After Week 8 of the NFL season was marked by blowouts, NFL fans were due some excitement in Week 9.
Boy, did they get it.
Multiple games went down to the wire, including one finish in Cincinnati that may prove to be the wildest finish of the season. And in the day’s most anticipated matchup, the Buffalo Bills survived a last-gasp effort from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here’s what you may have missed on Sunday.
The script flipped a few times in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
The Chicago Bears led by two touchdowns with five minutes left in the game, another seeming disappointment for the Bengals on home turf. Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco found Noah Fant for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 to go, and then Cincy converted on the two-point conversion attempt to pull within six points.
The Bengals then lined up for a desperation onside kick and, thanks to the slightest of touches off a Bears player’s foot, managed to recover the ball to get possession back.
Flacco again drove his team down the field and, with 54 seconds to play, hit Andrei Iosivas for a 9-yard touchdown pass. The Bengals converted the extra point and suddenly had the lead with less than a minute to go. An incredible comeback had Paycor Stadium rocking in disbelief.
A few moments later, it would be silenced as that disbelief turned to shock.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams hit tight end Colston Loveland with a pass and the tight end barely evaded two Bengals defenders, who hit each other instead of Loveland. To the dismay of the home fans, Loveland scampered 58 yards for a touchdown, stealing the lead – and the game – back for the Bears with just 17 seconds to play. The Bears won 47-42.
Josh Allen and the Bills outduel the Chiefs
In a matchup of two of the game’s brightest stars, Bills quarterback Josh Allen bested Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs in the weekend’s highest-profile game, winning 28-21.
Allen had an extremely efficient performance, going 23-for-26 and passing for 273 yards, passing for one touchdown and running for two more. James Cook III put in a strong game for the Bills on the ground, running for 114 yards, and Dalton Kincaid led the way for the team’s receivers with six catches for 101 yards and one touchdown.
The Bills got ahead early and stayed in front, holding off a late charge from the Chiefs. Kareem Hunt ran in a 1-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to cut the Bills’ lead to seven, and the Chiefs had the ball last with a chance to tie. Ultimately, Mahomes’ Hail Mary pass was batted away by Buffalo defenders.
The Minnesota Vikings got their franchise quarterback back on the field on Sunday and J.J. McCarthy showed why the team bet on him this offseason.
McCarthy’s stat line wasn’t that impressive – 14-for-25 passing for 143 yards, two touchdowns and an interception – but the second-year man from Michigan showed incredible moxie to navigate a tricky away game against the two-time defending division champions.
The key play came in the final minutes after the Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams for a touchdown to bring the Lions back within three points. Needing a first down to seal the game, McCarthy found Jalen Nailor for a 16-yard gain to convert on a high-pressure third down that allowed the Vikings to take a knee and run out the rest of the clock.
The 27-24 victory for the Vikings reinvigorates their season in the incredibly tight NFC North. All four teams – Minnesota, Detroit, Green Bay and Chicago – are all separated by less than two games.
The Washington Commanders entered this season looking like one of the league’s new powers after their run to the NFC championship game last season behind quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Those hopes have gone up in smoke this year.
Daniels had already missed multiple games this year with a left knee sprain and right hamstring sprain, and now it appears he’s going to be on the shelf for a significant amount of time. The second-year quarterback was injured in the fourth quarter when his left arm buckled underneath him as he was being tackled by a Seattle Seahawks defender, a gruesome injury that’s being called a dislocated elbow by the team.
The game was already well out of hand that point after the Seahawks scored four touchdowns in the first half to take a 28-0 lead. The Commanders never really got back into it, and the game finished 38-14.
Cam Little’s record field goal and last-second wins
There have been only six field goals of 64 or more yards in NFL history, and three have come this season. On Sunday, Cam Little had the longest one of all time.
The Jaguars’ kicker was good from 68 yards at the end of the first half in Jacksonville’s 30-29 overtime win against the Las Vegas Raiders. Not only was it the longest field goal made in NFL history – but he also cleared the distance with room to spare.
Meanwhile, two visiting teams stole wins from their hosts on field goals as time expired.
The Carolina Panthers defeated the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field on a 49-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzpatrick as time run out for a 16-13 win in a disappointing showing for the Packers.
The Denver Broncos rallied in the second half to defeat the Houston Texans, 18-15. The Texans lost quarterback C.J. Stroud early in the contest when he took a big hit in the first half.
Will Lutz kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired for the winning points.
There was also one missed kick that ended up sealing a game this weekend. The Atlanta Falcons fell on the road to the New England Patriots, 24-23. The Falcons looked to have tied the game up in the fourth quarter with less than five minutes to go on Drake London’s third touchdown catch of the game but Parker Romo missed the extra point. It would prove to be the deciding margin.
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