🐺 Wolf Sports Weekly

Good morning. It’s quite the day in the United States, with the NFL trade deadline today at 4:00 PM ET, the initial 2024 College Football Playoff rankings being released tonight, and the 2024 presidential election in progress.

🤯 Highlight plays headline Week 9

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley pulled off one of the best plays you will ever see, making multiple defenders miss on a reception capped by a reverse hurdle, as the Eagles held on to beat the Jaguars, 28-23. Philadelphia made a ton of big-time plays throughout the game, including a spectacular catch by WR Jahan Dotson, a one-handed touchdown grab by WR DeVonta Smith on third-and-22, and a leaping game-sealing interception by LB Nakobe Dean.

Catch of the Year? Jets WR Garrett Wilson made a Michael Jordan-like one-handed touchdown catch as the Jets took a step toward getting their season on track with a convincing win over the Texans following a slow start on Thursday night. New York was shut out in the first half, but they scored 21 points in the final 30 minutes and sacked C.J. Stroud eight times. The Jets are now 3-6 ahead of a matchup at the Cardinals.

Continuing the theme of highlight plays, the Rams beat the Seahawks in overtime on a walk-off one-handed touchdown catch by WR Demarcus Robinson. While WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba went off for 180 yards and two touchdowns for Seattle, Los Angeles was able to get home for seven sacks of Geno Smith while coming back from a 13-3 halftime deficit. Rams rookie S Kamren Kinchens had two critical interceptions, including a 103-yard pick-six.

Lamar Jackson is a highlight every time he hits the field, and he went 16/19 for 280 yards and three touchdowns while Derrick Henry ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the Ravens’ blowout win over the Broncos. Denver was playing Baltimore tough for much of the first half, but the Ravens didn’t look back after taking a 24-10 lead on a 53-yard touchdown to WR Zay Flowers with under 30 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Adding to the outstanding play theme this week, Broncos QB Bo Nix boxed out a defender for a touchdown catch from WR Courtland Sutton in the loss.

Falcons QB Kirk Cousins threw three touchdowns to beat the Cowboys and get Atlanta to 6-3. Meanwhile, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott left the game (not before throwing a touchdown to RB Rico Dowdle, who made a great juggling catch) with a serious hamstring injury, and he’s set to miss multiple weeks for a 3-5 Dallas squad.

Other Week 9 results:

• Bills 30, Dolphins 27: Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (25/28, 231 yards, two touchdowns) and RB De’Von Achane (121 total yards, two total touchdowns) were fantastic, but Buffalo escaped with a home victory on K Tyler Bass’ game-winning 61-yard field goal with under ten seconds remaining to take total control in the AFC East at 7-2.

• Bengals 41, Raiders 24: Bengals QB Joe Burrow was locked in, throwing five touchdowns (two to a gritty-ing TE Mike Gesicki, with WR Ja’Marr Chase performing it with him after criticizing Gesicki’s moves while he was with the Dolphins) as Cincinnati—with four sacks from DE Trey Hendrickson—dominated at home versus Vegas. The Raiders benched Gardner Minshew mid-game for the third time this season and fired their offensive staff after the loss dropped them to 2-7.

• Commanders 27, Giants 22: Commanders WR Terry McLaurin caught two touchdowns, his second being a key one at the end of the first half, to help his team sweep the Giants and improve to 7-2 this season.

• Chargers 27, Browns 10: Los Angeles’ defense continues to dominate against subpar teams, sacking Browns QB Jameis Winston six times and intercepting three passes on their way to a 5-3 record.

• Panthers 23, Saints 22: Bryce Young did a nice job at quarterback for the Panthers, taking care of the ball (his interception was taken away from his receiver on a good throw downfield) to help pull off an improbable win while being outgained 427-246. More on the Saints in a moment.

• Titans 20, Patriots 17 (OT): While Patriots QB Drake Maye made a great scrambling play to send the game to overtime, he threw an interception to Titans S Amani Hooker (his second of the afternoon) to seal the win for the Titans in overtime in a game that could have first overall pick implications in the 2025 NFL Draft.

• Lions 24, Packers 14: The Lions have more touchdowns (28) than incompletions (24) during their six-game winning streak. After the win in pouring rain at Lambeau Field, QB Jared Goff said: “We’re supposed to be the ‘dome’ team, we’re supposed to be the team that can’t play outside, and we come out here and win.”

• Cardinals 29, Bears 9: Quietly, the Cardinals have won four consecutive games and are atop the crowded NFC West. The Bears haven’t won a Sunday road game since Nick Foles was the quarterback in 2021 (0-18 under Matt Eberflus).

• Vikings 21, Colts 13: In Indy’s first game since QB Anthony Richardson’s non-temporary benching, the offense still struggled mightily while Minnesota (6-2) got back on track following two straight losses.

