NFL Week 9 grades: Steelers earn 'A' for shocking Colts, Bengals get low mark for meltdown against Bears
Here are the grades for every team that has played so far in Week 9
By
John Breech
•
17 min read
Welcome to the Week 9 grades!
The NFL kicked off the month of November by giving us the wildest week of the season.
- The Steelers defense finally showed up for a game by forcing five turnovers in a 27-20 victory over the Colts.
- The Bengals offense pulled off a miracle comeback in the final two minutes against the Bears, only to be let down by a historically bad defense that gave up a 58-yard game-winning TD pass with just 17 seconds left to play.
- Jaguars' kicker Cam Little set an NFL record with a 68-yard field goal in a win over the Raiders.
- Bo Nix led another wild fourth-quarter comeback for the Denver Broncos in an 18-15 win over the Houston Texans.
- The Carolina Panthers went into Green Bay and stunned the Packers, 16-13.
- Josh Allen outdueled Patrick Mahomes with a nearly perfect passing performance in Buffalo's 28-21 win over Kansas City.
- Sam Darnold had a perfect first half against the Commanders, going 16 of 16 for 284 yards and four touchdowns in the first two quarters of Seattle's 38-14 win. Darnold is the only QB over the past 35 years to complete 100% of his passes for at least 250 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in a single half.
It was a week of surprises and we're going to hand out our own surprises by grading every game, starting with the Steelers' win over the Colts.
Pittsburgh 27-20 over Indianapolis
| C- |  |
| It took nine weeks, but the clock finally struck midnight on Daniel Jones. The Colts QB, who had been playing nearly perfect football this year, gave this game away with five turnovers, including two in the fourth quarter. The Steelers ended up getting 17 points off those turnovers and that was the difference in the game. The Colts' offensive line got overwhelmed by a Steelers defense that sacked Jones five times while also shutting down Jonathan Taylor. No one expected the Colts to go 16-1, so the big question here is whether Jones has finally turned into a pumpkin or if this performance was just an anomaly. It will be interesting to see how Jones bounces back from his worst game of the season. | |
| A |  |
| After a surprisingly bad start to the season, the Steelers defense finally showed what it's capable of by absolutely shutting down the best offense in the NFL. The Steelers bottled up Jonathan Taylor, holding the NFL's leading rusher to just 45 yards. That forced the Colts to put the game in the hands of Daniel Jones and the Steelers took advantage of that by beating up on the Indianapolis QB. The Steelers forced Jones into five turnovers while also sacking him five times, including a clutch strip-sack by Alex Highsmith in the fourth quarter (T.J. Watt also had a key strip-sack). If the Steelers defense plays like this the rest of the season, this team is capable of beating anyone in the NFL. | |
Seattle 38-14 over Washington
| A |  |
| Sam Darnold was good with the Vikings last year, and somehow, he might be even better with Seattle this year. The Seahawks blew this game open during a first half where Darnold completed 16 of 16 passes for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Darnold's chemistry with Jaxon Smith-Njigba (8 catches for 129 yards) is off the charts at this point and there doesn't seem to be any way to stop the duo. Not to be outdone, the Seahawks defense was equally impressive: They overpowered the Commanders offensive line to get four sacks on Jayden Daniels. In an NFC that is wide open this year, the Seahawks feel like one of the few teams in the conference that could actually win the Super Bowl. | |
| F |  |
| This was a devastating loss for the Commanders in every sense of the word. Not only did they get blown out, but they likely lost Jayden Daniels to a season-ending injury that he suffered in the fourth quarter. It was a bad night for Dan Quinn, who not only got outcoached by Mike Macdonald, but he also made the decision to keep Daniels in the game for some reason even though Washington was trailing 38-7. The Commanders defense got run off the field during a first half where Seattle put up 330 yards of offense and the game was never close after that. The Commanders were the surprise of the 2024 season, but at 3-6, and with Daniels likely out, it feels like their 2025 season is all but over. | |
L.A. Rams 34-10 over New Orleans
| D- |  |
| When you ask your rookie starting QB to make his first career start in a road game against one of the best teams in the NFL, there's a good chance it's not going to turn out well and the Saints found that out here. Tyler Shough's first start was definitely rough: He didn't provide a spark for the offense and he struggled with his accuracy, but it's hard to blame him, because he had no help from his rushing attack and the Saints' offensive line didn't go a great job of slowing down the Rams' pass rush. The only silver lining for the Saints here is that they kept themselves firmly in the running earn the No. 1 overall pick. | |
