Week 9 takeaways, big questions: Browns' huge division win, wake-up calls for Cowboys and Bills

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Week 9 of the 2021 NFL season brought us some shocking upsets. The Cowboys’ offense couldn’t find any traction in a huge loss to the Broncos, and the Bills couldn’t score a single touchdown in a wild loss to the Jaguars. The Falcons and Giants also surprised, pulling off victories against the Saints and Raiders, respectively. The Patriots had a big defensive day against the Panthers, and the Dolphins finally got their second win by defeating the Texans.

Meanwhile, the Browns made a statement in the AFC North with a convincing win over the Bengals. Cleveland scored 41 points without Odell Beckham Jr, whom it plans to put on waivers Monday. Baltimore took Minnesota to overtime after a back-and-forth game, and the Ravens moved to 6-2 after a Justin Tucker game winner.

Our NFL Nation reporters react with the takeaways and lingering questions from this week’s action. Plus, they each look at the bigger picture with their current team confidence rating — a 0-10 grade of how they feel about the team’s outlook coming out of the week. Let’s get to it.

Ravens

What to know: Lamar Jackson has become the NFL’s new comeback king. The narrative used to be that Jackson couldn’t lead a team when trailing by large deficits. He’s now doing this on a weekly basis this season. Down by 14 points early in the second half, Jackson rallied the Ravens with his arm and legs, throwing three touchdown passes and rushing for over 100 yards. Jackson is the first quarterback this season to win three games in which he trailed by double digits. Jackson had entered this season with an 0-6 record as a starter when trailing by double digits, including playoffs. — Jamison Hensley

Why does Baltimore always start so slow? The Ravens found themselves in an all too familiar spot, trailing 24-10 early in the second half. In half of the Ravens’ games this season, Baltimore has fallen behind by double digits after halftime. A big reason has been the sluggish starts by Jackson and the Ravens. In the first quarter this season, Baltimore has scored a total of 24 points and has reached the end zone only once in the last six games. — Hensley

Hensley’s confidence rating (0-10): 8.3, up from 8. The Ravens showed grit to come back against the Vikings, especially after getting embarrassed by the Bengals before the bye. This isn’t the most talented team under coach John Harbaugh. But this might be the most resilient by how the Ravens continually beat the odds, whether by overcoming injuries or second-half deficits.

Next game: at Miami (Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET)

Vikings

What to know: Mike Zimmer implored the Vikings’ offense to get the ball in the hands of its playmakers after an embarrassing loss to Dallas. That’s exactly what offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak did in the first quarter with a 50-yard TD pass to Justin Jefferson and 90 first-half rushing yards for Dalvin Cook. For the first time all season, Minnesota scored on its first two possessions. Then the offense predictably fell apart. Minnesota’s defense was absolutely gassed by the time overtime rolled around, having been on the field for nearly 45 minutes, and it couldn’t get a stop once the Ravens got the ball back.The same excuses the Vikings have used throughout the season to scapegoat their shortcomings are no longer valid. This is who they are. They have hit their ceiling. — Courtney Cronin

Why aren’t the Vikings playing their rookies more? The Vikings started fourth-round safety Cam Bynum in place of Harrison Smith after the five-time Pro Bowler was placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list moments before inactives came out. Bynum is still learning how to play the position after four years spent at cornerback in college, but he came away with a diving interception he returned 27 yards to set up the Vikings’ offense inside Baltimore’s red zone late in the first half. Fellow fourth-rounder Kene Nwangwu ignited Minnesota’s special teams by returning the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and picking up a first down on a fake punt. Minnesota could benefit from Nwangwu’s speed and quickness on offense and needs to prioritize getting him touches moving forward. — Cronin

Cronin’s confidence rating (0-10): 4, no change from 4. Minnesota goes from the east coast to the west coast this week to face the Los Angeles Chargers. It feels like this same story with the Vikings offense sputtering and defense failing to get stops at critical times is bound to repeat itself.

