NFL 2018 Week 9 Recap

Hello readers! The dust has settled, the football stands are empty, and the fans are around the water cooler for what would be sure a talked about the week in the National Football League. With week 9 completed, the regular season is halfway over. In this column, I will talk about the imperfection of being perfect in the NFL, as well as the week's recap.

Perfection!

On Sunday, the final unbeaten team, the Los Angeles Rams, lost to the New Orleans Saints. This continues a trend that hasn't been marked since 2007 when the New England Patriots were undefeated in the regular season. Though they didn't go undefeated all the way. The record 18-1 is rough to hear for some. Only the 1972 Miami Dolphins were the only team to go through a regular season, playoffs, and championship undefeated.

The idea of going undefeated is hard but actually going undefeated is harder. Especially in today's NFL. The Los Angeles Rams, going into the regular season were the consensus favorite to get to the Super Bowl, possibly to even win it. To even get to 8-0 in the regular season is nothing to scoff at. Only one thing is for certain, the rest of the 1972 Miami Dolphins will pop those champagne bottles and celebrate their team being still the only undefeated team. The ghosts get to rest for another season.

The recap

Oakland 3, San Francisco 34: TW: Raiders; CV: Raiders
Nick Mullens raised a lot of eyebrows on Thursday night when he made his debut and completely destroyed the Raiders defense. Torching them for 262 yards and three touchdowns. The Raiders rebuilding process continues on. They looked lost out there looking for a light at the end of the tunnel to reach it. Unfortunately, they're halfway there.

Week 10: Oakland: vs LA Chargers; San Francisco: vs NY Giants

TW: 0-1; CV: 0-1

Atlanta 38, Washington 14: TW: Redskins; CV: Redskins
Going into the game, people talked about the Redskins defense about holding themselves together against adverse odds. The Atlanta Falcons had different ideas. Tevin Coleman of the Falcons had a day on the ground and air, getting 88 rushing and 68 receiving (with two touchdowns). The Redskins really had no answer for it as Adrian Peterson was held to 17 rushing yards.

Week 10: Atlanta: @ Cleveland; Washington: @ Tampa Bay

TW: 0-2; CV: 0-2

Chicago 41, Buffalo 9: TW: Bears; CV: Bears
The game wasn't really close as the Bears just dismantled the Bills on offense. Nathan Peterman had three interceptions in the game and the Bears took advantage of them as much as they could. There were 14 points off turnovers for the Bears and Jordan Howard would rush for two touchdowns in the game. The Bears continue to stay within the NFC North and the Bills QB nightmare continues, one would think that anyone could play for them. How worse could it get?

Week 10: Chicago: vs Detroit; Buffalo: @ NY Jets

TW: 1-2; CV: 1-2

Detroit 9, Minnesota 24: Vikings; CV: Vikings
The game was a defensive showcase of the Vikings pass rush. The pass rush was highlighted by Danielle Hunter, a 4th-year man out of LSU, who had 3.5 sacks on the day. Detroit had no answer for it as even Matthew Stafford was rattled only throwing for 199 yards and no touchdowns. A true defensive effort is a thing that is not seen much in today's NFL, sadly.

Week 10: Detroit: @ Chicago; Minnesota: Bye week

TW: 2-2; CV: 2-2

Kansas City 37, Cleveland 21: TW: Chiefs; CV: Chiefs
In a game after they fired their head coach, Hue Jackson, the Cleveland Browns looked to stay respectable and against one of the top teams in the AFC, they looked like it. Baker Mayfield threw for two touchdowns on 297 yards passing and kept Kareem Hunt down to 91 yards. The Chiefs were the better team however as their magical season continues. Patrick Mahomes threw for 375 yards for three touchdowns.

Week 10: Kansas City: vs Arizona; Cleveland: vs Atlanta

TW: 3-2; CV: 3-2

NY Jets 6, Miami 13: TW: Dolphins; CV: Jets
The game was capped off of a defensive performance by the Miami Dolphins as they got four interceptions off of Sam Darnold. It was overall a sleeper effort if you enjoy passing offenses as both QB's didn't throw for over 300 yards. Then again if you play against the Jets, you're bound to have a lax day on offense. Frank Gore had a decent game with 53 rushing yards.