| A |  |
| When you're a good NFL team, you need to be able to beat the bad teams and that's exactly what the Rams did. The Rams shot out to a 13-0 lead in a game that was never in doubt. The Rams showed why they're a true Super Bowl contender in this game: They have a great quarterback (Matthew STafford threw for 281 yards and four touchdowns), they have a strong ground game (Kyren Williams went over 100 yards) and they have a dynamic duo at receiver (Puka Nacua and Davante Adams combined for 155 yards and three touchdowns). Oh, they have a defense that's now given up the fewest points per game in the NFL after Sunday's performance. If the Rams can stay healthy, this might be the team to beat in the NFC. | |
Jacksonville 30-29 over Las Vegas
| B+ |  |
| Whatever Liam Coen said to his team at halftime, he might want to bottle some of that up and save it for the future, because it definitely seemed to work. After struggling through the first half, the Jaguars scored on all five of their possessions in the second half, including overtime. Travis Etienne Jr. paced a rushing attack that kept the offense humming in the second half and Trevor Lawrence also made several big throws, including a 15-yarder in the final minute that helped set up a game-tying field goal. The Jaguars also got an All-World performance from Cam Little, who set an NFL record with a 68-yard field goal right before halftime (He also sent the game to overtime with a 48-yarder in the final seconds of regulation). The defense didn't go a great job of slowing down the Raiders' offense, but DaVon Hamilton came up with the biggest play of the game when he knocked down Geno Smith's 2-point pass in overtime. The Jaguars are frisky, and at 5-3, they're now definitely in the playoff conversation as we head into the second half of the season. | |
| B- |  |
| The return of Brock Bowers was a huge boost for a Raiders offense that was in desperate need for a spark. In his first action since Week 4, Bowers went off, catching 12 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns. With Bowers on the field, Geno Smith definitely felt more comfortable running the offense, especially during a fourth quarter where he went a perfect 9 o f 9 for 108 yards and two touchdown. The problem for the Raiders is that their defense can't stop anyone: The unit has now surrendered at least 25 points in five of the Raiders' past six games. Maxx Crosby, who had three tackles for a loss, was dominant, but he didn't get much help. At 2-6, the Raiders might want to start answering their phone and selling off a few players heading into Tuesday's trade deadline. | |
Buffalo 28-21 over Kansas City
| B- |  |
| Patrick Mahomes has been so clutch in his career that it's always a shock when he fails, but that's what happened in Buffalo. The Bills defense harassed Mahomes for four straight quarters and the Chiefs quarterback struggled to hit his open receivers. In the second half, Mahomes completed just 8 of 19 passes. If there's any upside to this loss for Kansas City, it's this: Mahomes was bad and the defense gave up more than 400 yards, but the Chiefs still ALMOST won. The last three times that the Chiefs lost a regular-season game to Buffalo, it ended up spurring them to a Super Bowl appearance, so no one should be shocked if that once again happens this year. | |
| A- |  |
| For the fifth straight year, the Bills beat the Chiefs in the regular season, and this time, they did it by playing nearly perfectly on both sides of the ball. That started with Josh Allen, who completed an eye-popping 88.5% of his passes for 273 yards and a TD. Allen got plenty of help from James Cook, who blasted through the Chiefs defense for 114 yards on the ground. The big story here though, was how the defense handled Patrick Mahomes. Joey Bosa had a monster game, leading a Bills defense that sacked Mahomes three times. The constant pressure kept Mahomes, who completed just 44.1% of his pases, off his game. Beating the Chiefs' hasn't translated into any sort of postseason success over the past four years, but this Bills team looks determined to change that. | |
Denver 18-15 over Houston
| B |  |
| For the second time in three weeks, Bo Nix summoned some fourth-quarter magic to win a game. The Broncos QB threw a TD pass in the fourth quarter and then set up the game-winning field goal during a final period where he totaled 112 yards (76 passing, 36 rushing). Nix's ability to make clutch play after clutch play should have the Broncos feeling good about their future. And let's not forget about the Broncos defense, which kept the Denver in the game while the offense was dormant during the first three quarters. If any team can end the Chiefs' nine-year reign atop the AFC West, it feels like the Broncos might have the magic to do it this year. | |
| B |  |
| The Texans lost C.J. Stroud barely two minutes into the second quarter and they still almost pulled off the upset here. With Stroud out, the offense struggled, especially in key situations: The Texans converted just three of their 17 third-down attempts and they came away with zero touchdowns on two trips to the red zone. The Texans have the best defense in the NFL and they did everything they could to stay in this game, but it wasn't quite enough here. If Stroud (concussion) has to miss any time due to injury, the 3-5 Texans could be in trouble. | |
