We are now 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. Here are the winners and losers after week nine.
Winners: Drake London
It’s rare someone on a losing team gets featured in the winners section, but Atlanta wide receiver Drake London deserves this spot after a career day in New England. London also doesn’t share blame for the Falcons taking a loss.
Drake London was most of Atlanta’s offense on Sunday. He had nine catches for 118 yards and all three touchdowns. No matter which Patriot defender covered London, he found a way to get open and keep the Falcons in the game. New England only won because John Parker Romo missed the game-tying extra point after London’s third touchdown.
Atlanta’s playoff chances hinge on their star wide receiver. The more offensive coordinator Zac Robinson utilizes Drake London and makes him the focal point each possession and game, the better chances the Falcons have of winning.
Carolina Panthers
Anytime a team wins a low-scoring game, it’s due either to both teams playing great defense or they’re bad. Carolina played the 5-1-1 Packers in Lambeau Field and did the impossible; won a low-scoring defensive game.
The Panthers offense used everything they had to pull out a win. Runningback Rico Dowdle ran 25 times for 130 yards and both touchdowns. Dowdle’s four carries for 21 yards on Carolina’s last offensive possession got kicker Ryan Fitzgerald into position for the game winning 49 yard field goal. Fitzgerald did miss an extra point earlier in the game, but when his team needed three winning points, he delivered.
Carolina’s defense had one of their best games of the season. Although Green Bay lost dominant tight-end Tucker Kraft to a torn ACL, the Panthers frustrated quarterback Jordan Love throughout the game. They recorded one sack and four passes knocked down. Safety Tre’von Moehrig intercepted Love and returned the ball 36 yards midway through the third quarter. Eight plays later, Dowdle ran for Carolina’s second touchdown.
Many viewers don’t want to watch a barebones Panthers roster stack hard-fought wins. They should, because head coach Dave Canales has the team bought in and playing hard every game. Do not be surprised to see the Panthers as a dark-horse playoff candidate throughout November.
Cam Little
Jacksonville’s Cam Little might be the first kicker who’s ever made the winners and losers section on this website at separate times during an NFL season. Although Little cost the Jaguars a home win earlier in the season against Seattle, he was dialed in and a reason Jacksonville won Sunday in Las Vegas.
Cam Little now holds the NFL record of longest field goal completed in a regular or postseason game. His booming 68 yard make helped the Jaguars earn their fifth win of the year. Guess everything worked out.
Seattle Seahawks
In too many previous years, Seattle came off the bye week slow, with sloppy and sluggish play. This was a road game in Washington where a desperate Commanders team had to win. Simultaneously, they retired the number of a beloved Hall of Fame wide receiver. It felt like a trap game for Seattle. Instead the Seahawks dominated all 60 minutes.
After a fast first possession from Washington, Seattle’s offense went 12 plays, 90 yards and eight minutes for the game’s first score. The Seahawks then scored two touchdowns a minute apart in the second quarter after the Commanders committed a special teams blunder.
Star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had over 100 yards receiving at halftime. Starting quarterback Sam Darnold completed all 16 of his passes for over 250 yards and four touchdowns before half-time (his 17th straight completion tied a franchise record with Warren Moon). Darnold finished with over 325 passing yards, four scores, three incompletions and was never sacked. According to NFL Network’s Dante Koplowitz-Fleming, the only other quarterback to do this in the Super Bowl era was Johnny Unitas against the Atlanta Falcons in 1967.
Seattle also enjoyed a stellar defensive performance. The Seahawks sacked Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels four times and pressured him each snap. Daniels threw an interception to safety Ty Okada on the Commanders second possession of the game, which led to Seattle’s second touchdown and quickly put the game out of reach. Even when Daniels tried running for a late touchdown in the fourth quarter, Seattle stood firm and accidentally ended the sophomore’s season by dislocating his left elbow on a goal-line tackle.
There has been constant criticism by serious fans that the Seahawks need to be talked about more for how hard, physical and dominant their play is on every side of the ball. It’s safe to say everyone within the NFL world will be hearing about them this whole week.
Losers: Tennessee Titans offense
Anyone who watched Los Angeles play in Tennessee knew the only reason the Chargers squeaked out a win was because the Titans have the NFL’s worst offense. Halfway into the season, Tennessee has proven it and left no doubt.
