NFL 2019-20 Week 9 Review

NFL 2019-20 Week 9 Review              

Well, what a weekend in the NFL we had! Three powerful teams that entered with strong winning streaks – Green Bay, Minnesota, and particularly New England – all lost. There were some other surprise losses, such as the Jets dropping the game in Miami, handing the Dolphins their first win of the season.              

Other teams that lost are looking questionable, such as Chicago and Cleveland. Neither of those teams are going to the playoffs. Detroit also looked like they may just have seriously hurt whatever chances they had of qualifying for the playoffs with a somewhat surprising loss at Oakland. They could have gained ground on the Packers and Vikings and Bears, but with them losing, it assured that every team in the NFC North lost yesterday.              


Meanwhile, some teams strengthened their positioning with solid wins, including Baltimore, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Seattle looked a bit shaky, but ultimately survived a tough test against Tampa Bay, although they needed overtime in order to do it.              

Lets take a closer look at the games from Week 9:  

Miami 26, N.Y. Jets 18 - This was the first result from yesterday where my only expression was one word: "Wow." Not meant in a good way, as I both predicted, and hoped for, Gang Green to win. But if there is one team in the league that can make the woeful Dolphins look like legitimate contenders, it would have to be the Jets, now, wouldn't it? Miami's offense scored more points than they had at any other point this season, and they manage to get the monkey of being winless off their back. Of course, it comes at the expense of the Jets, who themselves look quite undeniably pathetic this season. Both teams are 1-7 at the mid-season point, and well behind Buffalo and New England in the AFC East. My prediction: Inaccurate


Buffalo 24, Washington 9 - Orchard Park is increasingly looking like one of the toughest places to play in the league once again, both for the weather, as well as for the prospects of having to face that rough Bills defense. Josh Allen completed 14 of 20 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown for the Bills. In a losing cause, young Dwayne Haskins completed 15 of 22 passes for 144 yards, as he keeps learning and hopefully improving. Buffalo improves to 6-2 on the season, while Washington drops to 1-8. My prediction: Accurate


Philadelphia 22, Chicago 14 - Philly stayed hot, and remained very much in the playoff picture by securing a must win against the Bears, who are reeling at this point in the season. Carson Wentz completed 26 of 39 passes for 239 yards and one touchdown, helping the Eagles soar to victory. Mitch Trubisky, one of the most inconsistent and erratic quarterbacks in recent memory, had a bad day for Da Bears, completing 10 of 21 for 125 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Philly more than doubled the yards and time of possession than Chicago had. The Eagles at times looked bad this season, yet you look at them, and they are now 5-4, and just half a game behind the Cowboys for first in the NFC East, with another big divisional showdown in Philly between the two teams looming. Chicago, meanwhile, is fading fast after a very promising 3-1 start. They have now lost four games in a row, and look like they are on the verge of irrelevance this season. My prediction: Accurate


Houston 26, Jacksonville 3 - This was a pretty thorough drubbing of the Jaguars by the Texans, and it gets Houston back into a first place tie with Indianapolis by virtue of the Colts having lost to the Steelers. Deshaun Watson completed 22 of 28 yards for 201 yards and two touchdowns, while adding an additional 37 yards on 7 carries. Carlos Hyde topped all running backs with 160 yards picked up on 19 carries, and the Jaguars clearly had no answers for how to stop him. The game was fairly even statistically, except for Jax having committed four turnovers, to only one by Houston. The Texans improve to 6-3 on the season, while the Jaguars fall to 4-5. My prediction: Accurate


Pittsburgh 24, Indianapolis 24 - This game went back and forth, as both teams seems to hold the momentum at different points. Ultimately, the Steelers got a field goal late to take a narrow two-point lead, and then the defense held Indianapolis to ice the win. Pittsburgh's Mason Rudolph completed 26 of 35 passes for 191 yards, with one TD and one INT. Indy's Jacoby Brissett went out of the game with a knee injury, and it is unknown the level of severity of his knee, or how long he may be out. Prior to going out, he had completed 4 of 5 for 59 yards. Brian Hoyer stepped in and completed 17 of 26 for 168 yards, with three touchdowns and one INT. The Colts fall to 5-3 on the season. The Steelers, meanwhile, improve to 4-4, and have largely recovered after a disastrous 0-3 start on the year. My prediction: Inaccurate


Kansas City 26, Minnesota 23 - This was a huge showdown that also proved to be a really close, back and forth game. Ultimately, the Chiefs managed to win, meaning that this was the first home game in over a month that the Chiefs actually won. These two teams were roughly even in most statistical categories, although the Chiefs actually had the game's only turnover. Yet, they outgained Minnesota on offense, 377 yards to 308 for the Vikings. KC's Matt Moore completed 25 of 35 passes for 275 yards and one touchdown. Kirk Cousins completed 19 of 38 passes for 220 yards, but also threw three touchdowns. The Vikings drop to 6-3 on the season, and this loss snapped a four-game win streak for them. However, they get a chance to rest up and get fully healthy with a bye next week. Kansas City, meanwhile, raised their record to 6-3, and remain fairly comfortably atop the AFC West standings. The Chiefs next travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans, and try to remain among the ranks of the elites of the AFC and the NFL. My prediction: Inaccurate


