Week 9 of the NFL season featured a Super Bowl favorite finally getting over .500, some magic from Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders and a bounce-back performance from an MVP candidate.
Here’s everything you need to know from Sunday.
Welcome back, Myles Garrett. So long, Puka Nacua?
Garrett, the reigning defensive player of the year whom the Los Angeles Rams traded for in the offseason, returned from a knee injury that had sidelined him for seven games and made his presence felt immediately in a 20-13 win over Washington (2-5-1). All three of his tackles ended in sacks, and his first sack also forced a fumble to help the Rams (5-4) climb above .500 for the first time.
How impactful was Garrett? In eight previous games, the Rams had 12 sacks combined.
It was the first game Garrett played alongside Aaron Donald, the superstar defensive tackle who came out of retirement to create an all-world defensive line.
The Rams might not be able to celebrate for long. On their final play of the game, star receiver Puka Nacua suffered a reported knee injury that will require more imaging Monday to determine its severity. Nacua was targeted 19 times, and he finished with 14 receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown. He did not discuss his injury with reporters after the game, and he was visibly in a good mood.
Another Commanders game ended with a head-scratching final play. With the ball on the Rams’ 31-yard line, Washington threw a short pass, then tried an unsuccessful lateral until the clock ran out. Why not try a deep pass into the end zone? Coach Dan Quinn said Washington called in two plays — one a deep ball and the other a short completion and lateral option if the Rams blitzed hard. “Didn’t love our execution at the end,” he said.
Bears survive five turnovers
The worst record in the NFC North belongs to 6-3 Green Bay. In a division that difficult, a team’s margin for error to make the playoffs is razor thin, which is why the Chicago Bears (7-2) must be one of the most relieved teams in the league after Week 9.
After having led Tampa Bay 14-0, Chicago proceeded to turn the ball over five times — four interceptions by Caleb Williams and a fumble inside its own 20-yard line by receiver Luther Burden III with 3:48 to play and Tampa Bay (3-6) trailing by eight. The Buccaneers would score a touchdown and a 2-point conversion for a tie.
Yet for all of Williams’ erratic play, his 38-yard completion in the final minute all but sealed the win by putting Chicago within range of a 38-yard field goal that Cairo Santos drilled for a walk-off 27-24 victory.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield added two interceptions. The six interceptions were the most combined by two quarterbacks in a game this season. Chicago is the first team to win a game while turning the ball over five-plus times since 2006.
The Chiefs end their two-game losing streak
For years, as Patrick Mahomes played, so went Kansas City. But it might be more accurate this season to say running back Kenneth Walker III is the barometer for the Chiefs’ offense.
Kansas City (6-2) ended its two-game losing streak in a 35-12 rout of the New York Jets (2-7) in which Walker bounced back with 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground and 41 yards with two touchdown catches through the air. He had been held to just 3.0 yards per carry in his previous two games, both Chiefs losses. Walker averaged nearly double that (5.6 yards) Sunday.
Mahomes looked like he would be leaving the game in the second quarter after his arm bent awkwardly when he was sandwiched by multiple defenders. Instead, he finished with 242 yards and two touchdowns.
Shedeur Sanders runs out of magic in overtime
Sanders led two comeback drives in the first start of his sophomore season, but he couldn’t lead the Browns all the way to a win against the New Orleans Saints.
Cleveland lost 23-22, but Sanders had some encouraging moments. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards, the second-highest passing total of his career. With the Browns trailing 16-13 in the fourth quarter, Sanders calmly led a game-tying drive for a field goal despite getting the ball with under a minute to go.
After a long drive by the Saints to start overtime, Sanders responded by leading an eight-play, 67-yard touchdown drive. But the Browns went for 2 and the win after the score, and the attempt failed, dropping Cleveland to 5-4.
The Giants keep finding a way, remain atop the NFC East
After the Giants lost quarterback Jaxson Dart in Week 2, New York’s season looked to be in major trouble. But head coach John Harbaugh has kept the team afloat in his first year at the helm, and the Giants improved to 5-2-1 with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
New York is 4-1-1 since Dart’s injury. On Sunday, starter J.J. McCarthy had to leave the game briefly with an injury, but he returned to close out the Giants’ first win in Philly since 2013. New York is the only team in the NFC East with a winning record, even after the Dallas Cowboys beat the Indianapolis Colts.
Raiders’ regression continues; Chargers remain winless
Under coach Klint Kubiak and quarterback Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas was one of the season’s early surprises as it started 3-0. In hindsight, those three wins were against subpar competition in the Miami Dolphins, the Los Angeles Chargers and the New Orleans Saints. After Sunday’s 38-17 loss at San Francisco, the Raiders (4-5) have lost five of their last six games. Sunday’s was the sixth consecutive game in which they have allowed 30 or more points, the longest streak in team history. As the losses mount, will Las Vegas finally turn to No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza?
And yet for all of that regression from the Raiders, they still are not the AFC West team that feels the worst after nine weeks. After a 44-22 loss to the Houston Texans at home, the Chargers remain the NFL’s last winless team.
They join the 2011 Indianapolis Colts as the only teams since 2000 to start a season 0-8 the year after they made the playoffs. The lone consolation for Los Angeles fans is that at least one streak ended. Justin Herbert’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass ended a run of 37 consecutive drives without scoring a touchdown. Herbert has now gone 10 consecutive starts without multiple touchdowns.