Next game: at Chargers (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET)

Dolphins

What to know: It was one of their sloppiest games of the season, but the Dolphins did enough to beat a hapless Texans team — even without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Be proud of yourself if you made it all the way through this game because Miami gave you every reason in the world to turn it off. Five turnovers, including three fumbles, brought half of Miami’s possessions to a sudden halt and to be frank, the Dolphins only won this game because Houston was somehow worse. In a spot start, Jacoby Brissett mostly just managed the game — in part because he didn’t have much time to allow downfield routes to develop. Miami’s run game once again struggled to get going, as it recorded fewer than 100 rushing yards for the seventh time this season. But a win is a win, right? The Dolphins freefall mercifully ended, and they get a much-needed victory ahead of a Thursday night game against the Ravens. — Marcel Louis-Jacques

Will Tua Tagovailoa be available against the Ravens? After being limited in practice throughout the week with a fractured finger on his throwing hand, Tagovailoa was relegated to the Dolphins’ emergency quarterback Sunday. Who knows whether he would’ve made this offense look any better, but this performance will not fly against the Ravens. He reportedly wanted to play in Week 9, so it seems likely he will be ready to go with a few extra days of rest. — Louis-Jacques

Louis-Jacques’ confidence rating (0-10): 3.7, up from 3.5. They were good enough to beat the Texans, but I’m not sure how many other teams Miami would’ve beaten today. The good news is this marks consecutive impressive performances from this defense, which forced four turnovers.

Next game: vs. Ravens (Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET)

Mike Gesicki snares the ball with his right hand and hangs on for a pair of nice catches.

Texans

What to know: It doesn’t matter who is at quarterback, this Texans’ offense is not good enough. Tyrod Taylor returned after missing six games with a left hamstring injury, but absolutely struggled against the Dolphins. Taylor completed 22 of 39 passes for 228 yards and had three interceptions for a passer rating of 41.3. Houston was 0-4 in the red zone and still has not scored a touchdown on the road since Week 2 in Cleveland. One of the reasons rookie quarterback Davis Mills struggled in relief during Taylor’s absence was because he had trouble protecting the football, but Taylor had the same problem Sunday. — Sarah Barshop

How long is Taylor’s grace period? Early on when Taylor was on injured reserve, coach David Culley said when Taylor was healthy, he would be Houston’s starting quarterback. Culley said he doesn’t believe in a player losing his job to injury and that Taylor gave the Texans the best chance to win. It was only one game — and Mills struggled at times in his six starts — but will Culley stick with the veteran quarterback if he no longer feels like he gives Houston the best chance to win? Taylor likely has at least a few games after the bye before Culley would put Mills back in. — Barshop

Barshop’s confidence rating (0-10): 0.5, down from 0.6. How can you feel confident about a team who lost to the Dolphins, who came into the game with one win and was without their starting quarterback?

Next game: at Titans (Sunday, Nov. 21, 1 p.m. ET)

Falcons

What to know: It looked like something so familiar to the Atlanta Falcons over the years: Take a big lead, have some dominance, then slowly yet swiftly, it starts to be ripped away. And it looked like they were on the way again to blowing another three-possession lead Sunday. But Falcons head coach Arthur Smith has been trying to show this team is different. Sunday, they displayed that change clearly. Atlanta got the ball back with 1:01 left, and Matt Ryan connected with the team’s best offensive weapon, Cordarrelle Patterson, for 64 yards, and Younghoe Koo kicked the game-winning field goal, giving Atlanta a 27-25 win over New Orleans. It doesn’t look pretty all the time. It doesn’t look convincing all the time. But it is this year’s Atlanta Falcons. Don’t count them out. – Michael Rothstein — Michael Rothstein

Can they sustain this type of cardiac play? Honestly, no idea. Sometimes it becomes the identity of a team — and after three games like this so far this season — denoting three-quarters of the team’s wins this season, it just might be. And considering what the team’s past has largely been known for, perhaps that’s not a bad start for Atlanta, as it tries to reconstruct the culture of the Falcons. — Rothstein

Rothstein’s confidence rating (0-10): 4.5, up from 4. Never turn a Falcons game off until the end because — good or bad — you never know what you’re going to see.

