Welcome to the Week 9 grades!
Forget electing a new president, America needs to elect a new team. If the Dallas Cowboys are "America's Team," then America might want to think about picking a new team going forward. The Cowboys lost their third straight game on Sunday and it feels like their season is going nowhere.
In the past 48 hours, they told their starting running back to stay home (Ezekiel Elliott) and they watched their starting QB go down with a hamstring injury. Also, the Cowboys defense has been nonexistent. The unit has given up 104 points during its three-game losing streak, which is the most the Cowboys defense has given up during a three-game losing streak since 2010.
So how did the Cowboys grade out this week?
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Let's get to the Week 9 grades, starting with the Chiefs' wild win over the Buccaneers on Monday night.
Kansas City 30-24 (OT) over Tampa Bay
| B | |
| The Buccaneers did almost everything right, except win the game. Liam Coen's offensive game plan got everyone involved, which kept the Chiefs defense guessing all night. The Bucs had five different players who carried the ball at least twice and eight different players who caught at least one pass. Defensively, the Bucs kept Patrick Mahomes in check for most of the game until they faded in overtime with the Chiefs marching 70 yards straight down the field to score the game-winning TD. Baker Mayfield gave a gutsy performance (23 of 31 for 200 yards and two touchdowns), especially on a game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter that forced OT. The Bucs scored with just 27 seconds left in the game and probably should have gone for two, but Todd Bowles decided to play for overtime. It's a decision he might be kicking himself over, and this is a loss the Bucs will probably be kicking themselves over, because they played well enough to win. | |
| B+ | |
| The DeAndre Hopkins trade is already paying off big time for Kansas City. In just his second game with the Chiefs, Hopkins came up huge with eight catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Patrick Mahomes has needed a new receiving weapon since Rashee Rice went down, and he appears to now have that in Hopkins. Mahomes also has his favorite safety blanket in Travis Kelce, who caught a regular-season career-high 14 passes for 100 yards. This game was close, but the Chiefs won because Mahomes was absolutely clutch, especially on third down: He went 11 of 13 for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Another newcomer who came up big was Kareem Hunt. In just his fifth game of the season, Hunt continues to play a huge role in the offense. Against the Bucs, he rushed for 106 yards with 90 of those coming in the second half. He also scored the game-winning TD in overtime. The Chiefs, who trailed 17-10 in the third quarter, seem to be on the ropes every week, but they always find a way to win. | |
Atlanta 27-21 over Dallas
| D | |
| It's almost painful to watch the Cowboys at this point. Their offense isn't coming through with any clutch plays, their defense can't stop anyone and they're even getting outcoached. Mike McCarthy got aggressive in this game with five different fourth-down attempts, but four of them failed. It's fine to be aggressive, but the play calls were questionable, including a fake punt that had no chance of succeeding. To make matters worse, the Cowboys also lost Dak Prescott to a hamstring injury. With three straight losses, it feels like the Cowboys' 2024 season is now slowly heading down the drain. | |
| B | |
| The Falcons have one of the most well-rounded offenses in the NFL and they proved that in this game. The biggest star for Atlanta was Bijan Robinson, who not only rushed for 86 yards, but he also caught seven passes for 59 yards for a total of 145 yards. The play of Robinson made things easier for Kirk Cousins, who threw three TD passes, which all came in the first three quarters as Atlanta took control of this game. The Falcons defense wasn't flashy, but it came up with big plays when it had to with the Cowboys converting just 4 of 18 times on third and fourth down combined. This might be the most underrated team in the NFC. | |
Buffalo 30-27 over Miami
| B- | |
| The Dolphins offense went toe to toe with the Bills, but the defense disappeared in the second half, which is a big reason why Miami ended up losing. If the Dolphins defense could have gotten just one stop over the final two quarters, this game might have ended differently, but instead, the Bills were able to score on every possession they had in the second half. Offensively, the Dolphins only made one big mistake and that came on a Raheem Mostert fumble in the third quarter that led to seven points for Buffalo. Tua Tagovailoa was nearly perfect, but his effort went to waste. This loss stings because the Dolphins' chances of winning the AFC East have now gone down to nearly zero. | |
