Breaking Down Every Upset From Sunday’s NFL Slate Of Games, Week Nine.

Week Nine of the NFL season is just about wrapped up, with just Monday Night Football to be played. This week more than any week of the season, there were many upsets all around. Including the Lions beating the Packers, the Jaguars beating the Raiders, the Jets beating the Bills, and the Seahawks beating the Cardinals. Let’s break down what happened in each of these games and who surprised to help the underdog come away with the win.

How Did The Lions Upset The Packers?

The big difference in this game was the Lions’ defense finally stepping up, for the first time in the season. Kerby Joseph, more than anyone, played out of his mind during this game, putting up ten total tackles, three pass deflections, and two interceptions. The Lions also forced Aaron Rodgers to make bad decisions throughout the whole game, through pressure and coverage. Aaron Rodgers had a total of three interceptions, with two being in the red zone, which is the only time in his career he’s done that. Aidan Hutchinson got great pressure on the pass rush and the rest of the defensive line stopped the run very well. All of these factors are what lead the Lions to upset the Packers.

How Did The Jaguars Upset The Raiders?

The biggest reason for this collapse from the Raiders was the lack of second-half coaching and defense. The Raiders were leading 20-10 at halftime and were seemingly controlling the game, they then went on to score no more points and allow 17 points in the second half alone. The Raiders’ defense had a complete collapse when the Jaguars started using Travis Etienne instead of constantly throwing the ball, and were not able to adjust to the new game style. Then the coaches refused to make Halftime adjustments so the Jaguars figured out their offense and they could not score the rest of the game. While this wasn’t the biggest upset of the week, there was still a lot to take away from it.

How Did The Jets Upset The Bills?

This game was back and forth through the whole thing, two of the best teams in the AFC this year going at it, but the Jets still pulled off the upset. Both defenses played great this game and there wasn’t a real problem that caused the Bills to lose this game, but if you had to pin it on something it would probably be the offense not playing as efficiently as they normally do. Josh Allen in his post-game press conference blamed the loss on his play, which while he wasn’t as good as he usually is, wasn’t the real issue. The wide receivers could not get open on the Jets’ elite corners and they could not get the run game going. So all of those are what lead to the Jets upsetting the Bills.

How Did The Seahawks Upset The Cardinals

The Seahawks heading into this game had a way better record than the Cardinals but for some reason were still underdogs, they showed why they should have never been underdogs and that they should be taken seriously. The Seahawks were in control of the game all four quarters, never letting the Cardinals get ahead of them. Their rookie secondary was able to hold Kyler Murray to 175 passing yards and Deandre Hopkins to only 36 receiving yards. They controlled the game on offense as well, mostly running through stud rookie runningback Kenneth Walker, who had 109 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Geno Smith continued to impress and prove why he should be comeback player of the year. All this helped the Seahawks upset the Cardinals and beat the underdog standard.