Week 9 NFL Takeaways: Why the Packers Are Looking Like Super Bowl Contenders

We’re one game short of the midway point of the season. And with that, we’ve got the Week 9 MMQB takeaways. I texted with John Harbaugh on the Giants’ trade deadline approach, talked to Christian Watson about the Packers’ breakout Sunday, and dove into the strategy of the Ravens and Colts for the next couple of days. We’ve got that, and a whole lot more with two days left until Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline …

Jump to a topic

Packers’ receiver duo becoming stars
Giants working the trade market aggressively
Ravens holding out hope for Lamar Jackson return
Colts’ options at the trade deadline
Lions earn emotional win without Jack Campbell
Tank Dell takes another big step in return
Myles Garrett’s return huge for Rams
Ja’Marr Chase says Bengals better than ever
Seahawks finding their identity again
Quick-hitters

Packers’ receiver duo becoming stars

The Packers are starting to have the look the Seahawks did a year ago. And I don’t mean so much in style of play, as I do in each team’s trajectory.

Going into the summer of 2025, I felt like those two teams were similar. Both had talent and balance across their respective rosters, and seemed easy bets to make the playoffs. What seemed to be in the way of each was the bushel of young players on hand who were already really good, but needed to become great for the team to reach its ceiling.

It happened for Seattle, with guys like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Devon Witherspoon, Byron Murphy II and Charles Cross becoming among the very best at their positions, among others on that roster, as the Seahawks went on a run that ended with all those guys lifting a silver trophy. The Packers, conversely, traded for a great player, in Micah Parsons, had one elevate to that level, in Tucker Kraft, and then lost both to torn ACLs.

A year later, and getting healthy again, Green Bay is showing signs of being this year’s Seattle. And I could legitimately feel that when Matt LaFleur took Christian Watson’s phone from him, as Watson and I talked, and the Packers left Gillette Stadium, having bludgeoned the defending AFC champion Patriots 45–27 on Sunday.

“This guy’s ballin’, man,” LaFleur said of his star, who’s just 121 yards shy of 1,000 after nine games. And while Watson’s not the only one, the day he and second-year receiver Matthew Golden had in Foxborough, in tandem with Jordan Love, is a nice microcosm of where the Packers are starting to look like they’re going.

Golden finished Sunday with 10 catches for 164 yards and a score, Watson had seven catches for 171 yards and a touchdown, and Love threw for 372 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-29 passing. And that, by the way, was all in three quarters of action—the Packers didn’t throw the ball once in the fourth quarter.

“I think it really just came down to the consistency and the banked reps that we’ve had throughout the offseason, through camp and then as the season’s been rolling,” Watson told me. “I feel like it really just started with 10—Jordan Love and just his confidence and trust that he has had in us from the very start of the season. And we’ve all just been feeding off each other’s success, feeding off each other’s confidence. And I mean, this really has been rolling.”

Part of it has been breaking the logjam that existed before this year in a receiver room loaded with young talent. The Packers let Romeo Doubs walk in free agency and traded Dontayvion Wicks away, with the idea that Watson, Golden and Jayden Reed would be the guys. Doubs has 14 catches for 261 yards and three touchdowns in New England, Wicks has 19 catches for 284 yards and a score in Philly. Both are now hurt.

Meanwhile, even with Reed out for the year, the Packers’ decision making looks prescient. Watson is at 49 catches for 879 yards and seven touchdowns. Golden, despite some bouts with drops, is now 53 catches for 783 yards and five touchdowns. They’ve been healthy, too, which is a big part of it for obvious reasons.

“Their availability is everything, because not many people can do what they can do,” LaFleur said. “So it’s a f---ing two-headed monster right now. You gotta pick a poison. And they just complement each other, and they can do anything.”

It sure looked like it against the Patriots, and they were not alone as young stars seemingly all taking another step in making the leap to NFL stardom. Third-year safety Evan Williams had an interception and was a force all day. Emerging rookie corner Brandon Cisse tipped the ball to create the pick. Former first-rounders Lukas Van Ness and Devonte Wyatt didn’t have big statistical days, but were part of a fierce pass rush. Kraft should continue to get better on his knee. Parsons will be back soon.

