NFL Week 9 Review. Photo by Matt Davey on Unsplash

If there was one word to classify Week 9 of the NFL I would say it was surprising. For example did anyone see the struggling Steelers stunning the Colts or the Buffalo Bills holding Patrick Mahomes to his worst game of the year? Regardless if you see in the future or not it was another fun and exciting week in the NFL and in this review I’ll further break it down.

Best Team Of The Week: Pittsburgh Steelers

Way to make statement with your backs against the wall. The Steelers rightfully critized defense held the scorching hot Colts offense to a season low 20 points and forced 6 turnovers. It was uncharacteristically sloppy performance by the Colts who looked like the best offense in league heading into this game. No matter what caused this the Steelers needed a win like this. They had lost two games in row thanks in part two their highest paid defense in the NFL allowing any player to blow past them on the field. The Steelers have a great pass rush as the trio of outside linebackers Nick Herbig, TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith are among the best in the league, and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward despite getting up there in age, is still good himself. The past couple of weeks thanks to predictable coverages and often times miscommunicated coverages and lack of speed in the secondary, the pass rush had very little time to affect the quarterback.

Steelers decided against the Colts to throw a wrench in their players by throwing a more varied defensive game plan which feature the use of more split field coverage instead of single high. This helped confuse the Colts and in turn allowed the pass rush just a bit more time to cook which they did. Steelers run defense was also plus in this game. Jonathan Taylor who had been rushing through lanes as open as valleys was held to minuscule 3.2 yards per carry and a total of just 45 rushing yards. The Steelers defensive lineman did an excellent job taking on double teams and holding the point of attack and their linebackers essentially free to go untouched because of this crash the line and stopped Taylor in his tracks. Whether this performance is replicable by the Steelers remains to be seen as they looked fierce against the Vikings and Browns before getting lit up by the Bengals. But if they want any chance of making serious run this year the defense will have to play at this level non-stop.

Worst Team Of The Week: Washington Commanders

The Seahawks laid the smack down on the Commanders beating them 38–14. Obliterating them physically and demoralizing them mentally. The secondary would allowed a blanket to pass through their coverage at ease they were allowing Sam Darnold to pass the ball. He only incompleted three passes the entire game, most quarterbacks hope for only 10–12 incompletions or such. The Commanders offense’s was rough also Jayden Daniels looked uncomfortable all day, holding onto the ball too long or getting sacked in seconds. They probably should’ve leaned on the running game a bit more but it’s hard to do that when the score gets so out of hand. As by halftime Seattle lead 31–7.

While loss was bad, blowouts happen and strong teams can recover from those losses mentally at least, but the commanders suffered a quite physical one in the injury if Jayden Daniels. Daniels got hurt on a scramble attempt despite the score being 38–7 in the 4th quarter when it happened. The injury looked gruesome and a lot of people(myself included) thought he broke his arm. Thankfully he just dislocated it, which isn’t good but no where near as bad a break. But he will now miss some time and the Commanders can’t afford that. There 3–6 with an array of difficult games awaiting them. Missing their star quarterback will decrease their chances of winning and unfortunately he isn’t is the only good player of there’s that is injured as well. 3–6 is not impossible to come back from but with all these factors going against them, playoffs seem unlikely for this team that had their sights set on the Super Bowl.

Best Player Of The Week: Sam Darnold

It was bombs away for the MVP candidate Sam Darnold against the pathetic defense of the Washington Commanders. While I already detailed his impressive completion percentage in this game, I didn’t even mention the best part of it. He managed to complete that many passes while averaging 13.8 yards per pass. So each throw was the equivalent of first down. That is insanely difficult feat for any quarterback but especially one that only incomplete three passes. As the farther you throw the more difficult the pass is to hit as well as catch.

There were a lot of throws I could point to being an elite plays but my favorite probably came in the second quarter up 14–0. They were near the Commanders red zone with a chance to really make the game out of hand early. Sam Darnold takes a snap under center and throws a beautiful pass to seam route down the middle for a touchdown to Elijah Arroyo. While Arroyo was somewhat open it was difficult pass to attempt and make and if Darnold had threw the ball either later or less accurate then he did it would have been an interception. He placed the ball perfectly over the trailing defender. The play showcased his accuracy and arm strength which were stunning in this game and have been amazing all season.

Best Game Of The Week: Chicago Bears Vs Cincinnati Bengals

The highest scoring game of the year just so happens to be a game featuring the Bengals. That’s no surprise and another loss in said game doesn’t shock me either unfournately. The Bengals kicked this game off quite literally by taking the opposing teams opening kick-off to the house. The Bears answered back in no time with a quick drive and trick play to Quarterback Caleb Williams for a touchdown. The scoring continued on from this point as the bears had multiple more successful drives either off the arm of their quarterback or from the legs of their running back Kyle Mongai. Eventhough he didn’t score he was a big factor towards the offense’s results and had career high 176 rushing yards today. The Bengals attack was potent as well, especially their passing offense. Joe Flacco was able to connect Jamar Chase multiple times in the intermediate area of the field and he made sure to feed Tee Higgins the ball deep as well.

The difference in this game and how the Bears won was their Quarterback was able to escape the pocket and make more plays when the play broke down and they didn’t turnover the ball. Flacco had three turnovers by himself, with all them coming in the fourth quarter when pressure was at a fever pitch. No one is expecting perfection from Flacco, especially not at this stage of his career, but turnovers in a tightly contested game make the difference. For the Bengals and how bad their defense is turnovers are unacceptable. The Bengals offense should go into the game thinking they will have to score every drive because the defense seems to play with the mentality and laziness of, the other team will score on us every drive no matter what we do. So turnovers can’t happen and the Bengals gifted them three and that’s why they lost. They now sit at 3–6 further pushing them out of the AFC North race for the division crown. Meanwhile the Bears surprisingly jump to 5–3 as they inch closer and closer to the Lions and Packers.