Next game: at Cowboys (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Saints

What to know: A crushing loss for the Saints after they rallied back from a 24-6 deficit over the final 10 minutes to take a brief lead – only to squander it in the final minute by allowing a 64-yard pass to Cordarrelle Patterson. The Saints (5-3) have shown enough resilience this season to prove they can stay in playoff contention. And new QB Trevor Siemian made some big-time plays during that rally. But the offense was way too flat for the first 50 minutes, with too many dropped passes, penalties and a sack-fumble — proving life will never be easy with both quarterback Jameis Winston and receiver Michael Thomas out for the season. And the defense gave up an uncharacteristic amount of big passing plays. — Mike Triplett

Will Saints consider switching to Taysom Hill (or trying to sign Odell Beckham Jr.?) All options have to be on the table after the events of the past week. Siemian probably did enough in the fourth quarter to prove he’s worthy of an extended look in the role. (And his pass-catchers were the bigger problem earlier in the game.) But the Saints need to get Taysom Hill more involved in a package of plays, at the very least, after he provided a spark during a small sample in the fourth quarter. As for Beckham, the Saints will almost certainly pursue him if he becomes a free agent. But they can’t offer much in terms of money or a proven passing offense. — Triplett

Triplett’s confidence rating (0-10): 6.7, down from 7.2. This is a new low for the season. The week started with crushing injury news on Winston and Thomas. Then it ended with both the offense and defense showing some warts on the field – though they did make things awfully exciting in the end.

Next game: at Titans (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Browns

What to know: Odell who? In their first game since Odell Beckham Jr. forced his way out, the Browns delivered their best offensive — and overall — performance of the season. Baker Mayfield looked especially freed. He still held a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 in the third quarter as the Browns became the first team since 2012 with three touchdown plays of 60 yards or more. Minus OBJ, Cleveland finally resembled the team that made the playoffs last season. — Jake Trotter

Can the Browns rekindle their 2020 formula? This time last year in the same stadium, Cleveland turned its season around almost immediately after Beckham was lost for the year with a knee injury. Doing it again won’t be easy. The remaining schedule is tougher. And Sunday, after all, was just one game. Still, the chemistry Cleveland flashed was strikingly similar to last year, when the Browns surged into the playoffs with opportunistic defense, an overpowering running game and the best version of Mayfield. — Trotter

Trotter’s confidence rating (0-10): 7.8, up from 5.8. The drama of this week could’ve galvanized the Browns – or sent them spiraling. Sunday’s impressive performance suggests it will be the former.

Next game: at Patriots (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Joe Burrow gets picked off by Denzel Ward, who sprints 99 yards to the house for a Browns score.

Bengals

What to know: In the span of four quarters, the Cincinnati Bengals undid seven weeks of progress that had them looking like a playoff team. The Bengals committed two first-half turnovers and the defense allowed scores on all three of the Browns’ possessions in the opening half. It continued a rough stretch that started in Week 8 against the New York Jets, when Cincinnati surrendered points on the Jets’ final five possessions. Offensive miscues combined with the poor defense means Cincinnati lost all the momentum it had following the Week 7 win at Baltimore. — Ben Baby

Can the Bengals recover and still be a playoff team? Yes. Cincinnati played too well through the first seven weeks and showed it is a playoff-caliber team. While things have looked awful lately, with Cincinnati entering the off week, the Bengals still have eight games to figure things out. The AFC North may also be weaker than usual, which leaves the division race wide open. — Baby

Baby’s confidence rating (0-10): 5.5, down from 6.5. The mistakes the Bengals got away with early in the season are starting to flare up in the worst way.

Next game: at Raiders (Sunday, Nov. 21, 4:05 p.m. ET)

Jaguars

What to know: Beating the top team in the AFC despite missing left tackle Cam Robinson and running back James Robinson — especially after playing so poorly last week in Seattle — is a major step forward in the rebuild for a franchise that can’t seem to get out of its own way. The Jaguars didn’t play great football – they had four drops, including one in the end zone, and kicker Matt Wright missed three field goals (two voided by penalty) — but they made enough plays to get the upset. It should be a major confidence builder for a young franchise. — Mike DiRocco

Was this Josh Allen‘s breakout performance? Without a doubt. Allen had his best season as a rookie (10.5 sacks), but that came with Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue on the roster to absorb most of the attention. He had a sack, an interception and a fumble recovery to go along with eight tackles against the Bills and led a defense that held the NFL’s No. 1 scoring offense (31.7 points per game entering the weekend) to two field goals. — DiRocco

DiRocco’s confidence rating (0-10): 4, up from 1.9. That’s a big jump, but the Jaguars were without RB James Robinson and LT Cam Robinson and QB Trevor Lawrence left the game for a big with an ankle injury, yet they were able to somehow beat the best team in the AFC.

