The NFL Roundup 2019: Week 9 – What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

I love how the NFL always finds new ways to surprise me, since Week 9 in the NFL only kinda, sorta went by the book. For some of the powerhouse teams out there found themselves stunned and surprised by teams they were supposed to beat, while those that were left for dead found new life. Which means that once again, this weekend’s slate of games taught us some incredible lessons about our favorite franchises and with so many incredible stories still hanging over the weekend, it’s best we dive right in and discuss exactly what we learned from another magnificent week of football.
 
The Miami Dolphins finally won a game.
You can call it an early Christmas miracle, or just the law of attrition, but at long last, the Miami Dolphins finally won a game in impressive fashion. For they outright dominated the New York Jets on Sunday and it was nice to see this team finally jell together and make the seemingly impossible, possible. But while it is nice to celebrate the fact that they won’t be going 0-16 this season, make no mistake about it, the Dolphins have a long way to go before they can remotely call themselves elite. But for now, they can celebrate this magnificent win and hopefully build upon this victory as their massive rebuild continues along.
 
The Jets and the Bears need to be concerned about their quarterbacks.
While it’s usually not fair to call young players busts until about their third or fourth year in the NFL, I think it is safe to assume that word is in the back of our minds when it comes to Sam Darnold and Mitch Trubisky. Because both of these young QBs were supposed to be the saviors of their respective franchises, yet they’re regressing when it comes to their play right now and that’s scary. Because Chicago gave up the farm for #10 and the Jets are building a team around a kid who makes some dumb decisions and you have to imagine that executive leadership is concerned about their prized franchise quarterbacks right now. Because they have to do better, and both of these teams need to invest in whatever it takes to get them back on track, otherwise they’ll be looking at starting over fresh at this position for the umpteenth time.
 
Let’s talk about the Denver Broncos offense.
Make no mistake about it, the Denver Broncos did some amazing things on offense for a change, which is quite the welcome surprise. Because this offense has underwhelmed all season long, so it was nice to see them succeed, especially when one considers that Sunday’s performance offers up some explanation as to why it hasn’t been all that successful to begin with. For this proves that Offensive Coordinator Rich Scangarello needs to be aggressive in his play calling from here on out since a little push went a long way and it also proves that the coaches need to be quicker when it comes to tweaking the offense, personnel wise. Because clearly a change at QB did wonders for this squad and if someone isn’t getting the job done, they need to bench them immediately, rather than wait for an injury. But either way, it’s nice to see the Broncos O back in action and here’s to hoping they keep up this level of play in the weeks to come.
 
The Ravens did the impossible on Sunday Night.
For weeks now, it seemed as though the New England Patriots were on a collision course with another 16-0 season. Because this team has been unstoppable on offense and defense, but the Ravens changed that this week by handing New England their first loss of the season. And they were nice enough to remind everyone that the key to stopping #12 is to play aggressive man-to-man coverage and blitz heavy as well. But what matters more, is that Baltimore gave the league a solid blueprint on how to beat this vaunted defense, since a disguised RPO confused this defense like never before. So, expect to see teams using disguises and misdirection on both sides of the ball against the Pats in the weeks to come.
 
The Cleveland Browns did the right thing in releasing Jermaine Whitehead.
While I fully understand the fact that people make mistakes and sometimes say tough things in the heat of the moment, there’s never a good reason to threaten someone’s life when you’re having an argument. It’s just dumb and immature and it was stunning to see Jermaine Whitehead do just that on Twitter following Cleveland’s loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. I won’t try to figure out what motivated him to go that far, so instead, I’ll just take a moment to praise the Browns for letting him go. Because this was just unacceptable behavior, plain and simple, and while Cleveland has other discipline problems to worry about, at least they know which lines should not be crossed. So, good on them for cutting him loose and hopefully Mister Whitehead learned a valuable lesson, because he may never play another down in the NFL. 

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