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A long 17-game NFL regular season means we will see plenty of weird games. Week 9 was no exception.
In Foxborough, the Green Bay Packers kept attacking All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez, and they kept succeeding. In Charlotte, the Denver Broncos, once again, pulled a rabbit out of a hat and overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to extend their winning streak. In Washington, D.C., the Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Rams engaged in a hearty battle to figure out who is more disappointing.
The weirdest game undoubtedly happened in Chicago on Sunday night, though. The Bears committed an inexplicable five turnovers (with an uncharacteristic four interceptions from Caleb Williams). They not only still won, but they also never even trailed, which basically never happens to teams in similar situations. The mark of a great NFL team is how you respond to adversity, when you aren’t having your best game. The more time passes, the more it’s clear that this Bears team, with Jeffery Simmons in tow, is great.
There’s a lot to discuss and unpack ahead of Week 10 in this odd 2026 season. Let’s talk about it all in For The Win’s NFL Week 10 Power Rankings.
The Chargers have scored two touchdowns in the last month. Two. Not only are we out of excuses for the perpetually disappointing Justin Herbert, but it's also time for Jim Harbaugh to see the forest for the trees and start making trades to recoup draft capital for this pitiful 0-8 team. — Robert Zeglinski
At the very least, Joe Milton was more fun to watch than Tanner McKee. Not better, but more interesting. That's probably as much as the Eagles can hope for at this point. — Christian D'Andrea
The Jets initially hung tough with Kansas City and faced just a 14-12 halftime deficit at Arrowhead. Then the Chiefs' short passing game and Kenneth Walker III systematically broke down the Jets' fragile dam in the second half. Then, Aaron Glenn and Geno Smith crashed out on the sideline. Let's put it another way: No one's job in New York should be safe because it's obvious this rebuild is going nowhere fast. — RZ
Tennessee built some momentum in near-wins in Weeks 7 and 8. Waiting for the Titans coming out of their Week 9 bye? A Jacksonville Jaguars team that's playing like a Super Bowl favorite, now reloaded with the additions of Jessie Bates III and Davon Godchaux. Welp. — CD
The Dolphins have put themselves into a roster evaluative pickle. On the one hand, Malik Willis's pocket presence and general poise leave a lot to be desired, as he struggled to find a rhythm against Detroit's bottom-tier defense. On the other hand, how could you possibly know what you have in Willis when the Dolphins have nearly $190 million in dead salary cap space? The only sound conclusion is that it was silly to pay a quarterback like Willis when rebuilding Miami still has to clear its cap sheet. — RZ
Daniel Jones, with a chance to upset the Dallas Cowboys at home, rose to the moment and promptly threw an interception. This likely dampened whatever trade unenthusiasm the Colts had feigned in "totally not from our camp" leaks about how they weren't trying to trade Jones, but had gotten legitimate interest. Any general manager who swings a deal for Danny Dimes at this stage is effectively lighting a fire under his own seat. — CD
The Commanders did everything they could to hang with overinflated Los Angeles. That's the problem. The Commanders' best effort wasn't enough. A middling running game never got much traction, Jayden Daniels looked like a glorified Checkdown Charlie, and the defense struggled to stop one person, Puka Nacua. Quite literally. At this stage, the Commanders' NFC East hopes are fleeting. Dan Quinn getting a pink slip is likely inevitable. — RZ
The Saints are soundly below average, which makes them a legitimate NFC South contender. First-round rookie Jordyn Tyson underwhelmed in his NFL debut (and looked increasingly frustrated doing so). A bottom-10 defense suggests head coach Kellen Moore will need him to thrive in order to win the shootouts that serve as constant off-ramps on New Orleans' road to the postseason. — CD
The Cardinals are 3-0 against some of the funniest and most dysfunctional teams in the NFL. They're otherwise 0-6, with two losses to Drew Lock. It's a good reminder of how far away Arizona still is, even as Mike LaFleur instills a general culture of competency. — RZ
