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Week 9 knee-jerk reactions: Time has run out for this NFC quarterback, head coach
After a thrilling Week 8 slate, Week 9 of the regular season didn't offer the same excitement, with several instances of terrible quarterbacking and poor coaching decisions playing a role.
Amidst the chaos, the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints suffered crushing losses that could have them both ready to turn the page toward 2025. Meanwhile, a number of worthy MVP candidates continued to strengthen their respective cases as they helped propel their teams to victory.
Here are some knee-jerk reactions from the ninth week of the NFL season:
It’s time for the Giants to bench QB Daniel Jones
On the surface, Jones' stat line during Sunday's 27-22 home loss to Washington suggests he had a solid start by his modest standards, having thrown his first touchdown at MetLife Stadium in 672 days. Overall, the Duke product finished 20-of-26 passing for 174 yards and two touchdowns while adding a score on the ground.
Even so, most of Jones' production came in garbage time, and he even entered halftime just 4-of-6 passing for 0 yards with one touchdown and a fumble lost.
Sitting in last place in the NFC East with a 2-7 record, 2024 is officially a lost season for New York. Given that Jones isn't expected to be in the team's future, it feels like the right time for the Giants to finally bench him to avoid triggering his $23M injury guarantee for 2025.
In place of Jones, the Giants could turn to Drew Lock, though it might make more sense to start Tommy DeVito since he could be a long-term backup for the team.
Eagles are far from perfect, but they are the biggest threat to Lions in the NFC
It wasn't up for debate whether Detroit is the NFC's top team, but it further solidified itself as such during Sunday's 24-14 road win over the Green Bay Packers. The Lions are averaging a league-high 32.3 points this season while allowing the sixth-fewest points (18.5) and yards per game (301.79). While few teams are as talented as Detroit, Philadelphia is proving to be its most formidable challenger in the NFC.
The Eagles survived an upset bid from Jacksonville on Sunday, securing a 28-23 home victory in a matchup where HC Nick Sirianni's aggressive decision-making nearly cost his team. The win marked the fourth straight for Philadelphia, a team averaging the fifth-most points (28.3) and allowing the second-fewest points per game (14.8) during this streak. While Detroit has the coaching advantage, if the star-studded Philadelphia roster continues to play at its current level, it has all the pieces to take down the Lions.
Loss to Panthers should be the final nail in the coffin for Saints HC Dennis Allen’s tenure
Remember when the Saints were 2-0 and boasted the highest-scoring offense in the NFL? How quickly things change. After falling to the lowly Carolina Panthers 23-22 on the road, New Orleans saw its lengthy losing streak reach seven games on Sunday and made unfortunate history in the process.
According to ESPN's Bill Barnwell, the Saints became the first team in 20 years to lose a game despite winning the turnover battle, rushing for at least 150 yards and outgaining their opponent by 150 yards.
With another loss on his resume, Allen is 18-25 as New Orleans' head coach and a dreadful 26-53 overall in his NFL coaching career. The Saints should have a new coach in 2025, but with the trade deadline scheduled for Tuesday, they should start preparing for the future and cut ties with Allen.
It's a three-horse race for the MVP Award, and the two leading candidates play for the same team
We're almost through nine weeks of the regular season, and the race for MVP honors is heating up. Commanders rookie QB Jayden Daniels is making an intriguing MVP case, but it's clear Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and RB Derrick Henry and Bills QB Josh Allen are the front-runners for the award.
The NFL's new top offensive duo of Jackson and Henry were phenomenal in Sunday's 41-10 blowout home win over Denver. Jackson threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns while posting a perfect 158.3 passer rating, whereas Henry rushed for 106 yards and two scores, which already gives him 1,052 rushing yards on the season.
Meanwhile, Allen tossed three touchdowns and led the Bills on a game-winning drive to clinch a 30-27 come-from-behind home victory over the Dolphins.
Jackson and Henry could have the upper hand over Allen in the MVP balloting since they were integral to Baltimore's Week 4 drubbing of Buffalo. Nonetheless, it's shaping up to be a thrilling MVP race and will likely continue to be tightly contested for several weeks.
QB Jordan Love’s turnover problems limit Green Bay’s ceiling
Although Love was clearly affected by his groin injury during Sunday's 24-14 home loss to Detroit, his turnover issues remain a major concern. In the second quarter, the 2020 first-round pick's 10th interception of the season was returned for a touchdown, giving the Lions all the momentum heading into halftime and helping them eventually secure a crucial divisional win.
