My takeaways and notes from NFL week 8, followed by three players you should be looking to trade for in fantasy.

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I noted in my last article that the league was starting to take on a more familiar shape. Early season surprise packages have retreated into obscurity, whilst a couple of shaky starts have been, well, shaken off.

Of course there are outliers, the Commanders (more on them in a minute) are still good, getting better in fact. The same can’t be said for the Bengals, who have given themselves a mountain to climb in the second half of the year.

As always, I’ve selected three games for my weekly recap, starting with that game in Washington.

Wild Finish, Tamed Bears

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I couldn’t have been happier for Jayden Daniels on Sunday. Having seen all the talk of him “ducking” a match-up with Caleb Williams due to his rib injury, I genuinely leapt of the sofa when he pulled off the game-winning hail-Mary.

It was a moment that he, and Washington fans, will always remember and was a fitting finish to such a highly anticipated game.

The Bears, and notably Caleb Williams, were awful throughout the game, before coming to life in the fourth quarter to threaten an unlikely victory.

But sometimes, it can feel like a team is doing everything they can to avoid winning a game.

With a little over six minutes remaining and with the team trailing by five, the Bears attempted to hand the ball to backup offensive lineman Doug Kramer at the 1-yard line. The snap was fumbled and recovered by Washington, ending an 84-yard drive, the team’s best of the day.

Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron learned his lesson though, giving the next goal-line carry to running back Roschon Johnson, who put Chicago ahead (credit where credit’s due, that was a good call).

All of Waldron’s genius would be undone though. With six seconds on the clock and Washington out of hail-Mary range, the Bears sat off and allowed an easy 13-yard completion to Terry McLaurin, who then reached the sideline, completely unchallenged.

Having been gifted the chance to launch one final deep ball, Jayden Daniels took the final snap of the game with two seconds remaining.

Elsewhere, in a far away land, Tyrique Stevenson was blissfully unaware of the fact that Daniels was skipping around his defensive lineman, whilst several Washington receivers made their way towards the end-zone that he was supposed to be defending.

Just in time though, after polite encouragement from some no-doubt bewildered Bears fans, Stevenson turned and leapt into action. He didn’t seem to know who he was supposed to be covering on the play, but that didn’t matter.

As the ball re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, Stevenson heroically leapt above everyone to tip the pass perfectly to a grateful Noah Brown for a dramatic Commanders victory.

The Bears deserved to lose this game, but it really didn’t need to be so embarrassing.

Low Flying Jets

This was “the year” for the New York Jets. With Aaron Rodgers healthy, the team were finally ready to challenge for the ultimate prize.

Eight weeks in, the feeling around the Jets couldn’t be much worse. It’s a bit of a nothing stat, but the fact that the team had a winning record with Zach Wilson at this point last year, seems fitting.

Not only did the Jets lose on Sunday, but they lost to the Patriots‘ backup quarterback, the same quarterback that they defeated by 21 points in week 3, before they fired Robert Saleh.

There is though, a glimmer of hope for the Jets.

Of the team’s six losses this year, three have been by three or fewer points, with the team having missed at least a field goal. Kicker Greg Zuerlein ranks 38th in field goal percentage, out of 39 players to have attempted a kick this year.

With a new kicker expected from week nine and the team only two wins behind the wildcard places, the Jets could yet turn things around, but they’re quickly running out of time.

Air Baltimore

Jameis Winston started his first game for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and immediately threw for over 300 yards and secured a win, a feat that Deshaun Watson has not managed since November 2020.

8 weeks in, 11.11% of 300+ yard passing games this season have come against the Ravens, a stark contrast to their elite run defense.

Whilst the team is still the best run defense in the league, having allowed only 69.9 rushing yards per game so far, Nick Chubb became the first player to rush for 50+ yards on the Ravens all year at the weekend.

I listed Chubb as a “sit” in my start/sit article last week and whilst that proved a good bet (5.2 half-ppr points), 50+ yards on the Ravens is a good sign moving forward as he continues to ramp up.

Week 9 Fantasy Buy-Lows

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Michael Pittman (Indianapolis)

Pittman has no-doubt disappointed fantasy owners this year.

Currently the WR3 on his own team in half-ppr points, the receiver has been a victim of some atrocious quarterback play from Anthony Richardson.

Deep threats Alec Pierce and Josh Downs have both found more joy in Richardson’s all or nothing, deep ball approach. But with Joe Flacco set to return for the Colts, that could be about to change.

Pittman’s only two WR2 finishes this year came in weeks 4 and 5 with Flacco, whilst his only two touchdowns also came from Flacco throws in weeks 5 and 6.

The noise coming out of Indianapolis suggests that Richardson is set for an extended period on the sidelines, making Pittman a great buy-low candidate.

I recommend trading for Pittman now, as the Colts face Minnesota in week 9, a team that have given up the third-most passing yards per game this season (263).

Caleb Williams (Chicago)

After a QB28 finish in week 8, in a game that so many people had their eyes on, Williams could be very available in redraft leagues.

Projecting future performances can be tricky, but there is some solid correlation to go by when analyzing Williams’ fantasy performances so far.

From best to worst, in passing yards allowed per game, Caleb has faced Tennessee, Houston, Washington, LA Rams, Indianapolis, Carolina and Jacksonville so far.

In that same order, Williams has recorded weekly finishes of QB31, QB29, QB28, QB21, QB14, QB6 and QB1.

Seven of Williams’ final 9 games of the fantasy season are against teams in the bottom half of this metric, six of them are in the bottom 10.

Add to that that the rookie should continue to grow in his new surroundings and he could be a top twelve quarterback from now ’til the end of the year.

Christian Watson (Green Bay)

My Christian Watson bet unfortunately died once Jordan Love left the field in Jacksonville on Sunday.

Aside from that disappointment though, Watson’s snap share increased to 74% on Sunday, up from 53% in week 7. The receiver may yet turn out to be the main man in Green Bay as he returns to full health.

In his remaining 8 games of the fantasy season, Watson faces four defenses in the top 10 for most receiving yards allowed per game, with his week 16 and 17 matchups against teams in the top five.

You’ll have to keep an eye on the injury picked up by Jordan Love at the weekend, but early news suggests that it’s not too serious.

That’s all from me. As always, I hope this article provided some value and has inspired some offers for any of the three players mentioned. Feel free to mention some of your own buy-lows for week 9 and beyond.

I’ll be back with my week 9 starts and sits on Friday.

In-depth stats from Pro Football Reference.