Month: November 2024

December 2024 NHL Power Rankings: Nauseous in Nashville- How the Predators Became Prey

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Nashville starting goaltender Juuse Saros takes a stick to the face in a shutout loss to Calgary earlier in the month.

General manager Barry Trotz had a hard decision to make on March eighth earlier this year: should he trade Nashville’s core talent after a hot winning streak or keep everyone together and try for a deep run in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was a hard decision. The Predators were one of the NHL’s most dangerous teams last spring and pushed well-coached Vancouver to a thrilling six game series in the first round of the postseason.

Many serious viewers believed Nashville would be one of the top western conference teams when the season began in October. They signed Tampa Bay’s franchise scoring leader and long tenured captain Steven Stamkos and former Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault. They added defenseman Brady Skjei after trading Ryan McDonagh back to the Lightning. Barry Trotz was already a contender for general manager of the year before the Predators played a regular season game.

The free agency period could be the highlight of Nashville’s year. The Predators were one of two teams to not win a game until the end of October. They’ve won the same number of games in November as they’ve been shutout. While the team’s leading goal scorer is Filip Forsberg, the acquisition of Jonathan Marchessault is a dud. Marchessault has three goals and seven assists after two months. This is a forward who was the core of many successful Golden Knights offenses once they grabbed him in the 2017 expansion draft.

The former Stanley Cup finals MVP isn’t the only one struggling. Former Conn Smythe winner Ryan O’Reilly is having a hard time after last year’s solid season. While O’Reilly and Marchessault both have 12 points as of this writing, at least the former plays better defense. Still, that’s a problem when two of the team’s best signings the last two years went from MVP of a champion winning team to non-existent on offense and the power-play.

This is where most of the struggles are for the Predators. They’re bottom five in goals scored and bottom ten in goals against. No player has gotten double digit goals in almost two months, and former Vezina candidate Juuse Saros is giving up an average two and a half goals a game. Part of Saros’ issues stem from doing too much when the offense can’t score. Five-on-five has been this team’s worst area, and it doesn’t look like a one or two month slump. Captain Roman Josi said at the beginning of November to FanSided’s Nashville page Predlines that, “there’s a hard time breaking out. We’re having a hard time on the backcheck, we’re not playing as a five-man unit and we’re not playing as a team right now. It’s almost like every guy is on their own page.”

This leads us back to Trotz and how he re-tooled the roster the last year and a half. Sports journalist Scott Maxwell wrote an honest opinion on why the Predators are struggling this early. He believes Barry Trotz spending just under $31 million for super stars was the “Plan A” the franchise had in mind. That’s one third of the team’s salary cap before a regular season game. Maxwell also addresses free agent signings the year before and how Nashville needs more center depth than star scorers.

Finally, many say this is also on coach Andrew Brunette. The calls to fire Brunette are constant, but he’s lucky Nashville is unlike many NHL teams where they don’t fire coaches just because there’s a slump. The Predators front office will give Andrew Brunette as much time as possible to fix the ongoing issues throughout the season. If this is just a slow start, there should be an uptick in production. Unfortunately for him, there isn’t much time left until 2025 begins.

Every game in the NHL is hard, and Nashville’s schedule is rife with playoff bound opponents. December has Toronto, the Rangers, Dallas, Colorado, Los Angeles, Winnipeg, Minnesota and a resurgent St. Louis. Barry Trotz could make some harder decisions before the next trade deadline if the Predators are just as bad these last two months.

The Predators struggle to score especially at close range. If Nashville wants to improve, they’ll have to play better offense and score more on second chance opportunities.

Time for the first power rankings of the season. These show where all 32 teams objectively stand going back to the rankings from last season. Some teams will have tiebreakers based off of how they’d perform on a neutral site.

#32 Chicago Blackhawks (final ranking last season: 31)

It shouldn’t be a surprise the worst team in the NHL is the one that can’t score and is second to last in assists. It should surprise viewers that they’re bottom five in shots on the power-play at 0.9. It’s an early season warning when an offense struggles to find time to get shots on net with a one man advantage.

#31 Montreal Canadiens (final ranking last season: 28)

RG’s Marco D’Amico reported veteran Stanley Cup winning defenseman David Savard could be traded before the March deadline. It’s possible Savard gets dealt before the new year if Montreal’s defense continues the downward spiral.

#30 Anaheim Ducks (final ranking last season: 30)

If there was one play that sums up starting goaltender John Gibson’s career in Anaheim, Friday night’s overtime loss to Buffalo had one. Gibson made a highlight reel save against two Sabres scorers and no help. However the save bounced to the front of the net and forward Jiri Kulich scored his second goal of the season up high when John Gibson was sitting in front of the net. No defender came close to stopping Kulich’s shot and there was no way Gibson could make another save given how he made a spectacular one not even five seconds before the game winner.