So LaFleur heard that conversation about what his two receivers could be, and what his quarterback is, and he wanted in on that. Because he saw the same stuff you did Sunday.

Which, to hear it from Watson himself, was a simple affirmation of what the Packers believed.

“It kind of just felt like we continued to string along the big plays. It kind of just confirmed it for us that we were getting all of the looks that we were expecting to get,” Watson said. “And then on those plays, when we called a shot, we got the perfect look. So, I mean, honestly, it just ended up playing out exactly how we thought it would in almost every situation. So obviously that’s big time for Matt, when he’s calling the plays. Obviously, it’s big time for us just having ran that play, against the perfect, the ideal look, throughout the week, and then, obviously, the non-ideal looks, too.

“But just seeing exactly what we expected to see is big time.”

As a result, it looks like the Packers are pretty big time now, too.

Giants working the trade market aggressively

It’s a new day in New York, with John Harbaugh leading the way. Sunday was part of it, for sure—the Giants methodically dispatched their wounded division rival in Philadelphia, wearing out the Eagles with a punishing defense in a 19–11 win. Rookie Arvell Reese had 12 tackles and three sacks, one of which generated a turnover. J.J. McCarthy gutted through what looked like an ugly injury after sustaining a big shot to his midsection. The Giants had nearly 35 minutes of possession despite going for just 243 yards on offense, a sign of how they controlled the game.

Now their lead in the NFC East is up to three games in the loss column over a Cowboys team that needed everything it could muster to outlast the stripped-down Colts.

Add that to New York’s off-field activity, and it’s easy to start drawing conclusions.

Saying the Giants have been active on the phones with other teams would be like saying a 9-year-old is looking forward to Christmas. They made an offer to the Colts on Jonathan Taylor, they called the Ravens on Derrick Henry, they called the Titans on Jeffery Simmons (more than once) and inquired about guys who were never available. They dove hard into the defensive tackle market, working the Colts on DeForest Buckner (who wanted to go back to San Francisco and had his wishes honored), Grover Stewart and rising star Adetomiwa Adebawore (who was since extended); and the Patriots on Christian Barmore.

All of that’s enough to give any playoff-starved fan of Big Blue a sugar high. And yet, they’ll tell you this isn’t about going all in on anything, happy as they are with where the team is.

No, under Harbaugh, and with holdover GM Joe Schoen, this is now their default setting. Which, they’ll tell you, has little to do with adjusting any sort of preseason expectation.

“No, that’s not how we look at winning,” Harbaugh texted me from the team bus, heading back to New Jersey on Sunday night. “You’re never ONE thing away. This is not addition and subtraction. The math is running on multiple levels of formulas and algorithms and humanity. You have to assess your options and opportunities. Seek value. What makes your team better shorter- and long-term and avoid what hinders your team, even in possibility.

“It’s a case-by-case decision regarding options. The work is on finding and creating the options. That’s where the stones have to get turned over. We are building day-by-day for what’s coming tomorrow and in the future BOTH.”

Which means not going all in on one thing, but being aggressive in looking at everything.

“Always,” he continued. “Every single day. All the time. It’s not dependent on how close you think you are.”

So after making what was characterized to me as the strongest offer the Colts got on Taylor, and pulling that offer, could they dive back in? Or could they keep trying on someone like Henry? Or maybe going a notch below that to acquire the Titans’ Tony Pollard?

Yes, yes and yes.

The Giants could explore all of it. And, if you’re hearing Harbaugh clearly on all this, they probably would do the same had they lost to Joe Milton and the Eagles in Philly.

Whether they pull the trigger on any of it, of course, is a different question entirely.

Lamar Jackson wearing a sweatshirt and hat on the field. — The Ravens hope to keep their season alive until Lamar Jackson can return. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ravens holding out hope for Lamar Jackson return

The Ravens may have looked like they were on life support Thursday night, but they’re not waving white flags on 2026. They’ve gotten trade calls on their stars, Derrick Henry included, and they’ve turned those away. They made calls on quarterbacks, checking in on Daniel Jones and Chicago’s Tyson Bagent before dealing for Jacoby Brissett.

