NFL Week 9 might have felt eerily quiet to some.
With an uninspiring Sunday schedule, the league didn't produce the kind of fireworks that one might have expected as the midseason point arrives. Upsets were few and far between, and seven games played so far this week have been decided by 14 or more points.
But that sense of calm might soon be broken by the NFL trade deadline, which is set for Tuesday, Nov. 10. And though the most recent run-up to the annual cutoff has been quiet, with the Baltimore Ravens' acquisition of quarterback Jacoby Brissett the only move of the last week, a flurry of transactions could materialize in short order.
Here were the biggest winners and losers from Sunday's action:
NFL Week 9 winners
Joe Burrow
Of the select few quarterbacks who annually comprise
the league's top tier at the position, Burrow is the only one without an MVP award. If he keeps up this hot streak, that might soon change. The Cincinnati Bengals signal-caller scorched the Atlanta Falcons in a 34-17 win in Madrid, throwing for 271 yards on 24-of-29 passing while totaling four touchdowns. His streak of four games with four or more touchdowns puts him in elite company in league history, with Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Dan Marino the only other passers to have achieved the same feat. If he can guide Cincinnati past the Pittsburgh Steelers to take command of the AFC North next week, he has to be seen as one of a select few at the front of the pack for MVP consideration.
Myles Garrett
For as badly as the Los Angeles Rams have been stung by injuries this year – coach Sean McVay last week said this is the worst run of personnel hits in his 10 years at the helm – one midseason return is burnishing the team's second-half outlook. In his first game back since a knee surgery that sidelined him for seven weeks, Garrett notched three sacks and a forced fumble to help power a 20-13 win over the Washington Commanders. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and single-season sack king served up a refresher on just how difficult he is to game plan for, as he disrupted from a multitude of vantage points along the line. After the game, Garrett called the performance "a weight off my shoulders." The Rams surely felt similarly relieved about the outing - though between wide receiver Puka Nacua's knee injury and a difficult post-Week 11 bye schedule, it's unlikely Los Angeles is truly at ease.
Green Bay Packers
In a week of lopsided outcomes, this might be the team responsible for the most dominant showing. Green Bay threw the New England Patriots well out of their comfort zone and then kept them there throughout a 45-27 romp. The aerial assault at the hands of Christian Watson (seven catches, 171 yards, one touchdown) and Matthew Golden (10 catches, 164 yards, one touchdown) was nothing short of spectacular. But just as impressive was how the defense consistently put Drake Maye under siege. In subjecting last year's NFL MVP runner-up to a 51.2% pressure rate, the Packers prompted him to make the kind of mistakes he hadn't committed since the opening three weeks of the season. Three first-half interceptions helped put New England in a hole from which it would not emerge. Green Bay still finds itself fourth in the cutthroat NFC North, but it heads into Sunday's critical rematch against the Minnesota Vikings with plenty of reasons for confidence.
Arvell Reese
When the New York Jets selected David Bailey over Reese with the No. 2 overall selection in April, the two talented defenders became inextricably linked for the start of their pro careers. So far, their rookie seasons have done nothing to change that. While Bailey, widely seen as the more polished and pro-ready of the two, enjoyed an earlier breakthrough with a three-sack performance in October, Reese seized the spotlight with his own three-sack day in a 19-11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Already a major weapon when blowing up blocks, the Ohio State product is showing an improved finishing touch, as evidenced by his 12 tackles against the Eagles. Expect Reese and Bailey to continue to battle it out down the stretch for Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, though the former might be the front-runner at this point.
Caleb Downs
Snatching sibling bragging rights has to be fun for the Dallas Cowboys' rookie safety, who got the better of his brother, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, on Sunday. Even better than that, though, was hauling in his first NFL interception. The younger Downs iced the Cowboys' 27-23 win by picking off Daniel Jones' desperation heave in the final minute of the fourth quarter. That wasn't the extent of his contributions, however, as he finished with a sack, a tackle for loss and two passes defensed in a performance that showcased the breadth of his playmaking abilities. And for good measure, he didn't allow a reception on any of the 12 routes his brother ran against him, according to Sumer Sports. Downs alone can't save a Cowboys defense that has too many holes to plug, but his emergence augurs well for a Cowboys team that likely will have to wait until 2027 to truly take off.
Detroit Lions defense
With hospitalized teammate Jack Campbell on their minds as the linebacker continues to recover after suffering a neck injury last week, the Lions defense operated with a clear sense of purpose in a 19-9 win over the Miami Dolphins. Detroit allowed just 228 total yards and didn't allow a touchdown for the first time all season. Given how much Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis' groin injury further boxed in an attack that already ranked 31st in scoring, that might not seem like much to celebrate. But Detroit needed this kind of effort on a day when its own offense generated a season-low 270 yards.
Tank Dell
The Houston Texans strung together plenty of highlights in their 44-22 rout of the Los Angeles Chargers. None, however, could measure up to Dell's 63-yard catch-and-run off a sweet downfield connection with C.J. Stroud in the second quarter. The play was plenty pretty on its own, but it also held plenty of significance for the receiver, who scored for the first time since a gruesome December 2024 knee injury that sidelined him until two weeks ago. And though the Texans pulled their starters late with the game out of hand, Dell remained in to eclipse the 100-yard mark. Dell's re-emergence might be plenty meaningful beyond just the good vibes he engenders, as Houston has been in search of complementary weapons to reduce the ask of Stroud in elevating the passing game.
