It should have taken Jim Harbaugh some time to turn around the Los Angeles Chargers.
They had an interesting roster, but not one that really fit Harbaugh’s preferred style of play. And the Chargers hadn’t won anything of note in a long time. They also had to let go of many veterans this past season for salary cap reasons.
Plus, Harbaugh hadn’t been in the NFL in nine seasons. During that time the game completely turns around. For anyone else, that alone would have required an adjustment period.
But it’s clear, and has been for some time, that Harbaugh is one of the best football coaches in the world. He proves it again with the Chargers. The Chargers dominated the Cleveland Browns 27-10 on Sunday to improve to 5-3. They get the Titans and Bengals at home in the next two weeks and can take a step toward taking a big lead in a relatively weak AFC wild-card race.
Be as cynical as you want about beating the Browns, but it’s the same Cleveland team that beat the Baltimore Ravens a week ago. And they had no chance against the Chargers.
The Chargers took advantage of some mistakes by the Browns, which happens when you’re coached well. Two tough coverages by the Browns led to two long touchdowns by Justin Herbert. That was all the Browns needed. Then the defense took over, making Jameis Winston look like the mistake-prone quarterback we’ve come to expect.
Harbaugh’s method is quite old-fashioned. He wants to run the ball and defend it, even with a talented quarterback like Herbert. That’s what led Michigan to a 15-0 record and the national title last season. Herbert was good and had a near-perfect Sunday, showing that he might be more efficient if he isn’t asked to do everything. Harbaugh’s approach is working again in the NFL, despite plenty of reason to believe it will take him some time to get things going. Imagine what he’ll do with a few more offseasons to build the roster. Perhaps the Chiefs will finally have a challenger in the AFC West in the future.
The Chargers have been largely irrelevant since moving from San Diego. All they were known for were weird ways of losing games and perpetual underachievement. That will change under Harbaugh. And faster than it probably should be.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 9 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Tyler bass: We can’t say Bass is forgiven for missing a key field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs last season. But Bass was a hero on Sunday.
Bass, who had missed an extra point earlier in the game, scored a 61-yard field goal with five seconds left to beat the Miami Dolphins 30–27. The Bills were alone in that spot because of a terrible roughing penalty by Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer on a third-and-9 incompletion in the final minute, when Poyer launched his helmet first at Keon Coleman. That kept the Bills’ drive alive and gave Bass just enough yards to attempt the long field goal.
The Bills are running away with the AFC East. They could achieve it before December. Bass’ long kick ended all Dolphins’ dreams of becoming relevant again this season.
Joe Burrow: Not that anyone should have questioned that, but Burrow reminded everyone on Sunday that he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
Burrow defeated the Las Vegas Raiders in a 41-24 victory on Sunday. He had five touchdown passes, matching a career best and leading an easy win against a bad team. The Bengals need wins to dig themselves out of a hole, no matter who they play. At 4-5, they are honestly dead in the AFC wild card race.
If the Bengals rally to make the playoffs, it will be because of Burrow. He played well on Sunday without Tee Higgins, who missed another game due to an injury. What we saw on Sunday is what many people expected the Bengals to be all season. They just took a long time to warm up.
NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons had some lucky wins early. That is paying off.
The Falcons are getting better as the season goes on, and it looks like they’re going to run away with the NFC South. The Falcons took care of business against a bad Dallas Cowboys team, with Kirk Cousins ​​throwing for three touchdowns in a 27-21 victory.
The Falcons defense also did its job. It exploded a key fourth-and-1 jet sweep to CeeDee Lamb, which will often come up as people wonder if Mike McCarthy will be fired soon. Atlanta forced four turnovers on downs, the most for the Cowboys in a game since 2000, according to the Fox broadcast. They limited the Cowboys passing attack and ultimately knocked Dak Prescott out of the game with a hamstring injury. And the Falcons’ offense has improved as Cousins ​​gets more comfortable. It wasn’t very early, despite some wins. Now the Falcons look like a legitimate division winner.
LOSERS
Dennis Allen and the Saints: There isn’t much reason for the New Orleans Saints to stick with Allen any longer.
Allen and the Saints lost 23-22 to the lowly Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Bryce Young led a late touchdown drive to take the lead. Then the Panthers got a stop and knocked away a deep pass from Derek Carr on fourth down to cap off the win. That probably also applies to Allen as head coach of the Saints. The only question that remains is whether the Saints want to make a move during the season or wait until it’s done.
The Saints had injuries in Sunday’s game, including one to star receiver Chris Olave, but that doesn’t excuse everything. Since a 2-0 start, they are one of the worst teams in the NFL. Allen is 18-25 as Saints coach. They are backsliding. There isn’t much reason for the team to wait much longer to make a decision on Allen’s future, especially after Sunday.
Daniel Jones: The New York Giants had to be in a bad spot on Sunday, looking across the field and knowing that the Washington Commanders have found their star quarterback for the next decade in Jayden Daniels.
The Giants are still without a quarterback and that was evident in a 27-22 loss. Daniel Jones again struggled in the first half on Sunday, causing his team to be taken out of the game early. Jones had the weirdest passing line you’ll encounter in the first half, completing four of six passes for a touchdown and… zero yards. He was the first quarterback since at least 2000 to have a touchdown pass in the half but no passing yards, via ESPN Stats and Info. Jones played better in the second half, but his first half was too much to overcome.
The Commanders have made a huge leap in just one offseason, thanks in large part to figuring out their quarterback. The Giants will soon be looking for their next quarterback.
Denver Broncos against a tough opponent: The Broncos have had some quality wins. The Buccaneers and Jets winning road games isn’t that bad. But they were 5-3 in large part because the schedule had some weaknesses, and to Denver’s credit, they took advantage of them.
But on Sunday the program becomes increasingly difficult, which was not a good first impression.
The Broncos gave up two touchdowns to Baltimore Ravens receiver Zay Flowers in the first half and fell behind 24-10 at halftime. Things never got better in the second half and the Ravens, one of the NFL’s best teams, pulled out a 41-10 victory. A lot of teams will lose to Baltimore this season, but it exposed the Broncos a bit as a pretender posing as the AFC’s best wild-card team coming into this week. Sunday’s loss doesn’t mean the Broncos will fall apart. It just showed that they have a way of being a team that everyone would worry about if they played in the postseason.
