What We Learned From NFL Week 9 Pt 1 of 3
Week 9 continued wild and woolly. Three division-leading teams got an open-hand slap to their faces. All three teams are led by top-tier QBs – yet on Sunday, all three were awful.
NY Times/WashPost/SB Nation/SI/Local media Nov. 10, 2021
Broncos 30, Cowboys 16.
Dallas suffered an inexplicable loss. Last week back-up QB Cooper Rush filled in and the Cowboys looked like the NFL’s best team. Dak Prescott returned and they couldn’t get out of their own way. The Denver Broncos, last seen barely beating Washington at home and trading Von Miller, threatened to shut out the Cowboys in a lopsided victory that wasn’t close. Still, the Cowboys are the cream of the NFC East and should make it into the playoffs.
The Broncos, meanwhile, may not be dead despite declaring their intention to look toward the future by trading Miller. At 5-4, they are only a half-game out of first place in the AFC West. And at plus-34, they have the best point differential in that competitive division.
Jaguars 9, Bills 6.
This was even uglier than the score implies. The game's one bright note was that Jacksonville’s Josh Allen became the first player in NFL history to sack a QB with the same name … Buffalo’s Josh Allen. The Jags’ Allen also became the first player to intercept a QB of the same name, even adding a fumble recovery to his day.
QB Allen did himself no favors with two costly interceptions. The Bills need to find a ground game. Aside from Allen the team only ran nine times for 22 yds. The most troubling sign? Their nemesis, the Patriots (5-4), are just a half-game back in the division and peaking. The loss may doom Buffalo’s chance of grabbing that bye: they now have three AFC losses, which could be poison for tiebreaker purposes.
Giants 23, Raiders 16.
In one sense the Raiders “outplayed” the Giants as they won the yardage advantage 403 to 245. But NY generated three turnovers to LV’s one, and the latter couldn’t get anything going in the Red Zone (six tries: only one TD). Raiders QB Derek Carr threw two interceptions to Giants safety Xavier McKinney, one a pick-6. Carr’s accuracy was uncharacteristically off; he recorded a season-low 68.2% adjusted completion and his PFF rating was 43.9, the lowest he's received since 2017.
The loss was costly. The AFC West has turned into the most competitive division, the four teams separated by mere fractions. Chargers and Raiders are 5-3, while Chiefs and Broncos are 5-4.
The Giants are now 3-6, still missing Saquon Barkley (who sat out after testing positive for the coronavirus, which did provide some variance from his missing games because of an ankle injury). QB Daniel Jones completed 15 of 20 passes for 110 yds and no interceptions, showing he has taken major strides in improving three of his weakest attributes: accuracy, decision-making and ball security. RB Devontae Booker, 99 yds on 21 carries, nearly matched Jones’s passing yds (110 yds on 20 attempts) with his legs.
Player update: Raiders have cut 1st-round pick CB Damon Arnette after a social media post showing him waiving multiple guns and threatening someone. Last week the team cut WR Henry Ruggs over a fatal DUI crash. To fill the hole left by Ruggs, veteran receiver DeSean Jackson was signed after being released by the Rams last week.
Browns 41, Bengals 16.
Cleveland is built to thwart 2021 NFL defenses, which are universally perching two safeties deep to eliminate the big play. The Browns operate with a 1950’s mentality: they run. Defenses have no choice but to respect RB Nick Chubb by creeping a safety into the box; he is averaging 5.8 YPC.
This frees up Baker Mayfield to hit his receivers deep, which he did with a 60-yard TD pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones off play-action early in Q2 to put Cleveland up 21-7. Mayfield did everything he needed for the win, passing for 218 yds on 14 of 21 attempts with a pair of TD passes, no interceptions.
The Browns (5-4) have also developed a defense that has a hard-hat mentality. Denzel Ward is quietly developing into one of the best shutdown CBs in the league. With a sly tick of hesitation Sunday, Ward baited Burrow into forcing an end zone throw to Ja’Marr Chase, then jumped the route and ran back 99 yds for a pick-6. The loss dropped the Bengals (5-4) into a tie with Cleveland, as both chase the Steelers and Ravens.
Chiefs 13, Packers 7
Rookie Jordan Love played because Aaron Rodgers tested positive this week, setting off a media storm. The reigning league MVP could return to the team as early as Saturday if he provides two negative tests in a 48-hour span and shows no symptoms, which would make him available against the Seattle Seahawks. His return could help the Packers (7-2) play catch-up against the Cardinals (8-1) and Rams (7-2) for the top seed.
But there were moments of optimism. Love showed athleticism and a strong arm, traits which give him a shot at being great. He came alive in Q4 to finish 19 of 34 on his passing attempts for 190 yds, although GBay looked especially ineffectual on third down, converting just two of 12 chances against an awful KC defense.
KC’s plan on defense was simple: Blitz the life out of Love. Steve Spagnuolo, KC defensive coordinator, dared Love to make split-second decisions. Spagnuolo won that bet a lot more often than he lost it, with Love taking seven hits and often forced to let it fly deep up the sideline. Patrick Mahomes remains in a slump (see free access article:
https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2021...o-fix-quarterback-patrick-mahomes-nfl-week-10). He completed 20 of 37 passes against the Packers for just 166 yds, with the Chiefs totaling only 237.
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