Week 9

BALTIMORE RAVENS (28) vs. MIAMI DOLPHINS (6)

Lamar Jackson made his return to the football field on Thursday night and it was obvious that his return was the spark the Ravens needed for a dominating performance against the Dolphins. 

In his first game back from a hamstring injury, Jackson threw four touchdown passes: two to Mark Andrews, one to Charlie Kolar and the last to Rashod Bateman. Derrick Henry ran for 119 yards on just 19 touches, which re-established Baltimore’s true offensive identity. Were they perfect for 60 straight minutes? Absolutely not. There were definitely a few drives that did not work out in their favor, but the bottom line was that they were more efficient than the Miami Dolphins.

Tua Tagovailoa was not exactly horrible on Thursday night, but the Dolphins kept shooting themselves in the foot chance after chance. They only scored six points off of two field goals from the leg of Riley Patterson, yet it was not like this offense was completely shut down. They just made too many mistakes for them to have any momentum. 

They coughed up the ball three times. The first one was on their second possession of the night, which led to an easy Baltimore touchdown that put them ahead 7-3. The final two occurred in the fourth quarter, including Tagovailoa’s 11th interception of the season. Late in the first quarter, Patterson missed a 35 yard chip-shot kick wide right, just one play after Larry Borom committed a false start penalty on a fourth-and-one attempt. On the next drive, a tripping call took away a 36 yard shot to Jaylen Waddle that would have given Miami a realistic chance of making this a close game. On their final possession of the first half, the offense tried to go for it on fourth and two, but De’Von Achane slowed down on his route and it resulted in a turnover on downs. 

One day after the game, the Dolphins decided to mutually part ways with general manager Chris Grier. Obviously, a man just lost his job and my heart goes out to him and his family. But let’s be honest, he should have been gone sooner. He was in charge of football operations since 2016, yet the best success the team had involved just two playoff appearances with zero wins in that span. There were plenty of moves he made that worked out well for the team, but others that failed. We all knew that Miami had to make a big change at some point in the season and unfortunately, the writing was just on the wall for Grier.

As for Mike McDaniel, it looks like they will keep him for the rest of the season. Champ Kelly will take over as interim general manager. What we are witnessing is a team blowing up before our very eyes. My biggest question is simple: who is next?

The Ravens win their second game in a row and are starting to build more momentum at 3-5, but will stay on the road to play the Minnesota Vikings. Meanwhile, the Dolphins get thrown back into reality as they fall to 2-7 and will stay home to welcome the Buffalo Bills.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (24) vs. ATLANTA FALCONS (23)

This was going to be the toughest test that the Patriots faced in their win streak since they played the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football in week five. Through the first half, it looked like New England was going to cruise their victory. However, in the final two quarters, the Falcons nearly staged an impressive comeback, but were still a few plays short in the end. Allow me to explain.

The Patriots offense was clicking on all cylinders. Three of their first five drives ended with touchdowns, the usual sort for this group over the last month. Through most of the first half, Atlanta’s offense showed flashes here and there, but they were down 21-7 at one point and they were losing momentum quickly. However, a huge strip sack by Jalon Walker set up a touchdown to make it a one-score game at halftime, so they had some life with 30 minutes left to play.

When the third quarter began, New England’s offense went really flat. Their offensive line could not protect Drake Maye whatsoever as he got sacked six times all game long, the running game did not gain much traction without Rhamondre Stevenson and they could only score three more points. Slowly but surely, the defense started to wear out. Despite Bijan Robinson only picking up 46 yards on 12 carries, it was one of the better performances for Michael Penix Jr. He threw for over 220 yards and had three touchdown passes, all of them to Drake London and the final one could have tied the game with less than five minutes remaining! Unfortunately for the Falcons, John Parker Romo missed the ensuing extra point, so they still trailed by one point.

The defense forced a critical three-and-out, giving the offense one last chance to close the deal and complete the comeback! All hope was in the air for the Falcons until an intentional grounding penalty forced the drive to stall out for a punt. Once Maye got the ball, he never gave it back and picked up the first down to run out the clock. Talk about too close for comfort if you are the New England Patriots.