The reason? They still like their roster enough to believe that they can tread water and buy time for Lamar Jackson to return and play relevant football down the stretch.

First, what’s most relevant: Jackson will undergo surgery early this week to repair his injured right thumb, and the timetable for his return is six-to-10 weeks, per sources. That means the optimistic view would be for a Dec. 27 return against the Browns in Week 16. Between now and then, the Ravens have the Chargers, Panthers, Texans, Buccaneers and Steelers. They’re 4–5. So if they could go, say, 3–2 through that stretch, that would get them to 7–7.

Then, they’d have division games against the Browns, Bengals and Steelers to close out the schedule with a shot to scratch and claw to 10–7. Maybe that would get them in, maybe not.

Either way, I don’t mind the approach. Jackson’s not signed past 2027, and has a no-tag clause that allows him to become an unfettered free agent in 2028, if that’s his desire. Every shot a team has with a quarterback like that is precious. So if there’s a chance that the Ravens, who are flush with draft picks already, can squeak into the playoffs, and then make a run behind Jackson amid a pretty wide-open AFC, I think it’s worth trying.

Colts’ options at the trade deadline

The Colts remain open for business but aren’t necessarily going to sell everyone off. I do think a Josh Downs trade, perhaps to Kansas City for a fourth-round pick, is likely (presuming the Jaguars hold firm on keeping Brian Thomas Jr.). DT Grover Stewart is available, too.

That said, I’d say the approach is a little different with Daniel Jones and Jonathan Taylor.

After DeForest Buckner went for a fourth-rounder, and Quenton Nelson went for third- and fifth-rounders, my sense is that there were forces getting the Colts to slow down, thinking (and we’ll see if this is correct) they could get better value by waiting until right before the deadline, which is where we are now. And now, we’ll see if that value is there.

Indy’s been steadfast, as we wrote Friday, on its price for Taylor—which is a first-rounder or a multi-pick package similar to what Carolina got for Christian McCaffrey in 2022. That led the Vikings and Broncos to back off after showing initial interest, and the Giants’ overtures to stall out. Meanwhile, multiple teams called last week about Jones, who has a tradeable contract, and were told the Colts wouldn’t consider it … yet. Jones, for his part, was unlikely to ever ask for a trade, mostly because of his respect for Indy coach Shane Steichen.

And because there are multiple teams looking for receivers (Chiefs, Steelers, 49ers) and defensive tackles (Giants, Vikings, Jaguars), the Colts having some patience with Downs, who did ask for a trade, and Stewart, wouldn’t be a bad thing.

There are differences here, too. Downs and Stewart are in contract years, so their value is being weighed against what they might bring in a 2028 comp pick. Jones and Taylor, meanwhile, are under contract for 2027, which could make them valuable, either as players or as assets for the next general manager to wield.

Which, in the end, is what most of this is about for owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon. She wants the GM job to be as attractive as possible, and for whoever fills it to have the best situation possible. How the next two days play out will have a serious impact on that—one way or the other.

Lions earn emotional win without Jack Campbell

Credit to the Lions for coming out of an enormously difficult week with a win. That couldn’t have been easy. Their captain, Jack Campbell, left the field motionless a week ago. Details were scarce early in the week, and the ones everyone got midweek were tepidly optimistic but reflected an uncertain future for the 26-year-old. The first concern, for the team, was their leader’s health. After that? There was a lot to think about and consider.

But the schedule read “at Miami” and after that has them going to Munich next week, so there wasn’t much time to slow down and ponder anything. The Lions had to keep going.

“I don’t even really know how to explain it to you,” captain Alim McNeill said to me late Sunday afternoon. “It’s just when it happened, the football player in me—I forgot that part. I was just worried and making sure he was straight as a regular human. It’s definitely tough to see because then it’s like, what’s even crazier, we had to go get a fourth-down stop after that. It’s just wild how this game works, how this sport works, all of that. But I really don’t know how to explain it to you. It was definitely tough because it’s like, Damn …

“He was just making a tackle. It’s just crazy.”

