NFL Analysis
11/3/24
8 min read
Biggest Winners, Losers From 2024 NFL Week 9
We had plenty of blowouts in Week 9, but there were a handful of games that went down to the wire. The NFL had some huge performances and a few outings that left us scratching our heads.
So, without further ado, here are the biggest winners and losers coming out of another wild week of NFL action:
Honorable Mentions:
Winner: DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
Loser: Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears
Winner: Quentin Johnston, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Loser: Derek Carr, QB, New Orleans Saints
NFL Week 9 Winners, Losers
⬆️Winner: Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Is there any quarterback in the NFL playing at a higher level than Joe Burrow? Despite missing his starting left tackle (Orlando Brown), No. 2 wide receiver (Tee Higgins), and starting running back (Zack Moss), Burrow played arguably his best game of the season.
Burrow completed his first 14 passes and 27-of-39 passes in total for 251 yards and five touchdowns. Burrow looked fantastic against the Raiders and did a wonderful job maneuvering the pocket to avoid the pass rush.
Passer rating isn't the end all be all when it comes to quarterback play. However, this was already the sixth time this season Burrow has posted a passer rating of at least 100. He's completing more than 70 percent of his passes this year and has only four interceptions despite averaging 33.5 passing attempts per game.
Burrow has already thrown 20 touchdowns and now has the Bengals within striking distance in the AFC with a record of 4-5. And with a huge game against the Ravens on Thursday Night Football, the Bengals could get back to .500 and make a push for the AFC playoffs.
If Burrow continues to play at this level, the Bengals could be a team that no one wants to face later in the year.
⬆️Winner: Zay Flowers, WR, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens might have the NFL's most dangerous offense, and yes, Lamar Jackson is a big reason why. Derrick Henry also gets a lot of (deserved) praise, but this might be the year for the Ravens because of their No. 1 receiver, Zay Flowers.
Flowers has been fantastic all season, but his best performance of the year came in Week 9. In the first half alone, Flowers caught four passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including a bad-breaking touchdown before halftime that put the Ravens up 24-10.
Flowers has been excellent in the last month, recording at least 110 receiving yards in four of the last five games. The only game that he didn't reach that number was when he suffered an ankle injury against Tampa Bay on Monday Night Football.
Flowers is averaging nearly 80 yards from scrimmage per game this season, and a big reason is that he's developed as a route runner. He's much more reliable on a snap-by-snap basis, and Baltimore can run most of its passing attack through him.
But his ability to make plays after the catch has given this offense an extra dimension. They just haven’t had a receiver this dynamic in the Lamar Jackson era. With the return of Mark Andrews and the addition of Diontae Johnson, the Ravens finally have the right weapons around their star quarterback to win in the playoffs.
If Flowers can continue to play anywhere near this level, it's hard to imagine anyone slowing down this offense once the postseason rolls around.
⬆️Winner: Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
It’ll probably go unnoticed because the Saints lost to the Panthers in Week 9, but Alvin Kamara put on a show. The 29-year-old running back had one of his best performances in years, rushing for 155 yards on 29 carries. That is tied for most of his career, but he also added 60 yards in the receiving game, leading the Saints in receptions and yards.
Kamara racked up 215 yards from scrimmage, which was the only reason New Orleans could move the ball on Sunday. He was consistently breaking tackles and making something out of nothing. That hasn't always been the case for Kamara, but you can certainly argue that this is the best he's looked as a pure runner in the past several seasons.
In a year of older running backs dominating, we shouldn’t discount what Kamara is doing for the Saints in a lost season. He’s already totaled more than 1,000 yards and has seven touchdowns. After signing a much-needed extension, Kamara is earning every penny the Saints are paying him right now.
⬇️Loser: The Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are the NFL's most directionless team.
After yet another blowout loss, the decision to bring back Antonio Pierce for the 2024 season looks worse and worse. One of the reasons why Mark Davis wanted to keep him around was his defense, but the Raiders have allowed 32 or more points in four of their last seven games. It happened again on Sunday, as they allowed the slumping Bengals to score 41 points despite missing several offensive skill players.
The Raiders aren’t any closer to figuring out their quarterback situation, either. They have benched Gardner Minshew three times this season, and they turned to Desmond Ridder at one point against the Bengals. Mishew looked good on the first drive of the game, but his play fell off after that. His inability to create big plays down the field greatly limited Las Vegas’s offense, and he isn’t a threat on the ground at all.
The Raiders believed they were contenders entering the season after a strong second-half push in 2023. But with a record of 2-7, they are buried at the bottom of the AFC, and their future looks pretty grim. Without a long-term option at head coach or quarterback, it’s tough to get excited about the future of this team.
⬇️Loser: Jameis Winston, QB, Cleveland Browns
One week after throwing the game-winning touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens, Jameis Winston came down to earth in Week 9.
Facing the No. 1 ranked scoring defense, the Browns scored just 10 points, and Winston threw three interceptions. That shouldn’t be that surprising, considering Winston should have thrown multiple interceptions against the Ravens last week and didn’t play as well as the numbers suggested.
Winston also took six sacks, and his inability to move around the pocket was a major issue. For everyone hoping that last week’s performance wasn’t a fluke or that the biggest problem the Browns had was just Deshaun Watson, they are sadly mistaken.
Cleveland continues to have huge holes in offense, and its offensive line might be the worst in the NFL. Don’t be surprised if the Browns turn to Dorian Thompson-Robinson sooner rather than later.
⬇️Loser: Mike McCarthy, HC, Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys had plenty of opportunities to upset the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9. Their rag-tag defense did not play terribly, forcing multiple stops and creating timely takeaways. However, the Cowboys lost due to another slow start from their offense and poor playcalling by Mike McCarthy.
Coming out of halftime, the Cowboys trailed 14-10 and received the kickoff. McCarthy told FOX’s Lisa Salters that the key for the offense was staying ahead of the chains, and his team immediately made him look foolish, jumping offsides on the first play. Dallas would score just three points on its next five offensive drives, and the game was all but over at that point. It did make a late push with Cooper Rush at quarterback, but that was too late in the game.
We knew that the Cowboys would struggle on defense without Micah Parsons, Demarcus Lawrence, and Daron Bland. But the offense's continued long stretches without scoring is a major problem. This should have been a get-right game for their offense, and it was anything but until the final minutes of the game.
Dallas just doesn’t do any of the little things well, as penalties, drops, and poor playcalling have consistently crushed this team. All of those things showed up again on Sunday, and with Dak Prescott (hamstring) likely to miss multiple games, the Cowboys' season is all but over.
Dallas is just 3-5 on the season with upcoming games against the Eagles, Texans, and Commanders. With McCarthy entering the final year of his contract, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be the team's coach after that stretch.
Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft
