2009 NFL Football Season: Week Nine

Week Nine turned into a disaster for three teams, while other teams keep rolling along.

How did Green Bay manage to lose to Tampa Bay , who got their first win on Sunday?

The Packer defense has just collapsed, and the offensive line simply can’t protect Aaron Rodgers. Maybe the emotional letdown of losing to the Vikings twice and being three games back in the division with no realistic shot at the division title did them in—or maybe their defense just blows.

But even at 4-4, a wild card spot is still a realistic goal.

Congratulations to Tampa Bay and rookie quarterback Josh Freeman on the Bucs’ first win of the season. Freeman may not have looked like the next coming of Tom Brady, but he has to get Rookie of the Week honors for leading his team to a win in his first start.

After a big win against Denver last week, the Baltimore Ravens have lost to Cincinnati for the second time this year. While stranger things have happened, their shot at the division title is greatly diminished. They are now a struggling team that needs to string some wins together to stay in the hunt.

The New York Giants after a 5-0 start have lost four straight. Like I’ve been saying all along, they are an average team, and they now look like it. After losing in the last seconds to the Chargers, this is a team that needs to find itself.

The Tennessee Titans have won two in a row on the back of running back Chris Johnson. What happened to the 49ers and their fine start to the season?

New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith has had two big games in a row. He might be making a run for my end of season All-Pro Team. I’m sure he’s motivated by being left off my Midseason All-Pro Team.

I’ve heard talk that the Patriots might be interested in signing Larry Johnson . I hope we don’t get that desperate. This guy is a punk.

GAMES I WATCHED

New England Patriots over Miami Dolphins, 27-17 (NFL Replay)

This was a critically important win for the New England Patriots, who face the Colts, Jets, and Saints the next three weeks, a real murderers’ row.

They handed Miami their first division loss and are now two games up on the Jets. The next few weeks are critical for the Patriots as they face two of the best teams in the league and their archrival New York Jets, who shut Brady and his bunch down in their first meeting this season.

The Patriots defense bent a bit but did just enough to keep Miami from rolling all over them and really held them in check in the fourth quarter.

Randy Moss’s two huge plays, a one-handed grab at the one-yard line and 71-yard catch and run for a touchdown, show he’s still got it.

MVP: Randy Moss, WR

Cincinnati Bengals over Baltimore Ravens, 17-7

In many ways, this game was not as close as the score might indicate. Cincinnati dominated both lines of scrimmage throughout the game, and Baltimore never really threatened them. This is the second time I have seen the Bengals' offensive line absolutely dominate an opponent.

The Ravens clearly missed Haloti Ngata, who sat out with an ankle injury, as their defensive line was constantly knocked off the ball, rendering Ray Lewis and the rest of the linebackers less effective. These two teams played a few weeks ago with a similar result, although Cincinnati had to pull it out at the very end, so maybe he would not have made that much of a difference.

I hear a lot of people questioning whether Cincinnati is for real. They lost on a fluke play to Denver or they would be 6-1 after a mediocre outing against Houston. Seeing how well their offensive line has been playing and their consistency on defense, I think Cincinnati is definitely an upper echelon team.

They will have a big test next week against division foe Pittsburgh.

Cedric Benson should thank his offensive line for another fine outing, rushing for 117 tough yards.

MVP: Cedric Benson, RB

San Diego Chargers over New York Giants, 21-20

The Giants really let one slip away here, allowing the Chargers to put together an 80-yard last minute drive to win the game. They have now lost four games in a row and don’t look very good on offense or defense.

Eli Manning is struggling, but frankly I don’t think it’s entirely his fault. After a good start to the season, neither Steve Smith nor Mario Manningham is doing much to help him out. Even the offensive line, one of the best in the league, struggled against the Chargers. They allowed Shawne Merriman to look like he was back on steroids and actually a good football player.

The Giants secondary has always been a weak spot, but they were often protected by the ferocious pass rush of the Giants’ front seven. But against the Chargers, they just simply were not getting it done for the most part.

The Giants are a mediocre team, and they lost to another mediocre team. While neither team is a bottom-feeder, they don’t like they are going anywhere in this season either.

The star of the day was wide receiver Vincent Jackson and his two touchdown grabs. He is starting to emerge as one of the elite receivers in the league.