| B | |
| If there's one team Josh Allen almost never loses to, it's the Dolphins and he kept that streak alive with another brilliant performance against Miami. After the Bills offense sputtered through the first half, Allen brought the unit back to life in the second half by throwing for 156 yards and three touchdowns. If the Bills have had one big issue this year, it's been their kicking, but Tyler Bass made them look smart for sticking with him. Although he missed an extra point in the game, he made up for it by nailing a 61-yard game-winner. With the win, Allen is now 12-1 in last 13 games against the Dolphins. At 7-2, the Bills could have the AFC East wrapped up by Thanksgiving. | |
Cincinnati 41-24 over Las Vegas
| F | |
| The Raiders' QB situation seems to get uglier every week and that was the case in Cincinnati. Gardner Minshew got benched for the second time this season on a day where he completed just 10 of 17 passes for 124 yards. Things didn't get much better for his replacement, Desmond Ridder, who was sacked four times. If you don't have a QB you can trust, it's hard to win in the NFL and the Raiders just don't have that right now. The Raiders' season is now in a total free fall with five straight losses. | |
| A | |
| This was a game the Bengals couldn't afford to lose and Joe Burrow made sure that didn't happen. The Bengals QB was on fire, completing his first 15 passes on his way to throwing for 251 yards and five touchdowns. With the Bengals' receiving group depleted, Cincinnati turned to Chase Brown, who totaled 157 yards with 120 of those coming on the ground. Mike Gesicki also had his biggest game of the year with five catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Although the defense has had some issues this season, the Bengals turned into a brick wall after the Raiders scored on their opening drive. Trey Hendrickson had one of the biggest games of his career with four of Cincinnati's five sacks. The Bengals' season was on life support heading into this week, but it's now been revived heading into their huge Week 10 showdown with the Ravens on Thursday. | |
L.A. Chargers 27-10 over Cleveland
| A | |
| The Chargers offense took a licking from Myles Garrett in this game, but it kept on ticking. Justin Herbert got sacked six times, including three by Garrett, but he didn't let that faze him. Despite being under constant pressure, Herbert made several big plays, including a 66-yard TD to Quentin Johnston in the second quarter that essentially iced the game. That put the Chargers up 13-3 and with the way their defense was playing, that was more than enough. Tuli Tuipulotu (2.5 sacks) led a unit that sacked Jameis Winston six times. That pressure led to three interceptions by Winston in the second half. The Chargers feel like a team that could certainly end up stealing a wild-card spot this year. | |
| D | |
| In a span of just seven days, the Browns got the full Jameis Winston experience. After dicing up the Ravens last week, the bad Winston showed up against the Chargers. The Browns QB threw three interceptions, which all came in the second half. Winston got zero help from his offensive line on a day where he was sacked six times. Whatever spark the Browns got from Jameis last week is now long gone. | |
Tennessee 20-17 over New England (OT)
| B- | |
| The Drake Maye experience was a total roller-coaster ride for the Patriots on Sunday. Maye showed off plenty of good, but he also had three turnovers, including two back-breaking ones that doomed the Patriots. Maye lost a fumble in the fourth quarter that led to a touchdown for the Titans. Maye then threw a game-ending interception on New England's only possession of overtime. Joey Slye also missed a field goal. This is a game the Patriots certainly could have won, but they let it slip away. | |
| B | |
| For just the second time this season, the Titans hit the 400-yard mark and that was mostly thanks to Tony Pollard, who rushed for 128 yards. Pollard got 36 of those in OT to help set up the game-winning field goal by Nick Folk. Mason Rudolph (240 yards, two touchdowns) played well enough that the Titans might want to think about giving him another start. Defensively, Tennessee took advantage of playing against a rookie QB: Not only did the Titans sack Drake Maye four times, but they also picked him off twice, including an OT interception from Kayshon Boutte that won the game. After getting routed by Detroit last week (52-14), this win shows the team hasn't given up on new coach Brian Callahan. | |
