NFL Week 9 winners and losers, plus grading every team and best bets for Chargers at Jets on ‘MNF’ – CBS Sports

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

If we learned one thing from Week 9, it’s that the Raiders probably should have fired Josh McDaniels six months ago or nine months ago or at this point, you could probably just make the argument that they shouldn’t have hired him at all. 

The Raiders, Texans and Vikings were three teams that stole the show on Sunday. C.J. Stroud set a rookie passing record in Houston’s win over Tampa Bay. The Vikings beat the Falcons even though Minnesota was forced to put in a QB who had only been on the team for five days in Josh Dobbs (Dobbs also didn’t take a SINGLE practice rep with the offense last week. Leave it to the Falcons to lose to a third-string QB who didn’t take a single practice rep). 

We’ll be covering those three games, plus more, in today’s newsletter. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let’s get to the rundown. 

1. Today’s Show: Biggest questions after Week 9

If I sound tired right now, it’s because I stayed up until 2:47 a.m. last night recording a podcast with Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson. Actually, I’m not even sure what time it was because the time change completely threw me off. 

Anyway, the three of us touched on our 10 biggest takeaways from Week 9; here are a few of the biggest questions that we tried to answer: 

• Will the Dolphins ever beat a good team? The Dolphins have played three teams this year that currently have a winning record and they’re now 0-3 in this games after losing 21-14 to the Chiefs on Sunday. In those three losses, the Dolphins have been outscored an average of 33.3 to 17. Basically, they’re getting destroyed by good teams and I don’t see that changing. They’re a finesse team that doesn’t respond well when they get bullied and they’re going to get bullied whenever they play a good team. 
• Are the Ravens the best team in the AFC? The Ravens had one of the most impressive wins of Week 9 with a 37-3 beatdown of the Seahawks. At 7-2, the Ravens are tied with the Chiefs for the best record in the AFC and to be honest, I’d probably pick the Ravens if those two teams played tomorrow. Lamar Jackson is looking better every week in Todd Monken’s offense and the defense has been one of the best in the NFL this year. 
• Can the Texans make the playoffs? The Texans are now 4-4 on the season after beating the Buccaneers 39-37 in what was easily the wildest game of Week 9. With C.J. Stroud playing so well, we debated whether the Texans can make the playoffs this year and surprisingly, we all said yes. Stroud looks like the Rookie of the Year and the Texans defense has also been playing well. The Texans also have the second-easiest remaining strength of schedule of any team in the AFC, which should be an advantage over the second half of the season. 

To check out the rest of our takeaways from Week 9, be sure to click here so you can listen to the entire episode of the podcast. You can also watch the episode on YouTube here, which you’ll want to do if you want to see my sad Bruno costum. 

2. Week 9 grades: Raiders get high marks for firing their coach and still winning

Every week I team up with four of my colleagues here at CBSSports.com to hand out grades, and this week, the Raiders got an ‘A’ for winning with an interim coach. 

Here’s a look at the grades from two notable games that were played Sunday:

Vikings 31-28 over Falcons (Click here for full game stats)

• Vikings takeaway: At this time last week, Josh Dobbs didn’t even play for the Vikings. He got traded to them on Tuesday and he wasn’t supposed to play against the Falcons, but he found himself on the field after an injury to starter Jaren Hall. Dobbs got off to any ugly start with two lost fumbles while also taking a safety, but he made up for that with some clutch play in the fourth quarter. The Vikings defense also came up huge in the second half by forcing two turnovers that allowed Minnesota to get back in the game after the Vikings fell behind 21-13. If this game taught us anything, it’s that you can’t write the Vikings off just because they lost two key players to injury (Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins). Grade: B+
• Falcons takeaway: There’s no silver lining here: This was an embarrassing loss for the Falcons. With Minnesota down to its third-string QB in Josh Dobbs, it seemed like a win was there for the taking, but instead, the Falcons decided to give it away. Offensively, the Falcons turned the ball over on consecutive possessions in the second half and the Vikings ended up getting 10 points off those, which allowed Minnesota back in the game. Defensively, the Falcons let Dobbs drive 75 yards for a game-winning TD in the final two minutes. It was a total meltdown on both sides of the ball by a suddenly flailing Falcons team that has lost three of its past four games. Grade: D

