NFL Week 9 Grades: Resurgent Falcons get an "A +"; Patriots get "A" for big win over Packers

The defense of the Falcons began by closing Adrian Peterson. Peterson came in fifth in the NFL and third in the NFC rushing, but he could not find anywhere to run against the Falcons. In the first period, the Falcons kept it just 15 yards in six races, which was a big deal, because when the Redskins hit the ball for the first time in the second half, they were already lagging behind. -7, forced them to abandon the racing game. Peterson carried the ball only three times for two yards in the second half.

When the Redskins were forced to pbad, the Falcons were ready. They spent most of the second period putting pressure on Alex Smith, who had nowhere to go. Smith was fired three times in the match with two of those from Falcons defensive end Jack Crawford. The Falcons also forced Smith to make a rare mistake: an interception.

Damontae Kazee's choice in the fourth quarter marked the first time since week 4 that Smith intercepted an interception. The only thing more impressive than the Falcons defense game was Ryan's game.

Ryan has been one of the NFL's most prominent quarterbacks in recent months and the Redskins have certainly not been able to calm him down. Ryan tore up Washington's defense for 350 yards and four touchdowns and even sent a surprise to Julio Jones' fantasy owners: a touchdown pbad to Jones!

This is the first time since the 11th week in 2017 that Jones has caught a touchdown. Ryan has now 17 touchdowns since Week 3, making it the NFL's third best overall, behind Andrew Luck and Patrick Mahomes, who have 19, though Mahomes has played one more game than Luck and Ryan since He did not have a match. goodbye again.

Ryan plays as he did in his season as the best player in 2016, which is good news for the Falcons, as Atlanta could play six of their last eight games against teams averaging. 500 or less. That number could jump to seven out of eight if the Packers lose to the Patriots on Sunday night.

Basically, the Falcons have moved back into the playoffs of the NFC and, with the way Ryan plays, it would not be surprising to see them sneak into the playoffs.

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Pittsburgh 23-16 on Baltimore

After losing to the Ravens in the fourth week, Ben Roethlisberger apparently took it personally, as he made sure that it would not happen again during their rematch. Not only did Big Ben have 270 yards and two touchdowns, but he also had a touchdown in the third quarter, giving Pittsburgh a 20-6 lead. James Conner also scored points for the Steelers with a total of 163 yards (107 in the race, 56) and a touchdown. Conner is now officially doing things that The Vein Bell has never done.

If Bell really shows up this week, he will have to fight the first job away from Conner.

If John Harbaugh is in the hot seat, the Ravens are not doing anything to improve things against the Steelers. The Ravens struggled in attack for most of the match and completely collapsed in the red zone, scoring a touchdown in only one of four trips. This is a remarkable number because the Ravens started the 9th week with the NFL's fourth best attack in the red zone. The Ravens defense, which topped the NFL leader standings and gave up the fewest yards on the floor, could not put pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, who rushed for 270 yards and was not fired. 'Once.

Atlanta 38-14 over Washington

The confrontation between Matt Ryan and the Redskins opened the way for the Falcons and they certainly benefited. The Falcons averaged an impressive 6.4 yards per race (24 strokes for 154 yards). Atlanta was led by Tevin Coleman (13 races) and Ito Smith (10 runs, 60 yards and one touchdown). Thanks to these two halves, the Falcons have not failed to beat since they placed Devonta Freeman in the reserve of the wounded.

This match was a total disaster for the Redskins: their defense was bad at the third goal, their attack disappeared and they seemed to be penalized with every other match. The Redskins allowed the Falcons' offense to convert 10 of the 13 third attempts, allowing Atlanta to extend the attack against a Redskins defense that looked tired in the second half. The Washington attack did not help, as they were only able to score 14 points on a Falcons defense started Sunday with the third worst NFL defense, allowing 30.3 points per game. The penalties were also ugly because the Redskins have accumulated the most penalty yards (147) since 1971.

Miami 13-6 on N.Y. Jets

The Jets had their best defensive performance in four years, but that was not enough to overcome the debacle of Sam Darnold's rookie. Darnold, an erratic player, made more touchdown pbades to the Dolphins (1) than he did to the Jets (0). The four interceptions of Darnold in Miami cost the Jets a lot. Because of Darnold's game, the Jets' attack was almost never a touchdown. Things were so bad for the Jets that they did not get into Miami's 20-yard line all the time. Jordan Jenkins was one of the rare badets of the Jets to pick up two of New York's four sacks. The Jets limited the Dolphins to 168 rushing yards, the lowest total ever since Week 1 in 2014.

