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Catch of the year helps Jets win. Plus, your NFL Week 9 preview 🏈

Jim Reineking   Paste BN

This is the Paste BN Sports NFL newsletter, 4th and Monday. If this newsletter isn't already getting conveniently delivered to your inbox, click here to subscribe.

NFL Week 9 is here ...

➤ About last night: New York Jets 21, Houston Texans 13 — A Jets season that had been a horror show so far turned into a treat for New York fans on Halloween night. The win halted a ghastly five-game losing streak for the Jets (3-6), who keep hope alive for a second-half playoff push. The injury-riddled Texans (6-3) now must regroup before hosting the mighty Detroit Lions on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 10.

➤ Game of the week: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers — Supremacy in what has been the NFL's best division so far in 2024 will be at stake here. The Lions have won four of the last five in this budding rivalry, but that Packers win was a big one. It came on Thanksgiving Day 2023, and was the second win in an end-of-season run that included six wins in eight games to push the Packers into the playoffs. Quarterback Jordan Love was just coming into his own then — he had three touchdown passes in the 29-22 win — en route to solidifying his franchise quarterback status. However, Love is — like the rest of us — "day to day," with a groin injury. He practiced Thursday, which is promising. If Love is not able to go, Malik Willis — who has gone 2-0 in his two starts this season — will start for Green Bay (6-2). The Lions (6-1), meanwhile, enter Sunday's showdown at legendary Lambeau Field looking like the best team in the league (sorry, not sorry, Kansas City Chiefs). Detroit has scored a combined 172 points over its last four games, the most by a team since the Baltimore Ravens in 2019.

➤ Sneaky-good game of the week: Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens — Behind burgeoning rookie quarterback Bo Nix, the Broncos (5-3) have won five of six games — but mostly against unimpressive opponents. The Ravens (5-3) are coming off a stunning loss to the previously inept Cleveland Browns (seemingly less inept now that Jameis Winston is the quarterback ... but time will tell!). The bounce back-game-eager Ravens will be a good test for the upstart Broncos.

➤ Dreadful game of the week: New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers — One team has just one victory all season; the other is riding a six-game losing streak. While Bryce Young will start again for the Panthers (1-7) this week, Derek Carr is back at practice and is expected to return for the Saints (2-6). Still, New Orleans dug itself too big of a hole in Carr's absence to make a serious playoff run. The Panthers, meanwhile, just traded away their best receiver and are marching toward the No. 1 draft pick again (for real this time).

➤ Game I'm mildly interested in, and not just because I have Cedric Tillman on my fantasy team: Los Angeles Chargers at Cleveland Browns — Oftentimes fly-by-night quarterback Jameis Winston energized a seemingly down-and-out Browns team in his first start for the team — his first start anywhere in more than two years. The Browns (2-6) ended a five-game losing streak and — while Cleveland's playoff hopes might be fading — can play the role of an adept spoiler during the season's second half. Enter the Chargers (4-3), who are a winning outfit under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. However, after a 2-0 start, the Chargers' form has been L-L-W-L-W, so stringing together some more Ws would be imperative to the team's playoff hopes.

➤ Just going to rank some games I'm interested in watching without giving any context:

  1. Chicago Bears at Arizona Cardinals
  2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs
  3. Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons
  4. Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings
  5. Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks

🚨 Public service announcement 🚨 If you're still alive in Paste BN Sports' survivor pool (there are only 42 of 10,357 entries still alive, so well done!), please make sure to make your Week 9 pick!

📸: Fans, mascots, cheerleaders and celebrities at NFL games

NFL Week 9: Pigskin prognostications, betting tips, rankings

➤ Week 9 picks: This is where Paste BN Sports' panel of experts has provided fans with the great public service of making prognostications for every game this weekend, both straight up and against the spread.

➤ Bold predictions: Which teams and players could surprise the most in Week 9?

➤ NFL Week 9 betting odds: Which teams are favored this week?

➤ Best bets for Week 9: Lorenzo Reyes is back with his favorite NFL bets for Week 9, including why he likes lines involving the Commanders and Bills this weekend.

➤ Power rankings: See how all 32 teams stack up after eight weeks of play. The Chiefs remain No. 1, but there's movement behind them.

NFL news, notes and analysis

➤ Highly hyped QB's benching was a necessary move for all: Losing his starting spot doesn't have to be a death knell for Anthony Richardson's NFL career, but there are key takeaways for the quarterback and the Colts, Jarrett Bell writes.