Washington 27-22 over N.Y. Giants
| B+ | |
| The Commanders offense continues to look unstoppable. After punting on their opening drive, the Commanders scored on five of their next six possessions, which helped them take control of the game. Jayden Daniels continues to make big play after big play and he made a huge one with two minutes left when he hit Olamide Zaccheaus for a 42-yard gain that helped Washington ice the win. Daniels did a good job of spreading the ball around with three receivers all finishing with more than 40 yards. The Commanders are now 7-2 for the first time since 1996 and this team continues to be the most pleasant surprise in the NFL this year. | |
| B- | |
| It took 672 days, but Daniel Jones finally ended his drought without throwing a TD pass at MetLife Stadium. Jones actually threw two TD passes, but he also lost a fumble in the first half that set up a Commanders TD. The Giants have proven that they're just not good enough to overcome Jones' negative plays. At this point, it feels like another lost season for the Giants. | |
Carolina 23-22 over New Orleans
| D- | |
| This was the most embarrassing loss of Week 9. Alvin Kamara, who had 215 total yards, tried to will this team to a win, but no one else was there to help him. It might be time for the Saints to blow up everything up and start over. | |
| B+ | |
| The Panthers offense was carried by Chuba Hubbard, who rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns. Both Hubbard's scores came in the second half, including the game-winning TD that came with just over two minutes left. The Panthers defense got torched for 427 yards, but the unit came up big by holding the Saints scoreless on their final three offensive drives of the game. With this win, the Panthers are no longer the worst team in the NFC South. | |
Baltimore 41-10 over Denver
| F | |
| If we learned one thing about the Broncos, it's that they're not quite ready to hang with the big boys of the AFC. The Broncos have faced three AFC teams that currently have a winning record and they've gone 0-3 in those games with this one being the ugliest loss. The Broncos defense, which has played reasonably well this year, had no answers for Lamar Jackson. Once the Ravens started piling up the points, it was pretty clear that the Broncos offense wasn't going to be able to keep up. Sean Payton did get aggressive to try to get his team going with three fourth-down attempts in the first half, but they failed on two of those, including one where Bo Nix overthrew a wide-open Troy Franklin in the end zone. The surprising Broncos are definitely good enough to compete for a playoff spot down the stretch, but this team is going to have to play much better if it wants to compete with the AFC's heavyweights. | |
| A+ | |
| Is it too early to give Lamar Jackson the MVP award? We all know what the Ravens QB can do with his legs, but this year, he's turned into one of the best passers in the league. Jackson was nearly perfect against the Broncos, completing 84.2% of his passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson has now thrown for at least 275 yards in five straight games, which is a franchise record. The Ravens offense also got some help from the human bulldozer, Derrick Henry, who rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns. The bigger news for the Ravens is that the defense finally figured out how to stop the pass. The Ravens were surrendering the most passing yards per game heading into Week 9, but they held Bo Nix to under 225 yards with a lot of that coming in garbage time. It was a confidence-boosting defensive performance that comes at the right time with Joe Burrow on deck this Thursday. | |
Arizona 29-9 over Chicago
| D- | |
| With winter approaching, it looks like the Bears offense has officially got into hibernation. Although the Bears were in this game at halftime, they weren't able to keep it close because their offense disappeared. Over the final two quarters, D'Andre Swift got shut down (10 carries for 34 yards) and Caleb Williams couldn't complete a pass (11 of 24) during a second half where Chicago totaled just 75 yards. The Bears defense got plowed over by a Cardinals rushing attack that ran for more than 200 yards. The Bears are now averaging just 12 points per game since their Week 7 bye and that number is going to have to substantially improve if this team wants to compete for a wild-card spot down the stretch. | |