#29 San Jose Sharks (final ranking last season: 32)

San Jose’s 7-8 since their second, league record-setting nine straight losses to start the season. The Sharks have also beaten playoff hopefuls the last month and play hard. This could be a one month resurgence, but it’s another reminder there are no easy wins in the NHL.

#28 Pittsburgh Penguins (last season’s final ranking: 24)

When both Stu Grimson and Dave Reid subtly suggested on NHL Network for the first time it was time for Pittsburgh and general manager Kyle Dubas to move in a different direction on coach Mike Sullivan, it was like watching a marathon runner reach the final mile on a race. It’s a matter of time before the Penguins decide to let Sullivan go and bring in a fresh face. The big decision the organization must decide before Sullivan goes is what they should do with the roster. As Mike Johnson said not even 24 hours after, Sidney Crosby must be involved. If that means Crosby wants a trade, then it’s time for a re-build.

#27 Columbus Blue Jackets (final ranking last season: 29)

Columbus will be a dark-horse playoff contender. They already have impressive wins against Colorado, Toronto, Edmonton, Boston (where coach Jim Montgomery was fired after the loss), Carolina and a high-scoring thriller over Tampa Bay. Coach Dean Evason’s getting top ten league scoring with players who wouldn’t make first or second lines for most NHL teams.

#26 St. Louis Blues (last season’s final ranking: 17)

All the trade rumors and roster issues St. Louis had went out the window late Saturday night when general manager Doug Armstrong fired Drew Bannister and immediately hired Jim Montgomery. The defense gave up eight goals in a game twice in November and has a bottom five offense. Armstrong wants the Blues to remain a playoff contender and admitted he made the move this fast because of Montgomery’s excellent decision making and the defensive improvements he’s coached to every team. A dominant win against the Rangers in Jim Montgomery’s debut backed it up.

#25 Philadelphia Flyers (last season’s final ranking: 16)

Starting goaltender Samuel Ersson landing on injured reserve puts a bottom five scoring defense further behind. Coach John Tortorella is known for getting the most out of defensive depth but even this is too much for him.

#24 Detroit Red Wings (last season’s final ranking: 19)

One could argue Detroit should be lower in the rankings, but the two things stopping that is the amount of roster talent and how worse the other eight teams are. However we can agree head coach Derek Lalonde’s on the hot seat and viewers are impatient with the Red Wings slow start.

#23 Utah Hockey Club (last season’s final ranking as the Arizona Coyotes: 27)

If you take out the four wins out of their first six games, Utah’s lost 11 their last 15. Since the relocation to another state could finally be on everyone’s mind, it’s ok to excuse some of the play for now. Remember, this is mostly a young roster that’s been outmatched most of the last five years.

#22 Buffalo Sabres (last season’s final ranking: 22)

Is it possible the game’s passed coach Lindy Ruff? He’s excellent with improving offenses wherever he’s gone, but the run-and-gun style creates problems for his defenses as many saw in New Jersey. Buffalo is plus three in goal differential and has given up five or more goals to Pittsburgh, Columbus, Florida, Montreal and Philadelphia. The Sabres need a lot of help in net the next five months.

#21 New York Islanders (last season’s final ranking: 20)

General manager Lou Lamoriello’s master plan of transforming the roster with Patrick Roy as coach features one of the worst offenses a viewer could lay eyes on, the second worst power-play in the league, the second worst penalty kill and the most blown third period leads with six. Islander fans shouldn’t be upset though. At least they have the fewest penalty minutes two months into the season with 121.

#20 Ottawa Senators (last season’s final ranking: 26)

One topic under-discussed is how decimated the Senators goaltending depth is again. This time it’s coming from minor league systems. Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg will be relied on the next month or two in every game. Fortunately for them, coach Travis Green is known to stay a few steps ahead and is balancing when their play. This will show how much the defense improves against playoff contending opponents.

#19 Nashville Predators (last season’s final ranking: 10)

Nashville has too much talent to be a bottom ten team in the rankings. This is after all, an objective analysis of where teams stand almost two months into the regular season. There will be few times where an NHL or NBA team skyrockets ten spots or higher.

That said, the Predators do have some positives left they can use to claw back into the playoff race. Special teams is a big reason there’s still hope. Nashville’s great on the power-play and has the best penalty killing unit. While you could argue that won’t last long, ask how confident you’d be with that thought if the Predators start playing as a team.

#18 Seattle Kraken (last season’s final ranking: 25)

Seattle’s painfully mediocre, which is surprising given how general manager Ron Francis’ hiring of Dan Bylsma excited everyone. Still, painfully mediocre is better than what the other 14 teams behind the Kraken have right now.