Instead of simply accepting the defeat, Atlanta head coach Raheem Morris claimed the Patriots were cheating by clapping to simulate the snap count on the intentional grounding penalty. Yeah, I’m not buying that. If you look at the footage, nobody is clapping and there is no other evidence supporting his quote. Here’s an idea, coach. How about rather than blame the other team for finding a way to win in the end, tell your kicker to make an extra point? Maybe then you would not have to be in that situation.

The Patriots hold on for their sixth straight win and are now 7-2, but will take the road for what should be another tricky matchup as they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Falcons come up just short once again as they drop to 3-5 and will stay on the road to face off against the Indianapolis Colts.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (27) vs. TENNESSEE TITANS (20)

How in the world was this even a game? The Titans offense did not score any of their 20 points, Cam Ward got sacked four more times and only threw for 145 yards, they went one for nine on third down, yet they only lost by seven. 

The two touchdowns Tennessee scored were off a pick six by Cody Barton and a 63 yard punt return from Chimere Dike. Without those plays, this is another predictable blowout defeat but right on schedule, their offense could not do anything on Sunday afternoon. The one drive where they did have a chance to take the lead, they could not even score at the one yard line on four straight tries. 

The Chargers offense, on the other hand, showed mixed results. Justin Herbert threw for 250 yards and scored three times. The group went seven for thirteen on third down, they were a near perfect three for four in the red zone, and they held the ball for 34 minutes. However, besides the pick six, that offensive line did not look promising on Sunday afternoon. They gave up six sacks, their running backs only combined for 74 rushing yards and the worst part about all of this was that Joe Alt went down with a season ending ankle injury. This front five has been the most glaring flaw for Los Angeles all year long and without their two starting tackles, Herbert has been running for his life on almost every dropback. He has already been sacked the third most times behind Ward and Drake Maye and it is because he hardly has time to throw the football. When he is only nine yards short of the team’s leading rusher Omarion Hampton, that is not always a good thing.

Having said all of that though, Los Angeles was just the better team. Pure and simple. The bottom line was that their offense had a stronger pulse and Tennessee, with all of the chances that they were given, could not take advantage of them at the most opportune moments.

The Chargers get the win on the road they expected and remain in the playoff picture at 6-3, heading back home for a Sunday night showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile, the Titans crumble apart once again in their fourth straight loss to enter the bye week 1-8.

CHICAGO BEARS (47) vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS (42)

If you love high-scoring shootouts with nobody remembering how to play defense, then this is the game you could not have missed! The Bears had the excuse of missing a few key members of their secondary, but the Bengals are just simply a team in limbo that wants to pretend everything is fine. 

Ironically, the first touchdown scored was not from either offense, but from the special teams as Bengals special teamer Charlie Jones took a kickoff return 98 yards to the house in the first seconds of the game. From that point on, both teams went back-and-firth throwing blows at one another. Caleb Williams caught a touchdown pass from DJ Moore, while Joe Flacco was heaving shots down the field. Cincinnati ended up leading by three at halftime thanks to a blocked field goal by Joseph Ossai with eight seconds left, but we all knew this game was far from over. 

By the start of the fourth quarter, it looked like every drive was going to end with a touchdown and whichever team had the ball last was going to win. Chicago led 31-27, but the Bengals had the ball with plenty of momentum on their side. The only way they were going to lose it is if they turned the ball over. Then right on cue, on the first play of the period, Flacco got strip sacked by Austin Booker and the Bears recovered the football. Although their offense had to settle for a field goal, it felt like the world was imploding for Cincinnati once again. Just look at how the next three drives in the game ended: missed field goal, Bears touchdown, interception. Chicago was ahead 41-27 with 2:15 on the clock. 99 times out of 100, that game is over. However, the offense went three-and-out and Flacco had a lot of time left to pull off some magic.

