Week 9 Takeaways for the 2025 NFL Season
The trade deadline is coming Tuesday, and many teams have no idea where they stand. Minnesota won with JJ McCarthy back, but the 2nd-year QB still doesn’t look very good. Houston has an elite defense, but a concussion for QB CJ Stroud ruined their chance to claw back to .500. Atlanta thinks they’re a complete team, but more kicker problems have them at 3-5. And as great as Cincinnati’s offense is, I’m not wasting article space on that putrid defense. What I can do is help some of these team leaders with their evaluations by sharing what I learned from this slate of NFL games in my week 9 takeaways for the 2025 NFL season!
TNF: Ravens Pummel Dolphins in Lamar Jackson’s Return from Injury
Two major storylines were in play for this game: whether the Dolphins could build on last week’s beatdown of the Falcons and if the Ravens could make a charge in the muddled AFC with QB Lamar Jackson back following a 3-game absence. The answers to those questions are “definitely not” and “quite possibly”, respectively. Things started well for Miami, as they took the opening kickoff and drove for a field goal. That ended up being the peak of their evening, as the Dolphins self-destructed on countless occasions. The first (and costliest) faux pas was a Tahj Washington fumble at his own 18, which handed the Ravens an easy TD.
Miami only scored one more field goal all game. Ill-timed penalties, a missed FG, poor pass protection, and another fumble sealed their fate. Now Chris Grier is out as their GM (you can see my grade for that move here). Let’s move on to the Ravens. We all wanted to see how Jackson would play in his return, and he started off a bit rusty as one might expect. He seemed hesitant to run, and I’m not sure he was seeing the field very well (he took two un-Jackson-like sacks). Regardless, he had 2 TD passes thanks to MIA miscues. After halftime, the game clicked for him again, and he added two more scores while looking like himself.
Jackson (18/23, 204 yards, 4 TDs) still didn’t run much, though he had a 13-yard trademark scramble in the 3rd quarter. What we did see from him was a renewed focus on the TE position. Mark Andrews (2/22/2) caught two TDs, Isaiah Likely (3/60) had some big catches, and Charlie Kolar (2/23/1) had a score of his own. That element of the Ravens offense was missing these past few weeks, and it opened everything else up. Soon, Jackson had wide-open receivers, and RB Derrick Henry (19/119) wore down defenses like we’re used to seeing. Even the defense felt energized, stifling the Dolphins for a 28-6 road victory.
I already mentioned that Miami is going nowhere, but what about Baltimore? If this were 2024, they’d be in trouble with 5 losses already. The conference just isn’t as strong at the top this year, and the AFC North in particular is underwhelming. Pittsburgh suddenly has no defense, and neither do the Bengals (their issues are anything but sudden). And Cleveland is…well…Cleveland. The AFC West seems to be Baltimore’s biggest impediment to a Wild Card berth, but a division title is very much in play. Should Jackson continue to play this well, and if the defense surges along with him, these Ravens can still achieve their goals.
Colts and Packers, the League’s Only 1-Loss Teams, Both Upset
Though the Colts came into the week at 7-1, I’ve remained skeptical of them. I can confirm that they’re far better than the cellar dwellers we thought they were, but with such an easy schedule, it has been hard to accurately evaluate them. Truthfully, I didn’t expect Pittsburgh to be a dose of reality for Indy given that their defense has been awful, especially after a 7-0 start to the game. The Steelers clamped down from there and made the high-powered Colts offense into a mistake-filled miss. Pittsburgh forced a whopping 6 turnovers and scored 24 of their 27 points off of those takeaways. QB Daniel Jones reverted to his NYG form at last.
Jones (31/50, 342 yards, TD, 3 INTs; 2 FUM) accounted for 5 of the turnovers, giving the ball away more than the Colts coughed it up during the first 8 weeks combined. He also took 5 sacks. With the Steelers focusing on RB Jonathan Taylor (14/45) and doing so successfully, it fell to Jones to carry the team. He failed miserably. This game ended 27-20, but it was nowhere near as close as that score suggests. Pittsburgh’s offense simply went to bed early. Indianapolis may still glide through the AFC South, but I will not label them contenders despite their record. We’ve seen this movie with Jones before. The sequel took awhile, but it came.
