Each week of the NFL season brings a host of new questions… and answers some old ones, too. Let’s recap what we learned in week 9… and what we’ll be wondering about in week 10 and beyond.
WANTED: Can Drake Maye lead the Patriots…eventually?
Look, say what you want about Tom Brady’s tenure in New England – six Super Bowl rings, all-time GOAT, yadda yadda – the man could never scramble like that:
That’s Drake Maye giving himself enough time to make and eat an entire sandwich in the backfield while his receivers scramble to get separation from the Tennessee secondary. And it worked! The Patriots managed to force overtime with an out-of-the-clock touchdown. That’s a remarkable and heady performance from a rookie in just his fifth NFL game.
Of course, he followed that up by throwing a deep ball into double coverage to crush the Patriots’ hopes in overtime, but hey… baby steps. Maye’s numbers on the day weren’t spectacular — 206 yards and two INTs in addition to that touchdown — but the presence of mind he showed on that do-or-die finals play should give Patriots fans at least a tinge of hope. There’s not much else out there. New England has already lost seven games, a dubious milestone they reached only once in the Brady/Belichick era, during Brady’s second year as starter. But with a reliable quarterback, anything is possible… and Maye laid the start of a solid foundation on Sunday.
ANSWERED: The Cowboys are cashed
Beating up on Dallas for being overrated right now is like complaining that the Christmas season starts too early… no matter what any of us (or all of us) say, the inevitable keeps happening. Also inevitable: Dallas’ face plant, extending the Years Since A Super Bowl clock for another season. On Sunday, in what could and should have been at least a competitive game against the Falcons, Dallas looked lost and overmatched. If you are sufficiently prepared, motivated and coached, you cannot turn the ball over four times on downs.
Things aren’t looking good for Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys coaching staff right now. When you have the most expensive player in NFL history on your roster, you should be known for more than just taking prime broadcast windows. (Four more this season!) Dallas has games coming up against Philadelphia, Houston and Washington, meaning the 3-5 Cowboys could have eight losses by the time of their Thanksgiving game against the Giants. Talk about a matchup that will make you throw your turkey.
QUESTION: Seriously, what the hell is going on with the Bengals?
In back-to-back weeks, Cincinnati has been blown away by Philadelphia and Las Vegas has been absolutely waxed. The talent spread between the Eagles and Raiders isn’t 37 points, so what’s the story with the Bengals? Are they a good team with occasional bad performances, or a bad team that occasionally rises to the occasion? I’d lean on the latter, with Joe Burrow a reliable delivery system for a rotating array of guest stars — this week it was Chase Brown (120 yards rushing) and Mike Gesicki (100 yards receiving, two touchdowns).
Cincinnati has won three of the last four and seems like a team that is figuring things out. Still, the Bengals have as nasty a tryout as anyone in the NFL over the next three games: in Baltimore, at the Chargers, against Pittsburgh. At 4-5, their season isn’t over yet, but it could be before November is over.
ANSWERED: Jameis Winston is not the answer in Cleveland
When you’re deep in a hole, you’ll grab onto anything that looks like a rope, even if it’s dental floss. That’s where Cleveland is now in the post-Deshaun Watson phase of the season. If you’re looking to Jameis Winston for redemption, well, buckle up… you’re in for a ride. Sometimes it’s exciting, like last week’s win over Baltimore, and sometimes it’s a slowly unfolding nightmare, like Sunday’s loss to the Chargers.
Winston has a phenomenal talent for completing passes, but unfortunately a significant number of those completions go to the other team. He threw three interceptions against the Chargers on Sunday, pushing his career total to triple figures. Fortunately for Cleveland, the Chargers punted on each of three consecutive possessions; Unfortunately for Cleveland, the Chargers still won 27-10. Oh, and there’s this: Winston still has a long way to go before he reaches Brett Favre’s career record of 336 interceptions. But with a little perseverance and a little courage, Winston will get there.
ASKED: Did the Washington Hail Mary break the Bears?
Bouncing back from a devastating, potentially season-altering loss isn’t easy, but you’d still like to see a better performance than the Chicago Bears did against Arizona on Sunday. Once again, the Bears allowed a brutal final-second touchdown, in this case on a 53-yard run by Emeri Demercado in the final ticks of the first half. That touchdown put Arizona up 21-9 at halftime, and Chicago would not score again.
Hail Mary (not GOAT) Tyrique Stevenson sat out early in Sunday’s game, but the Bears’ coaches were still very much in evidence, and that’s enough to make many Chicago fans wonder if this team is anything like the right one going in the direction. A gift awaits this week – the New England Patriots – before three consecutive crucial divisional games against Green Bay, Minnesota and Detroit. If Chicago wants to shake off the lingering effects of Jayden Daniels, now is the time.
ANSWERED: The Philadelphia Eagles have their act together
This time last year, Philadelphia was deep in the middle of a 10-1 run to start the season, looking a lot like a team ready to make noise in the playoffs. The Eagles finished the season with a 1-5 skid and quickly disappeared from the scene. This year’s model has shaken off early injuries to post a four-game winning streak that would have the 6-2 Eagles atop the NFC East if not for the 7-2 Commanders.
Now they have a healthy roster capable of winning games, and a running back capable of doing… whatever this was:
And also a wide receiver capable of this madness:
Granted, that four-game winning streak has come against the Browns, Giants, Bengals and Jaguars, not exactly a playoff-focused quartet. And Nick Sirianni continues to make some questionable coaching decisions that will actually come back to bite Philly. But for now, the Eagles appear to have shaken off the ghosts of 2023.
WANTED: Bryce Young or 2025 QB1?
We’re still a ways away from the 2025 NFL draft, but not so far away that we can’t begin to predict who will be in the hunt for the top seed. Right now the New England Patriots are “in charge,” but they seem pretty stuck at QB with Maye. Right at the top: the Carolina Panthers, who will have to weigh whether to take a quarterback – say Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward or Quinn Ewers – with their first pick or stick with Bryce Young.
Just kidding! Of course the Panthers are going to take a quarterback. Young is a meal sent back to the kitchen; you can try to pick it up and send it back, but you’ll probably just have to start over. Young may get a few more starts to see if he can build a resume elsewhere, but his window to be the guy in Carolina has closed and is being painted shut.
ANSWER: Fine, Arizona isn’t terrible
It’s remarkable how the NFL schedule always seems to be set up so that no team has to go very long without facing a put-it-or-shut-up contest. In the crab pot that is the NFC West, Arizona has somehow managed to climb to the top thanks to a three-game winning streak and early season losses to the Rams and an injury-ravaged San Francisco. Now the Cardinals get Seattle in two of the next four weeks, and the forgotten Cardinals might just run the show in the division. Sunday’s toppling of the Bears was a necessary data point; Chicago, for all its faults, is still a potentially dangerous team, and the Cardinals held the Bears to a close 29-9. We’re still not sold on a Kyler Murray-led offense, but the Cardinals are doing the best thing possible in a crowded NFC playoff field: win the dang division and you can skip any wild-card drama entirely.
