NFL Week 9 Review – Scores and Key Takeaways

After another eventful week in the NFL, we recap the key takeaways from each game.

San Francisco 49ers 34 def. Oakland Raiders 3

If there was any doubt before, the Raiders are officially the worst team in football after getting trounced by the second-worst team in football. The Raiders will go into full-rebuild mode now, if they weren’t already. The worst to come of this season for them might be that they actually have a healthy, franchise quarterback. How bad do you have to be to have a franchise QB, and also be the worst team in the league? Pretty bad.

In what is a lost year after Jimmy G’s injury, the 49ers faithful have something interesting to watch. That something is the undrafted QB Nick Mullens, who played great against a bad team. Let’s see if he can deliver against another bad team next week – the NY Giants.

Atlanta Falcons 38 def. Washington Redskins 14

Matt Ryan is quietly keeping the Falcons in playoff contention. It’ll be tough in the NFC South, with the Saints and Panthers putting wins together. But the Falcons have the talent. If they continue to get healthy they can beat any team.

A disappointing loss for the Redskins, who would’ve expected more out of the defence. This team can only expect 20 points out of the offense on any given week – sometimes less, rarely more. The defence will need to contain the Eagles next week, in a game that holds the fate of Washington’s season.

Minnesota Vikings 24 def. Detroit Lions 9

The Minnesota defence gave Kirk Cousins some help. In Cousins’ first sub-par game this season, the defence suffocated the Lions, holding them to 209 yards on 70 plays. That’s 3.0 yards per play. They also sacked Matthew Stafford a franchise-record 10 times. The Vikings have now proven they can pass, run, and defend at elite levels. With two divisional games coming up, they have a chance to take command of the NFC North.

The Lions had some great wins in the first half of this season, but with a tough schedule ahead (Bears, Panthers, Bears again, and Rams), their playoff hopes look officially dead. Although he didn’t get many chances against the Vikings, Detroit fans can look forward to the promising talent of Kerryon Johnson, who could hold the key to winning-ways in 2019.

Pittsburgh Steelers 23 def. Baltimore Ravens 16

The Steelers have now taken control of their division. They played well on both sides of the ball, but I have doubts about their ability to beat the best teams in the AFC. Luckily some stability seems to be doing the team well. They’ll be hoping Le’Veon Bell doesn’t ruin that.

It has been a tough few weeks for the Ravens – in their opposition and results. They needed a win this week and they didn’t get it. With the remaining schedule, and their current record, it’s difficult to see them finishing above .500. That’s disappointing considering the roster is, and has played, better than that.

Kansas City Chiefs 37 def. Cleveland Browns 21

Patty Mahomes, our future star of last week, continues to frustrate defences while he has fun playing with all his offensive toys. This time it was Kareem Hunt’s turn (and a bit of Travis Kelce). Part of what makes this offense so great is that every guy seems to believe that they are part of something bigger, and they will each have their individual moments, but those moments are less important than the end-goal.

The Browns are a season away. Fans have so much to look forward to for the next decade, as this team has some pillars to build around (finally). Baker Mayfield was solid, the young running back duo of Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson are promising, and the talented defence simply ran into an unstoppable offensive force this time.

Miami Dolphins 13 def. New York Jets 6

This was a game of defence and field goals. Both the Jets and Dolphins defences did everything they could to give their offenses a chance to win. The difference was the quarterback play. Brock Osweiler did enough, but not much to keep the Dolphins in-front. That mainly consisted of not throwing four interceptions. Sam Darnold did the opposite. And to be honest, the young quarterback should have had five or six. He now leads the league in interceptions. Not an uncommon stat among rookie quarterbacks, even those that become franchise leaders. The Jets will be hoping that Darnold can forget this game and take some confidence from the second half of the season, which could determine the trajectory of his career.

Chicago Bears 41 def. Buffalo Bills 9

Once again, the Bears winning formula works – lean on the defence and running game, and don’t ask too much of their young quarterback. Against the Bills though, the defensive effort seemed pretty routine, creating four takeaways. The Bears continue to keep the Vikings/Packers race to the NFC North title less and less convenient every week.

Not much new to report on the Bills. They will keenly await the return of any quarterback not named Nathan Peterman. Hopefully they see gradual improvements in Josh Allen’s game upon his return, so that the Buffalo faithful have something to look forward to.

Carolina Panthers 42 def. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28

Another win for the underrated Panthers. People are sleeping on this team, even though they may be top-5 in the league. Cam Newton finally has a reliable, dynamic offensive weapon in Christian McCaffrey, who played great against the Bucs. Pair those two and you may have the most difficult run-game to defend from a tactical stand-point.

The outlook isn’t as favourable for the valiant Buccaneers. When your best player is a journey-man veteran quarterback, who hasn’t been known to string together two good seasons, you have problems. A Silver-lining: if you were going to have such a quarterback, wouldn’t you want it to be Fitzmagic?