The Lions beat the Dolphins 19–9 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. The defense that Campbell leads held the home team out of the end zone, and to just 228 yards and 12 first downs. And they played the type of game McNeill said they wanted to—a smart game with all-out effort and all the mundane, boring, little details taken care of.

“It all sounds cliché, but that’s the real truth,” McNeill said. “That’s how we took the week, man.”

And then, Dan Campbell told them they’d take the game ball home to Jack Campbell.

The players have stayed in touch with Jack over the past week, of course. Some have gone to see him in the hospital. Some haven’t gone because it’s so hard to see a teammate in that position, or they figured Campbell might not want them to see him like that.

They’re all, to a man, thinking about him, though.

“We’ve been keeping in touch,” said McNeill. “To me, his body’s just downloading back everything it already had. It was just a little mishap, but he’s downloading it back. That’s for sure. That’s the best thing about it. I’m not even talking about football. I’m not even worried about that with Jack. I just want him to be good for life. He’s got a little son, a family …”

And a lot of people, clearly, behind him in Detroit.

Tank Dell takes another big step in return

On the flip side, we had the story of Tank Dell unfold in Los Angeles on Sunday. This wasn’t Dell’s first game back from a devastating knee injury sustained in December 2024—he returned against the Giants, playing 14 snaps and recording a 43-yard reception.

But his 63-yard touchdown in the Texans’ 44–22 drubbing of the Chargers did more to announce the promising young receiver’s return than anything else yet. It was one catch, Dell’s only one of the afternoon. But it felt like a lot more than that.

“Definitely, man,” he told me postgame. “I want to start with Cales [OC Nick Caley] calling up a great play and then C.J. [Stroud] putting the ball right where it was supposed to be. It was great operation. After I caught the ball, I saw somebody out of the corner of my eye, trying to take an angle. I’m like, Man, he’s gonna have to beat me to the end zone. I started smiling as I was crossing the plane. It was great.”

C.J. Stroud to Tank Dell for the TD 🗣️

HOUvsLAC on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/r0q9mBmr5d
— NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2026

Moments later, when Dell got back to the sideline, he found his draft classmate Stroud, who was in tears after Dell was loaded into the ambulance in Kansas City two years ago, and the two launched into their trademark celebration. The quarterback then said, “Love you, twin.”

“That’s my brother, man,” Dell said. “From the day we met to now, we’ve been so close and locked in. I know he’s got my back and I’ve got his back more than anything. It was just heartwarming. He loves me and is proud of me and happy for me. I said the same thing back to him. He had a great game also, man.”

Dell has given himself time to think about everything he went through to come back, and most of all the day-to-day grind of treatment after surgery to repair the dislocated knee that had torn ligaments and meniscus damage in it. He’ll think about the darkness of it, sometimes, and the physical and mental toll it took, when he turns out the lights to go to bed at night.

But mostly, now, he’s grateful to be where he is, playing and working with a bunch of guys who, like Stroud, have his back. He’s trying not to look too far ahead, though there’s plenty to look forward to. For now, he’d just like to appreciate what he has, that was once lost.

“So many people wrote me off, but I didn’t write myself off and God didn’t write me off,” he said. “I kept my faith in that and kept my feet grounded and just put the work in. So I just hope [people] take from it that I’m an overcomer, man. I’m a warrior. I’m a hard worker. I’m someone who put his whole faith in trusting God.”

All of that, clearly, is starting to pay off. Which is amazing to see.

Myles Garrett chases down Jayden Daniels. — Myles Garrett got to Jayden Daniels for three sacks and a forced fumble. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Myles Garrett’s return huge for Rams

Myles Garrett isn’t a big trade deadline acquisition for the Rams, but don’t tell his teammates that. Because as they welcomed the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year back on Sunday, and Garrett registered three sacks in a 20–13 win in Washington, Los Angeles’s third in a row, it sure seemed like the team was getting that kind of boost.

