Final NFL Week 9 Observations ... With Dolphins Angles

Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season began with another impressive win by the Philadelphia Eagles, who improved to 8-0 for the first time in franchise history, and ended with the Baltimore Ravens handling the New Orleans Saints on Monday night to move to 6-3.

The Ravens, who the Dolphins defeated in Baltimore in Week 2, moved into the third spot in the AFC standings, which is notable because the Dolphins currently hold the sixth spot. That means that at this time the first-round AFC playoff match would have a Dolphins-Ravens rematch at M&T Bank Stadium.

Baltimore accomplished something unique in that game, becoming the third team in the past 20 seasons to have a double-digit lead in each of its first nine games, joining the 2009 New Orleans Saints and the 2011 Green Bay Packers. For the record, the 2009 Saints won the Super Bowl (game was played in Miami) and the 2011 Packers finished 15-1 in the regular season before being upset by the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the first playoff game.

The Dolphins, of course, overcame two different 21-point deficit to win 42-38 at Baltimore in Week 2, and the Ravens also lost double-digit leads against the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants.

In his first game with the Ravens, linebacker Roquan Smith played 39 of 51 defensive snaps and have five tackles.

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UH-OH IN BUFFALO?

Maybe the Buffalo Bills won't just waltz to the Super Bowl after all, right?

That was a painful loss the Bills suffered at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets, and it's been made potentially much worse by the Josh Allen elbow injury that had Bills Mafia on edge as Tuesday arrived.

Maybe just as concerning for the Bills is the fact that Allen has flat-out not played well since Buffalo's huge win at Kansas City in Week 6, with a mediocre effort in the Sunday night game against Green Bay and a poor performance against the Jets when his passer rating was a paltry 46.8.

Considering how Allen-centric the Bills offense is, Buffalo needs him playing MVP-caliber football if their championship aspirations are to come to fruition.

SALUTE TO SALEH AND THE JETS

The flip side of that game at MetLife Stadium was that the Jets passed their season over/under total with their sixth win heading into their Week 10 bye.

That the Jets would be improved in 2022 was to be expected, but nobody could have or should have predicted a 6-3 record after nine games — particularly considering the fact that Zach Wilson isn't exactly lighting it up at quarterback.

But the defense, led by budding star Quinnen Williams on the line and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year front-runner "Sauce" Gardner at cornerback, has been really, really good.

And if we're talking about NFL Coach of the Year candidates at the halfway point of the 2022 season, we absolutely have to include Robert Saleh on the list — as well as Mike McDaniel, Brian Daboll and Kevin Sirianni.

TOUGH TIMES FOR TEXANS

When the Dolphins return from their bye in Week 11, they'll face the Houston Texans, who just might be the worst team in the NFL.

They do, however, have a bright spot in rookie running back Dameon Pierce, who had another great outing in that Thursday night loss against Philadelphia with 139 rushing yards.

Amazing to think that Houston got Pierce, who is sixth in the NFL with 678 rushing yards, in the fourth round out of Florida. Goes to show again you don't need to take a running back in the first round.

QUICK HITTERS

-- The Chargers, who the Dolphins will face Dec. 11, moved to 5-3 on the season with a gritty 20-17 win at Atlanta that they kind of stole — with Khalil Mack literally ripping the ball out of rookie WR Drake London inside the 5-yard line in the third quarter and then getting into position for the game-winning field goal after an Atlanta defender fumbled in the open field after recovering an Austin Ekeler fumble. The Chargers offense these days is pretty much all Ekeler, who's on pace to top his 20 touchdowns from a year ago, but in part because of all their injuries, the Chargers still don't look like a Super Bowl contender.

-- Not that this would make Dolphins fans any better, but that loss to the Vikings — without Tua Tagovailoa and Terron Armstead — doesn't look all that terrible these days considering Minnesota keeps finding ways to win. It might be tough to tell by watching them play, but the Vikings have the second-best record in the league at 7-1.

-- That Christmas Day game against the Green Bay Packers sure looks different now than it did when the schedule came out, doesn't it? There's something obviously very wrong with the Packers, and it just might start with QB Aaron Rodgers, whose three picks were the biggest factor in an ugly loss at Detroit. One last thought on the Packers, think the organization wishes it could go back in time and make that Rodgers trade with the Denver Broncos?

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