#17 Calgary Flames (last season’s final ranking: 23)

Calgary fans won’t be happy with this ranking. Yes, they’re ahead of Edmonton, Colorado, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Dallas. However, this is an objective ranking. There’s no debate Dallas and Los Angeles are complete teams. The Oilers, Avalanche and Canucks will also have winning streaks at some point because of scoring depth, talent and coaching. When that happens, there’s not much leading scorers Rasmus Andersson, Matt Coronato, MacKenzie Weegar and Andrei Kuzmenko can do to counter.

#16 Edmonton Oilers (last season’s final ranking: 9)

Still, that doesn’t exempt neither the Oilers nor Avalanche for their early season sputters. Edmonton had an exhausting run to the finals last season and hasn’t played with the same energies similar to when Jay Woodcroft was fired last year. Kris Knoblauch balancing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s minutes could give this team the extra push when spring starts.

#15 Colorado Avalanche (last season’s final ranking: 7)

As for Colorado, they’re in trouble if there’s no solid goaltending. Alexandar Georgiev is struggling and all Avalanche netminders combine for second worst in goals against. This puts more pressure on the the offense to out-score opponents in high scoring games. Don’t be surprised if general manager Joe Sakic is forced to trade for a netminder before Christmas.

#14 New Jersey Devils (last season’s final ranking: 21)

Everything written on this site about the Devils has been accurate. The defensive improvements have made New Jersey a playoff contender nearly two months into the season. Their highlight and earliest test was a five-on-three penalty kill on the road at Florida, November 12th. Not only did they shut down the Panther power-play, they won 4-1. The Devils won again in a higher scoring game two nights later 6-2. The coaching and goaltender changes make New Jersey a top team this season.

#13 Boston Bruins (last season’s final ranking: 5)

General manager Don Sweeney fired Jim Montgomery because of an 8-9-3 start. Montgomery had 41 losses in 184 games. That might be the dumbest move Sweeney’s made in a long time. If Boston continues to play average the next two months, it will be a firesale at the trade deadline.

#12 Vancouver Canucks (last season’s final ranking: 4)

Surprisingly the Canucks are better in net to start the season than many expected. Vancouver must improve their five-on-five play if they want to be taken seriously. That shouldn’t be a problem once winter begins.

#11 Tampa Bay Lightning (last season’s final ranking: 11)

What a difference a healthy Andrei Vasilevskiy makes for Tampa. The Lightning have a top ten defense and have won at least a dozen games over playoff hopefuls because he’s started most of them. Their dominant home win of Winnipeg made Vasilevskiy the fastest goaltender in NHL history to reach 300 wins. If the offense and special teams can have a better December, Tampa Bay could be near the top of the eastern conference standings.

#10 Los Angeles Kings (last season’s final ranking: 14)

This and the next two team placements won’t be popular given how well all three teams have played to start the season. Remember, these are objective rankings. Los Angeles started hot last year and cooled down to where Jim Hiller took over as coach. Right now they’re unpredictable despite the veteran talent. Another month will show us what we can expect of the Kings.

#9 Minnesota Wild (last season’s final ranking: 18)

It’s almost criminal how there’s little conversation on Minnesota. If Winnipeg didn’t have a historic start, everyone would be praising forward Kirill Kaprizov’s play and Filip Gustavsson’s goaltending. Regardless of conversation, the Wild learned last year’s lessons and had a great start in October. Their mental confidence should keep the stellar performances consistent.

#8 Washington Capitals (last season’s final ranking: 15)

After forward Alex Ovechkin surpassed Gordie Howe for second most goals scored all-time, I made the prediction he could be the first NHL player to score 1,000 goals. He’s going to shatter Wayne Gretzky’s goal record this year and get 900 (outside of missing four to six weeks with a fractured fibula). 1,000 is easily the next barrier he gets to and should surpass.

#7 Toronto Maple Leafs (last season’s final ranking: 12)

In some ways center John Tavares is still team captain with Auston Matthews’ slow start to the season. That’s helped the Leafs keep a top ten offense while the defense has injury issues. It’s early, but replacing Sheldon Keefe with Craig Berube at coach looks like a win.

#6 Vegas Golden Knights (last season’s final ranking: 13)

There’s a difference between Vegas and Los Angeles’ hot starts from last year. The Golden Knights grew tired after winning a championship and scraped into the postseason. The Kings sputtered and needed a new coach. Vegas’ start this year is similar to last season’s minus the fatigue. It’s fascinating to see how they haven’t missed a beat after losing Jonathan Marchessault to free agency.

#5 New York Rangers (last season’s final ranking: 1)

New York’s already one of the best teams due to their goaltending tandem of Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick. They’ll be on another level once center Mika Zibanejad gets hot. When that happens, this could be the best team in both the metropolitan and the eastern conference.