Next game: at Colts (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Bills

What to know: The Bills have major offensive issues that need to be fixed. The problems on display in the first half against Miami last week reappeared against a Jaguars defense that averaged 29 points allowed coming into the game. Without two starting linemen — right tackle Spencer Brown and guard Jon Feliciano — quarterback Josh Allen struggled under pressure. Going into the fourth quarter, Allen had been pressured on 14-of-38 dropbacks (37%) and went 2-of-9 passing for nine yards, one interception, three sacks and two scrambles. Allen threw two interceptions, his first multi-interception game of the season. Scoring points was not a problem for the Bills offense prior to the bye, with 30-plus points in all but one game. In the last two games, however, Buffalo has averaged 16 points. The Bills offense is missing its magic from last season, and it needs to corrected quickly. — Alaina Getzenberg

Can the penalty issues be corrected? The defense had a fine day overall, holding the Jaguars to nine points and allowing quarterback Trevor Lawrence to convert 2 of 12 third downs. Jacksonville, however, was able to extend its drives thanks to the many penalties on the Bills defense. Buffalo finished the game with 12 penalties for 118 yards. The Jaguars had six first downs come courtesy of penalty, more than through the air or on the ground. The Bills were called for four personal foul penalties in the first half alone. Overall, Buffalo has bigger issues to correct going forward, but the lack of composure from a Sean McDermott team is unusual. It shouldn’t be a long-term problem, but it cost the Bills a major loss. — Getzenberg

Getzenberg’s confidence rating (0-10): 7, down from 7.7. The Bills lost to the 1-6 Jaguars, one of the worst teams in the league. The offense is officially an issue going forward.

Next game: at Jets (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Broncos

What to know: Did the thousands of Broncos fans who invaded AT&T Stadium have a feeling? Denver showed the potential general manager George Paton practically demanded to see when he traded linebacker Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams last Monday. At the time Paton kept repeating the Broncos could get “into the thick of it” and that trading the franchise’s most decorated and tenured player was not a “white flag move.” And surprise of surprises, the Broncos actually played that way. The team that beat the Cowboys Sunday fought off a long list of in-game injuries — including an ankle injury to guard Graham Glasgow and a knee injury to TE Albert Okwuegbunam — to play the kind of grind-it-out game they’re equipped to play, especially on offense. The bottom line is they didn’t waste an elite effort from their defense and still find themselves at the back end of the playoff conversation. — Jeff Legwold

With two more offensive linemen injured, can they protect quarterback Teddy Bridgewater? Glasgow suffered his injury on the last play of the first half. Since medical personnel immediately put an air cast on his lower left leg, he could face a major injury. Right tackle Bobby Massie also left the game in the first half with an ankle injury. The Broncos were already struggling mightily to protect Bridgewater almost any time they’ve opened the formation — this will only make that more difficult, especially if left tackle Garett Bolles, who missed Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, misses significant time. Plus, there’s Okwuegbunam’s injury to contend with. The Broncos will have get the ball out of Bridgewater’s hands more quickly, more often and do their best to keep him out of harm’s way, — Legwold

Legwold’s confidence rating (0-10): 6.5, up from 5. OK, two wins in a row with this one on the road over the Dallas Cowboys shows this team has some grit. And with yet another long list of injuries as their reward, they’re going to need it.

Next game: vs. Eagles (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET)

Teddy Bridgewater lets it fly to Tim Patrick, who beats out the Cowboys’ defense and grabs a touchdown pass while falling into the end zone.

Cowboys

What to know: All of the good feelings the Cowboys generated in their six-game winning streak disappeared in their 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Cowboys avoided their first home shutout in AT&T Stadium with a touchdown with 4:08 remaining. Quarterback Dak Prescott’s return from a three-week absence due to a calf injury could not have gone much worse. He was intercepted once but did throw two touchdown passes to Malik Turner — though the touchdowns came in the fourth quarter when the outcome had already been decided. But Prescott was as inaccurate as he has ever been after entering Sunday with the NFL’s best completion percentage (73.1%). The Cowboys had won their first four home games by an average of 17.3 points. Before their first scoring drive, they converted just once third down and failed on three fourth-down tries. This loss was as unexpected as last week’s win at Minnesota with Cooper Rush at quarterback. Is it just a blip or the start of a trend? — Todd Archer