| A | |
| The Arizona Cardinals might be for real and the Bears found that out the hard way on Sunday. The Cards defense played easily its most impressive game of the season. Arizona's pass rush had Caleb Williams running for his life for most of the game. Zaven Collins tallied two of the team's six sacks in the game. The defense was especially impressive during a second half where it held the Bears to under 80 yards. Offensively, Kyler Murray is usually the star of the show, but in this game, it was James Conner. The running back hit 107 yards on the ground, pacing a rushing attack that totaled 213 yards. This is an impressive team and it just might be the most surprising team in the NFL this year outside of Washington. | |
Philadelphia 28-23 over Jacksonville
| C+ | |
| If the Jaguars didn't sleepwalk through the first half, they might have been able to pull off the upset here. During the first two quarters, the Jags lost a muffed punt, they had a failed fourth down, Trevor Lawrence threw an interception and the offense only totaled 31 yards. By the time the Jaguars got going, they were already trailing 22-0. Despite all that, the Jags still had the ball with a chance to win at the end, but Lawrence threw an interception. The Jaguars pay Lawrence $55 million a year to make big plays, but for most of this season, he just hasn't been able to do that. | |
| B | |
| Nick Sirianni made some questionable decisions in this game, but he got bailed out by Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley, who both came up big for Philadelphia. Hurts totaled 297 yards and three touchowns. As for Barkley, he steamrolled his way through the Jaguars defense for 159 yards with 98 of that coming in the second half. He also had one of the best plays of the year with a 14-yard catch that included a spin and a backward hurdle (You can see it here). He also lost a fumble that the Jags returned for a touchdown, but he more than made up for that with his production. This game shouldn't have been as close it was, but the fact that the Eagles held on should boost their confidence when playing close games going forward. | |
Detroit 24-14 over Green Bay
| B+ | |
| For the first time all season, the Lions had to play a game outdoors and they had to do in a torrential downpour, and not even that could slow them down. This looked like it was going to be a tight game going into halftime, but then Kerby Joseph blew things open with a pick six in the final minute of the half that put Detroit up 17-3. The Lions high-flying offense did slow down some in the rain, but Jared Goff was still efficient (18 of 22 for 145 yards) and the one-two punch of David Montgomery (73 yards) and Jahmyr Gibbs (65 yards and a TD) kept things moving for the offense. At this point, it seems pretty clear that the Lions are the team to beat in the NFC. | |
| C+ | |
| The Packers piled up the offensive yardage in this game, but you have to play nearly perfect football to beat the Lions and Green Bay simply didn't do that in this game. In the first half alone, Green Bay had to deal with a missed field goal by Brandon McManus and a pick six thrown by Jordan Love. In the second half, the Packers had three drives that got inside of Detroit's 15, but they only came away with one touchdown. Overall, the Packers scored just one TD on four trips to the red zone and that's why they lost despite outgaining Detroit 411-261. The opportunities were there, but the Packers just couldn't take advantage of them. | |
L.A. Rams 26-20 over Seattle (OT)
| B+ | |
| This was an old-fashioned heavyweight fight and the Rams didn't land the knockout punch until overtime, when Matthew Stafford connected with Demarcus Robinson for a game-winning 39-yard TD. It was an improbable ending for a Rams offense that only put up 28 yards in the fourth quarter. The Rams were only in a position to win because of a titanic performance from their defense that came up with three interceptions. The big one came from Kamren Kinchens, who ended up pulling off the longest play of the year in the NFL with a 103-yard pick six. That was one of the many highlights that came from a defense that sacked Geno Smith seven times. Two weeks ago, it looked like the Rams might be sellers at the trade deadline, but after this win, they're only a half-game out of first place in the NFC West and they look like a legitimate threat to win the division. | |
| B | |