Week 10: NY Jets: vs Buffalo; Miami: @ Green Bay

TW: 4-2; CV: 3-3

Pittsburgh 23, Baltimore 16: TW: Steelers; CV: Steelers
It was a classic AFC North battle between these two teams. A bit of offense and a lot of defense. Totally different than their week 4 matchup. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 270 yards on two touchdowns while James Conner had 107 yards on the ground. It proved to be a matchup between the Steelers offense vs one of the best defenses this season in the Ravens. Close game though. Joe Flacco only had 209 yards passing, not quite good enough.

Week 10: Pittsburgh: vs Carolina (Thursday night); Baltimore: Bye week

TW: 5-2; CV: 4-3

Tampa Bay 28, Carolina 42: TW: Panthers; CV: Panthers
The Carolina Panthers looked really good in this game. Really good is an understatement though. They manhandled the Buccaneers who pretty much had to go with their passing game early and often as the Bucs offense couldn't stop Cam Newton and company. If you have to play this team in the playoffs, beware. Ryan Fitzpatrick had four touchdowns and two interceptions but ultimately he had to be a one-man wrecking crew for them in the game, and that's not a good formula to win games in the NFL.

Week 10: Tampa Bay: vs Washington; Carolina: @ Pittsburgh (Thursday night)

TW: 6-2; CV: 5-3

Houston 19, Denver 17: TW: Texans; CV: Texans
The ultimately came down to the leg of Brandon McManus of the Denver Broncos. He would miss a game-winning field goal. Hate to see a game like that end for a Broncos fan but both teams played a clean game. Deshaun Watson threw for two touchdowns on 213 passing yards and Case Keenum would get one touchdown on 290 passing yards. Both defenses were solid but as I said before, it came down to a kick.

Week 10: Houston: Bye week; Denver: Bye week

TW: 7-2; CV: 6-3

LA Chargers 25, Seattle 17: TW: Chargers; CV: Chargers
The LA Chargers had one hell of a game. Melvin Gordon had 113 rushing yards with a touchdown, Keenan Allen had 124 receiving yards but it was really about Seattle with a near comeback victory at the end of the game. Russell Wilson had a stellar game with 235 passing yards with two touchdowns. Not quite enough of a winning effort for Seattle.

Week 10: LA Chargers: @ Oakland; Seattle: @ LA Rams

TW: 8-2; CV: 7-3

LA Rams 35, New Orleans 45: TW: Saints; CV: Rams
The game was really what would be to be expected: a shootout to the end. You have to give quite a bit of credit for the Rams for hanging in there when they were down 21 points to get to a 35-35 tie in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, the Rams had no answer to the Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas who had 211 receiving yards. If this was a playoff preview, then I'd love to see it again. Quite a good game if you enjoy offense, not so much if you prefer defense.

Week 10: LA Rams: vs Seattle; New Orleans: @ Cincinnati

TW: 9-2; CV: 7-4

Green Bay 17, New England 31: TW: Packers; CV: Patriots
In a game of GOAT vs GOAT, it would be the GOAT with the five rings that would ultimately win the game. The Patriots really ran the ball well against a Packers defense that was looking optimistic holding off the Rams offense last week. The Packers ultimately had to come down to the arm of Aaron Rodgers to carry the team. Things are not pretty in the Frozen Tundra.

Week 10: Green Bay: vs Miami; New England: @ Tennessee

TW: 9-3; CV: 8-4

Tennessee 28, Dallas 14: TW: Cowboys; CV: Cowboys
The game was a sour debut for the addition of Amari Cooper to the Cowboys offense. The wideout did have a decent game with eight receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown. At times the Cowboys offense just looked a bit sluggish at times, Ezekiel Elliot didn't have a standout, 100-yard game that we're used to seeing out of him. I had been critical of the Titans offense at times during the season, and boy did they prove me wrong. Marcus Mariota accounted for three of the game's four touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). Definitely not a pretty sight in Big D.

Week 10: Tennessee: vs New England; Dallas: @ Philadelphia

TW: 9-4; CV: 8-5

Records:

2018:
Week 1: 10-5-1
Week 2: 6-9-1
Week 3: 8-8
Week 4: 12-3
Week 5: 6-9
Week 6: 10-5
Week 7: 10-4
Week 8: 11-3
Week 9: 9-4:
Overall: 82-50-2

Cardinal Viking
2018:
Week 1: 8-7-1
Week 2: 9-6-1
Week 3: 5-11
Week 4: 9-6
Week 5: 9-6
Week 6: 6-9
Week 7: 12-2
Week 8: 10-4
Week 9: 8-5
Overall: 76-56-2

See you guys on Wednesday for the Week 10 picks column! 
-Tom