Seton Hall
NFL Week 9 games to watch
Date: November 7, 2020By: Chris Kiely
Nick Kosminder/The Athletic
Now halfway into the NFL season, there are now many questions that have been answered. Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes and are living up to the hype this year. The entire NFC East is a hot mess and complete garbage. The Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals have proved their offseason additions to be worthy. The tanking for Trevor Lawrence is proving to be real and hopefully worth it.
However, nine weeks in and there are still some questions that have not been definitively answered. Are the Chicago Bears a playoff team? Is Baker Mayfield finally going to be consistent? Who is going to come out on top in the NFC West? Is Antonio Brown going to destroy all the work the Buccaneers have created? These are all questions that I think are going to be answered within the next couple of weeks as teams are now heading into the make or break segment of the season. It is the time of the year where the contenders will be breaking away from the pretenders. With that, here are your games for Week 9 to watch for.
1. Seattle Seahawks (6-1) at Buffalo Bills (6-2) 1:00 PM
Brandon Croce/FanSided
The 1:00 games will consist of two great games featuring four teams that are projected to make the playoffs. The first is the Seattle Seahawks and the Buffalo Bills. For Seattle, their team this past decade has had an identity that has been entirely defense oriented. This year, however, that identity has had a complete 180 to change as the Seahawks have been an offensive juggernaut. Wilson is a top candidate for MVP this year. He has thrown for 2,100 yards, and 26 touchdowns in just seven games. This success of his has culminated into Seattle having the best one-two wide receiver combo in the league with DK Metcalf (680 receiving yards, seven touchdowns) and Tyler Lockett (575 receiving yards, seven touchdowns).
While the defense has been struggling for most of the year, they finally made strides in their latest game against the 49ers for the first 45 minutes. If that defense can be, at a minimum, average, this is the team that will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
For Buffalo, they are coming off a sky-high victory last Sunday as they beat the Patriots. After losing 35 of the last 40 games against the Patriots for the past 20 years, the Bills seem to have finally gotten the monkey off their back through much adversity. Josh Allen in the last four games has not looked as good as he did in the first four but has still improved.
Their defense has been getting severely banged up but are still playing at a top-10 level. Stefon Diggs has proven to be worth the trade as his chemistry with Allen has blossomed with 54 receptions, 695 receiving yards, and three touchdowns. At 6-2, the Bills are in need of a big win and a victory of Seattle would be just that.
2. Indianapolis Colts (5-2) at Baltimore Ravens (5-2) 1:00 P.M.
Indianapolis Colts/Colts Communications
The other big-time game at 1:00 will be the Colts, and Ravens in the Baltimore Bowl. The Colts have been winning by a committee of different offensive players. Nyheim Hines, Jonathon Taylor, and Jordan Wilkins each have found ways to lead the team to be successful in the running game in each individual week. Phillip Rivers has improved throughout the year as the passing game has gotten more efficient on third down and in the red zone.
Defensively, the Colts are continuing with a stout defensive line that has averaged two sacks-per-game, and two turnovers-per-game. When it comes to defenses that can make big plays, the Colts are right up there. Expect them to cause a lot of chaos for Lamar Jackson.
For the Ravens, their loss against the Steelers showed that there were some positives as much as there were negatives. Even when they lost the turnover battle 4-1, they had twice as many yards and showed that their offense was able to push the Steelers mighty defense around for much of the game. Jackson is not anywhere near the MVP self he was a year ago but is still a top-10 quarterback. They have lost their two of their key offensive linemen to injuries. Their defense has looked good for much of the year, which is going to be key to their success. With all of these problems, they are still a top-five team. I predict that they will have a statement win over the Colts this upcoming Sunday.
3. New Orleans Saints (5-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2) 4:25 P.M.
Adam Glanzman & Ashleigh Binder/FanSided
Of all the games this week, this is easily the most hyped game by far. Both teams are fighting for first place in the NFC South division. The Saints, without Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, still found a way to total 400 yards against the might Chicago Bears’ defense. Alvin Kamara has played like the best running back in the NFL this year. You can imagine how lethal the Saints will be when those two receivers return to the field. On the defense, they have stepped up in critical moments in the last three games forcing opponents to settle for field goals rather than touchdowns. After starting off at rough 1-2 start, the Saints, led by Drew Brees, have rattles off four straight one possession wins.
Everything that Tampa Bay has touched so far this year has turned into gold. The questions about how good Tom Brady is without Bill Belichick have ended. He has thrown for nearly 2,200 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and a 5-1 touchdown to interception ratio.
With Leonard Fournette injured, Ronald Jones II has been crucial in indirectly assisting the passing offense with his important running game. Mike Evans has been a beast, sophomore Scotty Miller has started to develop, and Rob Gronkowski has finally worked off his rust catching a touchdown in each of the last three games. In addition, the same can be said for the defense.
For all the questions about how their defense would struggle this year, the Buccaneers have looked impressive on the defensive side of the ball and are ultimately going to be the x-factor on if they go to the Super Bowl. When playing at their best, it seems no one can stop the Buccaneers on either side of the ball. Let us just hope that Antonio Brown does not ruin their excellent chemistry.
Chris Kiely can be reached at christopher.kiely@student.shu.edu.