| Geno Smith is probably going to be kicking himself after this loss. The Seahawks QB was dialed in for most of the game, but he made two big mistakes in the second half. On two different drives, Smith was picked off after the Seahawks had driven inside of the Rams' 10-yard line and one of those interceptions ended up being a pick six that put L.A. up 20-13. One reason the interceptions happened is because Smith was under constant pressure by a Rams defense that sacked him seven times. Despite the pressure, Smith still managed to throw for 334 yards with 180 of that going to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who also had two touchdown catches. The Seahawks had a chance to take the lead in OT, but Kenneth Walker got stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the Rams' 16-yard line. Mike Macdonald went for the win and it's hard to fault him for coaching without fear in a situation where most teams would have kicked the field goal. | |
Minnesota 21-13 over Indianapolis
| C- | |
| The Colts benched Anthony Richardson because the offense was struggling, but things didn't get much better with Joe Flacco on Sunday night. Flacco struggled with his accuracy, he made several bad decisions and he only led the offense to three points and those points only happened because the defense set Flacco up with good field position after picking off Sam Darnold. The only reason this game was remotely close was because Indy's defense forced three turnovers, including a fumble that Kenny Moore returned for a TD in the first half. If Shane Steichen views Flacco as the QB that gives the Colts the best chance to win and he keeps playing like this, then the Colts aren't going to win very many more games. | |
| B | |
| The Vikings needed a win in the worst kind of way and they got it by dominating the Colts. Brian Flores' defense caused fits for Joe Flacco, who threw for just 179 yards. It was masterful performance by a defense that only surrendered six points while picking off one pass and sacking Flacco three times. Offensively, Justin Jefferson stole the show for Minnesota, catching seven passes for 137 yards. Sam Darnold was sharp for most of the game, throwing for 290 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. The Vikings were able to beat the Colts despite those mistakes, but if Minnesota wants to beat the best teams in the NFL, Darnold will need to clean that up. Of course, the bottom line here for the Vikings is that they just ended a two-game skid and they're still only one game behind the Lions in the NFC North. | |
N.Y. Jets 21-13 over Houston (Thursday)
| B+ | |
| Garrett Wilson might have single-handedly saved the Jets season and we mean that literally. The Jets receiver made two touchdown catches in this game and he made both catches with a single hand, including a 26-yarder that will likely go down as the catch of the year. The Jets offense struggled in the first half with just 69 yards, but in the second half, we got a glimpse of what this team can be going forward. Aaron Rodgers was nearly perfect over the final two quarters, especially while targeting Wilson and Davante Adams (He went 10 of 11 for 147 yards while throwing to those two in the second half). The Jets defense also made a statement with eight sacks, the team's second-highest total over the past 35 years. If this is the team that shows up every week, there's no reason the Jets can't get back in the AFC playoff race, especially when you consider that they have the easiest strength of schedule in the AFC over the final nine weeks of the season | |
| C | |
| The Texans might suddenly have a problem and that problem is that their offensive line is having trouble protecting the quarterback. C.J. Stroud got sacked a total of eight times in this game, which marks the fifth time this season that he's been sacked at least three times. With no time to throw, Stroud had an erratic night, completing just 36.7% of his passes for 191 yards. The Texans did get a huge game from Joe Mixon (24 carries for 106 yards), but they seemed to give up on him in the second half with the running back only getting seven carries. Tank Dell did his best to carry Houston's receiving group with 126 yards, but Stroud had a tough time getting the ball to anyone else. Stroud will likely look better once Nico Collins is back -- and he's eligible to come off injured reserve heading into Week 10 -- but the offensive line play is going to have to improve if the Texans want to be a threat in January. Also, the Texans will now be hoping that this was a one-off bad game for Stroud, Ka'imi Fairbairn (missed two field goals) and the offensive line, and not a sign of things to come | |