As we reach the halfway point of the season, we should be able to see if some of the teams are still in it for a long time.
The Philadelphia Eagles stayed perfect with a 29-17 win over the Houston Texans.
Six of the eight games were in the fourth quarter. The Detroit Lions held on to a one-score lead to hand the Green Bay Packers their fifth straight loss, the Minnesota Vikings came back from 10 down to beat the Washington Commanders, and the Los Angeles Clippers secured a win over Atlanta with a last-minute field goal. The Buffalo Bills lost to the New York Jets in a crucial game of the season. Tua Tagovailoa led the Miami Dolphins to a win over the Chicago Bears, while the Jacksonville Jaguars came back from a 17 point deficit to beat the Las Vegas Raiders.
The New England and Cincinnati teams won by large margins.
In Week 10, the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, and San Francisco 49ers will all be on a bye.
Our reporters look ahead to what's next after this week's game and react to the biggest revelations. Unless noted, games are on Sundays. It's time to get to it.
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PHI-HOU | BUF-NYJ | GB-DET
IND-NE | MIA-CHI | MIN-WSH
CAR-CIN | LAC-ATL | LV-JAX
SEA-ARI
John Schneider hit home runs with veterans over the winter. Two of them, Uchenna Nwosu and defensive end Shelby Harris, were part of another dominant defensive effort that carried Seattle to a win over Arizona. Nwosu has seven sacks this season, which is a career high, and he has eight games left. Nwosu and Harris have been the most productive of the three players Seattle got back from Denver. Noah Fant had his best game of the season with five catches for 96 yards.
What is the ranking of the Seahawks in theNFC? The Eagles are the only team in the conference without a loss. The Vikings are 7-1. The Cowboys are the only other team in the league who can say they are better than Seattle. Either way, the Seahawks are 6-3 with a 112 game lead in theNFC West and a chance to get to 3-7 heading into their bye.
The next game is Sunday at 10:00 a.m. The time has not yet been determined.
TheCardinals are their own worst enemies. They are in danger of derailing another season due to self-inflicted wounds. They committed 11 penalties for 72 yards. It was a rare occurrence for a home team to have back-to- back false starts. They lost one when Kyler Murray mishandled the ball on a scramble in the first half. If not more, that probably cost Arizona three points.
Is the hole too big for the Cards to dig? They're in last place in the division with a 3-6 record and a pair of losses to Seattle. If you want to stay alive in the division race, you need to get out of the drain. Competing for a wild-card spot isn't completely out of the question with some of their toughest opponents already out of the way. The sun is setting quickly.
The next game is at Rams. The time has not yet been determined.
The Bengal's completely dominated the panthers in the game. The Cincinnati team still has a lot of work to do to reach the playoffs. The three wins against the South have been great for the team. Cincinnati is winless in the division. Finding a balance between the two extremes will be the deciding factor in the playoffs.
Is Joe Mixon on the right path? It's possible. Going into the game, Mixon had more rushing yards than expected. He went plus-74 on Sunday, which is a good sign for someone who was under scrutiny before the game.
The next game is at Pittsburgh. The time has not yet been determined.
It will be hard for Steve Wilks to keep PJ Walker as the starter against the Falcons. Sam is going to be activated from injured reserve Tuesday. They want to see what he can do but won't have time to prepare him. One of the options after next week was to let go of Mayfield and go with Walker and Darnold. Walker had a poor performance and the backup put all options back on the table.
The defense has reached its limits. The defense played well in all but one game this season. In the first half, Cincinnati's Joe Mixon became the first player in 13 years to record 150 yards and four rushing touchdown in a half. All season, Carolina gave up seven rushing touchdown. Does this unit still exist? Gap control isn't a good sign. There were four penalties for lining up in the wrong place. This isn't a good sign for the defensive coach who is trying to get a full-time job.
The next game is Falcons. The time has not yet been determined.
