Best & Worst NFL Week Nine

Week nine has come and gone in the NFL. It was a strange week, to say the least. Green Bay shockingly went cold, meanwhile Joe Flacco never seems to age. Even with dealing to an injury to CJ Stroud, Houston nearly came all the way back against the Broncos. There were a lot of fireworks that went off last week. And here's a look at some of the best, and worst, of week nine in the NFL.

Best: Brian Flores, Head Coach Minnesota Vikings
It is clear to anybody with a pair of eyes that the Minnesota Vikings have taken a bit of a step back from the team we saw a season ago. Minnesota was able to get themselves back to .500 with a 27-24 win over the Lions, a very impressive win at that. The offense didn't blow you away with their performance, but it was good enough to get the job done. What really impressed here was what the Vikings defense was able to do to the Lions running attack. Detroit was held to just 65 yards on the ground the entire day. Detangling the Lions' intricate offense allowed the Vikings to tee off on Jared Goff, who took five sacks as the offense converted just five of 17 third-down attempts. Credit has to go to the coaching staff and Brian Flores for being able to dial up the defense to not only shut down Detroit, but allow his own offense to be able to do what it had to do to put points on the board. Hats off to Flores for pulling it off.

Worst: Zac Taylor, Head Coach Cincinnati Bengals
The coaches can only call the plays, they can't make the players execute what is called. But what has gone down as of late for the Bengals, the seat for coach Zac Taylor has to be getting a little bit hotter by the week. In the Bengals 47-42 loss to the Bears, the team has given up over 500 yards for the third time this season. I know its not the same without Joe Burrow under center in Cincy. But even with a guy like Joe Flacco, who is somehow turning back the hands of time, scoring over 40 points for you and you still can't win. That's a big problem. Yes its on the Defense, but it also falls on the head coach as well for not getting his players in the right place and getting them to stop the opposition, its not going to do a damn bit of good. It falls on the coach.

Best: Rico Dowdle, Running Back Carolina Panthers
There's great running performances, then there's what Dowdle ahs done for Carolina the last two weeks. He's gone for a franchise record 473 yards from scrimmage over the last two weeks. This week, in the Panthers 16-13 win over the Packers, it was a big day from Rico to help power it. He had two catches for 11 yards, but more of note, he finished with 25 carries for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Look at his numbers over the last five weeks. He has more than twenty carries in a game, he gets over 130 or more yards on the ground. It means one thing for the Panthers. You want to have a chance at a win, feed Rico the ball.

Worst: Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs
For whatever reason, Mahomes hasn't had luck against the Bills during the regular season. During the playoffs, when it really matters most, Mahomes gets the job done. but during the regular season, it's a much different story. Mahomes has now lost five straight games during the regular season against Buffalo. The Bills won 28-21 and Yes Mahomes threw for 250 yards, which is a good day for most. But it was a rough day for Mahomes. Buffalo's defensive front hit Mahomes more than a dozen times, sacking him thrice, and the secondary did its part, too, with Maxwell Hairston snagging a game-sealing pick. He took a bit of a beating. But there's a chance they could meet again come the playoffs, where it could be a totally different story.

Best: Cam Little, Kicker Jacksonville Jaguars
Being a kicker in the National Football League can be a bit of a fickle thing. At times you can be a hero, as was the case with Cam Little of the Jaguars. 46 times in NFL history has a kicker nailed a kick from 60 yards or more. Little became the 46th name on that list. he had hit one from 70 yards out, but that was during the preseason. On Sunday, he set the NFL record with a 68 yard kick in a 30-29 overtime win by the Jags over the Raiders. Which comes as a nice surprise considering he missed a couple of kicks over the last two weeks. But hitting this kick more than made up for it.

Worst: Parker Romo, Kicker Atlanta Falcons
While we have had guys hitting big kicks, we have the other end of the spectrum and Parker Romo. Romo had a bit of a tough situation, taking over for Younghoe Koo in Atlanta. And he started off great, hitting five straight kicks to start his time in Atlanta. Then the rug was kind of pulled out from under him. He missed three field goals since then. One of them was a huge extra point that was missed that proved to be the difference in Atlanta's 24-23 loss to New England. Romo has steadied in a little in Atlanta, but with the Falcons having very little margin for error, he needs to be a little more close to perfect as he can get.