Bad attitudes, offensive ineptitude and Natitude inspires a team outside Washington. The NFL Week 9 Recap truly has it all.
2019 NFL Week 9 Recap
Cowboys 37
Giants 18
Look, I’m not going to say this is some sort of post-Halloween curse … but when this black cat ran onto the field at the Meadowlands, the Giants were up by six. When it left, Dallas outscored Big Blue 34-9 to win their sixth straight in the rivalry and maintain first place in the NFC East.
Patriots 20
Ravens 37
How unlikely was this result? New England won 16 straight regular season games, facing a starting QB for the first time and 20 straight against a QB age 24 or younger. As Bill Belichick predicted, the 22-year-old Lamar Jackson changed that by lighting up the Patriots defense — which previously allowed only seven points per game this season — by air and ground to simultaneously get himself in the MVP conversation and Baltimore in the discussion for AFC title contenders. It feels like we’ll see this match up again in the playoffs.
Packers 11
Chargers 26
Give it up for Michael Badgley, y’all. He called his shot with his self-imposed (and well-timed) nickname to help the Chargers snap a 3-game home losing streak and stuff some humble pie in Green Bay’s face. If L.A. can pull off back-to-back division wins in prime time, the AFC West will get really interesting.
Browns 19
Broncos 24
Denver entered this week as the only NFL team to have zero QBs on the roster who have taken an NFL snap. However, Brandon Allen outplayed Baker Mayfield to deal Cleveland their fifth straight loss to a QB making his first career start. If you thought Baker was cranky before, he’ll be in a Jermaine Whitehead-like rage this week — and considering the Browns are actually worse than they were last year, should probably change more than just their shoes.
Buccaneers 34
Seahawks 40 (OT)
Jameis Winston had a pretty good game but could only sit and watch Russell Wilson complete a thrilling comeback to cement his MVP status, while Jameis is only famous for completing the failed non-guaranteed guarantee trifecta. Monday Night Football finally gets a gem when the Seahawks play the undefeated 49ers next week.
Lions 24
Raiders 31
Josh Jacobs continues to put his name among the greats while carrying the Raiders to a better-than-expected final season in Oakland. Maybe trading Khalil Mack wasn’t so bad after all.
Redskins 9Â
Bills 24
Vegas was right to keep the over/under low. The Redskins have gone 13 straight quarters without scoring a touchdown and Buffalo has only beaten teams with losing records. Even still, Dwayne Haskins proved what we already know; he’s the best QB on the roster by default and should be the starter.
Bears 14
Eagles 22
Chicago may have been inspired by the Nationals — and had a Nats-like rebound from a historically inept first half to make it a game again — but they forgot the key ingredient: Finish the fight!
Colts 24
Steelers 26
You can debate the merit of Pittsburgh giving up a first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick, but there’s no debating this dude is damn good. Three picks in six days? If/when Big Ben comes back, the Steelers will be too.
Indianapolis, on the other hand, is in trouble. Starting Brian Hoyer and a struggling 47-year-old kicker might be too much to overcome in a tight division race.
Vikings 23
Chiefs 26
Sure things in life: Death, taxes and Andy Reid getting the most out of a mediocre QB. Matt Moore posted a 103.9 QB rating to lead Kansas City to scoring drives in four of their final five possessions and knocked off a red hot Vikings team looking to make a statement. The Chiefs’ statement is they’re a consistent defense away from being a real title contender.
Jets 18
Dolphins 26
The Jets spent the week pissing off their best offensive player, alienating their best defensive player and nearly got mathematically eliminated from division contention at the season’s midway point by losing to a winless team actively trying not to win. It’s as if they watched the dysfunctional Redskins and said, “hold my beer.” FedEx Field might actually collapse from the ineptitude when these teams “play” in two weeks.
Titans 20
Panthers 30
Carolina thinks Christian McCaffrey is the MVP … and I don’t think they’re wrong.
Texans 26
Jaguars 3
Only a week after damn near losing an eye, Deshaun Watson went all the way across the pond and put up another highlight reel at Jacksonville’s expense, while the Watt-less Texans defense stomped out Minshew Magic to push Houston into first place in the AFC South. It’s starting to feel like this is the Texans’ division to lose.
49ers 28
Cardinals 25
San Fran’s defense showed some cracks and the vaunted run game found few holes, but it happened on a night when Jimmy G had the best game of his career (though not so much after the game) to keep the 49ers undefeated halfway through their season. But now the schedule gets tougher and Kwon Alexander is out for the season so it’s about to get real in the Bay Area.