Is there a long-term concern about the run defense? Simply, the Cowboys were schooled by the Broncos. They entered the game with the sixth-ranked run defense, allowing just 88.3 yards per game. The Broncos had more than that in the first half and finished with 192 yards, by far a season-high. Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon looked like the best running back tandem in the NFL. The previous high was 120 yards against New England three weeks ago. The Cowboys have to play complementary football for the defense to succeed. When the offense struggles, they don’t have a knock-them-out defense. It is easier to play with a multi-score lead that forces opponents to throw the ball. Sunday was a day of what could go wrong did go wrong. — Archer

Archer’s confidence rating (0-10): 8.4, down from 9.6. Maybe later in the season when the Cowboys are enjoying a long playoff ride, they will look back at this game as an anomaly. They will put a brave face on it that their confidence is not shook by such a bad loss, but that will depend on how they play next week against the Atlanta Falcons.

Next game: vs. Falcons (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Giants

What to know: This was the Giants’ best win of the season and a good way to enter their bye week. Amazingly, at 3-6, they now hold their best mark through nine games since 2016. Progress, however slow it may be. The defense (16 points allowed) is playing better and scored its first touchdown of the season on the first of safety Xavier McKinney’s two interceptions. The defense has now allowed 20 points or fewer in three straight games. The running game has awoken with Devontae Booker (99 yards on 21 carries) as the feature back. And maybe most importantly for the future of the franchise, quarterback Daniel Jones is doing what is necessary under adverse conditions to win games. Maybe this team has enough in it to make some sort of run in the second half of the season. — Jordan Raanan

How healthy will the Giants be coming out of the bye week? Wide receivers Kenny Golladay (knee) and Kadarius Toney (thumb/ankle) seemed to come out of this game unscathed. There was optimism late last week that running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (quad) could be back relatively soon. Prior to a false positive COVID-19 test, Barkley was believed to have a chance to return vs. the Raiders. Is it possible for them all to be healthy post-bye? It would give the Giants a much better opportunity to truly evaluate Jones, even if the offensive line has its deficiencies. — Raanan

Raanan’s confidence rating (0-10): 3.2, up from 2.8. A little optimism entering the bye week, especially with some reinforcements on the way.

Next game: at Buccaneers (Monday, Nov. 22, 8:15 p.m. ET)

Raiders

What to know: Derek Carr said it was going to be hard to compartmentalize, given the week of emotions the Raiders experienced with former receiver Henry Ruggs III cut and facing felony DUI and reckless driving charges after he was involved in a car crash that killed a woman and her dog. Not to minimize anything, but Carr was right. Carr, who threw a pair of interceptions (including a pick-six) and lost a fumble at the Giants’ 20-yard line with 37 seconds to go, played as if in a fog, and the Raiders continued their post-bye blahs, losing for the 16th time in such games over the past 19 years. — Paul Gutierrez

Are the Raiders done? Recent history would seem to suggest so. In 2019, a 6-4 start ended with a 7-9 finish. Last year, Las Vegas started 6-3 and finished 8-8. After a pre-bye 5-2 start, the Raiders play host to the potentially resurgent Kansas City Chiefs in a Sunday night game in Las Vegas. This can go south in a hurry, and it will feel familiar if the Raiders let it. — Gutierrez

Gutierrez’s confidence rating (0-10): 7, down from 9. Yes, the Raiders should get a pass, perhaps, for all of the off-field issues of late. And again, not to minimize anything, but we’ve all seen this movie before, a blah post-bye game and late-season collapse.

Next game: vs. Chiefs (Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET)

Patriots

What to know: Defense leads the way. With rookie quarterback Mac Jones still growing on the job, sometimes it takes the other side of the ball to carry more of the load. The defense did that against an underwhelming Panthers offense that has to be questioning whether QB Sam Darnold is the long-term answer. Most impressive from the Patriots’ defense — which opened in a base 3-4 — was how it stopped the run and bottled up running back Christian McCaffrey in his return from injured reserve. Once the Panthers were forced to pass, Darnold looked overmatched. It’s a winning formula for the Patriots, and a timely one to highlight because another good running team, the Browns, is next on the schedule. — Mike Reiss