In just over 30 seconds, he made it a one score game again by finding Noah Fant down the post from 21 yards away. However, the Bengals had no timeouts left, so they were going to lose if they could not recover the onside kick. Miraculously to their benefit, Cincinnati got the ball back on the play and now Flacco had 1:54 left to take the lead! In less than a minute, he did the impossible once again. The Bengals waltzed their way down the field and a wide open touchdown pass to Andrei Iosivas gave the team their first lead since the third quarter! There was only one problem, however. Caleb Williams had less than a minute left to get into scoring range. Knowing the defense he was going up against, there was not a lot to be excited about just yet.

After a third down scramble from Williams, the play of the game took place at the 42 yard line with 17 seconds on the clock. He found Colston Loveland over the middle to get into field goal range, but a horrible missed tackle from Jordan Battle allowed the rookie tight end to spin his way free and take it all the way into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown! Of course this happens to the Bengals defense of all units. 

It is easy to make this about Cincinnati and say their defense is one of the worst in NFL history, but we knew that before the season started. My stance on it is a very simple one: this game should not have been close. Chicago was ahead 14 points before the two minute warning, they blew it and all it took was a broken tackle for them to escape with the win. Sure, their secondary was injured, but for Joe Flacco to throw for 470 yards with four touchdown passes is not a healthy stat line. Be thankful that the Bengals defense is a landfill or else a real team would have found a way to win in the end. 

The Bears survive on the road and are still in the playoff race at 5-3, heading back home for what should be a fun game against the New York Giants. Meanwhile, the Bengals lose in heartbreaking fashion yet again and will enter the bye week 3-6.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (27) vs. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (20)

Unfortunately, this was the type of performance I was dreading to see from the Indianapolis Colts. A while back, I said that I was curious to see what their offense would look like if Jonathan Taylor got slowed down and they had to rely on Daniel Jones to drag them out of the mud. Well after a strong opening drive that gave the Colts an early 7-0 lead, the wheels fell off the rails.

It started with a muffed punt recovered by the Steelers at the 11 yard line, but their offense failed to convert a fourth down attempt at the three yard line, so Indianapolis got a huge break to maintain their lead. However, it only got worse from there and the biggest reason why was because of the quarterback. On the surface, you might think over 340 passing yards with a couple touchdowns is a decent performance. Then there are the negative statistics that blemish everything. Daniel Jones turned the ball over five times, which included three interceptions. He also got sacked five times and did not throw a touchdown pass until there were four and a half minutes left in the game. The only reason why the Colts lost by seven was because of a desperation field goal attempt with nine seconds left. 

Pittsburgh’s offense was nothing special. Aaron Rodgers barely cracked the 200 yard mark, they only ran for 38 yards, they were three for six in the red zone and went four for twelve on third down. However, the one thing they did right that is most important was they capitalized on their chances. All three of the touchdowns they scored were off of turnovers, yet they only won by seven. This makes this game an even bigger indictment on Jones because if he did not turn the ball over, the Colts would have continued their winning streak. To give the Steelers credit, however, this was exactly the win their defense needed. They have been struggling all season long but they showed a lot of fortitude and pride in a must-win matchup. As a result, their playoff chances are still alive and the winning season streak might last another year.

The Steelers bounce back with a convincing victory at home and are still leading the AFC North at 5-3, with a trip on the road for a Sunday night showdown against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Colts suffer their second loss of the year but still have the best record in the AFC at 7-2, heading back home for a chance to bounce back against the Atlanta Falcons.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ers (34) vs. NEW YORK GIANTS (24)

Mac Jones made his seventh start of the season with Brock Purdy still sidelined and unlike last week, the 49ers had one of their better performances of the season. Sure, it was against a patchwork Giants defense with an injury-riddled offense, but it was exactly the type of game San Francisco needed after getting punked by the Texans last week.

The 49ers had the ball 11 times on Sunday afternoon and only punted the ball twice. He did lose a fumble near the end of the first half off a strip sack from Brian Burns, but it did not end up having an impact on the game as Graham Gano missed the ensuing field goal attempt. Jones finished the afternoon with five incompletions, 235 passing yards and a couple touchdown passes with no interceptions. What really powered the offense, however, was their running game. Not only did Christian McCaffrey nearly total 175 yards from scrimmage, but Brian Robinson had 53 rushing yards on just five carries. San Francisco went six for eleven on third down and a near perfect four for five in the red zone, so this was exactly the week they needed to prevent their season from falling into a bottomless pit. 