Carolina 30, Tennessee 20 - Sometimes, you can almost feel the life of a team's playoff hopes draining away by this point in the season. Both teams faced that kind of scenario with this game. The Titans are on the brink of irrelevance and could not afford to lose more ground in the AFC South. Carolina, meanwhile, needed to rebound from an embarrassing rout in San Fran, where they gave up over 50 points. A second straight loss for them would not do, and would totally kill the momentum that they had actually been building up prior to last weekend's debacle. Only one of these teams could win, and it wound up going in favor of the home team. Particularly costly for the Titans were the three turnovers that they committed, which helped to bury their chances in this one. The Panthers stop the bleeding before it became a losing streak, and improved to 5-3 on the season, keeping them relevant in what is shaping up to be an impressive group of NFC teams fighting for both the playoffs and the division hopes, including Carolina, the Rams, Seattle, Minnesota, Philly and Dallas. The Titans, on the other hand, drop to 4-5 on the season with the loss. My prediction: Accurate


Oakland 31, Detroit 24 - This was the kind of game that, to my thinking, Detroit absolutely needed if they were going to make a serious playoff push. Dropping this one shows too much inconsistency to  establish, much less sustain, any kind of serious momentum that could carry the Lions to the playoffs. Not sure that the Raiders are going to seriously fight for a playoff spot, but they keep improving under one-time Super Bowl championship head coach Jon Gruden. Oakland improves to 4-4 on the year, while the Lions fall to 3-4-1, and are looking increasingly hopeless in continually failing to gain any ground on either divisional rival, Green Bay or especially Minnesota, in the chase for one of those final playoff spots. Other NFC teams are also far ahead of Detroit for that wildcard spot, including Seattle, the L.A. Rams, and Carolina, as well as whoever does not win the division between Philly and Dallas. My prediction: Inaccurate


Seattle 40, Tampa Bay 34 (OT) - The surprise here was that the Seahawks needed until overtime to finally beat the Bucs, but at least they ultimately did it and earned the win. Russell Wilson completed 29 of 43 for 378 yards and five touchdowns! Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston completed 29 of 44 for 335 yards and two touchdowns. Tampa Bay gained well over 400 yards of offense, but the Seahawks compiled just shy of 500 yards total. With the win, Seattle improves to 7-2 on the season, and remain alone in second place in the NFC West. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay falls to 2-6 on the year. My prediction: Accurate


Denver 24, Cleveland 19 - Well, I figured - apparently wrongly - that the Browns would begin to gel with an easier schedule, now that the big-time contenders are largely behind them. But in their first real test, Cleveland failed, as they got beaten by the Broncos at Mile High, and continue their struggles this season, edging closer to complete irrelevance. The Browns owned clear advantages in time of possession, as well as first downs and overall offensive yards gained. They committed no turnovers, while Denver committed one. Those kind of numbers would suggest that the Browns probably should have won, but they did not. 27 of 42 for 273 yards and one touchdown. Denver QB Brandan Allen completed 12 of 20 for 193 yards and two touchdowns, lifting the Broncos over the still reeling Browns. My prediction: Inaccurate


L.A. Chargers 26, Green Bay 11 - Who could have possibly seen this one coming? The Chargers totally dominated the Packers, and handed them a humbling blowout loss to bring the Pack down to earth. In a losing cause, Aaron Rodgers completed 23 of 35 for 161 yards with one touchdown. Veteran QB Philip Rivers enjoyed a solid day for his team, completing 21 of 28 for 294 yards. Chargers running back Melvin Gordon picked up 8 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Green Bay had entered this game at 7-1, with a four-game winning streak going. The Chargers, meanwhile, had been inconsistent, but largely disappointing to this point in the season, The Chargers improve to 4-5 on the season, while Green Bay drops to 7-2, although they still remain atop the NFC North standings for now. My prediction: Wildly Inaccurate


Baltimore 37, New England 20 – Some people were beginning to wonder if this might be another undefeated Patriots season. But as dominant as New England has looked entering last night’s game against the Ravens, they looked bad and vulnerable in that game. The Ravens took possession of the ball and set the tone right away, sustaining a long drive that last almost seven minutes and ended in a touchdown. The Pats defense had been pushed around a bit on that drive, and despite making adjustments after that, they still were unable to contain the Ravens before falling into a 17-0 hole. The Patriots did make a game of it, closing to within 17-13 by halftime, but the Ravens keep the pressure up with an early touchdown to start the second half. Still, New England fought and got to within four points again entering the final quarter, but the Ravens sealed the deal and put the game out of reach very early in the fourth with another touchdown, then adding another one just for security late in the game to ice it. Overall, Baltimore held onto the ball for over 37 minutes, and that proved to be the most decisive advantage. For once, the Pats offense was not able to wear down the opposing defense and, in fact, it was the Ravens offense that seemed to wear down New England’s previously vaunted defense. Lamar Jackson enjoyed a solid day, completing 17 of 23 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown, although he also ran 16 times for 61 yards and two more touchdowns. The Pats simply could not contain him, and clearly had no answers. Mark Ingram II picked up 115 yards n 15 carries, also helping to wear down the physically overmatched Pats defense. In a losing cause, New England’s Tom Brady completed 30 of 46 passes for 285 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. His favorite target, rather predictably, was Julian Edelman, who caught 10 passes for 89 yards. James White led the Pats largely ineffective running game with 38 yards and one touchdown on nine carries. The win improves Baltimore’s record to 6-2, with their fourth straight win. Meanwhile, the Patriots suffer their first loss in nearly a year, snapping a 13 game winning streak that began towards the end of their championship season last year. It was the first really obvious chink in what seemed like unblemished armor entering the game, and drops them to 8-1 on the season. My prediction: Inaccurate