NFL Review: Week 9

Okay – a little bit of a shorter, more concise review this week. Lots of things are happening in my life – probably too much information – so I’m working with limitations, and probably will be for the next few weeks. That said, I can’t not write something each week, about this insane NFL season. We’ll jump straight into some Quick Hits, a little MNF Preview, and look ahead to Week 10. Thanks – as always – for reading my ramblings.

Week 9 Quick Hits

How on earth did Urban Meyer pull that off? The inaugural “Josh Allen Bowl” was soundly won by he of a defensive nature, as the Jaguars shocked the world by knocking off the team at the top of the AFC. A huge surprise, but one that if anything should re-motivate Buffalo, rather than demoralise them. The embarrassment should be a rallying factor for this Bills team.
Danny Dimes with anotherunderdog road win for the Giants. If he ever learns to play competently at home… then the Giants will have themselves a QB. Still unsure how on earth the Raiders are two games above .500.
Lamar Jackson is so confusing at times. The Ravens were abjectly awful early on against the Vikings, but roared back to win in OT. This was reminiscent of their win against the Colts on MNF a few weeks back. The Ravens are a legitimate force to be reckoned with in the AFC. Oh, and by the way, Kirk Cousins is still the biggest problem with the Vikings.
I can’t decide if this means the Patriots are back or if Sam Darnold has regressed to Adam Gase levels of performance… I hope it’s the latter.
I am SO happy that Baker Mayfield got to have his day. The Browns were back to almost their best on Sunday, dismantling a Bengals team that had previously taken apart the Ravens. Thou shalt respect Baker of House Mayfield. Get to know. Cleveland get a big win. The OBJ era may be over, but the Browns have life in their playoff chase.
Where the hell did that come from Dallas? Dakstreet was back but the Broncos kicked the door in and made themselves at home in Jerry World. The Broncos are – I repeat – not a good team, but their DEFENSE is legitimate. In the chaos that is the AFC West, they’re still in with a shot. Dallas – forget this and rebound. The Cowboys will brush this off and recover.
The Tyrod Taylor return did not help Houston, and Miami were just competent enough to win the “we’re both terrible teams” Bowl. Give Myles Gaskin, Jaylen Waddle & Mike Gesicki some respect. The Dolphins have some weapons, but they need more consistency from coaches and… quarterback alike.
I can’t quite believe the Falcons managed to recover from choking away that game to the Saints and flipped the script to end up winning the game. YoungHoe Koo is ice cold. Trevor Siemian didn’t quite have the backup magic turned on this week. I expect Taysom Hill to start next time out.
Justin Herbert is such a good player. The Chargers are a very good team. The Chiefs will have their work cut out to wrestle back the AFC West from LA. Philly on the other hand should be proud of this effort. Hurts’ drive to tie the game was very well done and the Eagles were close to pulling off a big upset. Sirianni is building in the right direction.
What a strange game in Kansas City. Jordan Love was… not good. But Patrick Mahomes was… also not good!? Very weird. Chiefs NEEDED the win, whereas the Packers are ahead of schedule enough that they could afford the loss. Rodgers getting back will be essential for Green Bay’s championship dreams however.
Remember when Kliff Kingsbury was a bad coach and Kyle Shanahan was a genius? Yeah… I’m glad that’s over with. James Conner put in an unbelievable performance to push the Cardinals along in Kyler & DHop’s absence. Shout out Colt McCoy for his performance too. The Cardinals are so much fun. I love seeing them shove their success down everyone else’s throat.
What a statement from the Titans on SNF. Adrian Peterson finds the endzone in his Tennessee debut. Matt Stafford throws two bad picks, one returned for a TD by Kevin Byard. The Titans have now beaten the Chiefs, Bills & Rams within a month. What’s ridiculousis that the Titans lost to the Jets. Unbelievable. Back to the drawing board for the Rams who fall a game behind the Cardinals in the NFC West chase now.

MNF Preview (Season Record: 6-3)

We just about got back in the Win column last week as the Chiefs limped over the line against the Giants, but this week’s Monday Night game is perhaps the hardest to call all year. I have NO idea what to think about either of these two teams. It’s the Bears vs the Steelers in what should be a low-scoring, defense-dominated affair. But with these two teams you just never know. This – for me – is going to come down to a fairly simple question: Do you trust Matt Nagy to run a coherent Bears offense? Of course, the answer is a resounding “no.” I love Mike Tomlin, and even if Big Ben is thoroughly broken, the Steelers should have enough to get the win tonight.

Official Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 10 Preview

So we’re comfortably over the halfway point of the season now, and Week 10 has some great matchups. To start, I will absolutely be avoiding the Ravens destroying my Dolphins on Thursday Night. Then, on Sunday, headlines will be made in Saints vs Titans, Patriots vs Browns, & Chargers vs Vikings, before the big one in the late window. We’ve just had it confirmed today that Russell Wilson will make his return for the Seattle Seahawks this weekend at Lambeau Field. Will the Green Bay Packers get their star QB back too? Only time will tell if A-A-Rodg will be cleared following his Covid episode. Then, Sunday Night is a massive AFC West Matchup between the Raiders and the Chiefs, before on Monday we get 49ers vs Rams. What a great slate. As ever, I’m @CallumJDSquires on Twitter & Instagram. Apologies for the shorter than usual article this week. Enjoy your week, and remember: The Cardinals are elite, Baker Mayfield is a very good QB, and the Lions will lose again next week. Cheers.

CALLUM IS FROM LONDON, BUT PLAYED COLLEGE SOCCER AT TRINITY UNIVERSITY IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, WHERE HE LEARNED NEVER TO CHEER FOR THE COWBOYS. CALLUM IS A LONG-SUFFERING DOLPHINS FAN WHO BELIEVES THE TUA HYPE

 5/5