The way is led by defense and special teams. It's the second time in franchise history that multiple players totaled three or more sacks in a game, and the first time since 1985 that Don Blackmon did it. The team heads into their bye week with a 4-5 record. They've kept themselves in the hunt despite the fact that it's hard to imagine them having the offensive firepower to keep up with Buffalo.
There is hope for the Mac Jones-led passing offense. The offense struggled to find a rhythm and Jones finished the game with one touchdown and no turnovers. It's fair to wonder why the Colts haven't been able to sustain more of a winning streak. After the bye, the return of starting center David Andrews, who missed two games with a concussion, will solidify some things, as Cole Strange has struggled at left guard in his absence.
The next game is against the Jets. The time has not yet been determined.
The Colts had the worst single-game offensive production in Frank Reich's five seasons, finishing with 121 total yards. Through the first two weeks of the season, the Colts have not scored a passing touchdown. The bottom fell out of their offense. The Colts' offensive line allowed the most sacks by the Colts in a game in over a year. The firing of Marcus Brady and the quarterback change have not made a difference in Indy.
Is the Colts' defense good? The unit is doing a great job, but it doesn't matter. The defense couldn't account for the lack of production by the Indianapolis offense on Sunday. The offense's inability to score has overshadowed the defense's ranking in the top 10 in scoring defense and total yards. The Colts' struggles on the offensive side of the ball are hard to accept for defensive veterans such as DeForest Buckner and Stephon Gilmore who are having good seasons but have nothing to show for it.
The next game is at Raiders. The time has not yet been determined.
The Lions traded a tight end, T.J. Hockenson, to Minnesota on Tuesday, but in his place, the quarterback threw two touchdown passes to his replacements. Since Week 4 against Seattle, Detroit's offense had been shut out in the second half.
The defense may have been motivated by the firing of their coach. I agree. The dismissal of Pleasant was due to the fact that Detroit's defense was allowing the most points per game. After the Lions made a decision, members of the secondary shouldered the blame and responded with a strong performance. The Lions had two picks all year. There were three against the Packers.
The next game is at the Bears. The time has not yet been determined.
When using the past three seasons as the baseline, the rest of the Packers looked a lot different than they did the past three seasons. It was Rodgers' first game with three picks in a year and he had two of them inside the red zone. None of the first four games he's played have been against the North. This time it was against a Lions team that had two turnovers going into the game and had allowed more points than any other team. Things had gotten so bad for the Packers that they lost a fifth game in a row.
How many more games do you think the Packers will play? Their next three opponents had a combined record of 19-4 They do not play a team with a losing record until December. Before they wrap up the regular season with the Lions at home, they have games against the Rams, Dolphins and Vikings.
The next game is against the Cowboys. The time has not yet been determined.
The Dolphins were not a pass-rusher away from fixing their defense, at least Sunday, and Bradley Chubb is not a one-man savior. The Bears quarterback ran for 178 yards and scored four total touchdown Fields' skill set makes it seem like an outlier, but the poor tackling has been there all season.
The shootout model is sustainable. It was able to work against the Lions. It was able to work against the Ravens. The Bears made the DolphinsTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkia It doesn't feel like a Super Bowl-winning formula because Miami's defense has forced its offense to play almost perfectly to make up for its deficiencies. There's no reason to believe the Dolphins' defense could stop an elite team. With the aid of a questionable no-call on Chicago's final drive, the Dolphins' defense came up with a pair of big stops late in the fourth quarter.
The next game is at Cleveland on Sunday. The time has not yet been determined.
Over the past three weeks, the Bears' offense has evolved into a high-powered unit due to the running of Justin Fields. His 178 rushing yards were the most by a quarterback in a regular season game. Fields is the first player to throw three touchdown passes and run for 150 yards in the same game. Creative playcalling resulted in a touchdown and two scores for Cole Kmet, who is finally becoming a red zone threat.
