NFL Game Recaps: Week 9, 2025

NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.

Ravens 28, Dolphins 6

Lamar Jackson made his return to the field since suffering a hamstring injury against the Chiefs in Week 4. Jackson looked a bit rusty in the early stages of the game, but grew more comfortable as the evening progressed. He was mostly efficient overall, completing a high percentage of his throws. However, Jackson didn’t really need to do all that much, given that the Dolphins kept shooting themselves in the foot.

Miami’s troubles began when Malik Washington lost a fumble deep in his own territory in the first quarter. This set up Baltimore with a goal-to-go opportunity, allowing Jackson to connect with Mark Andrews to go up 7-3. On the ensuing drive, the Dolphins false started on a fourth-and-1, forcing them into a field goal that was missed. Baltimore turned that into long touchdown drive, where Jackson found Andrews in the end zone once again.

The Dolphins, trailing 21-6 by the time they took possession in the third quarter, couldn’t generate anything offensively in the second half. Their possessions were marred by penalties, drops, and miscommunications, as the Ravens cruised to an easy victory.

Bears 47, Bengals 42

There were questions about Joe Flacco’s health heading into this game because of a sprained AC joint. The Bengals needed to help their quarterback, and we saw that immediately when they returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Cincinnati was able to start numerous other drives past its own 35-yard line because of other quality returns. The Bears, on the other hand, routinely began their drives shy of their own 25-yard line.

The field position helped Flacco, who didn’t really need any assistance. Flacco looked perfectly healthy, particularly when he launched a deep touchdown pass to Tee Higgins just prior to halftime. This, as well as another Chicago special-teams gaffe – a blocked field goal on the final play before intermission – gave Cincinnati a 20-17 lead heading into the break.

The two teams continued to score in the second half, but Chicago finally came up with a big defensive stop to strip-sack Joe Flacco. Chicago then appeared to pick-six Flacco to go up three touchdowns, but the officials ruled that the defender was down by contact. The Bengals eventually retained possession and allowed a touchdown, but with no timeouts, they needed an onside kick recovery. Given that special teams nonsense went against our picks all day, Cincinnati naturally recovered because the ball hit a Chicago player. It didn’t take very long for Flacco to throw the go-ahead touchdown to Andrei Iosivas.

The Bears were on life support, suddenly down by one with 50 seconds and no timeouts remaining. Following two incompletions, Caleb Williams scrambled for a first down, but there were only 24 seconds left on the clock. On the next play, Williams fired a pass to Colston Loveland, who bounced off Jordan Battle to score a 58-yard touchdown. The Bengals had one more chance for a Hail Mary, but the pass was picked to give Chicago the win in an incredible game.

Panthers 16, Packers 13

The Packers were expected to score at will against the Panthers, yet they mustered only six points in the opening half. There were a number of reasons for this. Primarily, the Packers barely had the ball prior to intermission. They had just three drives because the Panthers were able to play keep-away so well with their strong rushing attack. Rico Dowdle inexplicably trampled over what looked like a helpless Green Bay run defense. Dowdle dashed for 66 yards in the first half alone.

Green Bay’s offense had a hand in its struggles. The team drove the ball well in between the 20s, but made mistakes in the red zone. It’s unclear why Saivion Williams was given a touch in the red zone during the opening drive, but he made his coaches look foolish with a lost fumble. Later, following a deep completion to Christian Watson, “No Cookie” Jordan Love took a sack in the red zone. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the opening drive for Green Bay in the second half saw Brandon McManus miss a 43-yard field goal just plays after Tucker Kraft suffered an injury that could cause him to miss an extended period of time.

The Packers finally got their act together and were able to engineer a touchdown drive. Josh Jacobs plunged into the end zone to tie the game. However, Green Bay’s defense surrendered a couple of 10-yard passes and then a 19-yard run to Dowdle, who moved the Panthers into field goal range. Ryan Fitzgerald hit the 49-yard kick to give the Panthers an enormous upset victory.

