The Texans game at the Seahawks became Game Of The Week, and it started as such for all the wrong reasons. An ESPN piece quoted team owner Bob McNair during a league meeting saying, "We can't have the inmates running the prison." There is literally nothing in his statement that is an attack on anyone, yet media coverage enflamed idiotic player fury to where forty players kneeled for the Anthem to protest McNair's statement. That players took offense at McNair's statement did nothing but prove him correct. The players' protest was an incredibly petulant hissy-fit, the kind of mob rule he is speaking against - making it worse is players wanted to tear off the team logo from their helmets until someone got through to these dimbulb divas that it would thus forfeit the game - and further disproves the legitimacy of the whole Anthem protest movement.
What followed in the actual game then showcased football at its best. Deshaun Watson overcame three INTs and getting sacked five times to reach 402 yards and four touchdowns in shredding the increasingly-overrated Seahawks defense, which got torched by the Titans for 420 yards of offense and 33 points. Russell Wilson erupted to a Seahawks-record 452-plus yards and whipped the winning score in the final thirty seconds. The 41-38 win keeps the Seahawks in the NFC West race and makes Houston's AFC South chances all the harder - especially when Houston failed to record a first down in the final two minutes - with Tennessee still leading the division despite being on their bye week.
And then NFL trade deadline week turned upside down with the first volley rifled from a team on their bye - the New England Patriots. They traded Jimmy Garoppolo, always believed to be the heir-apparent to (longtime Niners fan) Tom Brady, to the Niners for a second-round pick.
With all that we delve into Week Nine's affairs -
Bills over NY Jets - More and more the Bills look for real. Though subpar in overall offense (just 15th in scoring) they began to change that in their win over the Raiders while their defense (fourth in points) embarrassed the Raiders. They take on a Jets team in the bottom half on both sides of the ball and coming off a loss to the slumping Falcons.
Eagles over Broncos - The 7-1 Eagles meanwhile are making an ever-stronger case for themselves and they get a Broncos team that clearly has has fallen to 3-4. Carson Wentz is showing the growth needed to reach another level as a quarterback while it is obvious from another irrelevant performance in Kansas City (lowlighted by checkdown throws on the final possession) that Trevor Siemian's NFL career is becoming a failure.
Texans over Colts - Remember when the Colts owned the Houston Texans? Forget it. Even with good play by Jacoby Brissett the Colts simply are no longer a playoff team and may not even reach six wins. The Texans meanwhile have a quarterback who already looks better than Andrew Luck was and after scoring 38 against the Seahawks taking on the Colts should be relative child's play. The caveat, though, is some questionable playcalling by Bill O'Brien in the Seattle loss.
Rams over NY Giants - The turnaround of the Rams remains one of the stories of the season as they lead the league in scoring and are tenth in points allowed, and the biggest irony is the Rams are just 1-2 at home and 4-0 on the road. They hit the road again off their bye at MetLife Stadium, where the Giants are 0-3 and just 30th in scoring.
Titans over Ravens - This is one of the tightest rivalries in the NFL. The Ravens lead the series 10-9, two of the wins playoff wins, and the last six games have been a 3-3 split by a combined score of 107-94 Tennessee. The Ravens defense is sixth in points though is giving up the same yards per pass (5.4) as is being delivered by Joe Flacco while the run defense is giving up 4.2 yards per carry. They have to deal with a Titans run game generating 4.4 YPC and Tennessee's run defense is limiting teams to 3.6 YPC. Tennessee's 27th in points allowed (24 and change per game) is a little inflated by the 57-point beatdown they got in the first game with Houston; 19 points allowed in their other six games is the Titans' allowance on defense. Turnover differential - 0 - is likewise skewed by the Houston game, as Tennessee has plus-5 in turnover differential the rest of the season, the same as Baltimore's all season with seven takeaways the last five games and no giveaways the last two. Where the Titans appear to have the edge is in Marcus Mariota's 7.4 yards per pass to the above-mentioned 5.4 of Flacco.
Panthers over Falcons - Both teams look more like walking wounded than playoff contenders, but both are coming off needed wins. Cam Newton's postgame petulance has become an issue while the Falcons' disastrous encounters with AFC East teams haunted them going into MetLife Stadium against the Jets. The Falcons have won the last three meetings with the Panthers and have beaten all their NFC foes to date, but the Panthers appear to have regained more momentum right now.
Jaguars over Bengals - The Bengals defeated the Colts, but the Colts now have become what the Jaguars have been for over five years before this. Jacksonville's defense has become legit and the inconsistency of the offense has nonetheless been enough to put the Jaguars in the AFC South race. One simply doesn't have the confidence that Andy Dalton can improve anymore to become what the Bengals need, while the ballyhooed rookie running back race is being won by Leonard Fournette over Joe Mixon.
Saints over Buccaneers - We weren't expecting this. The Saints have rallied from being a perennial 7-9 team to genuine NFC South contender while the Bucs have faltered to 2-4 and despite leading the league in passing yards per game Jameis Winston hasn't yet taken another step forward. Hurting the Bucs' chances more is being 0-3 on the road to date.
49ers over Cardinals - Trading for Garoppolo makes all the sense in the world because 0-8 is a dubious "achievement" for the 49ers and their competitiveness took back-to-back blows in ugly losses to NFC East teams. Here though they host a Cardinals team whose quarterback, Carson Palmer, is on IR until Christmas Eve. Right now we think Garoppolo may start this game; he gets a Niners run game at 4.3 YPC, which isn't bad, though stuck in the bottom third in the league. Arizona's run game is now led by a resurgent Adrian Peterson, and right now that may be what they need to depend on.
Seahawks over Redskins - The Seahawks continue to hold serve at home and despite Houston's imitation of Seahawks radio analyst Warren Moon, the Seahawks still lead the league in points allowed. The 38 points given up to Houston, though, should encourage teams that Seattle's defense is vulnerable. The Redskins, however, don't appear to be a team that can exploit weaknesses.
Chiefs over Cowboys - The Boys got back in town against the Skins but Andy Reid has still shown magic against his former division and regained momentum with Monday Night's beating of the faltering Broncos.
Raiders over Dolphins - The Dolphins took a massive blow in getting obliterated 40-0, a game so bad Adam Gase said in so many words "we stink." The Raiders come in needing to regain momentum after five losses in their last six games, and Derek Carr is all too obviously the better of the dueling quarterbacks.
Packers over Lions - The Lions will not make the playoffs. Period. They face a quality opponent and they lose, having done so again against the Steelers. We're not sure the Packers are a quality foe right now but they're at home and they face a Lions team demoralized by four losses in their last five games.
So it goes as we await more trade deadline surprises.
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