Two of the Titans three sides of the ball scored a touchdown Sunday. The defense recorded an interception returned for a touchdown to grab an early lead, and the special teams returned a punt for a touchdown to get the lead back. The offense needed to score one and gain some confidence. After a four down series at Los Angeles’ goal-line resulted in a turnover on downs, it became apparent the best Tennessee could hope for was multiple field goals. The Titans made one field goal before the Chargers closed the game out with 4:19 left.
Tennessee is approaching territory no team should be in. They’re tied with the 1975-76 New York Jets for fewest touchdowns in a season with 14. Defunct or rebranded teams like the Dayton Triangles, 0-14 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 1942-45 Chicago Cardinals somehow scored more touchdowns than the 2025 Titans. One has to think there is nowhere to go but up.
Detroit Lions
No team has dominated the NFL the last few years like Detroit. Head coach Dan Campbell knows how to get the best out of his team almost every week. Sunday was a rare day where almost everything the Lions did looked bad, sloppy and unprepared.
Detroit’s offense was dominated against the line of scrimmage. Quarterback Jared Goff was sacked five times and star offensive tackle Penei Sewell left at one point because of an eye injury in the second quarter. Runningbacks David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs were held to 65 yards. While Montgomery did score a touchdown, he also lost a fumble that led to a Minnesota touchdown. Two receivers almost had 100 yards, but that was because the Vikings led by double digits most of the game and didn’t play as hard.
The Lions defense did the best it could without starters in the secondary. They sacked quarterback J.J. McCarthy five times and intercepted him once. They also gave up three touchdowns including a wide- open rushing score to the sophomore passer that gave Minnesota another double-digit lead. McCarthy and runningback Aaron Jones Sr. found ways to get critical first downs when it mattered most.
Still, Detroit battled and came close to taking the game to overtime. Their special teams also committed a blunder. Kicker Jake Bates missed a pivotal field goal that could have taken the Lions to overtime and a shot for a win. A second loss to a divisional rival is worrying in a tight NFC North race. The Lions will look back at this home loss and wish they had played better.
Stephen Ross
As bad as Sunday’s loss was for Detroit, it was worse for anyone who doubted Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, past and present. Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is easily the biggest name that comes to mind.
If we compared Miami in the seasons after Flores was fired as Dolphins head coach to how Minnesota’s defense has fared since last year, it’s obvious which team is better. Yes, a few one-and-done playoff appearances for Miami stands out, but the Vikings play hard enough that even well-seasoned division rivals struggle to fare them off. Minnesota should be out of the playoff race and a non-factor in the NFC North. Yet the Vikings’ defense is the main strength that keeps them in the postseason conversation.
It’s clearer each week that Brian Flores is and should be the most coveted head coaching candidate for any team both this year and next. Owners like Stephen Ross are too impatient to recognize true talent when it stares them in the face. Whichever team hires Flores and whichever head coach Miami hires next, should remind audiences once again who will succeed.
The NFL rule on not challenging intentional grounding
The NFL has odd rules on what can or cannot be challenged, especially when penalties are involved. Over the years, some rules have changed on what can be challenged (one example is 12 men on the field). One that many audiences learned about Sunday afternoon was the penalty of intentional grounding.
Intentional grounding is a complicated penalty that is worded in many ways (seriously, read the whole definition on the NFL’s official website to learn more), but not many players or even coaches like Kansas City’s long-tenured Andy Reid knew it couldn’t be challenged, especially in pivotal moments.
The case to make the rule challengeable came in the Chiefs-Bills game late in the third quarter. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes II threw an odd pass that made the refs call a penalty. Even in replays, the ball looked like it was tipped. Commentators, coaches and even former head referee Gene Steratore concluded the ball was tipped. That should take away an intentional grounding call because of something (a finger for instance) interfering with the ball’s natural motion. Audiences then learned the officials cannot consider nor accept a challenge because it’s based off the on-field call.
Since the ruling could not be challenged, the Chiefs dealt with a longer third down. That led to Buffalo’s Greg Rousseau and Michael Hoecht sacking Mahomes for a nine yard loss. The Bills scored a touchdown the next possession. Buffalo won by seven.
Best believe the NFL will take a look at and review the protocol for challenging intentional grounding plays in the offseason. Like the reforms to overtime rules over the years, this could be the difference in which team advances in the playoffs.
Note: NFL’s Winners and Losers will not be published next week due to writer, editor and publisher personal reasons and necessary time off. Publications will resume around the conclusion of week eleven.
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