The sad-sack Saints and the rest of Week 9’s NFL disappointments

There are some players and teams that have to be kicking themselves after subpar performances during Week 9. We’ll take a closer look at who wished they had a chance to do it all over again, but will instead have to wait until the next game. All statistics are sourced from Football Reference.

The re-insertion of Jameis Winston into the Cleveland Browns lineup seemed to reinvigorate the team, at least for one week. He was a catalyst in their impressive Week 8 victory against the Baltimore Ravens, as Winston effectively pushed the ball downfield. It was a different story in Week 9, to say the least.

Winston told the Akron Beacon Journal, “I know what’s required,” after Cleveland fell to the Los Angeles Chargers 27-10. The Browns' new starter threw three interceptions, which short-circuited any momentum the team hoped to have. Sunday’s performance is a reminder to Browns fans that Winston has a history of playing fast and loose with the football, sometimes to his detriment.

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Perhaps the scariest moment of Week 9 came early in the New Orleans Saints game against the Carolina Panthers. Saints wide receiver Chris Olave took a brutal hit from Panthers defensive back Xavier Woods. Olave had to be taken off on a stretcher, and was rushed to a local Charlotte hospital for further evaluation.

CNN reports that Olave was discharged from the hospital, and was allowed to play home with New Orleans, but the play raises grim questions about Olave’s future. According to Sports Illustrated, this is the fifth documented concussion Olave has suffered between his time in college football and the NFL. It’s his second this season, which makes it fair to wonder whether he will return to the field any time soon.

As if Olave’s episode wasn’t bad enough for the Saints, former and current players took to social media to voice their opinions. Former New Orleans wideout Michael Thomas blamed current Saints quarterback Derek Carr for putting Olave in harm’s way, and seemed to have a person gripe with Carr based on his posts. Carr responded saying he had “no idea” why Thomas has so much animosity towards him.

To add to the strife for the Saints, they ended up losing to the Panthers on Sunday, which was their seventh straight defeat on the season. It prompted longtime defensive end Cameron Jordan to apologize to New Orleans fans on social media for losing to what they felt was an inferior team. The team ended up firing head coach Dennis Allen the day after the loss.

The Miami Dolphins have had all sorts of trouble beating the Buffalo Bills, and that theme continued on Sunday. Miami gave Buffalo a strong game, but ended up falling 30-27 on a game-winning Tyler Bass field goal. Unfortunately for Dolphins fans, the result did nothing to assuage them that they could upend their division rivals.

The San Francisco Chronicle perhaps put the sad reality best, by saying that the “Dolphins’ most complete game of the season isn’t good enough as they lose to Bills.” Miami has looked better since the return of Tua Tagovailoa, but they’ve lost two games in a row on last-second field goals.

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It didn’t seem like the New England Patriots had a snowball’s chance to send their game against the Titans into overtime, but a miraculous Drake Maye scramble and throw to Rhamondre Stevenson with no time left in regulation forced the extra period. NFL on Fox analyst Mark Schlereth did not agree with Tennessee’s decision to rush three players, which gave Maye all day to find an open teammate.

While it forced Tennessee to play extra football that wasn’t necessary, they were able to bounce back in overtime thanks to a strong running game that wore the Patriots out. According to The Tennessean, head coach Brian Callahan admitted after the game that he was relieved they won, fighting back tears as he was doing so.

The Bears were dealt a gut-punch in Week 8, losing on a last-second Hail Mary to the Washington Commanders. Chicago didn’t seem like it was over the shocking loss in Week 9, as they were throttled 29-9 at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals. What once seemed like a promising, feel-good campaign for Chicago is now bending in the wrong direction.

Chicago has the talent to play with almost anyone in the NFL, but they’ll need a fresh mindset in order to overcome the rut that they're in. Audacy believes that this loss should be pinned on head coach Matt Eberflus, as they believe Chicago has a “coaching crisis” on its hands. Whether it’s Eberflus or a veteran in the locker room, someone will need to step up to get things back on track.

Lawrence’s final numbers from Week 9 don’t look that bad when you consider that he ran for two touchdowns against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, the former number one overall draft pick was not able to lead Jacksonville to points in the first half, which put them in a deep hole they were ultimately unable to get out of.

Lawrence told The Florida Times-Union that he “didn’t bring his best” against Philadelphia. While the accountability is nice to see, Lawrence has made a habit of lackluster play this season. There isn’t much the Jaguars can do, as they’ve committed to him long-term. They’ll just have to hope he can reclaim the form he had in 2022, sooner rather than later.

A crucial NFC West battle saw the Los Angeles Rams get an important victory on the road against the Seattle Seahawks in overtime. One of the most important plays of the game happened with Seattle driving to take a lead in 13-13 game. As Yahoo Sports put it, “Geno Smith’s horrible pass to nobody in the end zone turns into a pick-six for the Rams.” It gave Los Angeles a 20-13 advantage.

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To be fair, Smith did engineer a game-tying drive after this to force overtime, where he made some great throws. However, they might not have been in that position had it not been for that pick-six, or the two other interceptions he threw on the day. The Seahawks have dropped four home games in a row, which is not a good sign for one of the historically great home teams in the NFL.