• Chiefs 30, Buccaneers 24 (OT): Tampa Bay put up a great fight but didn’t touch the ball in overtime; DeAndre Hopkins caught two touchdowns as the Chiefs remained unbeaten.

🔥 Top fantasy performers in Week 9

• Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 33.5 points

• Eagles RB Saquon Barkley: 31.4 points

• Eagles QB Jalen Hurts: 29.9 points

• Bengals QB Joe Burrow: 29.14 points

• Dolphins RB De’Von Achane: 28.1 points

(point totals are for half PPR scoring)

⚜️ Saints fire HC Dennis Allen

The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen after the team’s seventh consecutive loss, the latest coming on the road versus a one-win Panthers team in QB Derek Carr’s return to the lineup.

• The Saints started off red-hot in 2024 but have dealt with a ton of injuries this season, from Carr to the offensive line to WRs Chris Olave (who unfortunately left Week 9 with another head injury) and Rashid Shaheed to the cornerback group.

• Saints owner Gayle Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis both spoke highly of Allen, who was an assistant for their Super Bowl XLIV title, in the announcement of his firing.

• Allen was allowed to release a statement through the team thanking everyone, from the players to the fans.

• Ultimately, things were not headed in the right direction for a franchise that’s been hanging around as a .500 type team the past couple of years with their veteran roster.

Also: Former Saints WR Michael Thomas criticized Carr’s play, and Carr responded during his post-game press conference: “I have love for Mike… I’ve had so many teammates over the years and he’s like the one dude that didn’t get along with me, you know? And I don’t know. I don’t know what I did to him.”

👀 Trade deadline day

While the 2024 NFL trade deadline is today, we’ve already had a few more big moves in the past week:

• The Lions added pass rush help, sending a fifth-rounder and a sixth-rounder to the Browns for pass rusher Za’Darius Smith and a seventh.

• The Ravens acquired WR Diontae Johnson and a sixth-round pick from the Panthers for a fifth-round pick. Johnson joins a very deep receiving group with Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and Nelson Agholor; and there’s already built-in chemistry with Johnson and Agholor (who might see his playing time decrease but is hosting Johnson at this house) knowing each other for years.

• The Vikings traded a fifth-rounder to the Jaguars for OT Cam Robinson and a seventh-rounder, with Robinson filling in at left tackle for star Christian Darrisaw (torn ACL and MCL).

• The Cardinals added OLB Baron Browning in a trade with the Broncos.

🩼 Stefon Diggs done for the year and more injury news

Texans WR Stefon Diggs’ non-contact injury from Week 8 was in fact a torn ACL, and his season is over. Houston also likely lost starting LG Kenyon Green (shoulder) for the year. Also done for the season:

• Titans C Lloyd Cushenberry (Achilles)

• Titans S Quandre Diggs (foot)

• Bengals TE Erick All (knee)

Browns LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (neck) and Jets WR Allen Lazard (chest) were both placed on injured reserve ahead of Week 9 and will miss at least three more games. Bengals RB Zack Moss (neck) is out indefinitely.

Receiver injuries: In addition to Chris Olave being carted off, Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb (shoulder, but played through it), Eagles WR A.J. Brown (knee, considered day-to-day), and Falcons WR Drake London (hip pointer) all have injuries to track.

For good news, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (calf) remains on path to make his season debut in Week 10 pending positive practices, Cowboys star Micah Parsons (ankle) may return in Week 10, and Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco (leg) is expected to return late this month.

📰 More NFL notes

Heartbreaking: 49ers CB Charvarius Ward suddenly lost his one-year-old daughter, Amani Joy.

Week 11 flex: Bengals-Chargers will now be the Sunday Night Football game instead of Colts-Jets.

The Broncos signed OLB Jonathan Cooper to a four-year extension.

Lions WR Jameson Williams returns from his two-game PES suspension this week, and news emerged that he apparently avoided an arrest after a gun was found in his car in early October.

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott did not travel with the team in Week 9 as part of team discipline, reportedly for habitual tardiness and three missed team meetings.

Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs made amends with a reporter after the two had a misunderstanding on a Week 8 play.

Former Eagles great Jason Kelce slammed a Penn State student’s phone for heckling him about his brother Travis and Taylor Swift.

Other Sports Updates

🏆 Champions: The Dodgers beat the Yankees in five games to win the 2024 World Series in Shohei Ohtani’s first year with the club.

🏈 College football scores: No. 4 Ohio State got a top-five win over No. 3 Penn State, No. 1 Oregon coasted versus Michigan, No. 2 Georgia won a tough battle against rival Florida, and Louisville upset No. 11 Clemson on the road.

🏅 Gold Glove winners: Major League Baseball announced those honored in the American League and the National League.

⚾️ The White Sox hired Will Venable as their next manager after a 121-loss season.

🐺 Found on wolfsports.com

• Week 9 fantasy awards

• Fantasy ROS rankings (🔒)

• Week 10 waiver wire rankings (🔒)

• Latest college football power rankings