Broncos 18, Texans 15

C.J. Stroud was tasked with battling the No. 1 pressure rate in the NFL this year, but he composed himself well to start the game. He converted a pair of third-and-8 situations and then a fourth-and-2. He moved into field goal range, but took a sack on third-and-5 to make the try too long for Kaimi Fairbairn. On the next possession, however, Stroud was blasted by a big hit on a scramble. He was ruled out with a concussion, giving way to Davis Mills.

Denver’s defense should have enjoyed an easy time battling Mills, but the Broncos allowed the veteran backup to look like the second coming of Joe Montana for a while. Mills kept the chains moving consistently and moved his team into position for numerous scoring opportunities.

The Broncos’ offense, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as good. It’s unclear why they went to Tyler Badie on an early third down, but Badie made the coaching staff look foolish with a dropped pass, forcing a long field goal try to be blocked. Bo Nix was able to put together one scoring drive in the opening half, but he started the game 3-of-12 for 40 yards and an interception, which was a horrible floater. Making matters worse for the Broncos, they muffed a punt prior to halftime to give the Texans a 12-7 lead into the break.

Denver’s defense did much better on Mills in the second half. The Texans mustered a field goal drive, and that was it. Denver found the end zone again on a Nix touchdown pass to R.J. Harvey. With a two-point conversion, the Broncos tied the game. Both teams traded punts for a while, but just as it was apparent that the game would go overtime, Nix ripped off a 25-yard scramble. Nix and J.K. Dobbins then had 9-yard runs to give Wil Lutz an easy 34-yard field goal, which was successful.

Patriots 24, Falcons 23

The Falcons were expected to put forth more effort than we saw from them last week. Of course, that effort was zero, so that wasn’t difficult. Still, the results didn’t pan out because the Patriots were able to score 21 points in the opening half. Drake Maye was terrific, throwing just five incompletions prior to intermission. The New England running backs trampled over Atlanta’s hapless defense with ease.

Maye’s only misstep in the first half was when he lost a fumble on a strip-sack following an Atlanta failed fourth-down attempt. Michael Penix Jr. was able to capitalize with a touchdown pass to Drake London to trim the margin to 21-14.

Maye was picked to start the second half, but the Patriots were able to limit the Falcons and go up 10 points again via a field goal. The Falcons answered with a successful kick of their own, but appeared to be finished before Penix threw up a prayer that was answered by London, who made a terrific catch in the end zone. This gave the Falcons the tie, or at least that’s what everyone thought before John Parker Romo missed the extra point.

The Falcons had one more chance to take the lead. They reached midfield, but intentional grounding put the team in a third-and-20. An incomplete pass forced a punt, and the Falcons never saw the ball again as a result of Maye completing a third-down pass to Hunter Henry.

49ers 34, Giants 24

The 49ers were coming off a loss in which they couldn’t put any pressure on C.J. Stroud. They weren’t getting any of their injured pass rushers back on the field, so they had to be efficient offensively, which was much easier against the Giants than it was versus the Texans.

Mac Jones was certainly efficient with five incompletions, but San Francisco’s ground attack was the primary catalyst for San Francisco’s offense success. Christian McCaffrey and Brian Robinson Jr. trampled New York’s putrid run defense with ease, setting up easy opportunities for Jones.

Jones was very economical, aside from one misstep where he lost the ball on a strip-sack on a play that resembled an interception. The Giants, however, weren’t able to take advantage of the give-away because Graham Gano missed an opportunity to cut the lead to 17-10. Instead, the 49ers continued to lead by double digits all afternoon. They ran away with this game, leading 34-17 before a garbage-time New York touchdown.

Chargers 27, Titans 20

Anyone looing at the box score may wonder how the Chargers won this game by only seven points. They had twice as many first downs as the Titans, and they nearly doubled up Tennessee in yardage. Cam Ward barely did anything, while Justin Herbert threw for 250 yards and scored three touchdowns. Based on the stats, this was a very lopsided affair.

This game was nearly decided on two plays. The first was a Herbert pick-six where he threw the ball right to Cody Barton. The second was a punt return touchdown. These two plays gave the Titans 14 free points. Tennessee, which did nothing otherwise – aside from a late back-door field goal drive, naturally – scored just six points if those two plays are removed.