Dallas has an awesome roster for fantasy purposes and an awful one for breaking the franchise's streak of playoff futility. But the Cowboys can keep up with anyone, and the NFC East is wide open. Dak Prescott could lead his team to a home Wild Card game, at which point all bets are off. — CD
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, wait, it's another moonball for Ja'Marr Chase, who is still running behind the Falcons' unreliable secondary in Madrid to cement Atlanta's fourth loss in its last five games. Gracias a Dios that Atlanta plays in the NFC South because its season would already be over in any other division. — RZ
Todd Bowles has developed a swarming and capable defense. His offense, however, has turned into the Bucky Irving show. Baker Mayfield took a battering Sunday night, and while he had some very nice throws, he largely underwhelmed. That's not what you want from the quarterback you just gave a $165 million extension on the eve of the 2026 season. — CD
Amid a three-game losing streak, it's tempting to pile on Bryce Young, who hasn't looked the same with Carolina's pass protection issues. What should be more troubling for Carolina is its revamped defense providing little to no resistance. On Sunday, that manifested in allowing a middling Denver offense to take complete control in a 13-point fourth quarter. Any time you make Bo Nix look functional is a time to look in the mirror. — RZ
Kirk Cousins couldn't even generate garbage-time magic in Week 9, accelerating the countdown clock to Fernando Mendoza's debut. The line in front of Cousins has only allowed three sacks the last four weeks, but that's also come with a below-average blitz rate. How will that unit hold up when opponents damn the torpedoes against a rookie? And will a bottom-five defense force Mendoza into bad habits for a team trailing on a regular basis? — CD
OK. We already knew that Joe Fagnano isn't an NFL starting quarterback. So let's focus on the defense. Baltimore has now allowed at least 33 points in three straight games. Marlon Humphrey looks old and slow. Trey Hendrickson looks like a lemon. Outside of Roquan Smith, the Ravens' linebackers are getting erased at the second level seemingly every other play. If I didn't know any better, the Ravens could use a full teardown on that side of the ball. The question now is whether Eric DeCosta will be the one who gets to lead the charge. — RZ
Shedeur Sanders put up a 297-yard, two-touchdown stat line, but his performance isn't as rosy as it looks. He still took too many negative plays, getting sacked on more than 15 percent of his dropbacks (five of 36) for a loss of 37 yards. 185 of those passing yards came after the catch thanks to an average target distance of only 6.3 yards downfield. He may fend off Deshaun Watson, formerly accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what an NFL investigation deemed "predatory behavior," but he isn't a solution just yet. — CD
The Giants' vibes were almost ruined by what looked like a bizarre throwing shoulder injury for J.J. McCarthy. It turned out to be a hip pointer, which still doesn't feel like "good" news. Anyway, McCarthy seems alright now, but Big Blue would probably be wise to give him some rest with a short week against a division rival coming up. — RZ
The first step on the road back to .500 is finished, and Houston made a game against the Chargers exactly as easy as it should have been. C.J. Stroud is operating at a high level, and a once-barren receiving corps is now loaded with weapons. The question is whether an underperforming defense can level up through the weak stretch of the Texans' 2026 schedule. — CD
Welcome back, Myles Garrett. Your reward for a stellar three-sack game is watching your team's older quarterback lose justtttttttt enough arm strength to make a high-powered offense look extremely mortal right as the team's best offensive player (Puka Nacua) suffers a knee injury. The 2026 Rams, ladies and gentlemen: Frustrating, perhaps sort of cursed, and never quite more than the sum of their parts. — RZ
A well-timed bye week gave us the breathing room to think about what the 6-2 Steelers are. It also allows us to set up their most important game of the season. Beat Cincinnati on the road on Sunday night, and the Steelers will own the season tiebreaker and be in the driver's seat for the AFC North division title. Lose and, well, they probably are who we thought they were. An above-average but ultimately unserious team that punched above its weight class record-wise for a few weeks by fattening up on bad competition. — RZ
Well, we saw first-hand that Carson Wentz is not, in fact, an upgrade over Kyler Murray.