Los Angeles Chargers 25 def. Seattle Seahawks 17

This was an interesting game going in, because the MO of these teams are at complete odds. The Chargers have made a reputation (until this season) for self-sabotage. People recognise their talent, but also an inability to get out of their own way. Seattle are the opposite, conservatively keeping themselves in the game so it’s always winnable when the fourth quarter starts, often to a fault.

On this occasion, the Chargers defied their reputation, refusing to give the game to Seattle. But Seattle stayed true to theirs, leaving their comeback a touch too-late. If they had another play or two on the Chargers goal-line, they probably would’ve tied the game.

The Chargers now look sure to take the first wild-card spot in the AFC, or, if the Chiefs stumble, they could take the AFC West. Yes it’s unlikely, but we’re only halfway through the season – there’s a lot of football to be played.

Houston Texans 19 def. Denver Broncos 17

The Texans extend their winning streak to six. The key difference in this team from who they were during the first few weeks of the season, is their redzone offense. If the Texans can handle their divisional opponents, the rest of their schedule is one of the easiest in the league. At 6-3 then, they seem poised to win the AFC South, and enter the playoffs with home-field advantage.

Denver put up a good fight. Case Keenum came up big with what should’ve been a game-winning fourth-down throw to Emmanuel Sanders – Keenum threw his team into comfortable field goal range. Broncos kicker, Brandon McManus, couldn’t finish the job though, missing the 51-yard field goal. That’s been the story of Denver’s season – they play above what’s expected of them, against good opponents, but fall short of getting the W.

New Orleans Saints 45 def. Los Angeles Rams 35

The Saints are (for now) the best team in the NFC. And it didn’t come without a fight. The Rams, down 35-17 at the half, came surging back to tie the game at 35-35. The Saints then stepped up on both sides of the ball. Finally, they showed the potential of the secondary to make stops. And then, the offense took those stops and turned them into lemonade. Drew Brees just leapfrogged Todd Gurley in the MVP race, with only Patrick Mahomes standing in his way. The wonderkind will be difficult to catch, but if anyone can string together some 4-TD games to close the difference, it’s Brees.

The hairline cracks in the Rams’ game got exposed against the Saints. The Saints kept Goff uncomfortable for most of the game. He did play well despite the pressure. The Saints also took advantage of the Rams defence, getting the ball out quick and leaning on the impossible-to-defend Alvin Kamara/Michael Thomas phenomena. Brees has never had a more talented RB/WR duo than he does in Kamara and Thomas: a scary thought for the rest of the league.

New England Patriots 31 def. Green Bay Packers 17

The Patriots offense is just too good. Even when Green Bay’s defensive coordinator, Matt Pettine, showed Brady a lot of deceptive formations that gave the hall-of-famer some trouble.

Brady figured it out though. It took a while, and the Packers offense still couldn’t take control while the Patriots offense faltered. The Patriots purred into a gentle cruise during the second half. Once they find that sweet spot, they can’t be stopped.

The Packers offense is like a second-hand car you need to yell at before it starts. It usually does, but by then you’ve wasted 45 minutes. If they keep losing games like this, the blame will fall somewhere, and rhetoric is building around Head Coach Mike McCarthy as the worthy recipient. A playoff run is starting to slip out of reach and a loss against the mediocre Dolphins next week would sound alarm-bells.

Tennessee Titans 28 def. Dallas Cowboys 14

Both teams had a lethal pass rush: one team had a quarterback able to overcome it. Titans QB Marcus Mariota took four sacks, but if it weren’t for his poise and evasiveness in the pocket, he would’ve taken more. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott took five sacks. Pretty similar, but stats sometimes lie. Dak looked uncomfortable: holding onto the ball too long and leaving the pocket too eagerly. The best he looked was in a touchdown drive just before half-time. Most of the throws were short, rhythm passes. The Cowboys play-calling needs more of this so their quarterback isn’t tempted into chaos.

Two moments stand out in this one. The game was the Cowboy’s for the taking when up 7-0 in the Titans redzone, poised to go up by two possessions, until Dak threw a woeful pick. After that moment the Titans were in control. Then, in the third quarter – scores tied – the Titan’s Jayon Brown gets a strip sack on Dak. Another costly turnover, but this time not really Dak’s fault – just Brown willing the ball into his team’s possession.

Going forward the Cowboys have an uphill journey, unlikely to make the playoffs.

The Titans are sitting at 4-4. Not that impressive, but this team has a lot going for it. If Mariota can stay healthy and productive, there is talent on both sides of the ball – not to mention a creative coaching staff led by Mike Vrabel, who severely outcoached Jason Garrett in this game.

By Connor Haddad