revelatory season, but Daniels’ late heroics — and the Bears’ deflating lapse in coverage — might represent the apex of the season so far for the NFL’s most surprising team.
AFC North: Jameis Winston upgrades Browns’ offense in divisional upset vs. Baltimore
It’s not often that an NFL team turning to its backup out of necessity is considered an upgrade, but Cleveland has done exactly that… two seasons in a row. 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Joe Flacco defied logic and Father Time to lead the Browns to the playoffs last season in the place of the injured Deshaun Watson, yet Cleveland decided to run it back with the highly-paid and rapidly declining Watson under center in 2024.
This season, another journeyman quarterback, Jameis Winston, has emerged in the Flacco role to energize Browns fans after another brutal Watson start to the season and season-ending injury. And what better way to announce Winston’s arrival in Ohio than a win over the division-leading Baltimore Ravens and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson. Winston brought plenty of charisma to the pregame huddle in Cleveland, then backed it up with 334 passing yards and three passing touchdowns — including the go-ahead 38-yard touchdown throw to Cedric Tillman with less than a minute remaining in regulation. The Browns are 2-6 and have plenty of ground to make up in the AFC to replicate last year’s feat, but Winston’s efforts following a five-game losing streak should resuscitate the Browns’ playoff hopes for a couple more weeks, at least.
NFC North: Packers keep pace with last-second win over Jacksonville
Quarterback Jordan Love’s sophomore season as Green Bay’s starter hasn’t lived up to the sky-high expectations generated by the optimistic Packers fan base and Love’s own $220 million contract, but his setbacks haven’t held back the Packers. In knocking off the middling Jaguars to improve to 6-2, the Packers kept within a half-game of the division-leading Lions and built up momentum heading into the team’s pivotal Week 9 matchup. And similar to their success with backup Malik Willis stepping in for Love earlier in the season, the Packers secured a victory with Love (groin) out of the action in the game-defining moments. Willis led Green Bay to its fourth-straight win with a 64-yard field goal drive that set up kicker Brandon McManus for the game-winning field goal, while running back Josh Jacobs, the Packers’ keynote free-agent acquisition, capped off an afternoon in which he totalled 127 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Packers have thrived in the late moments this year — six of their eight games have been decided by a touchdown or less, including four Green Bay wins — and that clutch play from across the supporting cast has positioned the Packers to contend in the league’s best division.
AFC South: Colts bench a healthy Anthony Richardson with season on the line
The Colts have staked their claim as owners of the most bizarre 2024 season, a remarkable feat given Indianapolis’ standing in the top half of the AFC South and solid positioning in the playoff chase. The latest development in the Colts’ ongoing quarterback drama: the benching of healthy second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson for 39-year-old veteran Joe Flacco after the Colts’ 23-20 loss to Houston in Week 8.
Richardson’s season got off to a shaky start with an oblique injury, but his presence in a crucial divisional game failed to elevate the Indianapolis offense. Sunday’s start continued Richardson’s drought of starts with a completion percentage of greater than 50 percent — Richardson completed just 10 of 32 pass attempts, for a season-low 31.3 percent — but an even more damning indictment came from Richardson himself after the game. The fourth pick of the 2023 NFL Draft told reporters that he chose to leave the field for a play because he “was tired,” a shocking admission for a starting NFL quarterback. Backup Joe Flacco, the reigning Comeback Player of the Year, is charged with keeping the 4-4 Colts in the playoff mix and will have running back Jonathan Taylor as a top option in the backfield, but the move is a brutal blow for the Colts. While seen as a developmental quarterback during the draft, Richardson has not taken the expected strides of a second-year starter and forced the Colts’ hand with his ineffectiveness in the Indianapolis passing game and his postgame remarks. Head coaches don’t have long leashes in the NFL, and Colts coach Shane Steichen understandably made a move to best position Indianapolis for a run at the playoffs. In a stunning twist, the presumed future of the franchise is no longer a central component of these efforts.
NFC South: Who controls the future of the NFC South?
After the Buccaneers’ valiant and undermanned effort in a loss to the division rival Atlanta Falcons, I tried to come up with the team in the NFC South with the brightest future. It’s a difficult task. Though Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield and Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins have had some strong moments this year, none of the teams boast a proven quarterback capable of a deep playoff run, and only Falcons rookie Michael Penix Jr. seems to be his team’s long-term plan at quarterback. The same could go for the coaches, as New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen and Carolina head coach Dave Canales have endured horrific 2024 seasons and the division’s other two coaches, Raheem Morris and Todd Bowles, have yet to establish themselves in the ranks of the NFL’s elite coaches. Atlanta has the clearest path to dominating the division — as they have done through their early divisional games this season — but has its share of unknowns, while the Buccaneers and Saints are making the most of declining rosters. The Panthers aren’t trending in a negative direction, but that’s because it’s difficult to regress after holding the NFL’s worst record in consecutive seasons. The NFC South is the one NFL division without a bona fide Super Bowl contender, and I have a tough time projecting how one of these four teams will take that leap in upcoming seasons.
AFC West: Chargers rebound with emphatic home win
The Chargers landed the coaching cycle’s highest-profile hire in luring reigning national champion Jim Harbaugh away from Michigan, but the move hasn’t put them in the national spotlight to the degree of other AFC contenders like the Jets, Steelers and Chiefs. Even the Chargers’ recent prime-time matchup against the Arizona Cardinals was relegated to ESPN+, while the Ravens-Bucs battle took the night’s top billing. But Harbaugh’s Chargers seem to be doing just fine, and the early returns of Harbaugh’s efforts to establish a new culture in Los Angeles seem to be shaping a team that could be a tough playoff opponent in January. The Chargers have weathered the injury bug, a key characteristic of past head coaching regimes, with quarterback Justin Herbert finding his groove after foot and ankle injuries that hindered him at the beginning of the regular season. Herbert ranks in the middle of the pack in passing touchdowns, yardage, completion percentage and QBR, but his 8:1 touchdown to interception ratio ranks only behind Buffalo’s Josh Allen. Over the Chargers’ past three games, he’s had his way with two strong defenses, Denver and New Orleans, and his 349-yard performance against Arizona in the Chargers’ MNF loss almost powered L.A. to the win. The Chargers have also established themselves as one of the AFC’s best defenses, allowing an NFL-best 13 points per game, and have enjoyed breakout performances from running back J.K. Dobbins and wide receiver Ladd McConkey. Los Angeles has a very manageable path to a Wild Card spot, but I’m most excited to see how they stack up in upcoming matchups against Cincinnati, Baltimore and Kansas City.
NFC West: Return of Rams’ receivers proves crucial in LA’s TNF upset win
Just about everything that could go wrong in the Rams’ first seven weeks did go wrong, and yet Los Angeles is just a half game out of the NFC West lead as we near the halfway point of the season. The Rams welcomed back wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua for their Thursday Night Football matchup against the 5-1 Minnesota Vikings, and the wideouts were instrumental in pulling an upset on a tenacious Vikings team and defense. Nacua secured seven catches for 106 yards, while Kupp recorded five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown as the Rams’ passing offense came alive. With weapons at his disposal in the passing attack and the ground game, quarterback Matthew Stafford posted his highest passing yardage total (279) since Week 1 and his highest QBR (87.1) since December 2023. Considering the 49ers’ injuries, the Cardinals’ streaky play and the Seahawks’ struggles against top competition, the Rams’ passing attack has the firepower to rocket Los Angeles to the top of the division and back into the playoff hunt.
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