Green Bay only had one loss because they tied Dallas earlier in the year, but they still looked good. They crushed Pittsburgh last week, and a Carolina team that just got whipped by Buffalo seemed like another easy target. Panthers QB Bryce Young returned from his ankle injury but went just 11/20 for 102 yards and an INT. However, HC Dave Canales finally realized the obvious fact about his RB room: Rico Dowdle is the team’s best runner. He paced Carolina all day, accounting for both of their TDs. With 125 rushing yards and 11 more through the air, Dowdle accounted for almost exactly half of the Panthers’ offensive output (265 yards).
Their defense may have impressed me even more. Green Bay had an impossible time scoring, as it was one of those inaccurate days for QB Jordan Love. They moved the ball well but rarely finished drives. Worse still, TE Tucker Kraft went down with a torn ACL. Regardless, they tied the game at 13 because of Carolina’s own offensive struggles and a Dowdle celebration penalty that led to a missed 48-yard PAT by rookie K Ryan Fitzgerald. Given one last drive, Carolina moved down the field, where Fitzgerald redeemed himself with a 49-yard game-winning FG as time expired, claiming a win as a 13.5-point road underdog.
I’m not really sure what to make of the Packers at this point. Just like last year, they sometimes appear to be juggernauts. I just can’t shake the feeling that when it matters most, Love will let them down. Consistency still eludes him, and the team as a whole plays down to their opponents. Amazingly, their two losses have been to the Browns and Panthers, who aren’t exactly accustomed to winning. The NFC North is turning into a gauntlet, making Green Bay’s margin for error very slim. They could win the division, be a Wild Card entrant again, or miss the playoffs entirely. Which result projects to be true may change by the week.
Jaguars Withstand Raiders in Brock Bowers’ Return to Action
If you circled the Jaguars-Raiders matchup as one to get excited about, congratulations. You have psychic powers! Almost nobody expected much from a recently-exposed Jaguars team and a lifeless Raiders squad. For three quarters, the consensus was absolutely correct: LV led 9-6 in a snoozer, with the only excitement coming from Jaguars K Cam Little setting a new NFL record with a 68-yard FG to end the first half. We knew Little could do it, as he drilled a 70-yarder during the preseason, but it was nice that this one counted. I don’t know what happened between the 3rd and 4th quarters, but both teams erupted.
We saw a 31-point 4th quarter between these two offenses. Raiders QB Geno Smith (29/39, 284 yards, 4 TDs, INT) became his old self again, and it’s entirely due to the return of TE Brock Bowers. Back after a multigame absence due to injury, Bowers (12/127/3) immediately regained his elite form, becoming the bane of the Jaguars’ existence. Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence (23/34, 220 yards, INT; 9/24/2 rushing) had a quiet day through the air but scored twice on the ground. WR Parker Washington (8/90) had a career day, which was important without Travis Hunter (IR). Fittingly, regulation ended with a 23-23 tie, and we headed to OT.
Jacksonville choice to receive, which was a bold choice under the new rule. They went down the field and scored though, with Lawrence punching in a QB sneak on 4th and goal. The Raiders responded by scoring a TD of their own (to Bowers of course) with just 16 seconds to spare. LV went for two and had an opening, but Jaguars DT DaVon Hamilton swatted Smith’s pass away, and the Raiders lost 30-29. This was a rare time where I approved of not trying to tie the game. As a 2-5 team, LV didn’t have much to gain from a 2-5-1 record. Sitting at 3-5 might’ve provided hope, making the risk worth it for once. Alas, they couldn’t convert.
Had Jacksonville faced the same decision, I would’ve recommended kicking the PAT. 4-3-1 is notably better than 4-4. However, they did not have to choose, and they escaped with a much-needed win. Their last two games against NFC West foes went very poorly, and they needed to notch their 5th win to gain ground on the Colts. As a fun note, this became the first OT game with two TDs scored thanks to the new rule. I love the change to guarantee both teams the ball unless a defensive score occurs. It’s so much fairer than the old system, and it enabled us to get a great game like this one. Here’s hoping for many more!
Bills Top KC Again in Regular Season; Can They Do It in the Playoffs?
In one of the league’s many oddities, Buffalo and Kansas City (two AFC powerhouses) have split their matchups based on when the games occurred. The Bills were 4-0 in their last four regular-season meetings with the Chiefs but 0-4 against them in the postseason. That’s a stat that KC will obviously take, but it had an impact this offseason. Buffalo spent plenty of resources, both in free agency and during the draft, on players who could specifically help them take down the Chiefs. At least in another regular-season contest, the plan worked. The Bills played a great game and threw KC off in ways few have been able to accomplish.
