It’s hard to believe, but after this week, the 2024 NFL regular season will have reached its halfway point.
We’ve had lots of expected things happen thus far, like the Kansas City Chiefs going undefeated, and lots of unexpected things, like the Washington Commanders being 6-2 and the New York Jets sitting at 2-6!
Here are five things to know for Week 9 of the National Football League season.
Jets enter the darkness
The Jets have now lost five games in a row after a shocking upset loss to the Patriots last time out.
Afterwards the defeat, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said: “I’ve been in the darkness. You’ve got to go in there, make peace with it,” referencing when he went to a darkness retreat before deciding to join the Jets in 2023.
By all accounts, this 2024 campaign has been an absolute failure for the Jets. The team had Super Bowl aspirations but have since fired their coach, replaced the offensive coordinator and tried to fix things by trading for Rodgers’ old buddy, receiver Davante Adams. None of it has worked thus far.
Rodgers spoke ahead of Thursday’s game about his new routine introduced to him by Jets punter Thomas Morstead to attempt stay young despite being 39.
“T-Mo (Morstead) gave me a little fountain of youth, he said he’s been taking for a while, all legal, of course,” he told reporters. “I’ve been sort of gassing him up that’s why I’ve been feeling it a little bit better, but he’s been taking like cayenne pepper and water, so he gave me some before the game. It felt pretty good, but I’ve been kind of gassing him up, so that’s why I’m feeling so good.”
On Thursday night, they face the 6-2 Houston Texans. The Texans themselves are dealing with their own issues, with star wide receiver Stefon Diggs ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
One more loss and the season will officially be over for the Jets.
Hail Maryland!
Fans in the nation’s capital, meanwhile, could not be more excited about the Commanders this season.
“It looked like they were heading for a loss on Sunday against the Chicago Bears before Jayden Daniels pulled off one of the best Hail Mary’s in recent memory.
Daniels, who had been questionable before the game with a rib injury, said after: “That’s kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not too many people get to experience stuff like that.”
The win improved the Commanders to 6-2 on the season, and this Sunday, they travel to play the reeling New York Giants in a rematch of Week 2.
Washington won that game 21-18, but the Giants didn’t have a kicker and converted zero extra points or two-point attempts.
Divisional games are always tricky, but the Commanders would love a win here because they have tough stretch coming up where they will play against the Steelers, Eagles and Cowboys.
Despite being one of the stories of the season so far, Daniels says the young Washington team is remaining level-headed.
“I’ll always be appreciative of it, go out there and enjoy every moment with each other, but at the end of the day, what happened last week doesn’t really matter,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We could go on a five-game winning streak and lose one, and everybody’s going to talk about that loss. Nobody’s going to talk about (the) prior (result).”
Tua takes on the Bills again
The last time we saw Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa playing against the Buffalo Bills was in Week 2 when he collided with Damar Hamlin, suffering the third diagnosed concussion of his NFL career.
After consulting with medical specialists, Tagovailoa made his return to action last week. The 26-year-old QB avoided taking any hits against the Arizona Cardinals, routinely getting the ball out quick.
Despite having Tagovailoa back in the lineup, Miami blew a late lead and lost the game to Arizona on a last-second field goal, dropping the Dolphins to 2-5 on the season.
Their margin for error is now razor thin in a stacked AFC.
They lost that previous matchup to Josh Allen and the Bills 31-10 after Tagovailoa departed.
This time around, the game is in Buffalo which is not good news for Miami. The Dolphins have not won there since 2016.
The Bills have steadily improved this season and the offense has looked like a more cohesive unit ever since the arrival of Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns.
The defense will also be bolstered by the return of Von Miller, who returns from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Lions vs. Packers NFC North Showdown
The game of the week is the 6-2 Green Bay Packers hosting the 6-1 Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon.
However, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love is questionable for this one after injuring his groin in the win over the Jaguars.
Love said on Wednesday it’s “realistic” he could play Sunday, adding: “Yeah, obviously not practicing during the week is not the ideal format for trying to play a game.
“Like I said, things happen, if that’s the scenario, I know I’ll be fine. But definitely, it’s not the ideal scenario for going into a big week.”
Backup quarterback Malik Willis would be in line to start if Love can’t go. He went 2-0 filling in for Love in Weeks 2 and 3 when the fifth-year QB was out with a knee injury.
The Lions, meanwhile, are coming off a 52-14 beatdown of the Titans. Quarterback Jared Goff has been incredible as of late with the highest completion percentage (83.0%) and passer rating (146.5) over a five-game span in NFL history.
In those five games, the Lions have more touchdowns (25) than incompletions (20), which is just ridiculous.
Super Bowl 55 rematch
On Monday night, the Chiefs will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a rematch of Super Bowl 55 – but this game will look much different.
Tom Brady, of course, is in the booth and no longer quarterbacking Tampa Bay, but his old targets also will not be playing this one.
Chris Godwin was lost for the season with an ankle injury and Mike Evans isn’t expected back for weeks with a hamstring ailment.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield could be in for a long night against a Chiefs defense that has been great so far this year.
We are still waiting for that Patrick Mahomes breakout game, but the three-time Super Bowl champion looked much improved last time out as he threw two touchdowns in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders – but for the season, he has eight touchdown passes and nine interceptions.
Certainly not Mahomes-like numbers, but he that won’t deter or dismay him as the Chiefs are the only undefeated team in the NFL at 7-0.
Maybe, just maybe, this is the week we get that offensive explosion from Mahomes.
Full slate of Week 9 NFL games
Away @ home
Thursday
Houston Texans (6-2) @ New York Jets (2-6) – 8:15 p.m. ET
Sunday
Dallas Cowboys (3-4) @ Atlanta Falcons (5-3) – 1 p.m. ET
Denver Broncos (5-3) @ Baltimore Ravens (5-3) – 1 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins (2-5) @ Buffalo Bills (6-2) – 1 p.m. ET
New Orleans Saints (2-6) @ Carolina Panthers (1-7) – 1 p.m. ET
Las Vegas Raiders (2-6) @ Cincinnati Bengals (3-5) – 1 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Chargers (4-3) @ Cleveland Browns (2-6) – 1 p.m. ET
Washington Commanders (6-2) @ New York Giants (2-6) – 1 p.m. ET
New England Patriots (2-6) @ Tennessee Titans (1-6) – 1 p.m. ET
Chicago Bears (4-3) @ Arizona Cardinals (4-4) – 4:05 p.m. ET
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) @ Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) – 4:05 p.m. ET
Detroit Lions (6-1) @ Green Bay Packers (6-2) – 4:25 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Rams (3-4) @ Seattle Seahawks (4-4) – 4:25 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts (4-4) @ Minnesota Vikings (5-2) – 8:20 p.m. ET
Monday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4) @ Kansas City Chiefs (7-0) – 8:15 p.m. ET