2023 NFL: Previewing Week 9

On its face, 17 games doesn’t seem like a lot. But in the NFL, it’s a long and sometimes rocky slog. 

Which brings us to the San Francisco 49ers. Just a few weeks ago, they were unbeaten at 5-0 after dominating the Cowboys on a Sunday night. I was singing their praises and I even said they had the potential to be one of the better, if not the best, teams of the last decade. 

Then they lost on the road to the Browns. OK, no problem. These things happen. Just means they won’t go 17-0. Then they lost to the Vikings on a Monday night. Huh, well I guess Kirk Cousins was due for an occasional big game in primetime.  

Then this past Sunday happened. Brock Purdy had landed in the concussion protocol earlier in the week and then somehow got cleared to play against the Bengals. That was odd, because that almost never happens. A player who starts showing concussion symptoms after a game doesn’t usually take the field just days later. But I’m not a doctor, what do I know? 

Well, just use your eyes. Purdy didn’t look good, throwing another two interceptions, losing a fumble and hitting the back of his head on the ground as the 49ers stumbled to a 31-17 loss at home. Speaking of singing praises, Purdy’s stock has tumbled after some were saying that he should be in the conversation for MVP. After throwing zero interceptions through the first five weeks, he now has five over his past three games. 

What’s more concerning is that San Francisco’s defense, once a cornerstone of the team’s success, has seen their points allowed increase over their losing streak. But they did something on Tuesday before the trade deadline to fix that issue, landing defensive end Chase Young in a trade with the Commanders.  

Young, a former No. 2 overall pick, has five sacks this season, but seemingly fell out of favor in Washington and with his contract expiring, the team decided they would move on. The Niners adding him to a defensive front that includes Nick Bosa is a move that could plug a hole before it causes real problems. 

And coming back to the NFL season being long, what the Niners are going through right now brings back memories of the Rams in 2021. They started the season by winning seven of their first eight games, but then November hit and things went south. They didn’t win a game the entire month, but two critical things happened. 

On Nov. 1, they traded for Von Miller. Then 10 days later, they signed Odell Beckham Jr. While those moves didn’t help them that month, once December arrived, they won five of their last six regular season games and went on to win the Super Bowl. 

So, while it might be tempting to panic about the 49ers at the moment, don’t do it. This road is long like a highway in Texas and it’s common for teams to go through a valley at some point along the way. In fact, it’s better that they’re doing it in the midpoint of the season rather than closer to the playoffs. 

I do this once a year. Just R-E-L-A-X. Everything will be fine.
 

NFL’S TOP 10 

1. Eagles – Jalen Hurts’ knee is a problem. He’s out there and Philly managed to come from behind to beat the Commanders, but he only had four rushing attempts, including two kneel downs at the end of the game. That’s not like him. And although the defense gave up more than 30 points for the second time this season, both times came against Washington, so maybe it’s just a matchup thing. 

 2. Chiefs – They turned the ball over a lot and still had plenty of chances to beat the Broncos. It happens. I’ll stop whining about their offensive shortcomings for now. I’m sure they’ll figure things out. 

 3. Dolphins – Getting Jalen Ramsey in the lineup is a huge development and he had an interception in Sunday’s win. Granted, it was against the offensive-addled Patriots, so that performance comes with an asterisk. I’d like to say we’ll learn more this weekend when Miami faces Kansas City, but that game is in Germany, so that’s another asterisk. 

 4. Ravens – They’ve won three in a row, but that’s not that interesting. What’s compelling is what will happen over the next three weeks as they take on the Seahawks, Browns and Bengals, all of whom are over .500. If they’re going to get at least two wins out of that stretch, their offense needs to catch up with their defense. They had 268 total yards in their win over the Cardinals last week. That’s not going to get it done against better teams. 

 5. Cowboys – This team had a toilet-level performance a few weeks ago against the 49ers, when everything went wrong. They had a god-like performance on Sunday against the Rams, when everything went right. That’s a good wave of momentum to ride into this weekend when they take on the Eagles for the first time.  

 6. 49ers – Yes, they’ve lost three in a row, but I still think this roster has the most talent in the league, all things being equal, which it hasn’t been lately with their injury issues. Their bye week has come at the perfect time. They can work Chase Young into their scheme and hopefully come back strong against Jacksonville on Nov. 12. 

 7. Lions – I feel like this might be a little low for this team, but I still have that bad loss against Baltimore fresh in my mind. But they did get a battle chestnut by beating the Raiders and getting their head coach fired as a result. More on that in a few. 