So far this season, Love leads the league in interceptions, which is particularly troubling considering he missed two games with a knee injury and left last week's win over Jacksonville in the third quarter. There's no doubt that Love is one of the NFL's more talented quarterbacks, but if he doesn't clean things up soon, the Packers might not be the Super Bowl contenders many have considered them to be.
Rebuilding Patriots should do some shopping at the trade deadline
At 2-7, New England, which traded edge-rusher Josh Uche to the Chiefs last week, will surely continue to be sellers ahead of Tuesday's deadline. However, following Sunday's 20-17 road overtime loss to Tennessee, the Patriots should add talent via trade, which NFL Media's Ian Rapoport suggested they could do.
This might sound crazy, especially after losing to a Titans team that has also struggled mightily, yet rookie QB Drake Maye's performance was encouraging enough to consider this move.
Maye didn't quite light up the box score on Sunday, finishing 29-of-41 passing for 206 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while rushing for 95 yards. Still, the 2024 No. 3 overall pick proved he’s the real deal, notably throwing a five-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass to RB Rhamondre Stevenson as time expired to help send the game to overtime.
If New England can acquire a wideout it could immediately extend like Cincinnati's Tee Higgins, the team should do so to aid Maye's development.
Top wide receivers from the 2023 NFL Draft are showing they aren't busts
Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Quentin Johnston of the Chargers, the 20th and 21st picks of the 2023 NFL Draft, disappointed during their respective debut seasons. Smith-Njigba caught 63 passes for 628 yards and four touchdowns last season and dropped 10 passes, the fourth-most in the NFL, while Johnston had 431 yards on 38 receptions. The lackluster output, coupled with the success of their draft classmates, quickly and unfairly earned them the bust label.
Despite this, they're changing the narrative, as Smith-Njigba and Johnston each enjoyed a career day on Sunday. During a 26-20 overtime home loss to the Rams, Smith-Njigba caught seven passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Johnston, on the other hand, racked up 118 yards and a touchdown on four catches in a 27-10 road win over the Browns. Even though they haven't emerged as elite wideouts, Smith-Njigba and Johnston are proving that we shouldn't write off a player just because they struggled as rookies.
More must-reads:
- Watch: Packers QB Jordan Love's forced pass results in pick-six for Lions
- Watch: Patriots QB Drake Maye tosses absurd TD pass to send game to OT
- The 'NFL mascot names' quiz
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Vikings WR gets brutal injury news for second straight season
A Minnesota Vikings wide receiver's season is already over. The Minnesota Vikings announced on Tuesday that wide receiver Rondale Moore is being placed on season-ending injured reserve due to a leg injury that he suffered in the team's first preseason game against the Houston Texans this past weekend. It is a devastating blow for Moore, who is now being sidelined for an entire season, before it even begins, for the second year in a row. Moore signed a one-year, $2 million contract in free agency with the Vikings this offseason in the hopes he could return from a different injury that cost him the entirety of the 2024 season. Moore was a member of the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 after being acquired in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for backup quarterback Desmond Ridder. This is now two different teams that Moore has been a part of, but will never play a game for them due to injuries. Moore was injured while returning a punt. He began his career with the Arizona Cardinals, catching 135 passes for 1,201 yards over three seasons before being traded. He was never going to be counted on to be a key contributor for the Vikings offense this season, especially given the superstars they already have at wide receiver in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, but he still had a chance to be an interesting depth player. Now it is fair to wonder what the rest of his career might even look like. Missing two full seasons due to two different leg injuries is going to be a brutal thing to try to come back from. Missing two seasons for any reason is difficult, but when you add the leg injuries to the equation, it makes the obstacle even steeper.
