Week 9 in the NFL proved that the action is only picking up as the campaign reaches midseason and the trade deadline approaches.
One week after a historically lopsided slate, Sunday proved exponentially more scintillating thanks to upsets, close calls, injuries and plenty of other notable developments. And the shifting isn’t likely to stop there, as Tuesday’s trade deadline could prompt more movement in the next 36 hours or so, even if the swaps are of the more minor variety seen in the last month or so.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 9 in the NFL:
NFL Week 9 winners
Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense
The league’s highest-paid defense has been sharply criticized this season for being static and ineffective, particularly in consecutive losses in the last two weeks. Sunday, however, marked a clear breakthrough. In a 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh nabbed six takeaways from an offense that only had four turnovers in its previous eight games. Good fortune surely played into that sharp contrast, but so too did strong execution. Running back Jonathan Taylor was held to a season-low 45 yards on 14 carries by a unit that made his erasure its top priority. From there, the Colts struggled to replicate their previous magic, as edge rushers Alex Highsmith (two sacks) and T.J. Watt (one sack) feasted against an Indianapolis front that was out of sorts in obvious passing downs. Pittsburgh still has to prove it can exist somewhere closer to this performance extreme rather than the other it in which it resided recently, but conjuring an answer for the league’s most efficient attack made quite the statement.
Colston Loveland
When the Chicago Bears tight end hauled in his first career touchdown to give his team a third-quarter lead against the Cincinnati Bengals, it seemed like a nice contribution from a player who otherwise had largely been an afterthought in his rookie campaign. On this day, though, he would be nothing short of essential to the Bears, especially with starter Cole Kmet sidelined by a second-quarter concussion. With Chicago staring down a crushing collapse after giving up 15 points in the final two minutes, Loveland hauled in a Caleb Williams dart down the seam, bounced off one would-be tackler and spun past another before racing for a go-ahead, 58-yard score. It was enough to give Loveland more receiving yards on the day (118) than he had all year before Sunday (116). More importantly, he put Chicago right in the thick of a condensed NFC North race on a day when the organization seemed to be teetering on the verge of disaster. It might be another year before the No. 10 overall pick becomes a staple of the offense, but after this performance, it will be hard for coach Ben Johnson to overlook what dimensions the field-stretching threat adds to the aerial attack.
Rico Dowdle
For most running backs, tallying a franchise-record 473 yards from scrimmage over a two-game span would lead to a featured role for the rest of the season. For Dowdle, it yielded a split with typical starter Chuba Hubbard. Dave Canales acknowledged last week, however, that the rugged ball carrier gave the offense something a little extra, and Dowdle did just that in powering a 16-13 win over the Green Bay Packers. Not only did he notch his first game with two rushing touchdowns, his 130 yards on 25 carries kept Carolina chugging on a windy day during which Bryce Young passed for just 102 yards. The only party capable of pushing back on him was the officiating crew, who flagged Dowdle for his, uh, evocative touchdown celebration. At 5-3, the Panthers are in the mix to end a seven-year playoff drought. That’s thanks in no small part to Dowdle, who seems due for a much bigger payday this offseason than the one he received in March with a $2.75 million deal.
Brian Flores
The Minnesota Vikings’ performance behind center has sparked the most headlines, but there’s been slippage across the board – including from Flores’ vaunted defense. Sunday’s 27-24 win over the Detroit Lions served as a needed return to form on several fronts. A maligned defensive front bottled up Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, allowing the dynamic backfield duo to post just 65 yards on 20 carries. Detangling the Lions’ intricate offense allowed the Vikings to tee off on Jared Goff, who took five sacks as the offense converted just five of 17 third-down attempts. That helped enable Minnesota to play its own brand of complementary football, with a solid ground game (142 yards on 29 carries) aiding J.J. McCarthy in the quarterback’s return from an ankle injury. It’s going to be difficult for this group to reach a level anywhere close to the lofty highs it discovered last season, but this was an encouraging showing against a team that long had Flores and the Vikings’ number during the Ben Johnson years.
Buffalo Bills’ playoff-seeding outlook
There’s still that little matter of holding onto the AFC East crown for a sixth consecutive season, which might not prove so easy given the New England Patriots’ one-game lead and highly favorable schedule down the stretch. But Buffalo’s 28-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs held importance beyond the symbolic value of vanquishing the foe that has repeatedly blocked the franchise’s Super Bowl path. Of course, the Bills have been here before, having now won the last five regular-season matchups with no postseason breakthrough to follow. But Sean McDermott’s crew now possesses a two-game advantage on Kansas City in the loss column, along with the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker. If the defense can thwart surging passing attacks the way it halted Patrick Mahomes (who was pressured on 52.6% of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats) and Co., then maybe Buffalo is the AFC team to be feared rather than Kansas City.
Cam Little
The second-year kicker already set himself apart from many of his peers by booting a 70-yard field goal in preseason. Now, however, he officially stands above everyone else in NFL history with a record-setting 68-yard field goal against the Las Vegas Raiders. Little hasn’t been the picture of reliability, with three misses – two field-goal attempts and a point-after try – in the last two games. With range like this, though, he’s a legitimate asset for an offense that still hasn’t fully found its stride. Yet with the Dallas Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey already having drilled two kicks of at least 64 yards in regular-season games, it might not be long before Little faces a legitimate challenge for his new mark.
