Overreactions, Exaggerations & Just The Plain Out Truth – Week 9
Nov 10, 2021, 8:48 AM | Updated: 8:48 am
(Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
If you didn’t consider last week the half way mark of the season, with the passing of Week 9 in the NFL, it is official: half of the season has come and gone.
Each team in the league has at least played half of their games and it’s time for each team to approach the tail end of their schedule.
In this week’s action we saw a few upsets of top seeds throughout the league and some bottom feeders actually put a dent in some of the top teams armor. Here’s a look at week nine…
Overreactions
Younghoe Koo is the second best kicker in the league: With this week’s 29 yard game winning field goal, Koo notched his third game winner of the year.
The Atlanta Falcons only have four wins on the season and three of those come on the foot of Koo’s right leg. For my money there is no one better than Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens who also kicked a game winner this past week, but Koo maybe a close second.
He has only missed one kick all season, that coming least week versus the Vikings and has been clutch for a team that has a history of not being so clutch when it matters.
Odell Beckham Jr: OBJ is by no means finished as a good receiver, but great… that may still be yet to be seen. Beckham Jr asked for a breakup with the Cleveland Browns and got his wished granted this past week. He and his team also asked that no other team pick him up off waivers so he could have the option of what team he would play for the rest of the year, that also happened.
Right or wrong, the pressure now sits squarely on OBJ. After returning back this year from injury, Beckham Jr has been missing in action. Whether you believe it was on the quarterback play, scheme, on OBJ’s own play or a mixture of all, the next 8 games will tell a lot.
Cleveland Browns: The Browns are in the prove it or else seat just as OBJ finds himself in. They gave up some valuable draft assets for Beckham Jr and now have released him in less than 3 seasons after trading for him.
They have been a little up and down during the season and there have been whispers that the Odell Beckham Jr saga played a part in some of the unevenness. Well that issue has now been solved, what happens next for the team is what matters most.
With a record of 5-4, the Browns are in a dog fight for the NFC North division crown. How the team and their quarterback performs the rest of the way will go a long way on determine the future of this organization.
Exaggerations
Kansas City Chiefs Playoff Chances: The Chiefs snuck out a victory against the Green Bay Packers all while seeing the Las Vegas Raiders lose to the hapless New York Giants, which pulled the Chiefs within one game of the division lead.
If you would of polled any analyst just two weeks ago on the chances of the Chiefs making the playoffs, you would of probably gotten a mixed bag of answers.
If you polled those same analysts after this week, I would imagine a higher percentage of those thoughts would be that the Chiefs will somehow find their way into the post season.
There are a ton of reasons why the Chiefs will not make playoffs, their defense is one of the worst units in the league, Patrick Mahomes just doesn’t seem as if he is operating at peak level and the division is very competitive.
On the other hand, if you take a step back and look what’s in front of the Chiefs moving forward, you can argue they have a pretty good chance of making the post season.
They have finally reached the goal of being over .500 sitting at 5-4 and their back half of the season includes five games within the division and two more versus the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. There’s a good chance we once again may be seeing the Chiefs in the playoffs.
Teams on life support: Chalk it up, there are close to half a dozen teams that will enter week 10 hanging on by a strand.
The San Francisco 49ers who lost to a half depleted Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles who can’t stop anyone on defense and the Minnesota Vikings who can’t win a meaningful game are pretty much one loss away from their season being virtually over.
The Seattle Seahawks who welcome Russell Wilson back this week after surgery on his throwing hand are looking up at two teams in the NFC West but have enough room to make a run at the wild card but can’t afford another few losses as well as the Indianapolis Colts who are stuck behind the Tennessee Titans for the division crown.
At 4-5 and a few games left against teams with a losing record, have an opportunity to work their way into wild card contention but surely can’t lose too many more games.
Add two losses to the loss column in the next few weeks and you can pack it up for the Colts.
The Truth
Adrian Peterson: It was great to see the sure fire hall of famer back in action after not starting of the season with a team.
Though his enshrinement and jacket ceremony will come a bit later now that he has taken part of a game this year, we as fans will get to see an all time great at least for half of a season more.
Soak it in, as it could possibly be the last time we ever see Peterson on the field.
Who really knows: After a week where upsets were sprinkled all throughout the NFL, there are some teams I just can’t get a beat on.
I, along with what feels like many others are trying to figure out the identity of a few teams after week nine’s action.
The Pittsburgh Steelers who held on to earn the victory over the Chicago Bears will enter week 10 at 5-3 but with a ton of unanswered questions. They have a point differential of -8, have given up more yards then they have gained vs the opponent and are only averaging 20 points a game.
On the other hand they have wins against the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos all teams with winning records.
They don’t have the star power on offense we are used to seeing and I’m really not sure what to make of Ben Rothlisberger through eight games. The Atlanta Falcons who moved to 4-4 after a victory over the New Orleans Saints find themselves in familiar territory. In what feels like ever year, the Falcons teeter in the middle of the NFL standings.
They just beat a Saints team who was lead by Trevor Siemian, have feasted on the teams they were supposed to, the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and New York Giants but have lost to the Carolina Panthers, Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles.
Just looking at those six teams alone makes you scratch your head. The Falcons are a puzzling bunch to say the least. The Denver Broncos began the season with three victories, all be it versus the New York Giants, Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars. They followed that with four straight losses and now have bounced back with two wins, the last coming against a Dallas Cowboys team who were steam rolling opponents.
The Broncos last week traded their most recognizable player in Von Miller but have won two games without him. If you’ve seen or heard me any time before now, you would know I love Teddy Bridgewater, think Melvin Gordon III still has a lot left and believe their defense is top notch.
The problem is I’m not sure what to make of Vic Fangio and staff, can’t put a thumb on the offense and would be surprised if they beat another team the way they just did the Cowboys.
Teams Missing the playoffs: We are officially more than past the half way mark in the season and the newest addition to the “will miss playoffs section, the Chicago Bears will be playing out the rest of the season hoping to build on the future and around their QB Justin Fields.
Previous – New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Washington Football Team
New Additions – Chicago Bears
