2009 NFL Season: Week Nine Preview

The second half of the 2009 NFL Season is here and now the “real” fun begins as teams confirm their status as a “Contender” or “Pretender”. 

Many people around the NFL, including yours truly, are excited about the second half of the season kicking off as almost all bye weeks are over (Week Nine—Buffalo, Cleveland, Oakland, St. Louis, Minnesota, NY Jets and Week 10—NY Giants, Houston). 

And the games each week have a heightened level of significance in terms of teams jockeying for division titles and the league’s coveted 12 playoff berths.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said of starting the second half of the 2009 season, “It’s a new season, we have a nine-game schedule and we open with Baltimore.”

The NFL as usual is parity-laden this time of the year as there are 15 teams above .500 and 12 teams below the .500 mark. But there is still a lot of sorting out left to do with the group of 12 teams currently residing in the league’s “Any Given Sunday” middle with records ranging from 5-3 to 3-4 (Texans (5-3), Giants (5-3), Jets (4-4), Ravens (4-3), Chargers (4-3), Falcons (4-3), Bears (4-3), Cardinals (4-3), Niners (3-4), Dolphins (3-4),  Panthers (3-4), and Jaguars (3-4). 

In the coming weeks, the "Stuck in the Middle" teams will either join the playoff hunt or fall back which always is the fun part of the third quarter of the NFL season. But nothing in the NFL is predictable and there is a lot most football to be played. 

Since 1990, when the current 12-team playoff format was adopted, 47 teams (20.6 percent of the 228 playoff clubs) have advanced to the postseason after starting the season with a .500 or worse record after eight games. 

Even the NFL’s two undefeated teams, the New Orleans Saints (7-0) and Indianapolis Colts (7-0), know that nothing is guaranteed in today’s NFL and that they better put away any thoughts of catching the 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins and concentrate on their opponents for this week—both have tough divisional battles Saints-Panthers and Colts-Texans. 

The Colts are 7-0 for the fourth time in the past five seasons, but they begin a stretch that will see them play teams that are a combined 19-11 (.633) over the next four games. 

Colts receiver Reggie Wayne said of his team’s record and where they currently stand, “We know that 7-0 guarantees us nothing, we’ve gotten farther than this in the past and came out with nothing. We just want to stay dialed in and continue to win games.”

The factor that everyone hopes will lead to being in the playoff hunt come late December is “adjustments”. The NFL is a copycat league where teams can catch-up quickly and adjustments are the only way to stay ahead of the pack and combat falling behind. 

With only eight more weeks of action after this week, it is time for the “good” coaches to make the adjustments necessary to get their teams back on track or keeping them at the top. Remember early season results are important (don’t want to get too far behind), but good coaches realize that they want their team peaking in the championship months of November and December. 

The halfway point of the season also seems like a good time to start talking about the NFL’s eight divisional races. Entering Week Nine, seven teams that did not win their division in 2008 either were at the top or tied for first place in their division. 

If this pattern holds true, the 2009 season will break the NFL record for new division winners since realignment in 2002 (Six new division winners in 2003 and 2008).

Here’s the current division breakdown:

NFC East—2008 Champion was the NY Giants and this season the Eagles and Cowboys have a half-game lead over the Giants.

NFC West—2008 Champion was the Arizona Cardinals and this season the Cardinals have a one-game lead over the Giants.

NFC South—2008 Champion was the Carolina Panthers and this season the New Orleans Saints have a three-game lead over the Falcons.

NFC North—2008 Champion was the Minnesota Vikings and this season the Vikings have a two-and-a-half game lead over the Packers and Bears

AFC East—2008 Champion was the Miami Dolphins and this season the New England Patriots have a one-and-a-half game lead over the New Jets.

AFC West—2008 Champion was the San Diego Chargers and this season the Denver Broncos have a two-game lead over the Chargers.

AFC South—2008 Champion was the Tennessee Titans and this season the Indianapolis Colts have a one-and-a-half game lead over the Houston Texans.

AFC North—2008 Champion was the Pi