“Yeah, that’s what it feels like, no doubt,” third-year defensive tackle Braden Fiske told me postgame. “Any time you got somebody that broke the sack record out there on the field, the presence is felt just by the communication that is forced from the offensive line—they gotta slide his direction or they got to send a chip his direction. So all together, it just really opens up opportunity across the entire front, especially when we got all our best rushers out on the field. I mean, it just creates unbelievable opportunities, which I think you saw today.

“And he had three sacks on his return. I think the rust got knocked off pretty quick.”

They weren’t garbage time sacks, either. The first one forced the Rams’ only takeaway of the game and set up a field goal to end the first half. The second one ended the Commanders’ last real shot at extending the game.

And more than just that, Fiske said, everyone could feel his presence and impact.

“You can take any of the sacks that he got and just how quickly that he was able to bend the edge—there was one point he got left one-on-one and he literally just made a pay off the rip—and it’s just like, Yeah, that’s why he is who he is and gets paid what he does and is considered the best in the game,” Fiske said. “No doubt, you see it firsthand. Just overall, I’m happy for him. He’s happy, healthy, playing a game he loves and being around his guys. It’s cool.”

It’s also a big part of how the Rams got back over .500, at 5–4, in a year in which every win figures to be important. They’ve won three straight now, and having Garrett back only further helps them figure out who they’ll be as a team when it matters most.

“I do think that the sense of urgency, it’s hard to look yourself in the mirror when you’re 2–4. And the only way to do it is go back to work,” Fiske said. “November, December, that’s when the best ball’s got to be played, that’s when the real football starts to get played in the NFL. And we’re definitely looking forward to it.”

The hope, then, is that it’s with the team as they envisioned it. Getting Garrett back is a huge part of that. Having Puka Nacua come back with clean scans on his knee Monday morning would help, too.

Ja’Marr Chase says Bengals better than ever

Speaking of superstars, the Bengals’ best players are playing that way. We mentioned how the Packers’ quarterback and pair of star receivers are playing. It’s fair to say, Cincinnati’s crew is right there with them—and Sunday, it was Ja’Marr Chase’s turn to take center stage.

The sixth-year dynamo had eight catches for 142 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

He slowed down after the break, finishing with 10 receptions for 155 yards, in large part because the Bengals threw a lot less in the second half. But by then, Cincinnati had its sixth win of the year already in hand, to set up a showdown for next Sunday night against the Steelers, also 6–2, at Paycor Stadium. It was also merely the latest laser show from the Bengals—it’s been this way since halftime of the team’s Week 7 win in Baltimore.

Over that two-and-a-half-game stretch, Chase has 24 catches for 335 yards and three touchdowns, Tee Higgins has 21 catches for 335 yards and five touchdowns, and Joe Burrow has thrown for 982 yards, 12 touchdowns and three picks, while completing a remarkable 78-of-95 throws (82.1%).

And if this is really who the Bengals are now?

Chase feels comfortable saying already, nine weeks in, it’s the best team he’s been a part of.

“I would say, by far,” he told me. “I know we went to the Super Bowl. We had a good run with those guys. This is another great group we have, and everybody around here knows it.”

The biggest difference, he says, is how complete he sees this version of Bengals being, with an improved offensive line and a defense bolstered by a combination of veteran imports and young, homegrown talent.

And the group’s resilience has been tested. The Bengals were down to the Ravens 13–0 at the half before winning that one 35–13. They wore out the upstart Titans in Week 8, and Burrow was able to compartmentalize three picks along the way. Sunday, the defense got stronger as the game went on and the offense was relentless.

Add better health to the equation, and the Bengals think they have an idea where they’re going.

“I think the biggest thing is us knowing what it takes to get there,” Chase said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are veterans now on the team. They know what it takes to get there. A lot of guys have been good leaders, being disciplined, and with the young guys, letting them know what’s right and wrong. Honestly, I think the whole team is one unit.”