Does N’Keal Harry‘s knee injury lead the Patriots to pursue Odell Beckham Jr.? With No. 4 receiver N’Keal Harry inactive because of a knee injury, and the Patriots elevating Kristian Wilkerson from the practice squad, it highlights how the team has a need for more depth. Naturally, that sparks a thought on whether Odell Beckham Jr. might be a consideration. It seems unlikely the Patriots would claim Beckham on waivers due to his salary, but if Beckham clears and becomes a free agent at a lower cost, they should at least explore the possibility. The Patriots had limited production from their receivers against the Panthers, with CB Stephon Gilmore effectively limiting Jakobi Meyers. Add someone like Beckham to the mix, and the passing game becomes that much tougher to defend. — Reiss

Reiss’ confidence rating (0-10): 5.3, up from 5.2. Three consecutive wins, which has sparked rising confidence among players … and this reporter.

Next game: vs. Browns (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

J.C. Jackson intercepts an errant Sam Darnold pass and takes it all the way back for a Patriots touchdown.

Panthers

What to know: Sam Darnold is not the long-term — or even short-term — answer for the Panthers. Even with Christian McCaffrey back in a limited role, the quarterback continued to make the kind of poor decisions that lose games. His three interceptions in Sunday’s loss gave him 10 in the past six games. It’s time for Carolina (4-5) to admit it was a mistake making this trade with the Jets. Now they are stuck with Darnold and his fifth-year option ($18.8 million) in 2022. — David Newton

Should the Panthers turn to backup QB P.J. Walker the rest of the season? They should, but it spoke volumes about what they think of Walker by starting Darnold on Sunday after he was limited all week in practice (concussion/shoulder). Walker, in his one start last year, threw two red zone interceptions in the win. He takes too many chances to get playing time. It’s really a no-win situation for Carolina, which likely will be looking to revamp the quarterback room during the offseason. — Newton

Newton’s confidence rating (0-10): 4.4, down from 5.3. The schedule gets tougher moving forward, beginning with Arizona next week and a tough four-game finish that includes trips to Buffalo and New Orleans and two games against Tampa Bay.

Next game: at Cardinals (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET)

Colts

What to know: Jonathan Taylor is continuing to show he’s the second-best running back in the NFL, behind Tennessee’s Derrick Henry. No matter the opponent, notching 172 rushing yards and 260 yards total is impressive. The Colts have yet to beat a team with a winning record this season. They’ll have several opportunities to do it, starting with Buffalo and Tampa, who they’ll face in two of their next three games. With the defense struggling, the Colts may have to rely even more on the running game to keep the opposing offense on the sideline. — Mike Wells

Can the defense stop anybody? The Colts gave up 30 points and 486 total yards, including 317 passing yards vs. a 35-year-old journeyman third-string quarterback. So the answer is no. That’s a major reason for concern. That’s not supposed to happen against a team like the Jets. Imagine what Josh Allen, Tom Brady, Derek Carr and Kyler Murray could do against a Colts defense that continues to rely more on forcing turnovers than getting off the field on third down. — Wells

Wells’ confidence rating (0-10): 4.3, down from 4.4. Yes, the Colts dropped down confidence wise. You can’t say the Colts are turning the corner when they couldn’t dominate the Jets from start to finish. The Colts are still looking for that “killer instinct” they talked about earlier this season.

Next game: vs. Jaguars (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Jets

What to know: The Jets might be the most unpredictable team in the league. From week to week, you never know what you’re going to get, which is a symptom of having such a young roster. But one trend is becoming clear: The defense, exposed in Thursday night’s 45-30 loss to the Colts, is light-years away from being a winning unit. The Jets are yielding 31.4 points and 408 yards per game, both franchise worsts. It might be time for defensive-minded coach Robert Saleh to take a bigger role on that side of the ball. — Rich Cimini

Who do the Jets start at quarterback in Week 10? Fan favorite Mike White (right forearm) and starter Zach Wilson (knee) are expected to practice, presenting coach Robert Saleh with a choice: Does he go back to Wilson, whose development is paramount for the organization, or does he ride with the hot White? He should stick with White, giving Wilson an extra week to heal before facing the Bills’ top-ranked defense. — Cimini

Cimini’s confidence rating (0-10): 4, down from 6. The offense looks good, the defense looks horrendous.

Next game: vs. Bills (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

This article was originally published by Espn.com. Read the original article here.

Week 9 takeaways, big questions: Browns’ huge division win, wake-up calls for Cowboys and Bills