It was not the ugliest victory in Dolphin history, but it was probably close. A day when the Dolphins got absolutely nothing from their attack (only 168 meters), the Miami defense saved the situation. Cameron Wake and Akeem Spence each sent Sam Darnold back in a game where the Jets quarterback rarely had time to throw. Oh, and when he started, most of his pbades were captured by the dolphins. Miami eliminated Darnold four times, including Jerome Baker's 25-yard play in the fourth quarter, which fundamentally contributed to the match's success. This match marks the first time since 2010 that Miami won a match with less than 170 yards. Coincidentally, the last time this happened is also against the Jets.

Minnesota 24-9 on Detroit

Maybe exchanging your main wide receiver is not a good idea. In their first game since sending Golden Tate to Philadelphia, the Lions offensive had a disastrous performance from start to finish. They could not protect Matthew Stafford (fired 10 times), they could not score touchdowns in the red zone (0-on-3) and, in reality, they simply could not move the ball. The Lions only had 209 yards of offense, which is the second lowest total of Stafford's career and the lowest total of a match where Stafford plays end-to-end.

The Vikings have set up some of the best defenses in NFL history (Purple People Eaters, anyone), but none of them have achieved what the Minnesota defense had managed on Sunday. The Vikings set a franchise record by racking up 10 sacks against the Lions and chances are Matthew Stafford will have nightmares from Danielle Hunter for the rest of the year. Hunter not only scored 3.5 of those bags, he also took a bad Stafford shot and returned 32 yards for a touchdown. The Viking offense was not great, but Dalvin Cook, who was playing for the first time in five weeks, received a spark. Cook, who ambaded 89 yards, set the second Viking touchdown when he escaped for a 70-yard run in the second quarter.

Kansas City 37-21 on Cleveland

The Kansas City offensive continues to be unstoppable. The Chiefs scored one touchdown on five of their first six possessions in that game and the only possession that did not end with a touchdown came because Patrick Mahomes launched an interception on a Hail Mary to end the first half. Mahomes made his way with the Browns, collecting 375 yards and three touchdowns. Kareen Hunt also defeated the Browns, terrorizing them on the ground (91 yards, two touchdowns) and in the air (50 yards on the receiving end, 1 touchdown). You know what? Just about everyone in the Chiefs offensive has managed with the Browns.

If the dismissal of Hue Jackson was supposed to inspire the Browns this week, this plan definitely did not work. Although led by an acting defense coach (Gregg Williams), the Browns did not get an answer for the Chiefs' offense, which was 499 yards. This is the second time the Browns have surrendered the most in a home game since 2009. The one thing the Browns have had in this game has been to encourage the game of their beginners. Baker Mayfield (297 yards, two touchdowns) and Nick Chubb (22 runs, 85 yards, one touchdown) were impressive for part of the game. The other thing we saw in the Browns was the "unveiling" of Duke Johnson. For some reason, Todd Haley refused to use Johnson, but with Haley, the Browns took advantage of having Johnson this Sunday as he caught nine pbades for 78 yards and two touchdowns from Mayfield.

Chicago 41-9 over Buffalo

The Bears do not even need to bring their attack to this match and that's because the defense has provided enough points (14) to win it by themselves. The Bears' touchdowns were scored by Leonard Floyd (six-yard scoring of 19 yards) and Leonard Floyd (returning from the break with a shot of 65 yards), both of which scored in the second quarter. The Bears have also sacked Nathan Peterman four times. It was good that the Bears' defense had an important game, as the offense produced only 190 yards. This match marks the second time in 10 years that the Bears have won with less than 200 yards of offense.

Nathan Peterman was the starting quarterback of the Bills in this game, so you probably already know what happened: there were a lot of turnovers in Buffalo and the Bills were knocked down. Peterman threw three interceptions, including a pick-six, although it's not really his fault as he bounced off one of his receivers. Peterman was not the only player in Bills to give points to the other team. Forward Jason Croom escaped the ball in the second quarter, allowing Chicago to come back for a touchdown.

Carolina 42-28 over Tampa Bay

The Buccaneers might want to start their next game with three or four touchdowns, as that seems to be when Ryan Fitzpatrick is prospering. After falling behind 35-7, the Panthers received a full dose of FitzMagic while quarterback Bucs helped Tampa to reduce the lead to 35-28. Unfortunately for Tampa, the FitzMagic was exhausted in the fourth quarter. Defensively, the Buccaneers were defeated for 179 yards on the ground, which is the maximum they have lost all season. The Bucs entered the game with the 10th NFL Race Defense and had not even yielded 140 rushing yards to any team this year.

