Trending 📉 📈 after NFL's Week 9, plus the continued decline of the Cowboys, Saints

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Of course, I won't let you start the week without rewatching Saquon Barkley's best impression of Bruce Lee.

Below: Bills lead our advancers, Joe Flacco's Colts fall and we take a quick look at the NFC North. Let's unpack a busy Sunday.

📈 Trending 📉

We start in Buffalo, where Josh Allen continued his MVP candidacy with a 30-27 win over the Dolphins.

His three-touchdown performance put the 28-year-old in the Bills' record books. His 184 career passing touchdowns surpassed Joe Ferguson (181) yesterday and now trails only Jim Kelly (237). Even more impressive: His 56 rushing touchdowns trail only OJ Simpson (57) and Thurman Thomas (65) on Buffalo's list. Remember, this is only his seventh season.

Of course, his stats are second only to the Bills' 7-2 win in the Super Bowl. The AFC East's four-game lead over the second-place Jets (3-6) helps.

Other promoted/relegated teams in week 9:

The trend is increasing

📈 Raven firepower. The Broncos entered Week 9 with the NFL's top-ranked defense (according to TruMedia's EPA per game). But the 6-3 Ravens punched through a Derrick Henry-sized hole in that unit, winning 41-10. Lamar Jackson posted his second perfect passer rating of the year, while Henry had 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Zay Flowers had 127 yards and two touchdowns. If this game taught us anything, it's that no one can stop Baltimore's offense.

📈 7-2 commanders. Sure, it was the Giants. But watching Jayden Daniels and Co. barely miss a beat without their starting running back (Brian Robinson Jr. was inactive due to a hamstring injury) was impressive. Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez Jr., who was called up to the practice squad, combined for 114 yards rushing in a 27-22 win at New York.

📈 Saquon Barkley. Yes, he has overcome the already legendary hurdle. His 30 touchdowns, 199 yards and two receiving touchdowns catapult him further up the Offensive Player of the Year category, and his 6-2 Eagles are firmly in the running for the NFC crown. They will need him, especially if AJ Brown's knee injury is serious. And no, that wasn't a fumble.

Our @GeneSteratore gives his analysis on the Saquon Barkley fumble. pic.twitter.com/Jy5Kos0cIo

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 3, 2024

📈 Ejections with big names. Even Tom Brady questioned the call on Lions S Brian Branch, who was ejected for that helmet-to-helmet hit:

Brian Branch was thrown out for this.

What a joke @NFLOfficiating.#DETvsGB pic.twitter.com/CGaZg4CwFG

— Mike McDaniel (@MikMcDaniel) November 3, 2024

Reminder: Sighting does not normally result in ejection. Branch responded with double birds for the Green Bay crowd.

In Seattle, Rams WR Puka Nacua had to leave the game because he made this hit in retaliation after an opponent's push:

His ejection cost fantasy teams everywhere, but the 4-4 Rams still won, beating the division rival Seahawks 26-20 on the road in overtime.

📈 NFC's Wild West. It's the tightest division in football! After an 0-2 start, Sean McVay's team is 4-2 and back in playoff contention. The former 3-0 Seahawks now have a losing record (4-5). In Arizona, the division leader's 1-3 start is overturned after moving to 5-4 with a convincing 29-9 win over Chicago.

Wildest of all: The 49ers (4-4) have the division's only positive point differential but are in third place in the standings.

📈 Chargers defense. If Cleveland legend Lebron James were counting Jameis Winston's interceptions against a team from his current city, he would say something like “not one, not two,” but three turnovers in LA's 27-10 win. Winston also collected six sacks and the Bolts moved to 5-3, equaling their win total for all of 2023.

A note on the LA defense: They are quietly allowing an NFL-low 12.6 points per game. For comparison, the only season performance near that mark in the last 20 years is the Ravens' 2006 defense (12.7). This Baltimore unit is considered one of the best defenses in NFL history.

Two other newcomers: The Lions and the likelihood of a coaching change in Chicago. More on both below, but first – falls.