This was all Chargers, and they would have scored way more than 27 points had Joe Alt not been carted off the field in the second quarter. Herbert saw lots of pressure from a Tennessee team that barely generates any heat on the quarterback. This caused several Charger drives to be disrupted, including one possession that saw Herbert get sacked on two consecutive plays. However, Herbert did enough with both his arm and his legs to win the game.

Vikings 27, Lions 24
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: I did not expect all the returning Minnesota players to be healthy right away, but apparently, they were. What a win against a Detroit team that dominated them in Week 18 last year.

Each team had extra time to prepare for this game, but the Lions played flat outside of their opening drive. The Vikings’ defense had some huge stops and turnovers that made the game much easier for J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy had some good moments and some ugly plays, but he managed the game well to get Minnesota to 4-4. A David Montgomery fumble, a long Vikings kick return, and a blocked field goal were the backbreakers for Detroit. At 5-3, the Lions suffered a painful divisional loss.

The Lions used Sam LaPorta for three receptions for 66 yards on the opening drive of the game. On a fourth-and-4, Goff hit LaPorta down the seam deep downfield, and LaPorta pushed through four Viking defenders to get across the goal line with a 40-yard touchdown. Minnesota got a return by Miles Price for 61 yards to start the drive at the Lions 36. Aaron Jones had a good run and a screen to convert a third-and-10 for a first-and-goal. McCarthy connected with Justin Jefferson on a fade to tie the game at seven. After a Lions punt, the Vikings took a 14-7 lead as McCarthy hit a third-and-long to Jordan Addison and then found T.J. Hockenson wide open in the end zone for an easy touchdown.

Detroit started to turn the momentum with a Derrick Barnes sack and a good punt return by Kaliff Raymond. David Montgomery made a fantastic play, and on fourth-and-goal, he banged into the end zone to tie the game at 14. Minnesota responded with a field goal drive that was aided by some typical, terrible NFL officiating. The horrible calls took away a Lions interception, but McCarthy had a poorly located pass that was ripped away by Terrion Arnold for an interception, and that held the Vikings lead to 17-14 at the half.

Early in the third quarter, Montgomery got free to convert a third-and-long but had the ball punched out by Blake Cashman. The Vikings recovered the fumble at the Lions’ 35-yard line. A completion to Jordan Addison moved Minnesota to the 10-yard line, and a few plays later McCarthy ran the ball in to put the Vikings up 24-14 midway through the third quarter. Detroit produced a field goal drive to cut the lead to 24-17 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth, Goff converted a fourth-and-2 with a completion to LaPorta to get inside the Vikings’ 30. On a fourth-and-5, Jon Greenard jumped offside to gift a first down at the 15. Penalties killed the drive, and Minnesota set itself up to take the win with a blocked field goal that was returned inside the Lions’ 30-yard line. That set up a field goal to make it 27-17. With just under two minutes remaining, Goff connected with Jameson Williams for a 37-yard touchdown. The Vikings got a completion to Jalen Nailor on third down to get the first down to run out the clock.

Steelers 27, Colts 20
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s so bizarre that Pittsburgh’s defense went from allowing 20 consecutive completions to Jordan Love, to rattling the NFL’s highest-scoring offense in just a span of seven days. Make it make sense.

Indianapolis entered the game with only four turnovers on the season, but they gave this game away with terrible ball security. Pittsburgh’s defense was outstanding, forcing five turnovers from Daniel Jones (three interceptions, two fumbles) and setting the Steelers’ offense up with some short fields. At 7-2, the Colts are still in good control of the AFC South, while the Steelers got a much-needed win to improve to 5-3 and snap their two-game losing streak.

After a Steelers punt, the Colts got moving with a pair of completions to Alec Pierce, and Indianapolis finished with Jones diving over the goal line on fourth-and-goal to take a 7-0 lead. Pittsburgh caught a lucky break when a punt bounced off the ground, hit the chest of returner Josh Downs, and the Steelers recovered at the Colts’ 11-yard line. On a fourth-and-down, Indianapolis broke up the pass intended for Darnell Washington to negate the gifted field position. The Colts pulled off a successful fake punt on their own 25, but the drive ended with a T.J. Watt strip-sack that Pittsburgh recovered. The Steelers moved near the goal line and on fourth-and-goal, Jaylen Warren powered into the end zone.