Minnesota 27-24 over Detroit
| B+ |  |
| In what was J.J. McCarthy's first start since Week 2, the Vikings defense made sure he didn't have to do much. Eric Wilson (two sacks) and the Vikings' pass rush bullied the Lions' offensive line on a day where Jared Goff was sacked five times. The Vikings defense also held the Lions' vaunted rushing attack to just 65 yards. It was a brilliant performance by Brian Flores' unit. As for McCarthy, his numbers won't blow anyone away, but he made several key throws and he even came up with a 9-yard TD run on a third down late in the third quarter that ended up being the difference in the game (He also threw two TD passes). Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason helped lead a Vikings rushing attack that went over 140 yards. With the Lions and Packers both losing, this team is suddenly back in the NFC North race. | |
| B- |  |
| The Lions' rushing attack is what makes their offense go, but they couldn't get Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery going. The rushing tandem combined for just 65 yards and the Lions are now 0-3 this season when they're held under 100 yards rushing. The Lions' offensive line also struggled to protect Jared Goff, who was sacked five times. Detroit's offense just seemed out of sync and the credit for that should certainly go to the Vikings. The Lions have suddenly lost two of three and a big reason for that is because their offense hasn't looked great over the past few weeks. If they don't get things turned around soon, this slump could continue for Detroit. | |
Chicago 47-42 over Cincinnati
| B- |  |
| Did the defense struggle? Yes, but no one's going to remember that after what the Bears offense did in this game. The Bears piled up 575 yards -- their highest total since 1980 -- and 58 of that came on a dramatic game-winning TD pass from Caleb Williams to Colston Loveland, who finished with 118 yards. Williams was a triple threat in this game: He threw for three touchdowns, he ran for 53 yards and he even had a TD catch. The unsung hero of the day for the Bears was seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai. With D'Andre Swift out, the running back streamrolled the Bengals for 176 yards on 26 carries. The Bears defense definitely left a lot to be desired, but they can worry about that later after pulling out a shocking win. | |
| C- |  |
| Joe Flacco threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns, but that wasn't enough, because the Bengals were once again let down by their historically bad defense. With this loss, the Bengals became the first team in 59 years to lose back-to-back games where they scored at least 38 points. That tells you how bad the defense is. The Bengals spent a lot money to get Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins under contract during the offseason and they both went over 100 yards against the Bears, but when you defense is this bad, it doesn't how many points your offense scores. It might be time to blow things up in Cincinnati. | |
Carolina 16-13 over Green Bay
| A |  |
| If you have a strong running game and a good defense, you can win games late in the season and the Panthers definitely have both. Rico Dowdle continues to look like the most underrated signing of the 2025 season. The Panthers running back put the offense on his back and carried Carolina with 130 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, the Panthers didn't totally shut down the Packers, but they came up with a big play whenever they needed one, including an interception and a fourth-down stop in the second half. It might be time to start taking the Panthers seriously. | |
| C |  |
| When you can run on the Packers, you can beat them and Carolina was able to run on Green Bay. The Packers had no answer for Rico Dowdle, who averaged 5.2 yards per carry on his way to rushing for 130 yards. The bigger problem for the Packers is that the offense kept up coming up short in key moments. Savion Williams lost a fumble in Panthers territory and Jordan Love threw an interception in the second half that set up a short TD drive for Carolina. Brandon McManus also missed another field goal, and that's starting to become an issue for Green Bay. Every time you think the Packers might be one of the best teams in the NFC, they go out and lose a game like this, and right now, it's tough to say who the real Packers are. | |
L.A. Chargers 27-20 over Titans
| B |  |
| Don't let the final score fool you, this was a dominating performance from a Chargers defense that held the Titans to just 206 yards and six points (Tennessee's two touchdowns came on a pick six and a punt return). Odafe Oweh, who was traded to Los Angeles just last month, recorded two of the Chargers' four sacks as the defense kept constant pressure on Cam Ward. Offensively, it was the Justin Herbert show for the Chargers. Not only did Herbert finish as the leading rusher in the game with 57 yards, but he also threw for 250 yards and a TD. Herbert did take six sacks behind a beat up offensive line that lost Joe Alt and that could be an issue going forward, but the Chargers deserve some credit for gutting out an ugly win. | |
