An all-important week in American history is behind us. Several have a lot to look forward to for the future, while others are questioning when exactly the next time they’ll be given something to look forward to is.
At long last, another NFL trade deadline has come to an end.
NFL Trade Deadline: Winners
Another Mike Tomlin masterclass has led to the Pittsburgh Steelers starting off the year at 6-2, even despite some QB shuffling in the first half of the season. With their red-hot start putting them first in the vaunted AFC North, the Steelers went out and checked off the biggest need on their roster.
After several weeks of speculation following the Davante Adams trade, Mike Williams is now paired up with fellow big-bodied wide receiver George Pickens.
Add on a late trade for veteran pass rusher Preston Smith, and the Steelers look to be all in on winning this division and making a run at the playoffs.
One of the more obvious examples of a buyer at the trade deadline, many expected the Detroit Lions to eye a replacement for their star pass rusher Aiden Hutchinson. They were able to get that just for a swap of late draft picks.
Detroit worked out a deal with Cleveland to send him to Detroit for a low price, and received the reinforcements they need to continue their quest for a Super Bowl.
With the Saints firing Dennis Allen the week of the deadline, teams called and asked about several high-profile players.
One of them – Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore – was shopped and eventually sent to the Commanders, who have had secondary struggles all season.
Definitely a good trade year to be a top AFC receiver with a bad quarterback. (Well, there may be one exception to that so far. But it’s TBD.)
Deandre Hopkins caught passes from a number of quarterbacks in his time at Houston alone, and spent the last two seasons catching passes from Ryan Tannehill, Will Levis, and Mason Rudolph. Now he gets a legitimate chance at a Super Bowl ring, playing with Patrick Mahomes and the still-undefeated Kansas City Chiefs.
The same goes for Amari Cooper. The Browns are back to their ways of playing quarterback musical chairs. With their season over and focus on the future, Cooper was sent off to Buffalo to catch passes from Josh Allen.
He may still be learning the routes, but in time that duo should be lighting up the AFC as well.
It is very rare that teams are willing to trade a starting tackle at the trade deadline. However, the Jaguars were in that incredibly rare position.
With the Vikings losing Christian Darrisaw for the year, they jumped at the opportunity to trade for Cam Robinson as a replacement. Having an experienced starter to plug in should help them maintain their high level of play in a loaded NFC North.
NFL Trade Deadline: Losers
Amari Cooper and Davante Adams went for a 3rd round pick. Deandre Hopkins went for a 5th round pick. Mike Williams? 5th round pick.
And yet, Jonathan Mingo in his second year is worth a 4th round pick according to Dallas. Mind-boggling stuff.
To add onto this, Dak Prescott’s hamstring has been quite literally been pulled off the bone with America’s Team sitting at 3-5. You would think that’s the signal to punt on the year and be sellers at the deadline, but Jerry Jones had other plans.
Another strange move from the same front office that’s been getting burned for not signing Derrick Henry in free agency.
After trading for Matthew Judon early in the season, the Falcons pass rush has still been lacking and could use another pass rusher. Several pass rushers moved, but not one to Atlanta.
They still lead an NFC South with only the Buccaneers being real competition for the division at this stage, but they were unable to strike a deal for anyone in the market.
The two MetLife residents will share a spot here for similar reasons. Starting with the Jets, they went all in on Davante Adams despite being 2-4 and firing their head coach.
The move didn’t appear to help immediately, but they did secure a victory against a banged up Houston Texans team. The decision to buy and not sell will definitely be an interesting one to look back on at the end of the year.
For the Giants, they also opted not to sell at the deadline despite being 2-7. Azeez Ojulari was one of the most popular names in trade talks this week, being 24 years old and 10th in the league in sacks.
However, the asking price appeared to be high for many edge-needy teams, and the Giants opted to keep him even with the blockbuster trade for Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux set to return later this year.
Good on them for not budging, but if he is not resigned it’s another move that will be looked back on this coming offseason. Darius Slayton, another popular trade candidate and upcoming free agent, was also retained.
The Alien Sightings in Week 9
Week 9 brought us some great games, but more than anything we got some absolutely absurd plays in this slate.
Starting on Thursday Night Football, the Jets pulled off the upset against the Houston Texans. Jeff Ulbrich’s defense smothered CJ Stroud the whole afternoon with him down his top two receivers, and Garrett Wilson made one of the best catches we’ve ever seen to help propel the Jets to victory after five straight losses.
Not to be topped, Saquon Barkley had the world’s first successful backwards hurdle attempt (to my knowledge, at least) during a football game. You have to see it to believe it.
Oh yeah, as for the game the Eagles would go on to beat the Jaguars 28-23.
The AFC East brought us some of the best games of the slate. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye was able to send the Patriots to overtime against the Titans at the final second, but they would fall short and eventually lose in overtime to the Tennessee Titans.
An in-division showdown between the Bills and Dolphins was another massive highlight in Week 9. Tua Tagovailoa has turned in two fairly impressive performances following his return, but has not yet collected a victory. Yet another late field goal proved to be the difference, with Bills kicker Tyler Bass drilling a 61-yarder in the final seconds.
Week 10 Preview
We are now 2/2 in classic Bengals-Ravens matchup after Thursday Night. In another high-scoring shootout between two of the AFC’s best quarterbacks, the Ravens once again came out on top after the Bengals failed to convert a two-point conversion at the end.
Now at 4-6, NFL fans can only hope the Bengals continue their second-half surge this season so we can see this matchup one more time.
Looking ahead to Sunday, it appears we are not done punishing Germany for their role in World War II. We have yet another international matchup taking place there, as the New York Giants will take on the Carolina Panthers early Sunday morning.
This week’s rendition of the Hospital Bowl takes place in Tampa Bay, with the Buccaneers taking on the 49ers. The Buccaneers came very close to knocking off the Chiefs last weekend, but the overtime coin flip gave Mahomes a chance to end the game early. (Great rule, Roger.)
They’ll look to knock off a 49ers team that will finally have Christian McCaffery back in the mix, just in time to make a run at a very wide open NFC West.
The Chiefs will head back to Arrowhead Stadium and hope to stay undefeated against the Denver Broncos, who would like to bounce back from a blowout loss to the Ravens last weekend.
The most enticing matchup of the early slate goes to the Steelers and Commanders. Two surprising division leaders at this stage face off, and both made acquisitions at the trade deadline to send the message that they’re all in on making a run at their respective conference titles.
The afternoon slate is a bit of a snoozer, which means one of these games will end up being an instant classic most likely.
The matchup between the Jets and Cardinals is probably most intriguing, with the Jets trying to build some momentum following an upset over the Houston Texans last Thursday. The Cardinals lead their division and look to strengthen that lead ahead of their bye.
Our final two primetime games of the weekend include the Lions heading to Houston to take on a battered Texans team, along with the Dolphins taking on a Rams team that looks to be heating up.