Landon Dickerson injury update: Timeline for Eagles OL return revealed after surgery
The Philadelphia Eagles lost a key piece of their offense in training camp when starting center Landon Dickerson went down with a knee injury. Now, he has reportedly undergone surgery on Wednesday, August 13th, for the meniscus injury that he suffered. There is positive news in all of this for the Eagles, though. The injury could have been worse. Dickerson avoided what would be considered a major injury. Because of that, there is hope that he can return to the field sometime early in the season. For now, no return to action is set in stone. After all, everyone recovers from injuries and surgeries at a different speed. Naturally, the Eagles are also going to be careful to prevent any further injury, but it’s good news for the defending Super Bowl champions overall. Previously, it was reported that Dickerson would be considered week-to-week with the injury. The surgery was also described as a “minor procedure,” going into it, and there had been some hope that he could even be ready to go in Week 1. Landon Dickerson was carted off the field from practice on Sunday night. The immediate concern was that he suffered an injury to his right meniscus. This was during an open practice, and it tempered the atmosphere inside the facility while Philadelphia prepped for the season. Dickerson first came to Philadelphia as a second round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. That came after he had been a star in the college game at Alabama. Since getting to professional football, Dickerson has been named to the Pro Bowl three times and was the starting center on last year’s Super Bowl winning team. He moved to center from guard following the retirement of Jason Kelce, a longtime star in his own right. Dickerson signed a four-year, $84 million contract extension with the Eagles in March of 2024. At the time, it made him the highest-paid guard in history. It also signaled the time for him to step into a larger leadership role on the offense. The Philadelphia Eagles are going into the 2025 season looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions. They’ll open that defense on September 4th for their Week 1 game against the Dallas Cowboys, a division rival. Before that, the Eagles do have two more preseason games, neither of which Landon Dickerson is expected to play in at all. Philadelphia won’t have its bye week until Week 9.
King of New York: Pete Alonso breaks major Mets all-time record
Pete Alonso is now the New York Mets' all-time home run king. With his opposite-field, two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night, Alonso clubbed the 253rd and 254th home runs of his Mets career, moving him into sole possession of first place on the team's all-time list. He moved two home runs ahead of the previous record-holder, Darryl Strawberry, who hit 252 home runs with the team between the 1983 and 1990 seasons. Here is a look at his record-setting home run. Later in the bottom of the sixth inning, Alonso hit his 254th home run: Along with the all-time Mets home run lead, Alonso is also the Mets' single-season home run leader with 53 home runs during the 2019 season. Strawberry congratulated Alonso on breaking his record: His home runs on Tuesday were his 27th and 28th of the season. It is a big deal for Alonso because there was some doubt this past offseason about whether he would have a chance to set this record. Even though he was close, the uncertainty around his future, given his free-agent status, created a lot of questions about where he would play. Ultimately, the Mets re-signed him to a two-year, $54 million contract that includes an opt-out clause following the 2025 season. That opt-out will again create some uncertainty about his future, but it is pretty clear Alonso still has a lot of power left in his bat. Whether he returns to the Mets or goes somewhere else, he will remain the franchise's greatest home run hitter for the foreseeable future. He is now on top of the record books for the single season and career.
Packers HC Matt LaFleur sounds alarm on injury situation
The Green Bay Packers added two more pass-catchers to their injury list following Tuesday's practice, as a troubling trend continues in Wisconsin. Per The Athletic's Matt Schneidman, head coach Matt LaFleur shook his head yes but said "no" when asked if he had considered cancelling the Packers' joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday. The answer came moments after tight end Luke Musgrave and wide receiver Romeo Doubs were injured at practice. LaFleur is concerned about the ailments that have affected his first-team offense and defense during training camp this summer. “No, I don’t,” LaFleur responded to a question about whether he feels good about the Packers' health. “Right now, I don’t. We’re missing a lot of key players that are integral to our success as a football team. It is what it is. It’s an opportunity for some other guys, but we definitely had some injuries strike up at some positions where it’s made us pretty thin.” On Tuesday, Green Bay revealed that quarterback Jordan Love was having surgery on his left thumb for an injury he suffered during Saturday's 30-10 loss to the New York Jets. He's expected to return next week and face the Detroit Lions in Week 1. The Packers also hope All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney (calf) can return alongside cornerback Nate Hobbs (meniscus) for Week 1. Per Schniedman, Hobbs was still limping in the locker room on Wednesday. Green Bay was already missing Christian Watson at training camp, as the receiver rehabs from an ACL injury that occurred against the Chicago Bears in January. The Packers believe Watson will begin the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list before returning sometime midseason. LaFleur should be worried about having a substantial part of his roster missing the preseason. Fortunately, the injuries were dealt with early in August, and players like Hobbs and Love should be healthy for September. The issue is that Green Bay doesn't need more injuries to accumulate in the preseason before an 18-week regular season, and potentially the playoffs. LaFleur and Packers fans have a reason to hold their breath at joint practice this week.
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