| C- |  |
| Tennessee's offense was almost nonexistent in this game, but the Titans stayed alive thanks to a strong performance from both their defense and special teams. Cody Barton had a pick six off Justin Herbert and Chimere Dike scored on punt return, but both of those scores came in the first quarter and the Titans didn't do much else after that. When you have a rookie QB on a bad team, you just want to see improvement each week, but the Titans offense didn't even show that this week. | |
New England 24-23 over Atlanta
| B- |  |
| The Falcons defense is definitely for real and they proved that against the Patriots. LaCale London and Jalon Walker both tallied two sacks on a day where Drake Maye was sacked six times. The constant pressure led to two turnovers by Maye, who threw an interception and a lost a fumble. Offensively, Drake London caught everything thrown his way, finishing with nine catches for 118 yards and three touchdowns. The problem for the Falcons is that their offense would completely disappear at times, especially on third down (They converted just 1 of 10 attempts in the game). The Falcons kicking woes also continued with John Parker Romo missing a fourth-quarter extra point that would have tied the game. When the Falcons lose, they almost always seem to find a painful way to do it and they did that here. | |
| B |  |
| After winning in two straight blowouts, this was a gut-check game for the Patriots and they definitely passed the test. The defense got its gut check in the fourth quarter: The Falcons had a chance to drive down and take a lead with a late field goal, but the defense forced an Atlanta punt. The defense came up especially big on third down with the Falcons converting just 10% of their attempts. On the offensive side of the ball, let's talk about DeMario Douglas, who came out of nowhere to catch four passes for a season-high 100 yards. The Patriots had four different receivers catch at least three passes as Drake Maye spread the ball around. The Patriots continue to be one of the most surprising teams in the NFL this year and they just won their sixth straight game. | |
San Francisco 34-24 over N.Y. Giants
| A- |  |
| The 49ers offense is at its best when it runs through Christian McCaffrey and it ran through McCaffrey in this game. The 49ers star gashed up the Giants for 106 yards and a touchdown on the ground, and then he added 67 yards receiving and another TD through the air. Mac Jones was also wildly impressive on a day where he completed his first 14 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. This was a strong offensive performance from a team that had yet to score 30 points in single game heading into Week 9. | |
| C- |  |
| The Giants defense is officially a problem for New York. For the third straight week, the Giants surrendered at least 30 points, and this week it happened because they couldn't tackle Christian McCaffrey. The defensive failures overshadowed another impressive performance from Jaxson Dart, who totaled 247 yards and three touchdowns. The good news for the Giants is that they appear to have their franchise QB, but the bad news is that this team doesn't seem to have much else right now. The defense has struggled since blowing a 19-point lead to the Broncos in Week 7. | |
Baltimore 28-6 over Miami (Thursday)
| A- |  |
| This game marked the first time in more than a month that Lamar Jackson was on the field and he definitely didn't show any rust. With Jackson coming off a hamstring injury, he seemed hesitant to run the ball, but that didn't matter because he was nearly perfect through the air (He completed 78.3% of his passes for 204 yards and four touchdowns). The return of Jackson also saw the re-emergence of Derrick Henry, who topped 100 yards for just the third time this season. The Ravens defense, which has struggled this year, wasn't perfect, but the unit did take over with a dominant second half. Yes, the Ravens are 3-5, but with Jackson back and the defense playing better each week, this team definitely feels like the favorite to win the AFC North. | |
| D |  |
| If you want to know why the Dolphins are 2-7, just watch the film from this game. On paper, they have the talent to succeed, but they can't get out of their own way. In the first half, they doubled the Baltimore's offensive output (225 to 109), but the Dolphins were trailing at the break 14-6 because they lost a fumble that set up a 7-yard TD drive for the Ravens, they missed a short field goal from 35 yards and they failed on a fourth-and-2 from Baltimore's 13-yard line. After shooting themselves in the foot three times, this team look demoralized in the second half and the rout was on from there. It was an ugly loss and owner Stephen Ross took it out on general manager Chris Grier. | |