Matthew Stafford
Good weekend to be a Southern California sports fan. One day after his old pal Clayton Kershaw secured another World Series title, Stafford made quick work of the New Orleans Saints’ undermanned secondary with four touchdown throws – all coming against the blitz – in the Los Angeles Rams’ 34-10 romp. Two of his scoring strikes went to Davante Adams, while Puka Nacua caught another. The quarterback also averted disaster with Nacua’s rib injury, with coach Sean McVay saying after the game that the receiver could have returned if he had been needed. The MVP race is a flavor-of-the-week matter right now with no clear front-runner, but Stafford is keeping himself at the forefront of the conversation.
NFL Week 9 losers
Washington Commanders
Pinpointing blame for player injuries is typically a fruitless endeavor in a sport that can swing multiple parties’ fortunes in an instant. In the case of the Commanders and Jayden Daniels’ gruesome elbow injury in Sunday night’s 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, however, it’s fair game to question coach Dan Quinn’s culpability. Daniels was hurt on a second-down scramble with his team trailing 38-7 with less than eight minutes remaining. Even by the rosiest outlooks, that comeback isn’t materializing. Worse yet, Quinn said after the game that Washington’s performance was ‘unacceptable’ and that the team ‘missed the opportunity by a mile.’ Why, then, leave it all on the shoulders of Daniels to try to claw all the way back? The quarterback already has an acknowledged issue with protecting himself that dates back to his Heisman Trophy-winning year at LSU, during which he would routinely subject himself to massive hits when taking off as a runner. It’s difficult for an organization that has embraced an all-in mentality to pull back, especially when the season has gone as haywire as this 3-6 campaign has for the Commanders. But now the near future looks murky for Daniels, who reports indicated had suffered a dislocated elbow, and Quinn will have to answer for an unwillingness to cut his losses.
Packers
The bottom line was bad enough, with Green Bay being dealt another stunning defeat as well as the loss of breakout star Tucker Kraft, who the team fears suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, per multiple reports. But the manner in which the Packers arrived at their last-second defeat compounded the agony. Once again, a team that couldn’t hang with the NFL’s elite last season can’t seem to handle its most straightforward matchups this year. From Jordan Love’s several questionable throws on Sunday – one of which resulted in an interception – to kicker Brandon McManus missing another field goal, the Packers have plenty of baked-in volatility. But Matt LaFleur is ultimately responsible for a unit that too often amounts to less than the sum of its parts, with the coach bemoaning a 1-of-5 red-zone performance Sunday. On a day when the Lions also faltered, Green Bay should have seized the opportunity to build some separation in the NFC North. Instead, the outing helped reinforce that the division is fully up for grabs in the final two months.
Bengals’ defense
For a minute, it appeared as though Joe Flacco’s career performance and Cincinnati’s offensive resilience might be enough to cover for another dreadful day from the team’s defense. But it took just that same minute – less, even – for the Bengals to squander a stunning rally that briefly looked capable of saving the franchise’s season. Yes, the tackling and coverage on Loveland’s game-winning touchdown were nothing short of shameful. But pinning the outcome on that one play would be reducing the group’s problems to a single misstep, and that in no way captures the full extent of the futility here. The Bears trampled the Bengals for 283 yards, the bulk of it coming from hard-charging Kyle Monangai in the seventh-round rookie’s first start. When Chicago wasn’t simply pushing Cincinnati aside, however, it was literally playing ‘hot potato,’ which was the name of the trick play on which Caleb Williams scored a receiving touchdown. And the defense’s known vulnerability over the middle continued to be exploited, as opposing tight ends now have 12 touchdowns against the unit this season. One week after begging for a leader to emerge, coach Zac Taylor said he felt ‘sick to lose like that.’ In reality, though, his team has been floundering in this fashion for quite a while. It just hasn’t seemed this dramatic until now.
Los Angeles Chargers’ protection plan
Any confidence the Bolts had in their ability to safeguard Justin Herbert was short-lived. In his second game back from a high-ankle sprain that sidelined him for three weeks, left tackle Joe Alt was carted off in the second quarter of the Chargers’ 27-20 win over the Tennessee Titans. With Alt out – and starting right tackle Bobby Hart also leaving due to a groin injury – Herbert took a season-high six sacks while also throwing a pick-six in the face of a blitz. Even with star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons inactive on the day, the Titans’ pedestrian collection of pass rushers applied consistent heat, with Dre’Mont Jones and Jihad Ward each notching four hits. If Alt misses another significant stretch of time, the Chargers will be hard-pressed to stave off the likes of the Steelers, Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles, all of whom are ahead in the team’s next four contests.
Parker Romo
Gillette Stadium just isn’t the kicker’s scene. Two-plus months after Romo lost a competition to rookie Andy Borregales for the New England Patriots’ job, Romo missed an extra point that proved decisive in the Atlanta Falcons’ 24-23 loss. Romo enjoyed a nice debut in stepping in for Younghoe Koo, converting all five field-goal attempts in a Week 2 win over the Vikings. But he’s missed three field goals since then, and it’s difficult for a team with this little margin for error to operate like this.
San Francisco 49ers’ injury luck
Weathering personnel losses has become a way of life for San Francisco for a year-plus, but the 49ers’ injury hits have reached a level of absurdity. The latest blow: First-round rookie defensive end Mykel Williams is feared to have torn his anterior cruciate ligament in Sunday’s 34-24 win over the New York Giants. For a unit that’s already without its superstars in defensive end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, a breaking point feels imminent despite the impressive work of coordinator Robert Saleh. Keion White’s addition last week should add a bit of depth and upside along the defensive front, but San Francisco can’t be reasonably expected to forge ahead in the playoff chase unless it brings aboard another piece before the trade deadline.