After soaring in Week 8, I came back to Earth in Week 9. I still finished with a respectable 9-5 mark on the week but there are some astericks. I meant to pick the Dolphins but didn’t wake up in time to change my pick so I got that bonus pick. I was also going to roll with Minnesota but picked Atlanta because Joshua Dobbs wasn’t supposed to play. And then the Bucs blew it in 45 seconds. So, I should have been 8-6, but I could have also been 10-4.
| Nick W | Nick L | Nick T | ATS W | ATS L | ATS P | O/U W | O/U L | O/U P | Christen W | Christen L | Christen T | Rids W | Rids L | Rids T | ||||
| 9 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | ||||
| 77 | 44 | 0 | 59 | 56 | 5 | 48 | 55 | 2 | 75 | 46 | 0 | 48 | 43 | 0 | ||||
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | ||||
| 86 | 49 | 0 | 64 | 64 | 6 | 56 | 61 | 2 | 83 | 52 | 0 | 57 | 48 | 0 |
I got handled against the spread, going 5-8-1 but I did go 8-6 on the over/under to help provide some ballast. Christen went 8-6 on the week and has surrendered the season-long lead, for now, and Ridley did pretty well with a record of 9-5. It’s tough sledding out there this year but I am hanging in at 63.7% and Christen is holding her own at 61.5% versus our control mark with Ridley at 54.3% on the season.
The Monday night game got boring in a hurry as the Chargers ended up coasting to a 27-6 win, but it was interesting at first. The Jets’ defense came out and looked as dominant as I expected but their offensive struggles reared their head in the worst way possible. Special teams bit them in the ass to start as the Bolts returned the punt off the Jets’ first possession for a TD. Then the Jets’ Garret Wilson fumbled away their next possession, but the defense held. Then Zach Wilson fumbled away their next possession and that resulted in points going down 14-0.
Considering their offensive first half went 3 & out, punt return TD, fumble, fumble, 3 & out, 3 & out, field goal, punt, 3 & out…the Jets were hanging tough. When they cut it to 17-6 and 3 & outed the Chargers to start the second half, it looked like they may have a chance but LA’s defense came for the win and didn’t allow any more scoring and forced another Zach Wilson fumble and turned them over on down after that. Overall, a good road win for the Chargers that could have gotten away against a tough defense.
Much to my chagrin, the Sunday night game saw the Bengals get the better of the Bills once again, 24-18. To their credit, Buffalo’s defense held them in it and did a good job addressing the areas where they had gotten chewed up in last season’s playoff matchup. Namely, they held Joe Mixon and Ja’Marr Chase to a combined 78 yards and a TD as opposed to the 166 yards and 2 TDs they allowed to those guys last time out. So, they cut that in half and that’s pretty good. However, Cincy showed their stripes in other ways.
Joe Burrow finished the night 31/44 for 348 yards and 2 TDs, with 8 of those passes finding Tee Higgins for 110 yards, being very efficient in his distribution. They seemed to be a slight step ahead as the Bills would shut down almost everything and then a tight end would find their way wide open as Drew Sample and Irv Smith both scored TDs. A lot of that comes down to pressure which the Bills didn’t seem to have much of. Every time they’d get close Burrow would release and it was rarely affected by the pass rush. When the Bills did get close, they got flagged for a bogus roughing the passer call.
It was not ideal as a Bills fan, but there’s a reason the Bengals leapfrogged them into the AFC Championship game these past two seasons and Buffalo got to see it up close and personal once again.
America’s Game of the Week certainly delivered on that billing as the Eagles bested the Cowboys 28-23. It was nice to see these teams finally play one another with their respective QBs under center and we got the kind of game that we hoped for. It was close, it was competitive…it was fun. At least for me.
Looking back at the game now, it’s surprising that Philly won. Dallas had more first downs, more yards, and more yards per play. But in close games, everything matters and Dallas gave up 5 sacks and lost a key fumble. This could have easily swung their way but they’ll have to wait a month to get another shot.
In unsurprising news, the Raiders vanquished the ghost of Josh McDaniels with a smackdown of the lowly Giants, 30-6, and then lit up a bunch of cigars in the locker room to celebrate. I said it then and I’ll say it now, Rich Bisaccia should have gotten that head coaching job in Vegas and saved us all the McDaniels run. On the other side of the coin, the Giants’ Daniel Jones tore his ACL which led to Tommy DeVito having to step into a tough spot. It just goes from bad to worse in Brian Daboll’s second year in New York. Maybe he’ll wanna come back to Buffalo.
The Colts did what a lower-mid-tier team should do against a bottom-tier team and went on the road to Carolina and beat the Panthers by double digits. I don’t know that it’s a meaningful win in terms of quality, but it does get the Colts to 4-5 in and in the hunt for that wild card spot in the AFC.