➤ Teams making moves: The NFL trade deadline isn't until Tuesday — which also happens to be Election Day and the release date for the first College Football Playoff rankings — but teams have been busy getting deals done well ahead of that cutoff date. The latest deals included Diontae Johnson going to the Ravens and Cam Robinson getting dealt to the Vikings.

➤ 5 teams that could be trade deadline buyers: Has the action for the NFL trade deadline already peaked this year? Many of the most aggressive teams might already have wrapped up their plans, but there are several franchises that have the means and motivation to secure a key contributor who could be helpful in a playoff push.

Fantasy football: Rankings, start 'em/sit 'em and other lineup needs

Major injuries and the NFL trade deadline likely are wreaking havoc on your fantasy football league. We're here to help you navigate these troubling times.

➤ Fantasy rankings for Week 9: For your convenience, these position-by-position rankings were updated for this week's games.

➤ Start 'em ⬆ and sit 'em ⬇ for Week 9: Here is where we list eight players to start, and eight to sit, this weekend. Find out why you should sit Kyler Murray, but start Bo Nix.

➤ Start 'em/sit 'em by position: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | Kickers | Defenses/special teams

➤ Waiver wire: If you haven't already done so, these are the players to consider adding to your roster this week.

➤ Risers and fallers: Find out why QB Jameis Winston, RB Rico Dowdle, and WRs Tank Dell and John Metchie III are looking up 📈, and QB C.J. Stroud, RB J.K. Dobbins, and WRs D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen are trending down 📉.

➤ Fantasy injury report: There are some key fantasy football players on the injury report for Week 9. Here's what we know about their status. 🩹

➤ Fantasy trade value charts: These charts have been updated for Week 9 and can be used as your very own fantasy football trade analyzer in standard, half-PPR (point per reception), and full PPR leagues. 📊

Week 9 NFL schedule

(All times Eastern)

Thursday

Sunday

Monday

Bye week: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers

📅: Complete 2024 NFL schedule

Playoff picture: If the season ended right now ...

You might say the halfway point of the season is too early to see how the playoff field would look if the season ended right now. I would say it's never too early for an NFL playoff picture.

AFC seeds

  1. Kansas City Chiefs (7-0, first in AFC West)
  2. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2, first in AFC North)
  3. Buffalo Bills (6-2, first in AFC East)
  4. Houston Texans (6-3, first in AFC South)
  5. Denver Broncos (5-3, wild card)
  6. Baltimore Ravens (5-3, wild card)
  7. Los Angeles Chargers (4-3, wild card)

NFC seeds

  1. Detroit Lions (6-1, first in NFC North)
  2. Washington Commanders (6-2, first in NFC East)
  3. Atlanta Falcons (5-3, first in NFC South)
  4. Arizona Cardinals (4-4, first in NFC West)
  5. Green Bay Packers (6-2, wild card)
  6. Minnesota Vikings (5-2, wild card)
  7. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2, wild card)

During Super Wild Card Weekend, No. 2 playoff seed hosts No. 7, No. 3 hosts No. 6 and No. 4 hosts No. 5. No. 1 seeds get a first-round bye.

From the YouTube algorithm

This is where we reprise some NFL lore and recall a classic, memorable game from yesteryear that featured Week 9 opponents.

The Arizona Cardinals are hosting the Chicago Bears in what is one of this weekend's bigger matchups. I don't know about you, but Bears-Cardinals makes me think of one of the greatest soundbites of all time.

"THE BEARS ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!"

That came courtesy of the late, great Dennis Green, who was in his final season as an NFL head coach.

Entering their Week 6 matchup in 2006 on "Monday Night Football," the Bears were a wagon, an undefeated juggernaut steamrolling toward the team's first Super Bowl appearance in more than 20 years. The Cardinals, well, they were 1-4 going into the game.

To the surprise of most everybody watching the game, the Cardinals took a 23-3 lead in the third quarter and were up 13 points with just more than five minutes remaining. Then the bottom fell out for Arizona. Brian Urlacher stripped the ball from Cardinals running back Edgerrin James and Charles "Peanut" Tillman picked it up and went 40 yards for a touchdown. Two minutes later, Devin Hester scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 83-yard punt return for a 24-23 win.

While the Cardinals finished the 2006 season 5-11 and Green was fired, the Bears reached Super Bowl 41 but lost to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.

📸: NFL teams wearing alternate or throwback uniforms

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