 8. Jaguars – Speaking of being ranked too low, they are tied with the Chiefs for the best record in the AFC. However, if Jacksonville faced any of the teams above them in these rankings, I would think they’d lose. But just being in this spot is impressive, considering they’re just a couple years from the Urban Meyer dumpster fire. By the way, Doug Pederson deserves so much credit for what he’s done.  

 9. Bengals – They’re facing the next team in these rankings on Sunday night, but their momentum feels stronger. Joe Burrow looked amazing against the 49ers and Cincinnati looked every bit like the Super Bowl contender I thought they would be. They could be climbing even higher very fast. 

 10. Bills – They’re 5-3 and yeah, they’re coming off a win against the Buccaneers, but I just don’t like what I’m seeing. I haven’t seen a complete performance out of this team since they beat the Dolphins on Oct. 1. That’s a long time. 

WHAT’S THE CHATTER? 

It’s the right move: I’ve devoted way too much ink to the Falcons this season, but I have to bring them up again. Taylor Heinecke replaced Desmond Ridder after the latter left Sunday’s loss to the Titans to be evaluated for a concussion. Ridder never returned to the game despite being cleared in the second half. Head coach Arthur Smith said it wasn’t for performance reasons. And apparently performance reasons have nothing to do with Heinecke being named the starter for this week? OK, whatever you say, bro. I actually have no problem with this move because like I’ve said before in this space, I’m a Heinecke guy. 

FIRED!!: I’ve never liked Josh McDaniels. Sorry if that makes me a hater or a bad guy, but I’ve always thought he was a douche. He had an inflated sense of his genius after working with Tom Brady, who can make any clueless moron look smart. And now he’s flamed out of two head coaching gigs after the Raiders fired him Tuesday night. Good. He’ll end up as a coordinator somewhere because people like him always do. But he’s not getting another head job in the NFL again. Oh, god, he’ll end up in college, won’t he? 

Speaking of sucks: Jimmy Garoppolo is awful. And the Raiders have finally realized that after watching the pretty boy struggle yet again against Detroit. The team has decided that Aidan O’Connell will be the starter going forward. Good. Garoppolo will end up holding a clipboard somewhere, because people like him always do. But he’s not getting a starting quarterback job in the NFL again. 

Good things happen to good people: In addition to being a Taylor Heinecke guy, I’m now a Joshua Dobbs guy. I’ve really enjoyed watching him play hard and do some nice things for a Cardinals team that is clearly trying to tank their way to a high draft pick. And the latter proved that by trading him to the Vikings, who are very much alive for a playoff spot and need a shot in the arm after losing Kirk Cousins to a torn Achilles. Dobbs is a hard worker and I’d love to see him reach the postseason. What a great story that would be. 

APPOINTMENT VIEWING FOR WEEK 9 

Titans at Steelers: Will Levis was the donkey of this year’s draft. He was projected to be a first-round pick, showed up to the draft in person and suffered the humiliation of not being taken on the first day. He eventually fell to Tennessee in the second round and rewarded their acumen by throwing four touchdown passes in last week’s win. Can he do it again in a short week? I hope so, because Pittsburgh is really irritating me this season. I’m convinced they stink and have smoke-and-mirrored their way to four wins. 

Dolphins at Chiefs: This is a Sunday night-worthy game. Instead, this game will kick off at 6:30 a.m. PT, which isn’t as bad as it sounds since we’re gaining an hour because of the time change. But still, most people are going to miss this one. Which is a shame. 

Vikings at Falcons: While Minnesota did trade for Joshua Dobbs, he won’t be ready to start this weekend. Instead, the Vikings will roll with rookie Jaren Hall, a fifth-round pick out of BYU. I always enjoy these games because you never know. We could be seeing the birth of a Hall of Famer. Or it could be Nathan Peterman-level bad. Either way, it’ll be entertaining. 

Rams at Packers: I’ll watch this game so you fine people don’t have to.  

Seahawks at Ravens: Look who is in first place in the NFC West! Kudos to Pete Carroll and John Schneider for putting together a pretty talented roster. And those throwback uniforms they had last weekend were absolute fire. A lot of prognosticators thought they could win the division this year and they’re starting to look very smart. 

Buccaneers at Texas: I can’t figure out the NFL. I really thought Houston was going to take apart Carolina last week and they lost. Ugh. Anywho, for some reason, I’m interested to see what happens here. 

Cowboys at Eagles: Forget the popcorn. Have chicken wings ready for this game. Fox must be thrilled to have this to broadcast. Unquestionably the game of the week. 

Bills at Bengals: Another tasty matchup. Have some dessert for this game after wolfing down those wings. 

Chargers at Jets: It’s Monday night, what else are you gonna watch? 

Enjoy the games!