The question now is whether the Vikings will sacrifice draft capital to try and pry a replacement at the trade deadline or simply let their defense blitz 40 times per game and hope for the best. — CD
Drake Maye's performance was troubling, sure. Christian Gonzalez's, however, was a much bigger concern. The Green Bay Packers beat him like a government mule's dusty rug, picking on him throughout a rout that saw Jordan Love complete 10 of his 14 passes that traveled at least 10 yards downfield. If the league's highest-paid cornerback is suddenly vulnerable, that's an awful place to be against the AFC's top quarterbacks. — CD
For the first time in nearly two years, Jared Goff didn't throw a touchdown pass in a game. That's a solid marker for how consistent one of the NFL's most underrated quarterbacks has been during his Lions tenure. Unfortunately, that also means it's time for the Lions to go back to the drawing board because, my goodness, they had just 168 net passing yards and no passing touchdowns against the DOLPHINS. — RZ
Joe Burrow is playing MVP football. A rebuilt defense is performing at a league-average level. That's not quite the perfect storm that carried the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2022 — that defense was a top-10 unit because Lou Anarumo was a wizard — but it should be enough to ensure the end of a three-season playoff drought. — CD
With Sam Darnold injured, Drew Lock stepped up and gave Seattle a much-needed get-right win over the Cardinals. If that sounds familiar, it's because this was the second time this season the backup quarterback rose to the occasion for the Seahawks against Arizona. Darnold will also be out this weekend. That means it's time for Lock to once again, er, lock in and give the reigning Super Bowl champions a more solid foundation for a potential playoff berth. — RZ
Will the Chiefs be proactive at the trade deadline? Xavier Worthy is now hurt and wasn't especially explosive when healthy (he has a negative yards-after-catch over expected for the second straight season). Patrick Mahomes' average target distance has plummeted to a career-low 5.4 yards downfield, the worst among all starting quarterbacks. Kansas City can't keep driving its Ferrari 35 miles per hour forever. — CD
The Bo Nix Broncos are now 11-1 over the last two seasons when down at least one score in the fourth quarter. That is, by far, the best record in the NFL in such a situation. The moral of the story here is don't let the Broncos hang around in the final stanza if you want to beat them. You have to put this plucky group away for good. — RZ
Jordan Love is displaying a new dimension to his downfield passing. It may be enough to make us overlook the fact that the Packers aggressively cannot run the ball. Green Bay's earned a ton of explosive plays and buttressed that with a defense playing at a top-10 level even without Micah Parsons. There may be an expiration date for this in January — as is tradition for Matt LaFleur — but it's incredible to watch in November. — CD
For the first time in his football career, going all the way back to high school, the usually interception-averse Caleb Williams threw four picks in a game. The Bears won anyway because Jeffery Simmons has finally given Chicago a legitimate four-man pass rush that harassed Baker Mayfield off his spots all Sunday night. It's safe to say the Bears' defense is a unit that can pick up the slack for its high-powered offense. In what might be the worst offensive game the Bears will play all season, we learned that they have a complete team capable of winning even when they're stuck in the mud. — RZ
Jordan Watkins is emerging as a solution for an injury-plagued receiving corps, operating as a viable downfield threat who can clear space for George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey closer to the line of scrimmage. He's averaged better than 14 yards per target the last two games, helping to fend off any of the desperation required to make a Brandon Aiyuk addition palatable. — CD
The Jaguars are loading up for a Super Bowl. The additions of safety Jessie Bates III and run-stuffing defensive tackles Davon Godchaux and Jordan Davis plugged the only real holes Jacksonville had on its roster. At this point, when it comes to what looks like the AFC's best team from top to bottom, anything short of an appearance in Super Bowl 61 will be considered a massive disappointment in Duval County. — RZ
The Vikings got to Josh Allen a bunch, which would be concerning if this were a game against any other NFL defense. Instead, Buffalo took what it could get, moved the ball on a few chunk plays and shut down any "Carson Wentz should be Minnesota's starter" chatter for the rest of the season. Will the Bills look to the trade deadline for reinforcements after Jacksonville's massive Monday? Or is Buffalo content where it is at 7-1? — CD
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