We’re essentially at the halfway point of the season, and the playoff races are heating up and starting to take shape. I’d like to think I’ve figured out which teams are good and which teams are bad. Of course, I thought that a month ago, too, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go back and check.
Here’s my biggest takeaway from each game on the Week 9 Sunday slate.
Takeaway: Bengals have their flaws, but this is a championship-caliber team.
Cincinnati made a habit of getting off to slow starts and had to rally from 13-point deficits in each of the past two weeks, including needing overtime to beat the lowly Titans. After allowing the Falcons to score a touchdown on their first drive, the Bengals dominated in Spain. It was another come-from-behind victory, but this one wasn’t a sweat.
Cincinnati answered with four straight scoring drives to take a 24-10 lead into halftime. Atlanta never got closer than a 7-point deficit in the second half, and when they did cut it to one score, Cincinnati immediately answered with another touchdown. If the Bengals defense can keep playing like it did on Sunday, there’s little that can be done to stop Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Takeaway: A win is a win.
We shouldn’t pretend the New York Giants are a great football team, but they are 5-2-1 on the year and comfortably in first place in the NFC East. Hiring Super Bowl-winning coach John Harbaugh after Baltimore fired him already looks like a home run for New York. The Giants have dealt with a ton of injuries, including to starting quarterback Jaxson Dart, but they’ve managed to keep the season on track.
Takeaway: Sean Payton owes NFL referees a fruit basket or something.
The Denver Broncos have thanks in large part to controversial calls that benefitted them. On Sunday, officials flagged the Panthers 13 times for 119 yards, including several third-down penalties that kept Denver drives alive. That’s not to say they were all bad calls, but it definitely seemed like the Broncos got the better side of the yellow markers.
Officials also allowed Payton to challenge an incompletion after Carolina had already run another play, saying he had thrown the flag before the snap. The review gave Denver the ball on Devon Key’s interception. Despite all that, they still almost blew a 12-point lead with less than 6 minutes remaining, but got a huge strip-sack from Nik Bonitto to seal the win.
Takeaway: Don’t look now, but the “superteam” is finally over .500.
Perhaps no team in the NFL has been hurt by injuries more than the Rams, but for the first time this season, they have more wins than losses. It wasn’t pretty, as most of their games haven’t been, but Los Angeles managed to hang on to win their third straight game after a 2-4 start. Sean McVay has brought the Rams back from slow starts before, and they are starting to get healthy, with Myles Garrett returning on Sunday. They still don’t look like the team that everyone thought was definitely going to win the Super Bowl, but they probably aren’t a team that opponents are going to want to face in January.
Takeaway: Kansas City did what it was supposed to do.
When a team as good as the Chiefs hosts a team as bad as the Jets, they’re supposed to run them out of the building. And that’s exactly what Kansas City did. The Chiefs outscored the Jets 21-0 in the second half and cruised to a victory. They also survived an injury scare involving Patrick Mahomes’ right arm. Mahomes was shaken up but returned for Kansas City’s next possession. His health is worth monitoring because an injury to Mahomes is about