The Colts continued to help Pittsburgh with Jones throwing an interception to Peyton Wilson. A few plays later, Rodgers connected with Pat Freiermuth for a 15-yard touchdown to take a 14-7 lead. At the end of the half, Pittsburgh put a field goal drive together to make it 17-7 at the half.

After trading some possessions, Indianapolis started moving, but a deflected pass was intercepted by Jack Sawyer. Rodgers hit a few completions to Darnell Washington to set up a first-and-goal at the start of the fourth quarter. Jaylen Warren scored from a few yards out to make it 24-7. The Colts answered with a field goal drive to make it 24-10. Midway through the fourth, Alex Highsmith strip-sacked Jones, and Pittsburgh recovered the fumble for the fifth Colts turnover of the game. The Steelers turned it into a Chris Boswell field goal to go up by 17. Jones narrowed the lead with some completions to set up a short touchdown pass to Josh Downs. Pittsburgh was looking to run the clock out, but Roman Wilson fumbled the ball away to give the Colts some life with just over three minutes remaining. However, the Jones threw an interception to Joey Porter Jr. to essentially ice the win for Pittsburgh. Indianapolis added a field goal afterward, but it was too little too late as D.K. Metcalf recovered the onside kick for Pittsburgh.

Jaguars 30, Raiders 29

This result didn’t seem like it would be a great look for Jacksonville’s offense. Battling one of the worst defenses in the NFL, the Jaguars were nearly blanked in the first half. A big part of that was Trevor Lawrence throwing an interception into the end zone when he tossed a pass right to a Raider defender. Jacksonville was able to score prior to halftime, however, via a 68-yard field goal by Cam Little. This was the longest official kick in NFL history.

The Raiders weren’t doing much scoring themselves, though they were able to at least score a touchdown prior to halftime. However, Geno Smith telegraphed an interception on a throw to Michael Mayer in the third quarter. The Raiders also committed a false start on second-and-1 at the goal line, ruining a potential touchdown opportunity. These blunders gave the Jaguars some life, as they were finally able to keep the chains moving.

Another Raiders mistake – a senseless personal foul penalty to keep a Jacksonville drive alive – allowed the Jaguars to take a 20-16 lead via a Bhayshul Tuten run. The Raiders answered, with Smith connecting to Brock Bowers to take the lead. The Raiders were up by a field goal with two minutes remaining, but 16- and 15-yard passes to Travis Etienne and Tim Jones moved the Jaguars into field goal range. Little connected from 48 yards.

In overtime, the Jaguars won the coin toss and correctly decided to receive the ball. They drove down the field, but stalled for a few plays at the goal line. On fourth-and-goal, Trevor Lawrence leapt over the pile to score a touchdown. The Raiders took over at midfield because of a great return by Raheem Mostert. Smith hit Tre Tucker for a 25-yard pass and then drew an interference flag on a pass into the end zone. Two plays later, Smith connected with Bowers for the touchdown. With 16 seconds remaining in overtime, the Raiders opted to go for two. Smith had a receiver open in the end zone, but his pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage to secure the victory for Jacksonville.

Rams 34, Saints 10

There was some concern that the Rams might look past the Saints. They have to battle the 49ers and Seahawks after this “easy” opponent, so they could have looked past New Orleans. They also had no tape on Tyler Shough, so they had that going against them as well.

As it turn out, these two issues were non-factors. The Rams were extremely productive offensively. Matthew Stafford nearly threw as many touchdowns as incompletions, and he was able to lean on a stellar rushing attack. The Saints are ordinarily strong against the run, but not in this game. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum both trampled the Saints, allowing the Rams to win the time of possession, 43:53 to 16:07.

Meanwhile, the Rams defense swarmed Tyler Shough, who was under siege all afternoon. He took just one sack, but released passes quickly to negate potential hits in the backfield. Shough was able to complete some impressive deep throws in this game, albeit in garbage time. He also remained turnover-free until the final offensive play of the game, where he was picked off in the red zone. It didn’t help Shough that Alvin Kamara also coughed up the ball, ruining a promising drive by fumbling at midfield.