 Raiders 30-6 over Giants (Click here for full game stats)

• Giants takeaway: With the Raiders playing on a short week and starting a rookie QB in a game that was being played just five days after they fired their coach, this seemed like a game that the Giants could win, but instead, they got blown out. The offense couldn’t move the ball and the defense wasn’t much better and that’s a recipe for disaster. To add insult to injury, the Giants appear to have lost Daniel Jones to a season-ending knee injury. The Giants’ 2023 season is officially in a tailspin. Grade: F
• Raiders takeaway: It looks like Josh McDaniels might have actually been the problem in Las Vegas. In their first game since McDaniels was fired, the Raiders looked like a completely different team. Actually, Maxx Crosby looked the same: He was just as dominant as he’s been all season. The Giants had no answers for Crosby, who racked up three of the team’s eight sacks. Without McDaniels, the Raiders offense looked different. Josh Jacobs finally came alive with 98 yards and two touchdowns. And then there was rookie QB Aidan O’Connell, who played it smart and safe in a game where he threw for 209 yards. If the Raiders keep playing like this under interim coach Antonio Pierce, there’s no reason they can’t sneak into the AFC playoff race. Grade: A

As for all the other grades that we handed out on Sunday, you can check those out by clicking here. 

3. 16 crazy facts from Week 9: C.J. Stroud makes NFL history

Every Sunday night, I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports, and every Sunday, that email always includes some amazingly wild facts about the games that were just played. 

With that in mind, here are 16 crazy facts about Week 9: 