Two of the new arrivals made an impact on the same play. DE Joey Bosa (sack, 5 QB hits) pressured Patrick Mahomes on a deep pass, and first-round rookie CB Maxwell Hairston picked it off in his second career game. In fact, Buffalo made Mahomes (15/34, 250 yards, INT) miserable for most of the game. He logged his first game with a completion percentage under 50, ran just once for 5 yards, and looked oddly uncomfortable in the pocket due to the Bills’ pressure (3 sacks total). As always, he made some magic and miraculously had a Hail Mary attempt to the the game at the end, but that fell short as he threw under more duress.
Buffalo didn’t just show out on defense in their 28-21 win. The offense was sensational against a Chiefs defense that shut down their last 3 opponents. QB Josh Allen (23/26, 273 yards, TD; 6/19/2 rushing) had one of his most accurate days ever as a passer, while RB James Cook (27/114) became the first 100-yard rusher against KC this year. Finally, I can’t forget about TEs. All 3 of them had big impacts. Dalton Kincaid (6/101/1) was the main receiving threat, while Dawson Knox (1/30) and Jackson Hawes (1/18) each had an important catch while playing massive roles as blockers. They matter far more than WRs do in this offense.
Following a couple of poor showings, Buffalo seems to be back on a roll. They’re keeping pace with the Patriots in the loss column and look like contenders once more. Kansas City should feel a bit alarmed. They don’t usually get bullied like this, especially in the trenches. With what we know about Las Vegas (sans Bowers) and Washington (more on them in a minute), the Chiefs’ defensive flexes don’t look nearly as impressive. This is still a good team of course, and they always figure things out. Their division is tougher than usual though, and teams can certainly find some holes to exploit by following Buffalo’s blueprint.
Rams and Seahawks Dominate Opponents in Show of NFC West’s Might
If you told me to pick one division to name the best in football, the AFC West and NFC North would be contenders, but I’d have to choose the NFC West. Three teams now have 6 wins, and they all earned impressive wins in week 9. San Francisco’s victory over the Giants was rather nondescript, so I’m focusing on the Rams and Seahawks here. Those two teams suffocated their foes, though one of the beatdowns was expected. The LA Rams had to treat the Saints like a professional outfit, but this was their easiest game of the season. LA scored more points in 3 drives than New Orleans earned in the entire game.
QB Matthew Stafford (24/32, 281 yards, 4 TDs), now leading the league with 21 TD passes, is playing better than just about anyone. His chemistry with WR Davante Adams (5/60/2) is improving by the week (particularly in the red zone), and Puka Nacua (7/95/1) returned from injury and didn’t miss a beat. RB Kyren Williams (25/114/1) feasted too, as the Rams had their way with the Saints’ defense. In his first career start, Saints QB Tyler Shough (15/24, 176 yards, TD, INT) had a mediocre day, but I can’t judge him too harshly. The Rams’ defense was just too good. They’re true contenders, but I just wish they had a kicker…
The more surprising display of dominance came from the Seahawks on the road against Washington. Seattle has proven to be stout on defense and above-average on offense. In this game, they were elite in both phases. QB Sam Darnold (21/24, 330 yards, 4 TDs, INT) completed his first 17 pass attempts and finished with more TDs than incompletions. His success in Minnesota was no fluke. WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba (8/129) continues to pace the league in receiving yards, and rookie WR Tory Horton (4/48/2) got back in the mix with Cooper Kupp out (hamstring). Seattle had 31 first-half points and barely tried after the break.
Defensively, the Seahawks smothered the Commanders. They allowed 14 points, 7 of which came in garbage time. QB Jayden Daniels (16/22, 153 yards, INT; 10/51/1) made some plays with his legs, but he had a tough time through the air without several of his receivers available. Seattle earned 4 sacks of the elusive QB, limited Washington’s rushing attack while the game was still in doubt, and provided stifling coverage. Special teams played a role too, with DL Brandon Pili punching the ball out on a Jaylin Lane kick return, which the offense turned into a TD one play later. The 38-14 score was the least of Washington’s worries though.
For some reason, HC Dan Quinn kept Daniels in the game late. By the 4th quarter in a 38-7 game, I’d have pulled him. Worse still, they let him run. On one fateful play, on a routine tackle, Daniels’ left arm bent backward. He needed an immediate cast put on before he walked to the X-ray room, eschewing the cart beside him. It was inexcusable to let him take that beating given the game situation. With a dislocated elbow, Daniels’ year, and thus the Commanders’ season, may be over. This latest ailment was completely avoidable. All we can do is hope that Daniels heals smoothly and comes back stronger than ever in 2026.