Will the Bears make any changes to help their pass rush? The biggest problem with its pass rush is not personnel. The Bears' defensive philosophy is based on getting pressure with a standard pass rush, and it has become predictable for opponents to attack. 70% of Tua Tagovailoa's passes were completed against standard pressure. He had a passing touchdown when the Bears ran three times. The Bears did not attack Tagovailoa in the first half and only sent extra players to his dropbacks.
The next game is against the Lions. The time has not yet been determined.
On Sunday, the Vikings could have won the North. On a day when the Packers and Bears lost, the Vikings improved their record to 7-1 and have a five-game lead in the loss column. The Vikings have overcome fourth-quarter deficits in four of their last five games. They have been walking a tightrope all season, but that one is leading them to a title.
Is there anything else the Vikings could have asked T.J. Nope, that's not true. The best game for a Vikings tight end this season was played by Hockenson. He caught all nine of the targets for 70 yards. The longest catch by a Vikings tight end this season was by him in the tight end screen game. This game proved that the Vikings needed a tight end who could catch the ball.
The next game is at the Bills. The time has not yet been determined.
Washington's win streak ended because it kept hurting itself at the worst times. The Commanders have lost a lot of games this season. The defense, which played well for three quarters, gave up crucial third-down conversions on a field goal drive, and then Taylor Heinicke threw a high pass over the middle that was picked off. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by John Ridgeway allowed Minnesota to keep the ball and run 100 more seconds. Washington lost a highly winnable home game on Sunday due to penalties and big plays.
Will they stay with Heinicke? There is something about Heinicke that the players and coaches all agree on. He has something. He was 15-for-28 for 149 yards on Sunday and that doesn't look good, and that leads to questions about how long they can stick with him. Heinicke is a flirt with disaster. The tying touchdown was set up by a fourth-quarter pick six. The Commanders have a good chance of winning at Philadelphia next week.
The next game is at the Eagles. The time has not yet been determined.
The Bolts needed a game-winning field goal from Dicker to beat the Falcons and move to.500. With the win, the Bolts remain in the hunt for their second playoff spot in nine seasons, but their schedule gets harder in the second half of the season. The strength of schedule in games played so far is 30th in the league and the strength of schedule remaining is 10th.
There are a lot of injured players in the Bolts. The return of several injured players, including wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and edge defender Joey Bosa, has been the focus of the team's hopes for the playoffs. Two more names were added to the list on Sunday, as defensive lineman Austin Johnson left the game with a right knee injury and right tackle Trey Pipkins III left the game with a left knee injury. There is no set time for their return.
The next game is at the 49ers. The time has not yet been determined.
The Atlanta Falcons cannot seem to break the barrier. Since the beginning of the year, the Falcons have been at.500 or better. Atlanta has lost its last 13 games, the longest stretch of.500 or below in the league. The last time the Falcons made the playoffs, they were over.500. In a season in which there has been a lot of progress, a winning record is still elusive.
Is this what the running game will look like in the future? Changes to Atlanta's top five running game were going to be made because of Cordarrelle's return to the starting role. The Falcons once again ran for over 200 yards. It's difficult to say how the rest of the season will go because of the breakdown of carries. The Falcons will continue to move him around the formation in order to keep him from taking on a lot of work like he did before his knee injury. The emergence of Allgeier -- who looked very good Sunday with 99 yards -- and Huntley in Patterson's absence probably means Patterson will still get a good amount of work in typical game situations with Allgeier and Huntley playing more in four-minute scenarios.
The next game is at the Carolinas. The time has not yet been determined.
The biggest win of the Robert Saleh era was highlighted by the best performance of the quarterback this year. Wilson set a career high for completion percentage and orchestrated a long field goal drive to win it under intense pressure after last week's disaster. He managed the game well despite having a turnover. He and the Jets needed something like this. The Jets can be a playoff team if they stick to their formula of running the ball and playing great defense.