1. Stroud sets rookie record. The Houston QB set the record for most passing yards in a single game by a rookie with 470. His total topped the old record of 433, which had been held by Andrew Luck. Stroud also became just the third QB in NFL history to throw for at least 470 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions, joining Y.A. Tittle and Ben Roethlisberger.
2. Greatest Show on Turf. The Texans had three different receivers catch at least five passes for at least 100 yards, making them just the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to pull off that feat. They joined the 1982 Rams, 1995 Lions and 2018 Rams. 
3. Texans kicking chaos. With a field goal agains the Buccaneers, Dare Ogunbowale became the first non-kicker or punter to hit a field goal since 2004, when Wes Welker did it. Ogunbowale is also the first running back with a field goal since Tony Galbreath in 1979. 
4. Out of Tune. Cardinals QB Clayton Tune became the first QB to get shut out in his first career NFL start since 2014 when it happened to Johnny Manziel. Coincidentally, Tune lost to Manziel’s old team — the Browns — 27-0. With Tune running the show, the Cardinals totaled just 58 yards of offense, which was their lowest total since 1955.
5. Brown out. By holding the Cardinals to just 58 yards, the Browns have now held two different opponents under 100 yards this season, which is impressive, when you consider that no other team has even done it once this season. Also, the Browns are the first team since 1992 to hold multiple teams under 100 yards in one season. 
6. Raiders win big with an interim coach. The 30-6 win by Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce was the fifth-largest margin of victory ever by an interim coach and the biggest since 2015 when Dan Campbell led the Dolphins to a 28-point win.
7. Punters are people, too. Raiders punter A.J. Cole had a record-setting game against the Giants. Cole averaged 63.6 yards on five punts, breaking the previous NFL record of 63.0 yards, which was set by Carolina’s Andy Lee in 2016. 
8. CeeDee Lamb goes off. With 191 yards against the Eagles, Lamb has now gone over 150 yards in back-to-back weeks, making him just the second player in Cowboys history pull off that feat. The only other time it happened came in 2009 when Miles Austin did it. 
9. Minnesota magic. During the Vikings’ win over Atlanta, Josh Dobbs totaled three touchdowns, making him the first player in NFL history to total three touchdowns in consecutive weeks with two different teams. Dobbs had two passing touchdowns and one rushing TD while playing for the Cardinals in Week 8. He then followed that up with two passing touchdowns and a rushing TD for the Vikings in Week 9. Dobb is also the just the second QB to throw at least 20 passes for two different teams in consecutive weeks (He threw 37 with the Cardinals in Week 8). The only other QB to accomplish this was Bernie Kosar, who did it with the Browns and Cowboys in 1993. 
10. All Saints day. The Saints forced five turnovers against the Bears with three of those coming from Paulson Adebo, who recorded two interceptions, while also forcing and recovering a fumble. With that stat line, Paulson became the first defensive player since Charles Woodson in 2009 to pull all that off in a single game. 
11. Taysom Hill joins rare club. With a TD catch against the Bears, Hill now has 10 for his career, which makes him just the fifth player in NFL history to tally 10 TD catches, 10 TD runs while also throwing 10 TD passes. The last player to pull that off was Frank Gifford in 1964.
12. Cowboys kicker sets NFL record. With his first field goal against the Eagles, Brandon Aubrey set an NFL record for most consecutive field goals made to start a career. Aubrey has now made 19 straight, which puts him ahead of former record-holder Travis Coons, who hit 18 to start his career.
13. NFL’s oldest player takes the field. Aaron Rodgers no longer holds the honor of being the oldest NFL player to play in a game this year, thanks to Jason Peters. The 41-year-old offensive lineman signed with the Seahawks this week and he saw some action on Sunday against the Ravens. 
14. Patriots dynasty is officially over. With their loss to the Commanders, the Patriots are now five games under .500 for the first time since 2000. They went 362 straight games without falling five games under .500, which was the third longest in NFL history, trailing only the Steelers (1989-active) and Dolphins (1970-2004).
15. Folk Hero. With two field goals against the Steelers on Thursday, Folk has now hit 72 straight from under 40 yards, which is an NFL record. Going into Week 9, Folk had been tied with Justin Tucker, who had previously held the record with 70 consecutive makes from that distance. 
16. International men of mystery. With their win in Germany, the Chiefs became the first NFL team to win a regular-season game in four different countries (They had already previously won England, Mexico and the U.S.) 

If you see any other fun facts, feel free to tweet them at me. 

4. NFL Week 9 winners and losers: Joshua Dobbs pulls off a miracle

You can’t have a week of NFL action without having winners and losers, so we have some winners and losers. 

Cody Benjamin came up with this week’s list, which you can check out below. 

Winners

• C.J. Stroud. “Can we issue the Offensive Rookie of the Year award yet? The Texans’ first-rounder has been surprisingly poised all year, but he rebounded from a slower couple of weeks on Sunday by absolutely torching the Buccaneers’ secondary to the tune of a record 470 passing yards and five touchdowns.”
• Joshua Dobbs. “Five days after arriving via trade from the Cardinals, who notably started him in Week 1 just two weeks after acquiring him from the Browns, Dobbs was unbelievably resilient as the Vikings’ QB off the bench. Called upon after just six throws from rookie Jaren Hall, whose concussion robbed him of a full game, Dobbs scored three times and led Minnesota in rushing as a play-extender and playmaker. He’s the biggest reason this scrappy club is 5-4 going into the winter.”

Losers

• Bill Belichick. “Have the Patriots hit rock bottom yet? Each week feels like a new argument for that. This time, the typically disciplined New England squad was anything but, allowing mental miscues and untimely penalties to exacerbate another middling day for Mac Jones and the passing attack.”
• Tua Tagovailoa. “This kid’s had a phenomenal season for an explosive team. That can’t be denied. But it’s time we start paying attention to these matchups with legitimate contenders. It’s not nothing that Miami has yet to beat a team with a winning record this year, and in each of the Dolphins’ three losses — against the Bills, Eagles and now Chiefs — he’s given the ball away.”

