The Lions had such a promising start to the season, and it wasn’t long ago that they were playing for first place in the NFC North. That game went south, partially because of the officiating, and their entire season has faded along with it. The Lions have one of the league’s worse defenses and that’s going to keep them from contention despite a very good season from Matthew Stafford. It’s tempting to think of what might’ve happened had the Green Bay game gone differently, but their defensive vulnerability was always going to lead to problems.
By and large, the Packers have been great. They’re in firm control of the NFC North and look to be on their way to the playoffs, potentially even with a bye. There have been a couple games where they’ve been off — their recent performance against the Los Angeles Chargers is very worrisome — but they have all the weapons to make a deep run. Of note is their defense, which looks vastly improved and has allowed just 21 points per game.
Here’s what we know: Deshaun Watson is as good a quarterback as there is in the NFL. The defense is pretty good. The offensive line still has question marks. A win over the Chiefs indicates that they absolutely have what it takes to beat the better teams in the league. Whether they can be consistent enough to pull it off remains a question, but the Texans have to rank as one of the AFC’s more dangerous teams, and they’re certainly more or less doing their job so far.
The Colts have handled Andrew Luck’s preseason retirement as seamlessly as they possibly could have, and Jacoby Brissett has them in the playoff hunt anyway. There are certainly concerns — Adam Vinatieri looks like a shell of himself, for instance — but the scheme is very solid, and the entire team is sturdy in nearly every department. The kicker situation probably needs to be sorted ahead of any potential playoff appearance, but the fact that there’s even a chance of a playoff appearance is a testament to what the Colts have been able to do.
Jacksonville Jaguars (4-5) — C-
The Jaguars are the same as they have been over the last few years. The defense is pretty good and keeps them in many games. The offense is too inconsistent and too often fails to score enough points for the team to win. Gardner Minshew’s bubble burst in Week 9, and now we’ll see if Nick Foles can provide the offensive boost the Jaguars hoped he would when they signed him. A fractured collarbone knocked Foles out for the first half of the season, but a strong second half could mean another trip to the playoffs for Jacksonville.
It is a testament to the strength of the Chiefs’ offensive scheme that head coach Andy Reid has basically made Matt Moore look capable of running a high-powered offense. Still, this team isn’t quite as dominant as it was last year, and Patrick Mahomes has looked a little more vulnerable even when healthy. The defense also retains a lot of its previous issues. With that in mind, the Chiefs are a high-risk, high-reward team. That offense, at its peak, is good enough to outscore anybody. The defense is enough of an issue that it could cost them a playoff game. So far, so good for now, though.
Los Angeles Chargers (4-5) — C
The Chargers’ season looked headed for disaster two weeks ago, but they’ve rallied with two straight wins, most impressively in their home domination of the Green Bay Packers last week. Now that they’re more healthy on defense, they look like a force to be reckoned with. Melvin Gordon also looked more like himself in that game, so things are trending upward. It remains to be seen if that’s a one-off, though — if it’s the real Chargers, they’re going to win several more games. They’ve just been so inconsistent it is hard to judge by nine games.
Maybe it’s a Super Bowl hangover, but this is not quite the same Rams team as last year. Jared Goff looks a little bit more shaky, even at home. It’s somewhat surprising that it’s offensively where the Rams lag behind, as they’ve been pretty solid defensively. They also acquired Jalen Ramsey to boost that side of the ball after trading Marcus Peters. If the Rams can start scoring freely again, they’re going to be in very good shape, but they’re battling back from third place in the NFC West heading into Week 10.
The Dolphins might be a little angry that they beat the Jets and cost themselves draft positioning, which says all you need to know about their priorities this year. They’re terrible and they expected to be terrible. They’re a little more threatening with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center as opposed to Josh Rosen, but not much more. They’re perhaps better than, say, the Jets, but they’re still awful. Don’t expect that to change this year.
The story of the Vikings’ season can be told as the tale of Kirk Cousins. When their quarterback is good, they win. When he’s not, they lose. Early in the year, Cousins seemed scared to throw downfield, and the Vikings started a modest 2-2. Since then, they’re 4-1 and Cousins has turned himself loose a bit more. The defense is great, so the Vikings have a shot as long as Cousins is competent. That’s the big question mark for Minnesota going forward.