Is the Jets' defense the best in the league? It's absolutely true. The Buffalo defense was ranked sixth in yards allowed at the beginning of the day. They sacked Josh Allen five times and had two intercepts. They did it with four men. Their coverage was very good. The receiver was held without a reception in the second half after catching a 42 yard pass on the game's opening play. D.J. Reed and SauceGardner were outstanding at their positions.
The next game is at New England. The time has not yet been determined.
Josh Allen played his worst game of the season, finishing 18-of-34 for 205 yards with two picks, and the Jets missed an opportunity in the fourth quarter. The offense was not able to consistently put together drives or take advantage of long drives because the quarterback looked out of place. The offense couldn't keep up with Allen's two rushing touchdown. The Bills have an offensive problem. In the past two years, receiver Stefon Diggs has gone without a catch in the second half of a game.
Is the run defense a problem? I agree. It's not an excuse for how the run defense has struggled for a second straight game, even though the Bills were missing two key players on defense. The Jets continued to make gains even when it was clear they would run the football on the final drive. In the past two games, the Bills have given up two of the highest rushing totals of the season.
The next game is against the Vikings. The time has not yet been determined.
The come-from-behind victory could be a turning point for a team that is still figuring out how to play a complete game. In five of their six losses, the Jags were tied or had a lead in the fourth quarter. In their next two games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be able to rally from a 17-0 first-half deficit and make a defensive stand in the fourth quarter.
The quarterback is going to play consistent football. One week after playing one of his worst games of the season, Lawrence played one of his best games of the year. Lawrence will be made to work through the ups and downs of his struggles by his coach. Pederson said giving Lawrence quick throws to get him in a rhythm will make a big difference.
The next game is at the Kansas City Chiefs. The time has not yet been determined.
Good things happen for the Raiders when wide receiver Davante Adams is targeted early. Adams had one catch for 3 yards in a loss to New Orleans. Adams, who was dealing with an illness the previous week, made the Jags' secondary pay with a season-high 143 receiving yards and two touchdown catches before halftime. The Raiders scored 17 points in the second quarter.
The Raiders rode Adams in the first half. Adams had one catch, on eight targets, for 3 yards, between the 17-0 lead and the 27-20 deficit. The Raiders went away from the hot hand no matter what type of defense was thrown at Adams. Someone else is open if he has doubled, tripled or been brackets. It was the third time in as many games that the Raiders blew a big lead, and it didn't help. All six Raiders losses are by a single point.
The next game is against the Colts. The time has not yet been determined.
It was a historic night for Hurts as he helped guide the Eagles to their first 8-0 start with an ugly early and late win over the Texans. Those close to Hurts knew that the return to Houston was special. He threw two touchdown passes, including a go-ahead 17-yard strike to A.J. Brown in the third quarter, to keep the train rolling.
Is the absence of Jordan Davis going to hurt them? The rush defense was problematic in the first game without Davis because of his injury. Dameon Pierce ran for over 100 yards on 27 carries despite being the defense's primary focus. Davis has made a difference in people's lives. The Eagles allowed 3.8 yards per rush with him on the field compared to 6 yards per rush with him off the field.
The next game is against the Commanders. The time has not yet been determined.
DameonPierce, welcome back. The running back had his second-lowest total of the season last week against theTitans. He bounced back against the Eagles with a huge performance that gave the Texans a chance to win. He finished with 139 yards rushing and produced a highlight run of 36 yards, which defenders bounced off of him in the second quarter. If he's rolling, the Texans' offense has a chance, as long as they keep going. The offense struggled to score in Week 8 when Houston scored 10 points.
What is going on with Brandin Cooks. Cooks didn't play because he wasn't traded at the deadline. Cooks was upset that he wasn't moved. The Texans couldn't find a deal that worked for them because teams didn't want to take on his guaranteed salary. Cooks has 354 yards and 32 catches. He's in the middle of a subpar season, with an average of 50.6 yards per game, the second lowest of his career.
The next game is at the Giants. The time has not yet been determined.
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