BY: Ibitayo Daramola
Midway through the NFL week 9 season and the pretenders can be easily identified, the contenders are
shoring up before the trade deadline (Tuesday 4 p.m. ET) and as injury continues to be a
factor to teams’ overall play some have learned to adjust to each change while some
have crumbled without little or no fight.
Jets Revival???
The week kicked off with the 6-2 high-flying Texas lead C.J Stroud taking on the hapless
Jets (2-6). What a difference a week makes though, the Houston Texas had lost star Receiver Diggs (torn ACL) while the Jets their new star recruit Adams, has had a week more to learn the plays.
Aaron Rodgers showed a glimpse of what the Jets’ front office had envisaged when they brought him to New York throwing for 3 TDs and no Interception, the Jets’ defense also complimented their offense and limited C.J Stroud, NY Jets 21- 13 Houston Texas.
Whether this will be the defense oil in the Jets’ gear for them to get going I don’t know, but Rodgers and the Jets haven’t counted themselves out albeit they are 4 games behind Divisional Leaders Bills.
If they must make the playoffs the wildcards are the slim hope and even with that, they know they have to be almost perfect for the second half of the season.
NFL Week 9: LION HEART
There is no doubt the best division halfway through the season is the NFC North Division
with 3 teams winning 5 or more games going into week 9 so the battle between the top
2 was sure to be the biggest game of week 9. Detroit Lions (6-1) the NFC best football
team took on divisional Rival Green Bay Packers (6-2).
The game was supposed to be a stern test for the Lions. It was their first outdoor game coupled with the weather conditions (rainy).
However, Dan Cambell and his Lions played their usual complete football and already had the game won by the time the Packers scored their only touchdown late in the 4th quarter, Packers 14-24 Lions.
RAIN, TAX, CHIEFS
The Chiefs are now 8-0 after an overtime win at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(Chiefs 30-24 AOT). Tampa was depleted and would have been forgiven if they had
simply rolled over for the Chiefs.
However, they put up such a good game both the offence and defense and Baker Mayfield even led a drive with just over a minute left to score a touchdown if Todd Bowles had been bold enough to go for 2pts rather than 1pt maybe the Chiefs would have finally tasted their first defeat in 14 games going back to last season.
The Chiefs though have an air of inevitability about them, they haven’t played their best football season long but it hasn’t mattered.
They have waded through adversity, and injury and have trailed in all but one game this season but remain unbeaten.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are getting better, Monday was the first game this season that Mahomes did not throw an interception, DeAndre Hopkins has only been with the Chiefs for less than 11 days but he already looks the part with 8 receptions and 2 touchdowns, Kelce had 14 receptions for 100 yards and Kareem Hunt ran for 117 yards with the winning touchdown in overtime.
We all know the defense is elite but with the offense coming along slowly but surely, the rest of the league better beware.
NFL Week 9 BEST OF THE REST
The Atalanta Falcons defeated the Cowboys 27-21, no surprise there as the Cowboys
can’t run the football and definitely can’t defend against the run.
The big news is that the Cowboy’s $ 60 million QB Dak Prescott is out for at least 4 weeks with a
hamstring injury. The Cowboys are 3-5 and 4 games behind the Commanders (7-2), unless they are living in denial, this looks like the end of the season for the Cowboys.
The Philadelphia Eagles won against the Jaguars 29-23 with Saquon Barkley adding 2 touchdowns however the game will be remembered long due to some spectacular moves by Saquon (dropping his shoulder and making two players miss and ending the run with a no-look jump backward to gain extra yards) and an amazing catch by the Devonta Smith.
NFL WEEK 9 RESULTS
New York Jets – Houston Texans 21:13
Atlanta Falcons – Dallas Cowboys 27:21
Baltimore Ravens – Denver Broncos 41:10
Buffalo Bills – Miami Dolphins 30:27
Carolina Panthers – New Orleans Saints 23:22
Cincinnati Bengals – Las Vegas Raiders 41:24
Cleveland Browns – Los Angeles Chargers 10:27
New York Giants – Washington Commanders 22:27
Tennessee Titans – New England Patriots 20:17ot
Arizona Cardinals – Chicago Bears 29:9
Philadelphia Eagles – Jacksonville Jaguars 28:23
Green Bay Packers – Detroit Lions 14:24
Seattle Seahawks – Los Angeles Rams 20:26ot
Minnesota Vikings – Indianapolis Colts 21:13
Kansas City Chiefs – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30:24ot