On the surface, it did not look like the Giants had a horrible game. Jaxson Dart totaled nearly 250 yards from scrimmage with three touchdowns, they ran the ball for close to 120 yards and they scored 24 points! Unfortunately, after a strong opening drive, New York did not reach the end zone again until there were less than eight minutes remaining in the game down 27-10. The weirdest part was that there was not a turnover or costly momentum-swinging play. The 49ers just simply outplayed their opposition on both sides of the ball, which is impressive considering the amount of injuries on their defense. Not only were they without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, but their first round pick Mykel Williams was recently placed on IR due to a torn ACL. If this does not give Kyle Shanahan serious consideration for Coach of the Year this season, then I honestly do not know what will.

The 49ers handle business on the road and are still in the division race at 6-3, with a trip back home for a huge test against the Los Angeles Rams. Meanwhile, the Giants get dominated once again to fall to 2-7 and will take the road for a do-or-die matchup against the Chicago Bears.

DENVER BRONCOS (18) vs. HOUSTON TEXANS (15)

One might call this the sloppiest game of the week. I say this was exactly what I thought it would be: a defensive slugfest that would come down to one offense finding a way to win. My big picture takeaway from this game is simply that the Broncos found a way to reach the end zone and close the deal, while the Texans failed to do that.

In Houston’s defense, CJ Stroud did not play the entire second half due to a

concussion. It is hard to say that the Texans would have won if he did not get hurt because all 15 of their points were scored off the leg of Ka’imi Fairbairn. The Broncos did not even have Patrick Surtain II due to a pec injury and they still kept Houston out of the end zone. Davis Mills filled in for Stroud and in the first half, he was decent. He completed 10 of 14 passes for 84 yards, despite taking a couple sacks. In the second half, he only completed seven of his next 16 pass attempts. They went zero for seven on third down, failed to reach the end zone, and all they could score were three points.

If you told me Bo Nix was only going to complete one pass on his first seven attempts and finish the afternoon going 18 of 37, I would say the Texans had a shot. However, while he did struggle against the best scoring defense in the National Football League, he made more than enough plays to help his team win. For starters, he was responsible for the only two touchdowns of the game. On the final drive, it was Nix that used his legs on a 25 yard scramble to set up a 39 yard winning field goal for Wil Lutz, the same kicker that had his first attempt blocked by Denico Autry. Denver might not have been perfect, but they did enough and that is why they are still leading the AFC West. However, I don’t trust their inconsistency from week to week, so their season is going to get harder from here.

The Broncos win their sixth straight game and are soaring at 7-2, with a short trip back home to take on the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football. The Texans revert back to mediocrity as they fall to 3-5, staying home for a must win matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (27) vs. DETROIT LIONS (24)

Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy made his return to the football field from a high ankle sprain on Sunday afternoon and it could not have come in a better location as the former Wolverine came back to Michigan to pull off a resounding upset victory against the Detroit Lions.

His performance was average to say the least. On one hand, he scored three touchdowns and put up 27 points on the road, but he also got sacked five times and threw an interception. Given the circumstances, it was not terrible, but there was definitely room for improvement. However, it did not feel that way in the first half.

Both teams scored touchdowns on their opening drives, but after Minnesota forced a three-and-out on the second possession, McCarthy drove his team right down the field and gave his team their first lead of the game. Little did we all know that the Lions would not get it back. Despite tying things up at 14 at one point, they trailed by three at halftime, but there were still two more quarters left to play.

In the final thirty minutes, both defenses stepped things up and it was only going to take one mistake for either of these teams to steal all of the momentum. The Vikings ended up being the ones to take control. On third and thirteen at the six yard line, David Montgomery got the ball punched out from behind by Blake Cashman, with Harrison Smith recovering it and returning it all the way to the 35 yard line. Not too long afterwards, McCarthy made a juke on Alex Azalone on the scramble and scooted into the end zone to put Minnesota ahead by 10. The Lions would end up making it a one score game again and actually had a chance to tie things up at 24, but on a 45 yard field goal attempt for Jake Bates, the kick got blocked right up the middle and it set up the Vikings for a field goal of their own to pull further ahead. Once again, Detroit did everything in their power to claw their way back, yet one first down pass to Jalen Nailor allowed the clock to run down to zero. 