#4 Dallas Stars (last season’s final ranking: 2)

I was hesitant to have Dallas back in the playoffs due to how much the central division improved in free agency. The Stars still dominate every side of the puck while younger players like Mason Marchment and Logan Stankoven get better. No one expected Matt Duchene to lead the team with eleven goals two months into the season. All credit goes to coach Peter DeBoer for how he keeps improving the players.

#3 Florida Panthers (last season’s final ranking: 6)

Coach Paul Maurice talked about how the mentality of facing everyone’s best actually came last year after Florida won the President’s trophy. Two months into the season, it’s hard to tell if that’s true. The Panthers have lost four straight but still look like the team to beat. Florida needs more consistency on defense and to stop taking dumb penalties. Only serious injuries and mistakes could derail a deep Panthers postseason run.

#2 Carolina Hurricanes (last season’s final ranking: 3)

During Carolina’s eight game home winning streak, the Hurricanes have:

  • scored 41 goals (four plus goals in each game during streak)
  • given up 16 goals on defense
  • have a 36.4% power-play
  • have an 85% penalty kill

Good luck to the future road teams playing in Lenovo Center.

#1 Winnipeg Jets (last season’s final ranking: 8)

The top spot shouldn’t surprise anyone. 18 wins in 22 games should make almost every team number one in the rankings. Winnipeg doesn’t have a bad loss after two months. That’s something no other team can brag. Coach Scott Arniel found another gear previous coaches didn’t think possible.

Winnipeg’s Vezina winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck makes one of his 26 saves against the Lightning earlier this month.

NFL Week Eleven Winners and Losers

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The eleventh week of the NFL season was as chaotic and fun. The upsets shocked not just the football world but the playoff picture in both conferences. There’s still a lot to process and breakdown because most fans and analysts didn’t expect so many highlights. Time to break down the best and worst of week eleven.

Winners: Taysom Hill

Anyone who’s watched the NFL for a while knows the Saints’ Taysom Hill is one of the best gadget players in the league. He can play any position on offense or special teams. Hill had one of his best career games Sunday.

Taysom Hill completed two passes for 18 yards and an interception, but he had a better day running and catching the football. The former quarterback turned tight-end ran seven times for 138 yards and three touchdowns, caught eight passes for 50 yards, and ran for 42 kick return yards. His first score gave New Orleans their first lead of the game. His last two in the fourth quarter sealed the Saints’ fourth win of the season.

New Orleans had their best offensive game since week two back in September. Interim coach Darren Rizzi is finally getting production from offensive players like Taysom Hill. Both have figured out that if the Saints want to stay alive in the playoff race, they have to run the football and dominate time of possession.

Miami Dolphins

Miami went from a solid, Monday night win in Los Angeles to playing a home game against the Raiders coming off a bye week. It would be understandable if the Dolphins played terrible given the timing. However, Miami played better than they did last Monday night.

The Dolphins offense started hot with a quick touchdown from starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to tight-end Jonnu Smith. After Vegas trailed by four with Daniel Carlson’s second field goal in the game, Miami made second half adjustments and got their second touchdown from receiver Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins followed up with a 17 point fourth quarter from Smith, runningback De’Von Achane and kicker Jason Sanders.

While it was a good sign the offense played better each quarter, the defense again stepped up and had another good performance. They sacked quarterback Gardner Minshew II three times, intercepted him once and gave up 268 passing yards. Outside of a Jakobi Meyers 20 yard run, the rushing game was snuffed out.

Miami’s back to two games under .500 after a week. Many expected the Dolphins to fade away with other AFC hopefuls playing well since October. Miami has New England and their first of two games against the Jets the next three weeks. The Dolphins could return as a playoff threat before Christmas.

Geno Smith and Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Seattle struggled to beat San Francisco since star quarterback Russell Wilson was traded to Denver. The 49ers beat the Seahawks six straight times heading into Sunday’s matchup. Seattle needed quarterback Geno Smith to play well and keep their postseason hopes alive with a division win.

Smith completed 25 of his 32 passes for 221 yards and an 82.4 passer rating. Although he threw an interception to start the second half, Geno Smith led an eleven play, 85 yard drive that included passes of 10+ yards to receivers D.K. Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the Seahawks’ final drive of the game. Smith ran for the winning touchdown with 12 seconds left.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had another big game with ten catches on eleven targets for 110 yards. Four of those catches went for 38 yards on the final drive and kept Seattle’s chances of victory alive. Smith-Njigba’s had 17 catches for 290 yards and two touchdowns his last two games. Per the Seahawks PR department, that’s the third most over a two game span in franchise history, and the most for any receiver this century. Only retired Hall-of-Famer Steve Largent did this (more than once) with more yards. The sophomore wide receiver’s talent and growth helps Seattle’s chances of winning the NFC west.

