Daily Newsletter: NFL Week 9 Takeaways + MNF Preview (Nov. 4th)
Welcome to our daily newsletter! Week 9 was a whirlwind of action, filled with drama, emerging trends, and key player developments. In this newsletter, we will recap the key takeaways from Week 9 and preview tonight's huge MNF match-up!
Week 9 Takeaways
Week 9 was one of the most fun weeks of the season. We had pre-game drama, in-game ejections, the birth of a new touchdown celebration and much more. Here are some big things that stuck out to me:
Angry Joe Burrow
There were reports all week last week that the Bengals were looking to get rookie WR more involved against the Raiders. Then, news broke on Sunday morning that Burton would be a healthy inactive due to disciplinary reasons. Burton missed the walk-through on Saturday despite being the focal point of the Bengals offensive game plan. Joe Burrow didn’t seem too happy, and it remains to be seen when Burton will get another chance to make his mark.
Do a Headstand
Incarnate Word WR Jalen Walthall celebrated a touchdown over the weekend with a headstand celebration…and it’s now taking over the NFL. Both Drake London and Amon-Ra St. Brown mimicked the celebration after scoring in Week 9 as seen here. I’ll be curious to see if this trend continues.
Turmoil in New Orleans
Chaos broke out on Twitter after Derek Carr got Chris Olave injured with a bad ball over the middle of the field during the Saints loss to the Panthers on Sunday. New Orleans were 7 point favorites and lost outright. That bad pass caused former Saints star Michael Thomas to tweet his displeasure with Derek Carr on X – prompting a response from Olave’s brother. The Saints responded by firing HC Dennis Allen on Monday morning.
Week 9 Injury Fall Out
Chris Olave (concussion)- Olave suffered his 4th known concussion in the NFL.
AJ Brown (knee)- Brown tweaked his knee in the first half, returned in the second half for a small portion but then missed the latter half of the game
Drake London (hip)- London suffered a hip pointer on his touchdown catch, not expected to be serious
Dak Prescott (hamstring)- Prescott suffered a hamstring injury in the second half, Jerry Jones said they are “concerned”
CeeDee Lamb (shoulder)- Lamb landed hard on his shoulder in the second half laying out for a long pass
Monday Night Football Preview
Week 9 wraps up on Monday night, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveling to Kansas City to face-off with the Chiefs. Kansas City is favored by 9.5 points on the sportsbooks, with the total set at 45.5. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and is set to kick off at 8:15 ET.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers have certainly been a bit unlucky this season, especially when it comes to injuries with both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin out. Tampa’s defense has struggled to contain opposing offenses this season – with the average score of the Bucs games this season eclipsing 55 points. Even without Godwin/Evans in the lineup, Mayfield and the Buccaneers managed 26 points last week against the Falcons. That being said, I’ve written a few times this season about how Baker Mayfield excels against zone-coverage. He consistently grades out among the league-leaders vs zone, but he falls off a cliff against man-coverage. He also is at a huge disadvantage relying on back-up WRs to get open against stifling man-coverage. KC is one of the few teams that skew man-heavy defensively in the NFL these days, and I have concerns they will be able to shut down this Buccaneers offense despite how prolific it has been.
Kansas City Chiefs
I’ve written a lot about the Chiefs recently, about how they’re boring and seem to be bored in their winning play-style. Patrick Mahomes is not having a good statistical season despite their 7-0 record, and they’ve often let teams hang around in games despite not getting burned yet. Five of the Chiefs seven games this season have been decided by one score. It just seems pretty unsustainable to continue to pump out one-score wins. Stylistically, this is a great match-up for the Chiefs offense to break loose. DeAndre Hopkins should be better acquainted with the team after another full week of practice, the only concern for me is that there is potential for rain in the forecast. Tampa Bay blitzes at the fourth-highest rate in football. Mahomes has historically shredded the blitz, due to his ability to quickly process information and get the ball out. As long as the weather holds off, I’m expecting a good game offensively for the Chiefs and would even consider an over on their team total – despite the fact that they’ve yet to score 28 points in a game this season.
Touchdown Prediction: Xavier Worthy
This is a strong spot for Worthy. TB plays very-heavy zone-coverage on defense and two of Worthy’s three receiving TD’s have come against zone this season. As I noted above, TB blitzes a ton and this could set up as a good spot to get the ball in Worthy’s hands quickly and let him run after the catch. He leads the team in YAC since Rashee Rice went down – while the Buccaneers allow the third-most YAC in the NFL.
Written by Ben Hossler