NFL Week 9 losers
Dan Quinn
Perhaps the blame for yet another late breakdown by the Commanders rests with offensive coordinator David Blough. But the buck ultimately stops with Quinn, the coach who can't seem to institute the proper guardrails for his team in these gotta-have-it scenarios. Trailing by 7 points with 8 seconds remaining, Jayden Daniels twice threw short of the end zone from the Rams' 31-yard line: first on a misfire to Stefon Diggs over the middle, then on a head-scratching dump-off to tight end Chig Okonkwo. Whereas Daniels took the blame for the clock management meltdown that led to a tie against the Giants, he shrugged off the late sequence, saying, "It was the play call. You got to execute it." Daniels then upped the pressure on his own coach, asserting that the Thursday night matchup against the Giants is a "must-win" affair. For a coach whose season has come to be defined by clock management, it's hard to shake the notion that Quinn is on borrowed time.
Los Angeles Chargers
Well, the touchdown drought is finally over after 37 consecutive drives came up short of the end zone. Those two fourth-quarter breakthroughs should be cold comfort to an offense that couldn't get anything before the Texans put the game well out of reach. Justin Herbert had just 63 passing yards at halftime and was sacked eight times in total before leaving with what coach Jim Harbaugh said could be a fracture in his left middle finger. Perhaps Los Angeles might have fared better had top wide receiver Ladd McConkey not been sidelined by back spasms, but it seems clear that moving offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel to the booth was just a means of resisting more drastic forms of change for this unit. At 0-8, this is a team that has every reason to sell off pieces, though leadership's apparent aversion to any sort of shake-up seems to suggest yet another refusal to change course.
Geno Smith
The Jets quarterback might have known he was in for a frustrating day by the first quarter, when he responded to a Braelon Allen fumble by doling out the kind of hit that would typically earn a player an audition at linebacker.
Jets cough it up leading to a GENO SMITH HIT STICK. pic.twitter.com/OGfGYMdoOe
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 8, 2026
Things didn't ease up from there. Kansas City, which entered the game with just nine sacks on the season, corralled Smith five times. With half of his completions being thrown behind the line of scrimmage and just one more than 10 yards downfield, New York had no hope of catching up in the second half when the deficit got out of hand. Frustration clearly took a toll on Smith, who yelled on the sideline after one series and threw his helmet at the bench. But even though opportunities within offensive coordinator Frank Reich's attack were severely limited with top wide receiver Garrett Wilson sidelined by a concussion, Smith bears a good deal of responsibility for not capitalizing on some looks, which prompted New York to settle for four field goals. Unless he's given an escape pod with a quarterback-needy team such as the Vikings at the trade deadline, the prevailing sense of discontent - both from him and the offense at large - seems likely to linger.
Sauce Gardner
The one-year anniversary of the Colts' ill-fated trade for the star cornerback was probably a sufficient reminder of how quickly things have fallen apart for an organization already facing a reboot. Sunday, however, became another difficult touchstone. With the Colts having seized a lead in the final two minutes, Gardner couldn't stay with Cowboys receiver Ryan Flournoy on a go route, allowing the 46-yard reception that would set up the game-deciding score. Afterward, Gardner didn't let himself off the hook. "End of the game, big play, can't let that happen," Gardner told reporters. "Game on me." Of course, Indianapolis won't stand to benefit from the mishap in any way, as the rise in the draft order that accompanies a five-game skid only benefits the Jets, who are still reaping the rewards of the Colts' lack of foresight. Now the only question for the organization: How far does the front office need to go in a trade-deadline teardown that would serve as a full negation of the previous vision that prompted the Gardner trade?
Christian Gonzalez
It would be unfair to single out any one figure in what was a failure across all fronts for the Patriots. Still, New England's Pro Bowl corner had a hellacious time chasing down Golden and Watson, the former of whom drew the bulk of his coverage assignments. According to Next Gen Stats, his career high of 187 yards allowed nearly matched his previous total for the season (196 yards). There might simply have been no stopping the duo on a day when Green Bay's passing attack was in peak form, but coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged that the league's highest-paid cornerback didn't meet his established standard. "We need more from him and everybody else," Vrabel said after the game. Maybe next week's Munich matchup will serve as a reset, but the Lions' receiving corps probably isn't what a struggling corner wants to see.
Harrison Butker
Andy Reid knew the questions about his kicker's pervasive struggles were coming, and he chose to cut them off. "I'll address that as we go throughout the week. ... I'll look at everything. I'm not making any decisions right now." That's hardly a ringing endorsement for the No. 3 all-time leading scorer in franchise history, especially with the recent move to add Justin Tucker to the practice squad. But Kansas City is no longer an outfit that can rain down a barrage of points on its opponents at will. Converting long field goals is a must for an offense that's still liable to stall out against top competition, and Butker - who has missed a league-worst seven field-goal attempts - is coming up short both literally and figuratively.
Joe Milton III
It was probably unfair to expect a quarterback making his first start to provide much of a difference for the Eagles' inert offense. Still, the passer known for his "cannon" arm strength ended up as cannon fodder for the Giants defense, taking seven sacks while throwing for just 164 yards. And while Milton did manage to rush for a team-high 64 yards, his inability to keep the offense on schedule or attack down the sidelines proved much more limiting to the offense than any of Tanner McKee's issues had been prior to his benching. Of course, the wider offensive issues extend well beyond any figure behind center, with coach Nick Sirianni acknowledging that he would consider potential staff changes. But any notion of Milton slinging this attack past its problems was quickly put to bed.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL Week 9 winners and losers: Calm before trade deadline storm?