Losers: Cleveland’s last first half possession in New Orleans

The Saints offense made it easy in the fourth quarter versus Cleveland, but before the offensive barrage began, the Browns kept it close for three quarters. While it didn’t determine the outcome, Cleveland could’ve had a better second half game-plan if they scored at the end of the first half.

The Browns had a 14 play, 84 yard drive that began after the two minute warning. Quarterback Jameis Winston led a good drive, but stalled a couple of plays into New Orleans’ redzone. After Winston threw incomplete past Cedric Thompson, kicker Dustin Hopkins came onto the field for a 33 yard field goal. He hooked it left for a miss.

Yet the Browns caught a break. A side judge called a penalty on the Saints for holding. That meant Cleveland had a fresh set of downs with eleven seconds left and could either cut the deficit to four or take the lead. Jameis Winston threw two incomplete passes at New Orleans’ nine yard line in four seconds. The Browns opted for another Dustin Hopkins field goal attempt, this one for 25 yards.

Hopkins hooked it left for another miss as time expired.

Justin Tucker

If someone told me the first kicker would make the losers column eleven weeks into the season, I could believe it. If I was told it would be one of the most accurate kickers of all-time in Justin Tucker, that would be a shock. It’s also a shock this is one of Tucker’s worst seasons half-way into the year.

The difference between Pittsburgh having a two game, first place lead and Baltimore having the tie-breaker for first place came down to two missed field goals by Ravens kicker Justin Tucker. The Steelers didn’t score a touchdown against their division rival, but their kicker Chris Boswell made all six field goal attempts. Tucker missed two late in the first quarter and is no longer the most accurate kicker in NFL history. The Steelers won 18-16.

Part of Tucker’s struggles are miscommunication with the new ball-holder after punter Sam Koch retired. While that’s understandable for some of his early season misses, it doesn’t explain why Baltimore relies more on quarterback Lamar Jackson near mid-field than they would with their kicker. Perhaps it’s a one season issue, but it’s something to be aware of before the playoffs.

Kansas City Chiefs offense

Kansas City finally lost their first regular season game since December 2023 on Sunday. Buffalo played their most complete game of the season and left no doubt who was the better team. Conversations about how the Chiefs offense have multi-layered problems ring true.

If Kansas City put up better offensive stats, the nine point loss wouldn’t be seen as a big issue. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes II might’ve thrown less than 200 yards and two interceptions, but he also threw three touchdowns and gave the Chiefs a lead multiple times in the first half. While runningback Kareem Hunt ran 14 times for 60 yards, no one else had more than one rushing attempt.

The receivers weren’t much better. Xavier Worthy was the leading receiver with four catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. All of Worthy’s stats were on Kansas City’s first touchdown of the game, and 31 of those yards were on one catch. This would’ve been a great game for Worthy to be the featured receiver and continue a breakout game. Instead he disappeared after the scoring drive and couldn’t use his speed to separate himself from defensive backs. DeAndre Hopkins being used on slant routes isn’t creating mismatches downfield and increases risks of dangerous throws. Even tight-ends Noah Gray and Travis Kelce struggle finding separation against opposing linebackers.

It doesn’t help that even if Mahomes recognizes these issues, he’s trying to cover it up by doing too much. That always leads to more turnovers and scoring opportunities for opposing offenses. Buffalo’s first touchdown and lead came after a Patrick Mahomes interception 45 seconds into the game. The offense has to fix a lot of things and start using dynamic playmakers in the right ways.

Note: NFL’s Winners and Losers will not be published until mid-December due to the writer, editor and publisher having personal reasons and time off. Publications will resume around the conclusion of week 14. The NBA and NHL power rankings will return around U.S. Thanksgiving.

NFL Week Ten Winners and Losers

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It was a fun-filled and memorable week ten. There was a game in Germany, coaches and players shed tears, a roller coaster matchup in Washington D.C. and a wild Sunday night game. Then there’s playoff implications for a lot of teams struggling to stay above .500. In an eventful weekend, here are the winners and losers.

Winners: Minnesota Vikings defense

Minnesota’s win in Jacksonville was brutal. Both offenses were awful and struggled to score. The Vikings stole a win thanks to their defense.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores had the defense ready to confuse backup quarterback Mac Jones (more on him later) and shut down the Jaguars running game. The Viking defense had three sacks and two interceptions against Jones while running back Travis Etienne Jr.’s afternoon highlight was an 18 yard gain in the first quarter.

Minnesota has to fix the offense after a few ugly games, but the defense is getting head coach Kevin O’Connell needed wins to stay alive in the playoff race.

Russell Wilson

It’s been a long time since Russell Wilson was in the winners column. The 13 year veteran quarterback has been through a lot of challenges the last three years but is almost back to his elite form.