There was some drama in this game with Puka Nacua suffering a chest injury when he landed on the ball late the third quarter. Nacua didn’t play again, but he was able to emerge out of the locker room with his helmet and pads still on, so it doesn’t appear as though this was a serious injury.

Bills 28, Chiefs 21

The Chiefs were guilty of some questionable decisions in this game. For example, Andy Reid passed on a potential touchdown when he kicked a field goal at the 1-yard line just prior to halftime. The Chiefs were down 11 at the time and needed two scores to tie, but converting from a yard out seemed like something the Chiefs would be able to accomplish. Also, Patrick Mahomes didn’t scramble a single time in the first half and finished with just one run in the entire game. Mahomes had been running the ball more often this year, but he reverted to 2024 form with his reluctance to scramble.

With the Chiefs struggling, and the Bills getting big plays from Josh Allen and James Cook, Buffalo entered the fourth quarter with a 28-13 lead. Of course, no lead against the Chiefs is safe, even when the officials ruined a Kansas City drive by flagging Patrick Mahomes with a ridiculous intentional ground penalty where Mahomes’ pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Mahomes recovered on the next possession and was able to keep the game alive with a fourth-and-17 connection to Ray Rice. This set up a Kareem Hunt touchdown to reduce the margin to seven.

The Chiefs forced a punt and took over with the chance to tie the game. However, Mahomes’ third-and-long pass was heaved into double coverage. The Bills picked off the pass and took over with 4:30 remaining. Buffalo moved the chains a couple of times, but missed on a 52-yard field goal, which gave the Chiefs the ball in great field position. Mahomes, with 22 seconds and no timeouts, hit Xavier Worthy for 18 yards, but didn’t have enough time to complete the drive when two attempted Hail Marys went unanswered.

Seahawks 38, Redskins 14

The Redskins entered this game knowing that they needed to win to keep their playoff chances alive. They didn’t play like it, however, as they were putrid on both sides of the ball.

Offensiely, the Redskins couldn’t keep from shooting themselves in the foot. They committed a 15-yard penalty on each of their first two drives, while Jayden Daniels threw an interception up for grabs while pressured heavily. Jaylin Lane then lost fumble on a kickoff return. Prior to halftime, a false start on a fourth-and-1 ruined an easy conversion.

As this was happening, the Seahawks were taking advantage of some golden opportunities to shred Washington’s porous defense. The Seahawks scored on every possession in the opening half. They turned Daniels’ interception into a Tory Horton touchdown, and then Lane’s lost fumble became an Elijah Arroyo receiving touchdown on the very next play. The Redskins defense had no answer for the Seahawks, as Sam Darnold completed his first 17 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns. This game was well over by halftime.

Adding injury to insult, Daniels injured his elbow late in the game. It’s unclear why Dan Quinn had Daniels out on the field down 38-7 with eight minutes remaining, but the decision backfired. The injury looked very serious, so Daniels will be sidelined for quite some time.

Cardinals 27, Cowboys 17

The Cowboys entered this game as 3.5-point favorites and appeared as though they’d be able to establish an early lead. They drove down the field, but were forced into a fourth down inside the 5-yard line. Dak Prescott took a sack on the play, giving Arizona possession on the turnover on downs.

While the Cowboys struggled to move the chains on third down all night, the Cardinals thrived in that regard, going 7-of-13 in those situations. The ensuing possession featured a pair of third-down conversions en route to an Arizona field goal. The Cardinals took the next possession the distance, as Marvin Harrison Jr. put a nasty move on DaRon Bland in the end zone to go up 10-0.

Dallas appeared to get itself back into the game with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, but Arizona’s offense continued to be relentless. Jacoby Brissett couldn’t be stopped against Dallas’ putrid defense. Arizona responded to the blocked punt with an 11-play, 74-yard drive to go up 17-7. The Cardinals scored twice more after that, while Jake Ferguson lost a fumble.

Arizona went up 27-10, but Dallas still had time for a comeback. Prescott led a touchdown drive, but was sacked on numerous occasions on ensuing possessions. The Cowboys’ chances ended when Javonte Williams lost a fumble on a third-down reception.