If you want to see Cody’s full list of winners and losers, be sure to click here. 

5. Monday preview: Prepping you for Chargers at Jets

After Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury in Week 1, it looked like the Jets season might be over, but that hasn’t been the case. Not only are they currently above .500 at 4-3, but if they beat the Chargers tonight, they’ll be just a half-game out of first place in the AFC East. As for the Chargers, this is also a big game for them because they can get back to .500 with a win in New York. 

My good buddy Jared Dubin put together our deep-dive preview for this game here at CBSSports.com, and here’s how he sees the game playing out:

• Why the Chargers can win: The Jets have a very good defense, but as Dubin notes in his preview, if that defense has one weakness, it’s on throws that are short and over the middle, and that’s where the Chargers thrive with both Austin Ekeler and Keenan Allen. If Justin Herbert is throwing short passes, that means he shouldn’t have to worry about the Jets pass-rush. Basically, the Chargers have the weapons to neutralize what the Jets do best on defense and they’ll need to take advantage of that in this game. If they’re able to do that, it could be a long night for the Jets and a good night for the Chargers. 
• Why the Jets can win: The Jets offense isn’t exactly known for lighting up the scoreboard, but they could have some success tonight and that’s because they’ll be going up against a Chargers defense that has been one of the worst in the NFL heading into Week 9. The Chargers are surrendering the most pass yards per game (297.4) and the second-most total yards per game (390.9), two stats that should give Zach Wilson and the offense some confidence going into tonight. The Jets are 4-1 this season when they score just 13 POINTS, but 0-2 when they don’t. Scoring 13 might not be enough beat the Chargers, but if the Jets can score at least 20, which they’ve done four times this season, that should put them in a position to win.

You can get a full preview of the game from Jared by clicking here.

If you’re thinking about betting on the game, here’s one prop I like: 

• ONE PROP I LIKE: Cameron Dicker OVER 6.5 points (-145). Opposing kickers have been having huge games this year against New York. When the Jets play, opposing kickers have been averaging three field goal attempts per game, which is the most in the NFL. Not to mention, opposing kickers have also been averaging 8.1 points per game. The Chargers have an offense that can move the ball, but the Jets defense is good, so it won’t be surprising if L.A. has to settle for several field goal attempts in this game. Dicker might score 10 points for the Chargers, which would easily hit the over here. 

My prime-time prop record is 11-7 this year. 

Finally, if you’re wondering who we’re picking, here’s who we have tonight: 

Jared’s pick: Chargers 23-13 over Jets
My pick: Chargers 19-16 over Jets

Over on our CBSSports.com picks page, we have eight experts and six of us are taking the Chargers to win in a game where they’re favored by 3.5 points. 

6. Extra points: Daniel Jones out for the season

It was a busy weekend in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Daniel Jones out for the year. The Giants QB returned to action on Sunday only to suffer a potential season-ending injury. According to NFL.com, it appears that Jones may have torn his ACL, and if that’s the case, then his season will definitely be over. 
• Eagles tight end could miss at least a month. The Eagles offense took a hit on Sunday with the loss of Dallas Goedert. According to ESPN, the tight end suffered a fracture in his forearm. The team will know more about the severity of the injury after he undergoes an MRI on Monday, but as things stand, he could be a candidate for IR, which would keep him out for at least four games. 
• Montez Sweat signs huge extension with Bears. After making a surprising trade for Montez Sweat last week, the Bears have now locked him up for the foreseeable future. The former Commanders pass-rusher has signed a four-year, $98 million extension that will keep him in Chicago through the 2027 season. 
• Martavis Bryant gets reinstated. The former Steelers receiver, who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2018, has been reinstated. Bryant was hit with an indefinite suspension in December 2018 for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Although he hasn’t played in five years, at least one team is already interested. According to the Athletic, Bryant will be getting a workout with the Cowboys this week.