Sunday’s win in Washington gave viewers a taste of how coveted Wilson was in previous offseasons. He completed 14 of 28 passes for 195 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a 93.6 passer rating. All three of his scores gave Pittsburgh a lead at some point in the game. His last passing touchdown went to new trade acquisition Mike Williams for 32 yards with two and a half minutes left in the game.

Wilson playing better football with an improving offensive line makes Pittsburgh one of the more dangerous teams in the AFC. They’ll be fun to watch the rest of the month if the offense keeps playing like they did against the Commanders.

Philadelphia Eagles offense

Any team playing Dallas the second half of the season is probably going to put up a lot of points and yards. However, Sunday’s win in Texas gives the Eagles offense more confidence heading into Thursday’s first divisional matchup against Washington.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the star of Sunday’s divisional beatdown. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a 115 passer rating. Hurts also ran seven times for 56 yards and two scores. Philadelphia would’ve hit 40 points if head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t pull him in the fourth quarter.

Runningback Saquon Barkley didn’t have to do much with Hurts getting most of the points. He ran 14 times for 66 yards and caught a 12 yard pass. Sirianni also let him rest in the fourth quarter to make sure he gets more usage Thursday. Top receiver A.J. Brown had 109 yards on five catches and former first round pick Jahan Dotson is getting more game reps. The offense gets better and more dangerous every week. It’s quietly made Philadelphia the second best team in the NFC.

Sunday Night Football

The Lions and Texans might have played the best Sunday night football game anyone’s watched in the last year. Unlike other slotted primetime games (more on those later), Detroit versus Houston lived up to and surpassed expectations.

The Texans roared out to a 23-7 first half lead, catching the Lions off-guard. Star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was held to two catches on three targets at halftime. Both quarterbacks threw seven combined interceptions, with Jared Goff throwing five (Goff threw a total of four the first nine weeks of the season). Defensive backs Carlton Davis and Kamari Lassiter had two interceptions each and the opposing defenses found ways to neutralize each offenses go-to receivers.

Detroit’s comeback started before Goff’s fourth interception. After getting their second touchdown of the game, the Lions missed the two point conversion. The defense made sure Houston’s offense never found rhythm in the second half and flustered sophomore quarterback C.J. Stroud IV. Detroit kicker Jake Bates had a game-tying and game-winning field goal that almost bounced off the goal uprights. Audiences won’t forget this game anytime soon.

Losers: Whoever is Jacksonville’s starting quarterback

There’s been a lot of criticism of Jaguars starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence for years. No matter what you think of how average he (at best) plays, Lawrence could have gotten Jacksonville their third win of the season if he started Sunday.

That honor went to fellow 2018 first round pick Mac Jones since Trevor Lawrence was out with what could be a season ending shoulder injury. Jones had a good start, giving the Jaguars a lead with a one yard touchdown run in the first quarter. It went downhill from there.

Jones barely threw over 100 yards and his two interceptions came at the worst time after Minnesota took the lead midway through the fourth quarter. He had a hard time finding open receivers and completed only one pass longer than 20 yards. Mac Jones isn’t a mobile threat either as he ran four other times for seven yards (outside of his touchdown run).

A lot of viewers wondered how Trevor Lawrence regressed after an epic playoff collapse against Los Angeles in early 2023. Watching Jacksonville play offense for four quarters yesterday showed it might be everything quarterback related and not just the injured starter.

Indianapolis Colts offense

Indianapolis is in the middle of the playoff race after getting back to .500. A big part of why was due to the offense playing better and the receivers improving each game with Joe Flacco at quarterback. Those days could be a distant memory after Sunday.

Flacco completed 26 of 35 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions. His second touchdown was a meaningless ten yarder to Alec Pierce with eight seconds left in the game. Joe Flacco was a big reason the Colts lost against a better coached Bills team. Buffalo was more aggressive after cornerback Taron Johnson returned a 23 yard interception for a touchdown early in the game. After Indianapolis got their first lead in the second quarter, the offense couldn’t run out the clock to end the half. That meant Buffalo’s offense had one more chance to score. The Bills got a field goal as time expired.

Joe Flacco led the offense to three straight turnovers in the second half: a sack fumble, turnover on downs, and an interception. Buffalo got ten points off those turnovers and put the game out of reach before Indianapolis’ last score. Many will blame Joe Flacco for the loss, but offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter and head coach Shane Steichen should’ve made more changes after one of those second half turnovers.

Todd Bowles

It’s rare a veteran, Super Bowl winning coach gets unlucky twice in one week. Head coach Todd Bowles and the Buccaneers were dealt another deflating loss Sunday after playing for a tie.