While this was a fun game to watch with a lot of action from both sides, the bottom line of this is very easy to analyze. When Minnesota turned the ball over near the end of the second quarter, Detroit went three-and-out, failing to score any points. After the Lions fumbled the football and got a field goal blocked in the second half, the Vikings did something with those chances. Both quarterbacks took their fair share of hits and sacks. Neither offense did well on third down. Each of these teams committed more penalties than we thought. However, one team was able to respond and the other one could not. That is why Minnesota was able to pull off the upset and why it should be more about their success than Detroit’s struggles.

The Vikings pull off a must-needed upset on the road to get back to 500 at 4-4, with a trip back home for another challenge as they welcome the Baltimore Ravens. The Lions get outplayed in their house, but are still 5-3 and will have a chance to bounce back on the road against the Washington Commanders.

CAROLINA PANTHERS (16) vs. GREEN BAY PACKERS (13)

This was my favorite upset of the week because the Panthers did something that I did not think they would be able to do on Sunday: they beat the Packers at Lambeau Field! It was easily their most impressive victory of the year because that is a team you have to beat to creep into the playoff picture and right now, Carolina is looking like a Cinderella story before your very eyes.

Bryce Young made his return from an ankle injury the week before and right away, you could tell this offense operated a million times better than it did with Andy Dalton. Young only threw for 102 yards with an interception, but two main factors guided the Panthers to a win: defense and Rico Dowdle. Now Chuba Hubbard might not have been traded at the deadline, but I think he lost his starting job because Dowdle has been on a tear lately. He ran for 130 more yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. He is now third in rushing yards, big runs and yards per attempt. Dowdle has been the bread and butter of this offense and if they take him out, then my fear is that this Panthers offense will not go anywhere.

However, what was most impressive about this game was their defense. They had a “bend but don’t break” performance on Sunday. They allowed over 270 yards to Jordan Love, they gave up seven third down conversions on 13 attempts, and let them get inside the opposing 20 yard line five times. Yet, the Packers only scored 13 points. The reason why? They kept shooting themselves in the foot.

On the opening drive, wide receiver Savion Williams ran into his own teammate on a screen pass and then got the ball punched out as he fell to the ground, with Carolina recovering. The next three drives ended with field goal attempts and only two of them went through the uprights. In the middle of the third quarter, with a chance to take the lead, Love threw a horrific arm punt interception to Tre’von Moehrig, who returned it all the way to the Green Bay 38 yard line. Dowdle ended up scoring on the ensuing possession, but a missed extra point by Ryan Fitzgerald kept this a seven point contest. However, the Packers could still not score on their next drive because they decided to go for it on fourth down and eight. If it was not for Mike Jackson dropping the easiest interception in the world in the end zone, he might have taken it to the house. However, Green Bay got its break by forcing a punt and then all of a sudden, their offense finally came back to life and a touchdown run from Josh Jacobs tied things up at 13.

The only catch was that Bryce Young had 2:32 remaining on the clock and it would not be the first time where he had a chance to pull off a game winning drive. Sure enough, the Packers defense wore out as Young found Jalen Coker and Tet McMillan for a couple healthy completions, but the biggest play of the day was a 19 yard handoff to Dowdle that set up the winning 49 yard kick for Fitzgerald. 

