NFL Week 9 featured plenty of drama as the 2024 season reached its halfway point.
Not only did we see historic offensive performances, but there were also overtime wins and last-second game-winning field goals to send teams home happy.
Seven matches in Week 9 have been decided by seven points or fewer, meaning there have been 74 games won by that margin this season, the most such games in Week 9 in NFL history.
Here are the main scenarios for Sunday’s action.
Lions beat Packers in heavyweight clash
Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers was billed as the game of the week, with both having a great start to the season.
But it was never really a contest as the Lions jumped out to an early lead and ultimately triumphed 24-14 over their NFC North rivals.
The animosity between the two teams began well before kickoff when Lions star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown arrived at Lambeau Field wearing a shirt emblazoned with the message “Green Bay sucks.”
And St. Brown made an impact early in the proceedings, catching a touchdown pass on Detroit’s first possession in rainy Wisconsin.
Lions defensive back Kerby Joseph intercepted Packers quarterback Jordan Love and returned it all the way for a touchdown before halftime to further extend the traveling team’s lead.
And when Jahmyr Gibbs ran to score midway through the third quarter, Detroit’s lead was 21 points and the game was all but over.
Green Bay scored a field goal and a late touchdown to cut the deficit to 10, but it was all inconsequential as the Lions extended their winning streak to six games and solidified their position as the best team in the NFL at the time current.
“I’m not shocked at all that we came out here and played really good football despite the elements,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said afterward, referring to the domed stadium of his own team. “We’re built for this, and it doesn’t matter just because we play inside. It doesn’t matter.
“We can play anywhere. We can play in the snow. We can play in the rain. Play in the mud. It’s just us and we’re built to win, man.
During the Lions’ winning streak, quarterback Jared Goff played excellent football with an 82.8 completion percentage, 13 touchdowns, one interception, and a 140.1 passer rating during that stretch. .
According to the NFLGoff’s completion percentage and passer rating are both the highest over a six-game span since at least 1970 (minimum 100 passes attempted), breaking previous records set by Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
“We’re supposed to be the team in the dome that can’t play away,” Goff said afterward. “We’re supposed to be the team that can only win one way. I think we’ve shown multiple times that we can win in multiple ways. We are chameleons.
It was a disappointing result for the Packers at home, despite having 150 more yards of offense than Detroit.
Mistakes and costly penalties caused drives to be halted at key moments and prevented the team from scoring as often as they wanted to keep pace with the Lions.
The Packers fall to 6-3 and find themselves in a bye, while the Lions improve to 7-2 and travel to face the Houston Texans in Week 10. This is the first time in the era Super Bowl whether the Lions start 7-1 or better, the only other time being in 1956, according to the NFL.
Saquon Barkley’s athleticism leaves Eagles ‘speechless’
Saquon Barkley is no stranger to producing remarkable pieces of special athleticism.
But he might have surpassed all his previous moments of individual skill Sunday in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 28-23 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In the second quarter of the game at Lincoln Financial Field, the 27-year-old received a pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts on a key third down, still having to elude two defenders to reach the first down marker.
He first pushed aside one defender, then moved away from another. And with the first down cemented, Barkley produced what Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni later said was the “best play” he had ever seen.
Facing the wrong way and without looking, Barkley leapt into the air and lunged at incoming cornerback Jarrian Jones, who flew over before Barkley was ultimately tackled.
The replay of the moment on the big screen at Lincoln Financial Field drew huge cheers as Barkley took a moment to recover on the sidelines.
The official NFL X account commented that Barkley was “not of this world” and Sirianni was just as stunned after the Eagles’ victory.
“What I think is cool is there will be kids all over the country and all over Philadelphia – I really think about it – who will try to make this game and talk about it and simulate this game while they play football in the yard or pee Wee Football,” he told reporters.
“They won’t be able to do it because I think he’s the only one in the world who can do it. I am speechless. It was amazing…I can’t say enough about his athleticism.
Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat said he “felt like a fanboy for a quick second” while watching Barkley play.
The acrobatic moment was the exclamation point on a productive day for Barkley, who was the difference for Philadelphia on Sunday.
He totaled 199 yards – 159 on the ground and 40 through the air – as well as a rushing and receiving touchdown.
Hurts also added three touchdowns himself, two passing and one rushing, as the Eagles improved to 6-2 while the Jags fell to 2-7.
Historic Ravens performance in victory
The Baltimore Ravens put together a dominant performance to get back to winning ways on Sunday, comfortably defeating the Denver Broncos 41-10 at M&T Bank Stadium.
More notable than the wide margin of victory, however, were the historic performances from two of Baltimore’s key contributors.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson is off to a great start to the season, and it continued against the Broncos for the reigning NFL MVP as he completed 16 of 19 on his pass attempts for 280 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, resulting in a perfect score of 158.3. passer’s note.
This is the fourth time in Jackson’s career that he has had a perfect passer rating in a game, the most ever in the Super Bowl era as he edges out such luminaries as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger.
But Jackson wasn’t the only Baltimore player to turn in a historic performance.
Derrick Henry entered Week 9 as the NFL’s leading rusher and he improved on that status with 126 more yards as well as two touchdowns.
It was the 21stst This is the first time in Henry’s career that he has rushed for at least 100 yards and scored twice in a game, tying Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith for third in such games in the NFL history, behind Jim Brown and LaDainian Tomlinson.
The two touchdowns were also Henry’s 100th and 101st career rushing touchdowns. Playing in his 128th career game, he ties Adrian Peterson for the fifth fewest games played to reach 100 career rushing touchdowns.
Henry’s offseason signing added another element to the Ravens’ offense and it paid off throughout the first half of the NFL season, with both he and Jackson performing at extremely high levels .
After Baltimore improved to 6-3, Henry described what it was like to play alongside Jackson.
“He’s dangerous with his arm, and I think he showed that today. If you want to stop him from running with the ball, (he) will go over your head and throw it,” Henry told reporters. “If he has to head it, he will do that too. Hats off to him. It’s an engine that makes this thing go – ‘MV3.’
Complete Sunday Week 9 Results
Away vs. Home (winners in bold)
Dallas Cowboys 21-27 Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos 10-41 Baltimore Ravens
Miami Dolphins 27-30 Buffalo Bills
New Orleans Saints 22-23 Carolina Panthers
Las Vegas Raiders 24-41 Cincinnati Bengals
Los Angeles Chargers 27-10 Cleveland Browns
Washington Commanders 27-22 New York Giants
New England Patriots 17-20 OT Tennessee Titans
Chicago Bears 9-29 Arizona Cardinals
Jacksonville Jaguars 23-28 Philadelphia Eagles
Detroit Lions 24-14 Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams 26-20 Seattle Seahawks overtime
Indianapolis Colts 13-21 Minnesota Vikings
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com