Now that the Chargers have cut Chris Chambers, Malcolm Floyd needs to step up. He did nothing this game. Meanwhile, Chambers had a good day with his new team, the Kansas City Chiefs.

MVP: Vincent Jackson, WR

Dallas Cowboys over Philadelphia Eagles, 20-16

This game actually turned out more or less the way I expected it, with the Cowboys winning a close game. Neither team looked like a world-beater, but the Dallas offensive line, other than Flozell Adams, played a very solid game. They were able to move the ball enough to squeak out a win.

Leonard Davis played particularly well at left guard, where most of the running attack seemed to be focused.

Donovan McNabb loves to throw the ball into the ground. What is up with that? He seems to be getting less and less accurate with his passes every time I see him play. But of course, the Dallas defense mugged him all night long.

The entire defense played well, but my hats are off to SS Gerald Sensabaugh, who was a disruptive force in the game and had an interception. Defensive tackle Jay Ratliff also had an excellent game with two sacks.

The Eagles were not able to generate many big plays, and the offensive line wasn’t much help to Donovan and the backs.

One always wonders about how valuable a single player is to a team, but the Eagles certainly do look a lot different without Brian Westbrook in the lineup. Even when he doesn’t get as many touches in a game, the team seems to play better with him in there.

Dallas now has a solid grip on the top spot in the NFC East title race. While it’s not a death grip, this win leaves them sitting pretty.

MVP: Gerald Sensabaugh, SS

New Orleans Saints over Carolina Panthers, 30-20 (DVR)

I’m not sure why everyone is making a big deal out of the Saints’ “comeback” against the Panthers. They were never down by more than 14 points. For an offensive this explosive, that is nothing.

The bottom line is the Saints have proven to be a winning team, and winning teams find a way to win. The Panthers have proven to be a losing team, and losing teams find a way to lose.

The Panthers got their 14-point lead aided by a couple of turnovers (and a big play). The Saints were down 17-6 after the first half as a result.

But the tell-all of the game and the difference between the two teams can be seen in the first two possessions of the second half.

The Saints get the ball in the second half and march to a touchdown to bring the game to 17-13.

Carolina gets the ball and marches down to within the five-yard line. They should score a touchdown, right?

Instead they have confusion at the line of scrimmage and call a timeout.

AFTER the timeout, they run a horrible play that results in an easy sack for the Saints. Within the five-yard line, the sack results in a field goal instead of a touchdown, 20-13, game over as the Saints go on with a few big plays to spank the lesser team.

Saints winners. Carolina losers.

Despite the big three plays by Drew Brees to three different receivers, he had some turnovers, so my MVP is DE Will Smith.

MVP: Will Smith, DE

Pittsburgh Steelers over Denver Broncos, 28-10

Is that crash I’m hearing the Denver Broncos coming back down to earth? After a 6-0 start, they have back-to-back losses.

Well, let’s not beat up on Denver too bad. This game, like Denver’s loss last week, was a pretty hard struggle until the fourth quarter. The Denver defense played well, but they, not the Steelers playing in altitude in an away game, are the unit that seemed to fold a bit in the fourth quarter.

Of course, the Steelers kept pounding the rock at them. Rashard Mendenhall seems to have established himself as the starting running back in Pittsburgh. With Willie Parker dinged up, Mendenhall ground out 155 yards to win the game.

And okay, Big Ben had a nice game, but I’m sick of hearing “elite” and “Hall of Fame” next to his name.

Yes, he’s having a great year and had two Super Bowl wins—but did you know that Big Ben has the lowest QB rating of any Super Bowl-winning QB ever? And that he won their first Super Bowl despite his poor play (and Seattle fans would say plenty of help from the atrocious referees)? And that he wasn’t the best player on the field in their second Super Bowl win?

Okay, I really do love Big Ben, but he is no Dan Marino. Or is he?

MVP: Rashard Mendenhall, RB

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offensive Player: Kurt Warner, QB, Arizona Cardinals

Defensive Player: Gerald Sensabaugh, SS, Dallas Cowboys

Offensive Lineman: Leonard Davis, G, Dallas Cowboys

Special Teams: Dustin Colquitt, P, Kansas City Chiefs

Rookie of the Week: Josh Freeman, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers