NFC South Week 9 Recap

Week 9 has ended and the season has reached its middle point. With the NFC South, a new team has gained the crow of the position for the group. Starting this week the New Orleans Saints take over the first spot after the Buccaneers lost a match against the Texans. The Falcons have also suffered a loss against the Vikings while the Carolina Panthers won a match against the Houston, which is their first major victory but it’s not going to save the team from their losing streak.

Houston Texans 39, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 37

In a shootout finish, the Houston Texans defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 39-37 on a historic day for rookie quarterback CJ Stroud.

With being down by four with a minute to left in the game he had the confidence to lead his team by a win the game. Stroud on the day finished with five touchdowns on the day and a rookie record of 470 yards in the air in a crazy finish to a game. With just a little less than 50 seconds left in the game quarterback Baker Mayfield found his tight end Cade Otton for a 14-yard touchdown, which many thought would have got the job done for the Buccaneers.

It didn’t stop the Texans and Stroud from storming down the field and wide receiver Tank Dell who finished the game with 114 yards was found in the end zone with just 6 seconds left to give the Texans the lead. The Buccaneers had one last chance but fumbled the football and gave the Texans a win and they improved to 4-4 on the year and still alive in the playoff mix.

Minnesota Vikings 31, Atlanta Falcons 28

Rookie quarterback Jaren Hall started for the Vikings today but was knocked out of the game due to a concussion early on. Hall looked good in his few opportunities throwing for 5 of 6 and 78 yards. After Hall was ruled out, newly acquired quarterback Josh Dobbs entered the game after only being with the team a week and having limited practice and time to get used to the playbook.

Dobbs came out and led the Vikings to a comeback win in the fourth quarter and likely showed the Vikings who their new starter should be.

The Vikings’ biggest problem besides their QB dilemma is the lack of a rushing game. Alexander Mattison continues to struggle on the carries he is given only getting 2.8 yards per carry on 16 attempts. On the other hand, Cam Akers who they traded for from the Rams seems to be playing at a higher level and is slowly getting more and more carries each game. The Vikings may start to shift their focus on giving Akers the ball more in the future.

The defense looked good in the first half with only a few misses like dropped interceptions and missed sacks. In the second half, they seemed to give up more big plays and let the Falcons continuously drive down the field and put points up on the board.

New Orleans Saints 24, Chicago Bears 17

Where to even begin with this game? The Bears would have lost by three touchdowns if New Orleans knew how to seal a game away.

The game was competitive throughout until the Bears hit a stonewall in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Tyson Bagent was playing well with only one bad interception in the first quarter and the Bears had four chances to tie the game up at 24.

The Bears proceeded to turn the ball over on three of their four possessions in the fourth quarter with two interceptions thrown by Bagent and a fumble by him as well.

The Bears outclassed the Saints in all statistics besides passing yards and yet fell short of coming away with the victory. The Saints continuously served the victory on a plate for the Bears who fell down just before reaching the table every opportunity they got.

The Bears’ biggest issue is obviously quarterback play, but that is not their only concern. The defense makes stops but rarely makes turnovers happen, and this is a defense that the Bears have invested heavily into. Contracts like T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds and now Montez Sweat need to play at the level that they are getting paid.

It doesn’t help that the offense continually drops the ball on promising drives with interceptions and fumbles by multiple players not just one.

The Bears might need to do an extreme major overhaul this offseason to completely start fresh because drafting Caleb Williams or Drake Maye will not make all the other problems simply disappear.

Indianapolis Colts 27, Carolina Panthers 13

In a very one-sided game most of the way, the Indianapolis Colts went to Carolina to face the Panthers and handled business to improve to 4-5 on the year.

Their offense was led by quarterback Gardner Minshew who had a decent day in the passing attack. He finished with 17 of 26 passing attempts for 127 yards. The lone touchdown for the offense was running back Jonathan Taylor who has been playing at a really high level since returning to action.

The big action for the Colts came on the defensive side of the ball. Cornerback Kenny Moore II finished the day with 8 tackles and not just one but two pick-sixes against rookie quarterback Bryce Young who looked lost all afternoon and could never figure it out as he finished his day with three interceptions and a quarterback rating of 48.6.

If the Colts want to stay in the playoff race, then they are going to have to figure out different ways to win football games, and the defense came up big in a blowout win against the Carolina Panthers.