By the looks of Sunday, that unit’s really going places, and more of them than just Madrid.

Seahawks finding their identity again

The Seahawks showed, again, who they are. It caught me by surprise that they were 4–4, and losers of four out of six, going into Sunday. So I figured, with a feisty Cardinals team in town, this would be a big week to bounce back.

Which it was.

Seattle’s vaunted defense held the Cardinals to 198 yards and 13 first downs. Arizona’s offensive possessions: Field goal, punt, punt, punt, punt, end of half, punt, punt, turnover on downs. Meanwhile, the Seahawks’ run game churned out 120 yards on 33 carries, and veteran backup Drew Lock was efficient in throwing for 175 yards.

Slowly, surely, Seattle’s figuring out where its identity lies.

“I think for us this year, you go through training camp, that’s where you try to really make who you are, find an identity,” pass rusher Derick Hall told me. “The first few games is trying to figure out where we are, who we are as a team. And I feel like we pretty much solidified who we were. It was just putting it all on display at one time. Like we knew we were a dang good football team. We knew that we could get stops in various zones. We knew that we could run the ball and we knew that we could finish drives.

“But I mean, you could know you could do it, but it’s about putting it all together and having an opportunity to execute, right? So I think we knew we were a good football team. It’s just putting it all together. And in every facet of the game.”

Which is great against Arizona, and should be in Las Vegas next week, too.

From there, we’ll learn more with the Niners, Cowboys and Rams twice on the other side of Seattle’s Week 11 bye. For now, though, they’ve at least got the vibe that, with a few guys back from injury, they’ll start to look a little more like they did last year.

Justin Herbery gets taken down from behind against the Texans. — Justin Herbert and the Chargers are still looking for their first win of the season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Quick-hitters

And finally, let’s dive in on the quick-hitting takeaways for Week 9 …

• The Chargers are 0–8 and remain the hardest-to-figure team in football. I’m going to try to dive in on what’s going on with Justin Herbert a little deeper this week. Next up, for what it’s worth, is a spot on the national stage, with Jacoby Brissett set to debut for the Ravens next Monday against the Chargers in the Jim Harbaugh–Jesse Minter reunion game.

• The Chiefs are optimistic on Patrick Mahomes’s elbow, and let’s hope it’s not a bigger issue than they think. Kansas City’s now 6–2.

• As we wrote Friday, the Jets are inclined to hang on to their veteran players, to try to give Aaron Glenn and his staff the fairest shot at getting a third year. And I don’t think the loss to the Chiefs affects that much. But it’s the Jets, so I don’t know if we can talk in absolutes on that …

• The Broncos keep taking care of business, and Bo Nix is improving incrementally for a team that doesn’t need him to be Superman.

• So long as Caleb Williams’s four-pick night is an aberration, the team playing like it did, and winning, when Willams isn’t on, is actually good experience for a growing group.

• The Eagles’ reluctance to deal Moro Ojomo, and buzz that they want to eventually sign him long term, has people in the league wondering if they’d eventually trade Jalen Carter. At this point, it’s just speculation. But there’s good logic there, too (they’re already paying two guys, Carter and Jordan Davis, at Ojomo’s position).

• It was interesting, too, that Nick Sirianni didn’t shoot down the possibility out of hand that he’d make staff changes after Sunday’s loss.

• Give the Cowboys points for resilience on Sunday, but there’s no question they aren’t playing to Jerry Jones’s expectations right now. The Niners come to Dallas next, and we should learn more about Brian Schottenheimer’s group then.

• I’m not sure Shedeur Sanders did enough to take Deshaun Watson’s job on Sunday. But I think he played well enough that the Browns might want to see him play a couple of games by the end of the year. Especially since the Browns’ first-rounders might not be high enough to get a premier quarterback, so they could be in another bridge scenario in 2027.

• Finally, the most interesting race in the NFL this year is the chase for playoff spots in the NFC between North and West teams. I think most people would agree that the 49ers, Bears, Lions, Packers, Rams, Seahawks and Vikings are all good teams. Only five of those seven will make the postseason.

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