The 2025 NFL Season — Week 9 Review

Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season saw two of the AFC’s Super Bowl contenders go head-to-head on Sunday Night Football, as well as a Game of the Week that could very well end up being the 2025 Game of the Season.

Game of the Week

The game of Week 9 undoubtedly has to be the Chicago Bears’ 47–42 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. From the Bengals’ wide receiver Charlie Jones’s 99-yard kickoff return touchdown to start the game all the way through to Colston Loveland’s second touchdown of the game to win with 17 seconds remaining, the game was a spectacle from start to finish. Much of that was also because there were eight lead changes up to the end of the third quarter before the Bengals then overcame a 14-point deficit to take the lead with 54 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The fact that Loveland then scored to retake the lead for the Bears was just the icing on the cake of what was a thrilling game.

While much praise should be heaped upon the Bears’ offence — which, in true Ben Johnson fashion, notably executed two trick plays to quarterback Caleb Williams as a receiver, including one for a touchdown — serious questions have to be asked about the Bengals’ defence. This is now the second time the Bengals have conceded over 40 points this season, and the fifth time they have conceded over 30 points in a game, and the Bengals’ record now sits at 3–6. The Bengals missed the playoffs last season in spite of Joe Burrow having an MVP-calibre season, and it would be fair to say that was because the defence wasn’t good enough. That the Bengals’ front office didn’t then go out in the off-season and make serious efforts to give the team’s defence some steel and instead prioritised rewarding Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins with new contracts was clearly a bad decision. Don’t get me wrong, Chase and Huggins are both very good receivers, and the connection Higgins in particular has built with Joe Flacco in such a short amount of time in Burrow’s absence — including seven receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the games against the Bears — has been fantastic, and arguably does validate the front office’s decision. Such outstanding exploits on offence are all for naught if the defence can’t then make a stand though.

Other Action

In my Week 8 Review article, I predicted that the Buffalo Bills versus Kansas City Chiefs game would be the Game of the Week. In fairness, given how great their previous encounters have been in recent seasons, I wasn’t wrong to do that. In reality though, the 28–21 scoreline suggests the game was closer than it was, when the Bills were in control from start to finish and always looked like they would win. Patrick Mahomes still did Patrick Mahomes things, including a couple of fantastic deep passes for receptions by Marquis ‘Hollywood’ Brown, but my main takeaway from the game was how well the Bills’ defence did to contain what has been an increasingly potent Chiefs offence as the season has progressed.

I also said that the Detroit Lions versus Minnesota Vikings game would be good, and it was. I don’t think I was the only one surprised that the Vikings got the win given how lacklustre they’ve been this season, but it was a good win for them, and it now also opens up the NFC North division even more following the Bears’ win. The Vikings’ win was also noteworthy for featuring some good receptions by Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor and a ridiculously-good one-handed grab by Justin Jefferson for a touchdown. While he did look vulnerable to being sacked during the Lions’ game, now that JJ McCarthy is back from injury and the Vikings’ starting quarterback again, if he can continue to build a good connection with his receivers, that could make the NFC North even more interesting in the second half of the season.

As a New England Patriots fan, I also mentioned that the Patriots would be playing the Atlanta Falcons — the team who were famously on the losing end of The Greatest Super Bowl Comeback of All Time™ to the Pats in 2017. While the Pats did beat the Falcons again, winning the game 24–23, it has to said that the Patriots got away with one — the momentum was very much with the Falcons in the second half, and the Pats were very lucky that Falcons’ kicker Parker Romo (who lost the kicking job at the Pats to Andres Borregales in pre-season) missed the extra point to tie the game. Drake London was also unreal throughout for the Falcons too — not only did he score three receiving touchdowns, but he also made a sliding 26-yard reception in the fourth quarter that was frankly obscene! If London can start playing like he did on Sunday consistently, he is going to be a problem for the rest of the league.

Elsewhere, Week 9 kicked off with a matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins on Thursday Night Football, with the big headline being the return of Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson from a hamstring injury. And the Ravens’ offence did look more potent with Jackson back under center, with Lamar finishing the game 18/23 for 204 yards and four passing touchdowns. While he also ended the game with five carries for 14 yards, Jackson didn’t look particularly mobile though. Frankly, watching Jackson play against the Dolphins reminded me a lot of Peyton Manning in his final season with the Denver Broncos in 2015 — he’d receive the ball under center, step back in the pocket and then either very quickly execute a pass play to a receiver or hand it off to a running back. There was none of the usual movement in and out of the pocket to avoid the sack that we’ve come to expect from Lamar Jackson over the years. It was also very telling that Al Michaels on commentary noted that the Ravens don’t then play again until this Sunday (9 November) against the Vikings. Clearly then, the Ravens have been very strategic with their use of Jackson — get a not-yet-fully-recovered Jackson through the Dolphins game by utilising a playbook heavy on quick pass plays and the run game so that Jackson then has ten days until the next game to work his way back to full health and (hopefully) the legitimate dual threat quarterback we all know he is.

In that sense, it was very smart by the Ravens — while Tyler Huntley looked good in the Ravens’ 30–16 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 8, and had certainly had his moments in his previous stint with the Ravens backing up Jackson, we can all acknowledge that Lamar Jackson is on another level. Just the return of Jackson to the starting lineup for the Ravens also complicated matters for the Dolphins, never mind the anticipation of what he could do. It should also be remembered that Huntley played for the Dolphins last season too, and so, Miami would also have been acutely aware of Huntley’s tendencies in and out of the pocket and how he responds to pressure and the prospect of being sacked. Bringing Lamar Jackson back into the starting lineup for the Ravens made a lot of sense then.

Finally, I can’t end this segment without mentioning the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 30–29 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Not only did the game have six lead changes and require overtime to decide a winner, but three of the Jaguars’ points on Sunday came after the Jaguars’ Cam Little kicked a 68-yard field goal, breaking the NFL record for the longest field goal. Congratulations to the new record holder Cam Little then. Given how routine 50-yard field goals now feel in the NFL, how long until that record gets broken?

Final Thoughts

The NFL trade deadline is today (6 November), closing at 4pm EST/9pm GMT. As I noted in my Week 7 article, now is the time of the season when this season’s Super Bowl runners and riders start to make themselves clearer, and the push to firm up lineups that can challenge for the Vince Lombardi Trophy becomes more urgent. Expect to see some moves by the end of the deadline then, as those teams with championship ambitions and those whom need a little bit extra to help themselves make the playoffs try to bring that extra bit of quality in the skill positions, that extra bit of solidity on the offensive line or that difference-maker on defence.

Given the NFL now has an 18-week regular season, the first half of the season is now in the books. Once the dust settles following the passing of the trade deadline tonight, the second half of the season gets underway on Thursday as the Denver Broncos take on the Raiders in an AFC West divisional match-up to start Week 10 before a good slate of games this Sunday.

While my eye is certainly drawn to the 4:25pm EST/9:25pm GMT NFC West divisional game between the two outstanding offences of the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, I can’t help thinking the marquee match-up of Week 10 will be Monday Night Football’s game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Either way, we should be in for a treat, so come back next week to see how it all played out!

Brett Walker is a sports writer who hosts The BCS Podcast, and can be found on Twitter @BrettChatsSport. He is also on Bluesky.