Bowles probably had the right plan, but Chase McLaughlin’s 26 yard field goal on fourth and goal at San Francisco’s eight yard line left too much time on the clock for the 49ers offense. Quarterback Brock Purdy had a great game and San Francisco’s offense got a lot of yards throughout the afternoon. There was a good chance the 49ers could get a game winning score with 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Purdy did his best, throwing four passes for 39 yards in 34 seconds. Kicker Jake Moody made his only kick of the game for 44 yards. Tampa took their second loss in a row.

It’s worse knowing NFC south-leading Atlanta lost to a Saints team that fired their head coach last week. The Buccaneers have battled injuries throughout the season and now bad luck decisions from their head coach. Their bye week came at the best time.

Whoever scheduled the late afternoon games

There were complaints before the season began that Germany would be stuck with the worst game of the year in Giants versus Panthers. That matchup turned out to be decent compared to what U.S. audiences got late Sunday afternoon on CBS and FOX.

The most competitive game of the later afternoon trio was Tennessee at Los Angeles. The Titans offense had little chance of scoring more than ten points against one of the league’s best defenses, but it was close. Arizona and Philadelphia obliterated their opponents by halftime. While the Jets have quit on the season and their interim head coach, the Cowboys are one of the most inept teams to the point AT&T stadium blinds their own receivers when trying to score. The media made this a trending topic and several quotes from receiver CeeDee Lamb and owner Jerry Jones went viral.

After ten weeks of regular season action, one ponders why the league hasn’t flexed better games into the late afternoon spot. Denver v. Kansas City would’ve been a more thrilling matchup than watching gaffe-prone Will Levis and backup quarterback Cooper Rush get slapped around for three hours.

NFL Week Nine Winners and Losers

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We’re officially in the second half of the NFL 2024-2025 regular season. Some teams are rising in draft position while others inch closer to the playoffs. Postseason hopefuls want higher seeding further into November. Without further delay here are the winners and losers after week nine.

Winners: Josh Allen

Buffalo’s starting quarterback Josh Allen is an MVP candidate this year. Another good game and home win against a division rival increased his chances for the award.

Josh Allen completed 25 of 39 passes for 235 yards, three touchdowns and a 95.6 passer rating. Allen played his best in the second half, throwing two of his three touchdowns for 64 yards in the third quarter. His third score was a two yard touchdown to Quintin Morris to give the Bills another lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Josh Allen’s lauded for his mobility, toughness and improved accuracy the last two years. This season is his career best and division wins like the one yesterday show it.

Baltimore Ravens offense

Most who follow the NFL had a feeling Denver wouldn’t get a road win in Baltimore due to their lack of offensive talent. However, many viewers did expect the Broncos to keep the score closer. The Ravens offense made sure that never happened.

Baltimore’s offense started hot and didn’t let up. The league’s best runningback Derrick Henry began the scoring barrage with a seven yard touchdown run. It was the 100th rushing touchdown of Henry’s NFL career. He also ran for a six yard score midway through the third quarter.

Franchise star quarterback Lamar Jackson made it look easy against Denver’s secondary, throwing the same number of touchdowns as he did incompletions (three). Two of his scores went to Zay Flowers in the second quarter, sealing an early double digit win. Jackson set a record for most games with a perfect passer rating (four) and recorded his 37th game with a passer rating of 100 or above (via StatMuse).

Denver has one of the league’s best defenses and got crushed. Baltimore’s scored more than 40 points for the third time in five games. It’s hard for any opposing defense to keep the Ravens offense off the scoreboard all four quarters with a fully healthy Henry and Jackson on the field.

Bryce Young and Chuba Hubbard

The former 2023 number one overall pick struggled every start heading into Sunday. Quarterback Bryce Young is constantly criticized for not scoring more than ten points a game unless it’s garbage time. Sunday could be a turning point in his young career.

Young led Carolina to a divisional home win against New Orleans. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 171 yards, a touchdown and a 77.6 passer rating. His passing score gave the Panthers their first lead of the game.

Once Young grew more confident, it opened up more big play opportunities for runningback Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard got both of Carolina’s second half touchdowns including the game-winner. His 72 yards on 15 carries took a lot of time off the clock and the Panthers offensive line wore out the Saints defensive front.

There aren’t many highlights for Carolina’s season, but there could be something to build from if the young team can win another game like this in Germany next weekend.

Arizona Cardinals

Not many people had Arizona with a one game first place lead in the NFC west after week nine. The Cardinals finished Sunday on a three game winning streak and still have tiebreakers over the Rams and 49ers.

Arizona cruised to a 20 point victory against Chicago. Most would assume star quarterback Kyler Murray put up big numbers in the win. Instead it was the runningback quartet of James Conner, Emari Demercado, Trey Benson and Trey McBride combining for 211 yards and three touchdowns. It didn’t matter that no receiver had more than 35 yards when their defense snuffed out the Bears offense.