Downtrend

📉 “Win Now” Colts. Last night's loss to a strong Vikings team is understandable. The problem is How They lost, with Joe Flacco struggling with his worst offensive performance of the year, days after benching Anthony Richardson. This tweet sums up the sentiment:

Not the start we wanted from Joe Flacco, but it's the experience he needs if he wants to develop into the franchise quarterback the Colts obviously want for the next decade and more.

— Austin Gayle (@austingayle_) November 4, 2024

📉 Home advantage? After the Giants' loss to Washington, they are now 0-5 at MetLife Stadium this season. The division rival Cowboys are the only other winless home team (0-3), although the infamous midday factory tours can blame them.

📉 Cowboys. The score at 3-5 is cause for concern on its own, but a mid-game injury to the highest-paid player in NFL history could be the bigger story in Dallas. We could see coach Dak Prescott examining his bloody hand, but he was sidelined with a hamstring injury. “I felt something pulling. “I felt something I’ve never felt before,” Prescott said after the game. Latest here.

📉 Believe in Derek Carr. The Saints' 23-22 loss to the 2-7 Panthers made Carr the first quarterback in NFL history to lose to 31 different teams. (His former Raiders could be ranked No. 32 in Week 17.) But loss is nothing new for the Carr family:

Most losses as a starting QB to:
4 seasons: David Carr 43
5 seasons: David Carr 53
6 seasons: David Carr 56
7 seasons: Derek Carr 63
8 seasons: Derek Carr 70
9 seasons: Derek Carr 79
10 seasons: Derek Carr 87
11 seasons: Derek Carr and Archie Manning 91

— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) November 3, 2024

He also threw a hospital ball, which resulted in another concussion for star WR Chris Olave. The Saints, who are 0-7 since Week 2, released Dennis Allen this morning.

📉 Employee of Antonio Pierce. After a 41-24 loss to the Bengals (in which Desmond Ridder played QB), Las Vegas fired OC Luke Getsy, offensive line coach James Cregg and QB coach Rich Scangarello. It's a bye week for the 2-7 Raiders, who rank 28th in offensive DVOA and average just 18.7 points (26th) and 4.6 yards per play (29th). The whole story here.

Below we take a look at the best division in football. First a note from Dianna:

What Dianna hears: Detroit is looking for an advantage – and has probably found it

The Lions have been looking for an edge rusher since Aidan Hutchinson was sidelined with a season-ending injury three weeks ago.

Based on conversations with multiple sources around the league, they appear to have their man: Cleveland's Za'Darius Smith. Expect to see the 32-year-old on the field when the Lions visit Houston on Sunday night.

Of course, there will be even more heated trade talk across the NFL with Week 9 (almost entirely) in the books and the trade deadline still about 30 hours away.

Back to you, Jacob.

NFC North: Detroit remains at the top

There is only one division in which every team is over .500. It is also the only group in which all four teams have positive point differentials. Below is a note on each team in dominance NFC North:

📈 7-1 Lions: While their defense adds reinforcements, their offense is near perfect. With more touchdowns (28) than incompletions (24) since Week 2, their point differential (+110) is more than double that of 7-0 KC (+50). Despite the rain, Jared Goff posted his third straight completion percentage above 80 and won 24-14 in Green Bay. You can win anywhere.

📈 6-2 Vikings: As Alec Lewis notes in his post-game insights, it's the Sam Darnold experience in “Minny.” The Good: Darnold was 28 of 34 for 290 passing yards and three touchdowns in the win over Indy. The bad: two interceptions and a fumble. They will have a record of 6-2 with room for improvement.

📉 6-3 packers: Jordan Love's league-best 10th interception was that unforgivable pick-six that looked like something we'd expect from Will Levis, not the second-highest paid player in NFL history. They are much further behind Detroit than their 6-3 record suggests.

📉 4-4 bears: Mike Sando's Pick Six column explains the situation perfectly: “Chicago is a below-average team with wins over teams that were struggling at the time: Tennessee in the opener, the Rams in Week 4, the Panthers and Jaguars after that.” The big question: Is Caleb Williams' development at stake? He finished the game with six sacks, zero touchdowns and a completion percentage of 53.7. The offensive line and coaching staff are not doing him any favors.

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(Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)