Elsewhere in the AFC South, the Texans improved to 4-4 on the season with a last-minute win over the Buccaneers. I can’t believe the Bucs gave up this many points to this Texans team but C.J. Stroud shined very bright, throwing for a ridiculous 470 yards and 5 TDs. It was embarrassing for a Tampa defense that is much better than that…usually…especially when they had just taken the lead with 45 seconds left and just needed to prevent a TD.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens continue their dominance against the NFC with another ass-whooping against a division leader. This time it was the Seahawks who were on the receiving end of the 37-3 beatdown. Baltimore is now 7-2 on the year with some dominant wins over good teams and they may just be the best team in the AFC.
When it comes to NFC teams, the Saints have been all over the map this year but did manage to hold off the Bears for the 24-17 win. This isn’t a game that should have been very close, in my eyes, especially with Tyson Bagent serving up interceptions like slices of deep-dish pizza but the consistency of their ground game and a surprise game by Cole Kmet gave them a shot. New Orleans is 5-4 now and has regained control of the NFC South after it looked like they were in serious trouble a few weeks ago.
It looked like Washington was cleaning house and getting ready to roll over into the next season, but they went into New England and beat the Patriots 20-17. The Patriots suck, so I am not entirely surprised. I picked Washington but at 4-5 they may still make some noise.
The Packers have been shitty all season, and I was really torn here because of Matt Stafford being out with the thumb injury, but with Brett Rypien at the helm for Los Angeles, it wasn’t really close. I thought the defense and run game might do it, but the Rams did almost nothing the whole game. That’s one way to help Green Bay snap their 4-game skid.
Clayton Tune had the unenviable job of suiting up against the Browns in his first start, and the results were as expected. Cleveland won 27-0, and Tune got picked twice and fumbled once as the Browns’ defense ran roughshod over the Cardinals who seem to like it in the NFL cellar.
Tune was replacing Joshua Dobbs who made his debut for the Vikings, but that wasn’t the plan. I was forced to take Atlanta because the Vikings were insistent on starting rookie Jaren Hall. That started decent but Hall left the game with a concussion and he’s not getting the starting spot back after Dobbs came in and led a really fun comeback win over the Falcons 31-28. Dobbs has a great story and I’m here for it.
In the first of two Germany games, the Chiefs showed why they have been multiple-time Super Bowl winners, beating a good Dolphins team 21-14 and holding their former star Tyreek Hill mostly in check throughout the game. Kansas City was just efficient and played good defense and mostly just controlled the pacing. That’s an important thing that not a lot of teams who are learning how to win really understand.
Then, of course, there was the Thursday night game where the Steelers continued to find ways to win and came up with a drive when they needed it to beat the Titans in Pittsburgh 20-16.
The Eagles tighten their grip on the top spot while the Ravens sit atop the AFC, but the Chiefs are right there.
| 1. Eagles 8-1 (=) |
| 2. Ravens 7-2 (=) |
| 3. Chiefs 7-2 (+3) |
| 4. Jaguars 6-2 (-1) |
| 5. Lions 6-2 (-1) |
| 6. Dolphins 6-3 (-1) |
| 7. 49ers 5-3 (+1) |
| 8. Cowboys 5-3 (+1) |
| 9. Bengals 5-3 (+2) |
| 10. Seahawks 5-3 (-3) |
| 11. Steelers 5-3 (+1) |
| 12. Browns 5-3 (+1) |
| 13. Bills 5-4 (-3) |
| 14. Saints 5-4 (+1) |
| 15. Chargers 4-4 (+4) |
| 16. Vikings 5-4 (=1) |
| 17. Jets 4-4 (-3) |
| 18. Texans 4-4 (+3) |
| 19. Falcons 4-5 (-3) |
| 20. Buccaneers 3-5 (-2) |
| 21. Titans 3-5 (-1) |
| 22. Colts 3-5 (+1) |
| 23. Commanders 3-5 (+1) |
| 24. Raiders 3-5 (+1) |
| 25. Broncos 3-5 (+1) |
| 26. Packers 3-5 (+1) |
| 27. Rams 3-6 (-5) |
| 28. Bears 2-7 (=) |
| 29. Giants 2-7 (=) |
| 30. Patriots 2-7 (=) |
| 31. Panthers 1-7 (=) |
| 32. Cardinals 1-8 (=) |
Thanks for reading! I still believe word of mouth is the best way to help, so if you enjoy what I’m doing, please tell somebody. And if you have a comment, I’d love to hear it! Liking, subscribing, and sharing go a long way too. And, as usual, be well, stay safe, and Go Bills!