Week 9 of the NFL season delivered a little of everything on Sunday: a Super Bowl favorite finally climbing above .500, a flash of promise from Cleveland quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and a bounce-back performance from an MVP candidate. Here is everything you need to know from the day's action.
Myles Garrett wasted no time reminding the league why he is the reigning defensive player of the year. The star pass rusher, acquired by the Los Angeles Rams in an offseason trade, returned from a knee injury that had sidelined him for seven games and dominated in a 20-13 win over Washington (2-5-1). All three of his tackles were sacks, and his first also forced a fumble, helping the Rams (5-4) move above .500 for the first time this season. To put his impact in perspective, Los Angeles had managed just 12 sacks combined over its previous eight games. The outing also marked Garrett's first game playing alongside Aaron Donald, the superstar defensive tackle who came out of retirement to form a fearsome defensive line.
The Rams' celebration came with a dose of anxiety. On the final play of the game, star receiver Puka Nacua went down with a reported knee injury that will require further imaging on Monday to determine its severity. Nacua was targeted 19 times and finished with 14 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. He did not speak with reporters about the injury afterward, though he appeared visibly to be in good spirits.
Washington's afternoon ended with another puzzling final sequence. With the ball on the Rams' 31-yard line, the Commanders threw a short pass and then attempted an unsuccessful lateral as the clock expired rather than taking a shot at the end zone. Coach Dan Quinn explained that Washington had called two plays, a deep ball and a short completion with a lateral option in case of a heavy blitz. "Didn't love our execution at the end," he said.
In the NFC North, where even 6-3 Green Bay owns the division's worst record, the Chicago Bears (7-2) escaped with one of the most improbable wins of the season. After building a 14-0 lead over Tampa Bay, Chicago turned the ball over five times, including four interceptions by Caleb Williams and a fumble by receiver Luther Burden III inside its own 20 with 3:48 remaining. The Buccaneers (3-6) capitalized with a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to tie the game. But Williams answered with a 38-yard completion in the final minute, setting up Cairo Santos for a 38-yard walk-off field goal and a 27-24 victory. Tampa Bay's Baker Mayfield threw two interceptions of his own, and the six combined picks were the most by two quarterbacks in a game this season. Chicago became the first team to win despite five or more turnovers since 2006.
Kansas City (6-2) snapped its two-game losing streak with a 35-12 rout of the New York Jets (2-7), and once again running back Kenneth Walker III set the tone. After being held to 3.0 yards per carry during the Chiefs' two losses, Walker piled up 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground, plus 41 yards and two more scores as a receiver, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Patrick Mahomes gave Kansas City a scare in the second quarter when his arm bent awkwardly as he was sandwiched by multiple defenders, but he stayed in the game and finished with 242 yards and two touchdowns.
Shedeur Sanders provided encouraging moments in his first start of his sophomore season, but Cleveland fell 23-22 to New Orleans in overtime. Sanders completed 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards, the second-highest total of his career, and calmly engineered a game-tying field goal drive after getting the ball with under a minute left in regulation. After the Saints opened overtime with a long drive, Sanders answered with an eight-play, 67-yard touchdown march. Cleveland went for 2 and the win, but the conversion failed, dropping the Browns to 5-4.
The New York Giants continued their surprising resilience, improving to 5-2-1 with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, their first victory in Philadelphia since 2013. Since losing quarterback Jaxson Dart in Week 2, New York has gone 4-1-1 under first-year head coach John Harbaugh. Starter J.J. McCarthy briefly left Sunday's game with an injury but returned to close it out, and the Giants remain the only NFC East team with a winning record even after Dallas beat Indianapolis.
Out west, the Las Vegas Raiders' slide continued with a 38-17 loss at San Francisco. After a 3-0 start under coach Klint Kubiak and quarterback Kirk Cousins, built against subpar competition, the Raiders (4-5) have dropped five of six and have allowed 30 or more points in six straight games, the longest streak in team history, raising questions about whether No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza will get a look. Even so, the AFC West's bleakest situation belongs to the Los Angeles Chargers, who fell 44-22 at home to Houston and remain the league's last winless team at 0-8. They join the 2011 Colts as the only teams since 2000 to open a season 0-8 one year after making the playoffs. Justin Herbert's fourth-quarter touchdown pass at least ended a streak of 37 consecutive drives without a touchdown, though he has now gone 10 straight starts without throwing multiple scores.
