What we learned from first half of NFL season; Patriots face huge roadblock to perfection
It's Week 9 and with the season at its midway point, we look at the first-half winners and losers, and 32 things we learned through eight weeks of play. Before we dive in, enjoy these:
- Our Nate Davis presents his midseason report card. Only two teams got an "A."
- How the heck are the Miami Dolphins a midseason winner? Let Lorenzo Reyes explain.
- The Week 9 picks are in! Who might spring an upset this weekend?
- As always, we're here to help you set that fantasy football lineup.
Now for a closer look at the action:
Week 9's best and brightest
About last night: 49ers 28, Cardinals 25 -- If you started Jimmy Garoppolo on your fantasy football team ... congrats! The 49ers QB had four touchdown passes as San Francisco joined the New England Patriots as the NFL's only 8-0 teams.
Quick look at Week 9:
- Potential Roadblock No. 2 to 16-0 for Patriots: New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens -- The Patriots prevailed in their Week 4 test in Orchard Park, N.Y., but Sunday night presents an even greater challenge. The Ravens are riding a three-game winning streak and will be rested coming off the bye week.
- Sneaky-Good Game of the Week: Detroit Lions at Oakland Raiders -- A month ago, the Lions were 2-1-1 and the Raiders were at 3-2. Now, each team faces a crossroads at the season's midway point. The Silver and Black finally return to Oakland after a 48-day road trip that included a "home" game in London.
- Sunday Ticket Game of the Week: Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles -- In a rematch of last season's "double-doink" playoff game, the Bears need a bounce-back game after losing three straight and the Eagles need to keep pace with the division-leading Cowboys.
- Survivor Pool Game of the Week: Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Chargers -- Expect Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. to be Lambeau Field West as the streaking Packers roll into SoCal. Full disclosure: The previous picks have been been the Ravens (Week 1), Texans (Week 2), Vikings (Week 3), Chargers (Week 4), Eagles (Week 5),
Cowboys(Week 6), 49ers (Week 7) and Seahawks (Week 8). - Dud of the Week: New York Jets at Miami Dolphins -- While one team appears to have a clear plan in its massive rebuild, the other created dissent on trade deadline day.
TOP PICS: 49ers-Cardinals | Cheerleaders | NFL at 100
Week 9 essentials: Picks, rankings and more
- Week 9 picks: Paste BN Sports' panel of experts has provided fans with the great public service of making prognostications for every NFL game this weekend.
- Lorenzo's locks: Listen up as Lorenzo Reyes -- whose locks are hitting at just over 70% -- makes his picks against the spread for some of the biggest games of Week 9.
- Contender or pretender?: Midway through the season, the NFL's better teams have begun to distinguish themselves, writes Mike Jones.
- Midseason winners, losers: While the wide-open MVP race has been fun to watch, the pass inference challenges have been a waste of a timeout.
- Midseason grades: In our midseason assessment, only two teams got an "A" -- and they might not be the teams you're thinking of. Meanwhile, two more received an "F."
- Hey, Baker Mayfield: Grow up, dude: One thing we know at the season's midpoint is that Mayfield must mature, writes Jarrett Bell.
- Former first-round QB is clinging to career: Paxton Lynch went from the Broncos' QB of the future to out of the NFL in 2018. Now, the former first-round pick is getting another chance.
- Trade deadline winners, losers: You may and/or may not have noticed that the trade deadline was Tuesday. Which teams missed out on opportunities?
- Jamal Adams 'not sure' of Jets future: What if the real trade deadline day was the awkward tweets posted along the way?
- QB's charity gets more donations after benching: After being benched this week, Bengals QB Andy Dalton has seen a spike in donations to his foundation. And most of those donations are for $14.
- Power rankings: See how each team stands entering Week 9. Two NFL North teams reside in the top five.
Fantasy football: Get your lineup right
As always, we're here to help you out with your most important weekly decision: Setting that fantasy football lineup.
- Fantasy rankings for Week 9: For your convenience, these position-by-position rankings were updated for this week's slate of games.
- 4 things to know for Week 9: Listen up as Charles Curtis offers up advice, such as what to do as the fantasy trade deadline approaches.
- Studs, duds and sleepers: Here we examine players with good Week 9 matchups (Le'Veon Bell), bad matchups (David Montgomery) and non-stars you might want to consider starting (Jamaal Williams).
- Waiver wire: With four teams on a bye week, demand on the waiver wire will be high.
Week 9 schedule
(All times Eastern)
Bye week: Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints
Thursday
Sunday
Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (in London), 9:30 a.m. (NFL Network)
Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. (CBS)
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Minnesota Vikings at Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Tennessee Titans at Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Washington Redskins at Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks, 4:05 p.m. (FOX)
Detroit Lions at Oakland Raiders, 4:05 p.m. (FOX)
Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:25 p.m. (CBS)
Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos, 4:25 p.m. (CBS)
New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens, 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
Monday
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)
#NFL100
As the NFL celebrates its 100th season, we are unveiling our all-time 100 lists:
- 100 greatest players ever: 19 current and former reporters across the Paste BN Sports Network compiled a list ranking the greatest NFL players of all time.
- Greatest players ever for every team: The Paste BN Sports Network unveils the best players for each NFL team.
- 100 greatest teams in league history: 1999 St. Louis Rams. 1984 San Francisco 49ers. 1962 Green Bay Packers. 1950 Cleveland Browns. 1920 Akron Pros. Which is the greatest ever?
- 100 worst teams in league history: 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 2008 Detroit Lions. 2017 Cleveland Browns. 1944 Card-Pitt. 1920 Muncie Flyers. Which team set the all-time low?
- Greatest players ever by jersey number: From No. 00 Jim Otto to No. 99 J.J. Watt, these are the best players at 100 different uniform numbers.
- Greatest players from HBCU programs: The HBCU schools have a storied history and have produced many Pro Football Hall of Famers. These are the 100 greatest NFL players from HBCU programs.
- 100 biggest draft busts ever: The NFL draft has an extensive history of top picks who would only be remembered as busts.
- NFL's best and worst uniforms ever: Throughout the NFL's history, there have been some fantastic uniforms, and there are some that have been widely scorned.
- The best NFL broadcasters of all time: From John Madden to Joe Buck, here are the 50 greatest NFL broadcasters.
NFL Facebook group: Join now!
If you love talking football, we have the perfect place for you. Join our Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with our NFL insiders and other football enthusiasts just like you.
Life at the bottom
You've come this far, so this is your reward. Photos of the best uniforms in league history!
Enjoy the football!
Want to keep the NFL conversation going? Head to Facebook, and/or give a Twitter follow to your friendly neighborhood football guy who put together this newsletter, @jimreineking.