NFL Week 9 marks the end of the first half of the 18-week schedule and some trends have emerged. The Philadelphia Eagles have the NFL’s best record at 7-1. Meahwhile, the Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins are all at 6-2.
The aforementioned Lions and Jags are idle this week. The Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers are also on their bye weeks, leaving 14 games on the NFL schedule for Week 9.
The NFL wound up exporting one of the premiere games this week, as the Dolphins face the Chiefs at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany, for a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff. Perhaps the biggest game of the week is late Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC East showdown.
The Seattle Seahawks (5-2) visit the Ravens early Sunday afternoon and the Buffalo Bills take on the resurgent Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
Here are the top five storylines to watch in Week 9.
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5. Quarterback change for Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons (4-4) lead the NFC South via tiebreaker over the 4-4 New Orleans Saints. But after a loss to the Tennessee Titans last week, coach Arthur Smith announced on Wednesday that Taylor Heinicke will take over the starting duties from second-year man Desmond Ridder.
Heinicke, a 30-year-old journeyman, signed with the Falcons in March after three years with the Washington Commanders. He made 15 starts for the team in 2021 and started nine games last season. Heinicke led four game-winning drives that season. He also threw 15 interceptions in 15 games.
Ridder’s issue? Ball security. In eight games, the former Cincinnati Bearcat has thrown six interceptions and fumbled seven times, losing an NFL-high six.
Atlanta hosts the Minnesota Vikings early Sunday afternoon in a battle of 4-4 clubs.
4. Questions about Jordan Love emerge with Packers
The Green Bay Packers felt good enough about 2020 first round pick Jordan Love at quarterback to trade franchise icon Aaron Rodgers. The early returns on Love were fantastic. Green Bay won two of its first three games and the new quarterback threw seven touchdowns to just one interception in those games.
However, with the Packers current four-game losing streak, Love has seven interceptions and just four touchdowns. The game seems to be moving very fast for the first-year starter.
On Wednesday, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said the team needs more time to evaluate Love before making a long-term commitment. The quarterback has another year remaining on his rookie contract, so it’s not a pressing issue.
Love is just the third full-time starter at quarterback for the Packers since 1993. That was the year after Brett Favre took over for an injured Don Majkowski, who never got his job back. Green Bay transitioned to Rodgers in 2008.
3. Is the Will Levis era dawning in Nashville?
The Tennessee Titans visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night and coach Mike Vrabel will go with rookie Will Levis for the second straight week. Veteran Ryan Tannehill was unable to practice this week because of his right ankle sprain, necessitating the move.
Levis led the Titans to a win over Atlanta last week, throwing four touchdown passes in his NFL debut, three of them to DeAndre Hopkins, who is questionable with a toe injury.
Levis fell to the second round in April’s draft and was taken by the Titans with the 33rd pick. He wasn’t afraid to throw the ball downfield, averaging 11.6 yards per attempt.
The Titans are 3-4 and the Steelers come in at 4-3, good for sixth in the AFC playoff race.
Tannehill is in the last year of his restructured contract and will carry $9.2 million in dead cap space in 2024 and 2025 regardless of whether he remains in Tennessee or not.
The future may be now for Levis and the Titans.
2. Showdown on the Rhein
The Dolphins have a gaudy 6-2 record but are 0-2 against teams that are currently better than .500, with double-digit losses to the Bills and Eagles. They take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday morning. The Chiefs are coming off an ugly loss at Denver in which they scored just nine points and were held to 274 total yards.
It was the first time Kansas City was held to single digits since a 27-3 loss at Tennessee in Week 7 of the 2021 season. The defending Super Bowl champions are entirely too dependent upon tight end Travis Kelce in the passing game. Kelce has been targeted 68 times. Rashee Rice is next highest on the Chiefs with 39.
Patrick Mahomes’ 6.8 yards per attempt this season is the lowest of his career. That number has declined each season from a high of 9.1 in 2018.
Miami still leads the NFL in scoring and total offense, but has just 123 rushing yards in its last two games. The Dolphins topped the 30-point mark for the fifth time in eight games in last week’s win over the New England Patriots. Tua Tagovailoa has 18 touchdown passes against seven interceptions.
1. Changes on The Strip
The Las Vegas Raiders rocked the NFL on Tuesday night. Head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler were fired. Offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi was let go as well.
Linebackers coach Antonio Pierce was promoted to interim head coach and Champ Kelly is the interim GM. Quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree was promoted to offensive coordinator and will take over playcalling with McDaniels gone.
As part of the shift, rookie Aidan O’Connell will start ahead of Jimmy Garoppolo when the Raiders host the New York Giants on Sunday.
O’Connell started on Oct. 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers and was 24-of-39 for 238 yards and an interception in a 24-17 loss.
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