Just when I thought that the slump would be over for the Packers, they reverted right back to where they were between the loss to Cleveland and the near-escape against Arizona. What makes this one more painful was that this was at home. They werre seven for thirteen on third down, totaled nearly 370 yards of offense, yet they went one for five in the red zone and did not score a touchdown until their final drive. Carolina deserves all the credit in the world for getting a legitimate victory on the road, but Green Bay keeps fluctuating from Super Bowl contender to first-round exit and there is going to come a time where this inconsistency bites them where it hurts.
The Panthers get a big win on the road and are now 5-3, heading back home to improve their record as they welcome the New Orleans Saints. The Packers get in their own way once again and will finish the week 5-2-1, with a Monday night showdown in Lambeau coming up against the Philadelphia Eagles.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (30) vs. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (29)

Through the first 45 minutes, this was looking like a boring defensive slugfest. The Raiders would be the only ones to score a touchdown in that span, but could not do much else on their remaining four drives. Geno Smith ended up throwing his eleventh interception of the season to start the third quarter, yet the Jaguars only scored nine points off of three field goals from Cam Little, which included an NFL-record 68 yard kick to end the first half. 

Once the fourth quarter began, neither offense could be stopped. If it was not Trevor Lawrence and Parker Washington doing whatever it took to put Jacksonville in front, then it was Brock Bowers shining in his return from a knee injury with 12 catches for 127 yards with three touchdowns! Las Vegas took a 23-20 lead with 1:56 remaining in regulation, but Jacksonville ended up evening the score with five seconds left. Josh Hines-Allen ended the fourth quarter with a sack and overtime was in our sights!

To make a long story short, both teams relied on huge kickoff returns from Austin Trammell and Raheem Mostert for their offenses to start in tremendous field position. Each of them were able to reach the end zone. The Jaguars got the ball to start overtime and Lawrence reached over the top on fourth and goal for the needed touchdown, while Geno Smith responded by finding Brock Bowers in the end zone once again. However, head coach Pete Carroll went for the win and kept his offense on the field for the two-point conversion. It was the right decision, but the pass got tipped at the line of scrimmage and Jacksonville’s defense made the biggest play of the day to hang on for the win!

There was not one particular play to nit-pick and say that is the reason why a team won or lost the game. This was as back-and-forth of a showdown as you could have asked for on Sunday afternoon. Both quarterbacks kept their teams in it for as long as possible, the defenses forced at least one takeaway to build some momentum, but Jacksonville just made one more play in the end. 

The Jaguars get out of their slump from the bye week and are back in the playoff fold at 5-3, but will stay on the road for a critical matchup against the Houston Texans. Meanwhile, the Raiders lose in heartbreaking fashion to fall to 2-6 and will take the road on a short week for a Thursday night matchup against the Denver Broncos.

LOS ANGELES RAMS (34) vs. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (10)

Unfortunately, the debut for Tyler Shough was as disappointing and anticlimactic as expected. It was not anything against him, it’s just that the Rams are a vastly superior football team and the Saints are a dumpster fire in distress. Sean McVay could have rested Puka Nacua for another week with the ankle injury and it would not have made a difference. I will highlight the statistics just for the sake of letting everyone know this game happened, but nothing about this was surprising.

New Orleans had absolutely no running game whatsoever as Alvin Kamara got held to 14 yards on six touches and actually got benched late in the second half because of a lost fumble. Shough only threw for 176 yards with a pick and his first career touchdown pass was thanks to a somewhat bogus roughing the passer penalty from Byron Young near the end of the first half. Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford was flawless with over 280 yards and four touchdown passes, Kyren Williams ran for close to 115 yards and they only punted the ball twice. LA was just the way better football team and they took care of business at home. Spencer Rattler could have still been the starting quarterback and my stance would not change whatsoever.

The Rams get an expected win at home and still maintain the NFC West lead at 6-2, but will travel further down the road for a huge matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Meanwhile, the Saints lose their fourth game in a row to fall to 1-7 and will take the road to play the Carolina Panthers.

BUFFALO BILLS (28) vs. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (21)

Everybody is going to bring up the fact that Josh Allen was flawless with as many touchdowns as incompletions, which was three. People want to highlight that Patrick Mahomes completed 15 of 34 passes and went three for fifteen when pressured. Heck, I would not be surprised if some national television pundits whined about the intentional grounding penalty that should not have been called in the third quarter. You know what I have to say about all of that? I don’t care.