The Cardinal defense sacked rookie quarterback Caleb Williams six times and gave up less than 200 passing yards. Chicago also had less than 70 rushing yards. Any time the Bears offense tried to find rhythm, Arizona’s secondary shut down their star receivers and put more pressure on Chicago’s offensive line. This was the Cardinals most complete game outside their division and it sets up a smoother second half schedule after their week ten bye. It’s possible the Cardinals keep their division lead heading into December.

Losers: Gardner Minshew II

For years, many wondered if Gardner Minshew II could be an NFL starting quarterback. In Minshew’s defense, he played for multiple, unstable teams where ownership wanted quick changes. This meant most viewers didn’t know if he could be a long-term starter.

After Vegas’ road loss to Cincinnati, it’s clear Gardner Minshew II isn’t a long-term starting quarterback for any NFL team. Although Minshew helped the Raiders get a fast seven point lead and later tie the game at ten, he struggled to find open receivers and couldn’t create any game-changing plays in the second and third quarter. Gardner Minshew completed ten of 17 passes for 124 yards before head coach Antonio Pierce benched him midway through the third quarter in another double digit loss.

The Raiders have a talented receiving core and need to run the football. Minshew doesn’t utilize offensive talent well and can’t scramble in the pocket or help run the ball. He lacks creativity on a struggling offense. Minshew’s also been benched in almost half his starts this season. It’s time Vegas goes another direction at quarterback.

Dallas Cowboys

Everything went wrong for Dallas Sunday. The Cowboys had one of their most embarrassing performances of the season. The road loss was so bad, it could determine whether owner and general manager Jerry Jones fires head coach Mike McCarthy at the end of November.

This year’s Cowboys team was the first in 24 years to have four turnovers on downs. The plays called on each failed fourth down attempt were read well by Atlanta’s defense and picked apart by FOX color commentator Greg Olson. Outside of fourth down, the Dallas offense was decimated with injuries to starting quarterback Dak Prescott and star receiver CeeDee Lamb. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush did little outside of a meaningless touchdown pass with the Cowboys down 14 late in the fourth quarter.

Most analysts knew Dallas’ defense wasn’t going to be as good as last years, but it’s shocking to watch how much it’s regressed. Starting quarterback Kirk Cousins was 19 of 24 for 222 yards, three touchdowns and a 144.8 passer rating. Runningbacks Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined 104 yards and another touchdown. The Cowboys are awful on every side of the ball and probably won’t improve with the number of playoff-bound opponents on their schedule the next three weeks. It’s possible the whole coaching staff will be jobless by January if Dallas looks as bad, if not worse than they were Sunday.

Matt LaFleur

Many will laud Detroit for another dominant road win against a divisional opponent this week. The Lions deserve praise for proving they’re again the best team in both their division and conference. That said, Green Bay’s head coach made a lot of errors that sealed Detroit’s win.

It starts with not pulling starting quarterback Jordan Love after the first half. Love’s 41 yard completion to Jayden Reed was a great play. However, Love limped off the field after the second quarter ended. There were heavy rains throughout the game in Green Bay and playing Jordan Love the second half was a danger to the young quarterback’s legs. Backup Malik Willis has won every game he’s played this season. His mobility in wet weather would’ve added more creativity to a stagnant offense.

There were more mistakes in the second half. After a nine yard run by Chris Brooks early in the fourth quarter, LaFleur insisted the Packers get the remaining yard by throwing two straight incompletions. On fourth-and-one, Green Bay finally ran it for no gain. The Lions got the ball back at their own nine yard line.

A hobbled starting quarterback who should’ve been pulled after one half led an inept offense that converted only three of 12 third downs. Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt revealed Matt LaFleur is also 1-5 in his last six home games against divisional opponents. LaFleur’s got to prepare better against the NFC north if Green Bay wants to make the playoffs and not have his team worry about Detroit running up the score.

Geno Smith’s two red zone interceptions

You won’t find many instances where starting quarterbacks play like they’re blind, but there are exceptions. Seattle’s starting quarterback Geno Smith had the unique ability to commit two of these plays deep in a division rivals territory in one quarter.

The first one is awful because runningback Kenneth Walker III was wide open and near the opponent’s goalline, something rarely seen in a divisional matchup. Smith might not have peripheral vision because Walker didn’t get the ball on the play. That honor went to Rams defensive-back Kamren Kinchens. His 103 yard interception return for a touchdown is the longest defensive play in franchise history.

The second might’ve been worse since the Seahawks blocked a Rams punt and should’ve gotten points the following possession. Kinchens again intercepted Smith at Los Angeles’ four yard line. Those two interceptions are a big reason Seattle lost and is at the bottom of the NFC west.