The Panthers scored a franchise record of 35 points in the first half, mainly because the Bucs could not find a way to stop Cam Newton or Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey totaled 157 yards in Tampa (79 in the race, 78 in the receiving end), including two first-half touchdowns. As for Newton, he was almost perfect in the first half (9 of 12), scoring 127 yards and a touchdown for a performance of 247 yards on two touchdowns. Defensively, Ryan Fitzpatrick will probably never want to see Mario Addison again. The Panthers had three sacks against Tampa and Addison represented them all.

L.A. Chargers 25-17 over Seattle

The Chargers made the impossible Sunday: they beat Russell Wilson in Seattle. Earlier this week, Wilson had been 12-0 at home against the AFC teams, but it's now 12-1 thanks to the Chargers. Los Angeles found Melvin Gordon in this match, which was huge because they needed him. Playing for the first time since Week 6, Gordon had 113 yards and a touchdown in just 16 runs. The Chargers also got a big game from Keenan Allen, who scored 152 yards (28 in the race, 124 at the front desk). Of course, the biggest problem with chargers remains their biggest problem and this problem is at the level of the kicker. Caleb Sturgis nearly lost the game to L.A. with an ugly performance including two extra points missed and a missed 42-yard goal.

Russell Wilson did not make a lot of mistakes in this game, but he made one in the fourth quarter that put Seattle in a big hole. With only 6:44 left, Wilson thrown a six-man pick that turned a 19-10 Chargers lead into a 25-10 Chargers lead. Of course, there is a good chance that nobody will remember, because everyone will remember, it is that David Moore has dropped a possible pbad for the final part by leveling the match.

Houston 19-17 over Denver

If there is a team in the NFL that has come up with this ugly win, it's the Houston Texans. Deshaun Watson got hot early in the game with two touchdown pbades in the first period, which was almost everything the Texans needed to win. Although Texans have sometimes fought against the Broncos' defense, DeAndre Hopkins is one of the players who did not do it. Hopkins has 10 badists for 105 yards and one touchdown.

If Vance Joseph tries to keep his job, his late training against the Texans will not help the cause. The Broncos missed the last minute of the match with a dubious training that allowed Brandon McManus to attempt a 51-yard effort in the final game. Joseph did not try to get his kicker closer, which was bad enough. Earlier in the game, he also beat Texas kicker Ka 'imi Fairbairn on a 46-yard kick. Although Fairbairn missed the first attempt, he got another chance because of Joseph's time-out and managed to do it on his second attempt. In a two-point match, both of Joseph's mistakes cost the Broncos dear.

New Orleans 45-35 on L.A. Rams

The Rams only made a few mistakes in this game, but they were all fat. In the first period only, they missed an investment and an interception, two errors that ultimately led to touchdowns for New Orleans. Also in the first period, the Rams scored a false goal that did not work (even though it was close) and once the Saints retrieved the ball, they scored another touchdown. Sean McVay likes to take risks and sometimes these risks are not profitable, as he discovered in New Orleans.

The saints needed a big day after their attack to get rid of the undefeated Rams, and that's exactly what they had. Michael Thomas ran circles around the Rams secondary race. He caught 12 pbades for 211 yards and one touchdown. And then there was Alvin Kamara, who kept the display board active by scoring three of the Saints' six touchdowns. The Saints did not play once in the first half when they had a lead of 35-17. Drew Brees was the man who did it all. The Saints quarterback had 346 yards and four touchdowns. The Saints are now 21-1 when Brees rolls four or more touchdown pbades and no interceptions in a game.

New England 31-17 on Green Bay

This match was a real explosion, because the packers offensive completely disappeared in the second half. After scoring a touchdown on their first possession of the half, the Packers would no longer sniff the end zone. In their last four games, the Packers went three times and twice, lost a fumble and turned the ball down. Aaron Rodgers was good (259 yards, two touchdowns), but the needy Packers needed him to be great, but he was not.

The Patriots had neither Rob Gronkowski nor Sony Michel, but that mattered little because they had Josh Gordon and a defense that controlled Aaron Rodgers. Gordon exploded for 130 yards and a touchdown on just three shots. Bill Belichick also dominated the Packers with several smart pbades by turning Cordarrelle Patterson into a half-offensive (11 carries, 61 yards, one goal) and calling a lap that ends a 37-yard pbad to James White. Edelman, who is essentially the Swiss army knife in New England, also had 28 rushing yards and 71 rushing yards.