This happens almost every single year. Whenever the Bills and Chiefs play each other in the regular season, the former usually finds a way to win that game. We all get frustrated as hell because we always question why they could not have done it in the previous playoff meeting? Then these teams end up seeing each other again in January and Kansas City gets the last laugh. The cycle repeats until something actually changes course. I don’t care that Isiah Pacheco was out and Mahomes had an off day. I don’t care that Allen reminded us why he was the MVP on Sunday. You want me to be impressed, Buffalo? Beat the Chiefs in the playoffs and then my respect for you will return. 

The Bills win a crucial game at home to stay in the division race at 6-2 and will take the road to see if they can take care of business against the Miami Dolphins. The Chiefs get frazzled once again and will now head into the bye week 5-4.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (38) vs. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (14)

This game should celebrate Sam Darnold for the best performance of his career. He completed his first 17 passes up until the first drive of the third quarter with four touchdown passes! The Seahawks absolutely carved up the Commanders defense on almost every single possession and showed no mercy whatsoever. They did not even have Cooper Kupp yet the passing game looked absolutely flawless. Things somewhat stalled out in the second half but this was just not Washington’s night at any point in the game.

However, the reason why I say “should” is because everybody has talked about what happened late in the fourth quarter, when Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow on a garbage-time drive down 38-7. Right now, it is unclear if he will return this season. On every sports talk show, everybody questioned why he was still on the field in the first place? Myself included. The team might say that he is a fighter and that he will not quit at any point, but here’s the problem. He already missed a few games this year due to different injuries. There was no point in keeping him out there knowing that he was just returning from a tweaked ankle and now we might not even see him the rest of the year. Without him or Terry McLaurin, there is no sense of a passing game and it puts more pressure on the patch work defense that has been getting picked apart all season long. For now, their season looks unofficially over, while Seattle is hoping to make their mark in the NFC West as they won their 10th consecutive road game.

The Seahawks dominate on prime time and are now 6-2, heading back home for what should be a grudge match against the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, the Commanders are stuck in limbo as they lose their fourth straight to fall to 3-6 and now have to welcome the Detroit Lions.

ARIZONA CARDINALS (27) vs. DALLAS COWBOYS (17)

Although ESPN is going to do everything in their power to make this game about the Dallas Cowboys, my big picture takeaway is what Joe Buck and Troy Aikman kept bringing up on the broadcast: Jacoby Brissett is not losing the starting quarterback job to Kyler Murray. Anybody that thought the Cowboys had a chance to win this game is absolutely deluded. 

After a five game losing streak, the Cardinals dominated on both sides of the ball and while they showed occasional leaks, not once did they give up the lead. Just look at the first drive of the game. In just three minutes, Dallas’ offense already had a first-and-goal situation. After failing to score on their first three tries, they decided to go for it on fourth and the drive ended with a sack by Josh Sweat. When Brissett took the field for the first time, he converted on four straight third down attempts and scored the first three points of the night. Throughout the rest of the first half, Arizona’s offense was methodical and precise, while the only seven points the Cowboys scored came from a blocked punt in the end zone. 

When the Cardinals got the ball to start the third quarter, it only took two minutes for them to go ahead 24-7. Meanwhile, it took until the fourth quarter for Dak Prescott to score a touchdown against a defense that got absolutely torched in their last two losses to Daniel Jones and Jordan Love. Dallas fans might cope with the fact that their defense came up with five sacks, but Arizona can say the exact same thing. The only difference was that they shut the opposition down while the Cowboys could not cover Marvin Harrison Jr. or slow down Emari Demercado. 

However, this performance was not the reason why I think more attention should be given to the Cardinals. Earlier Tuesday, head coach Jonathan Gannon announced that he will be sticking with Brissett as the starting quarterback. Gannon said that the foot injury is the reason why Kyler Murray is still on the bench, but when you say that he might have a role in the game the week before and ultimately give the keys to the backup quarterback, my indication is that Arizona is not afraid to move in a different direction at the end of the season. Right now, it is hard to put Brissett on the bench because this offense has been drastically better with him under center. However, let’s just hope that this win was not just a fluke.

The Cardinals dominate on the road and are back in the win column at 3-5, taking the road for a pivotal matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Meanwhile, the Cowboys get embarrassed at home to enter the bye week 3-5-1.