There were two major developments in Week 9. The first is that the Bills still own the Chiefs in the regular season as Josh Allen boosted his regular season record to 5-1 against Patrick Mahomes with a 28-21 victory.
Allen threw a touchdown pass and ran for two others. Mahomes is still 4-0 in the playoffs against Allen but first the Chiefs have to make the playoffs to have another shot at the Bills.. They fell to eighth in the AFC playoff rankings with a 5-4 record.
The other development is that no dominate team has yet to emerge as 7-1 Indianapolis committed six turnovers, five by quarterback Daniel Jones in their loss to the Steelers. They turned the ball over just four times in their first eight games. Every team in the league now has at least two losses. But the Colts are all in this year as they sent two first-round picks and a player to the Jets for Sauce Gardner to bolster their pass defense.
— -Despite the loss, Indianapolis Is still the top seed in the AFC with the tiebreaker even though they are tied with the Patriots and Denver, who are leading their respective divisions with 7-2 records. The Patriots beat Atlanta 24-23 for their sixth straight victory, while Denver escaped with an 18-15 win over Houston with an 11-point fourth period surge. It was their fourth comeback in the fourth period. Pittsburgh’s victory over Indianapolis kept it in the division lead at 5-3 and in the fourth seed.
–Buffalo has a 6-2 record and is the fifth seed and second to the Patriots in the AFC East. The Patriots have the tiebreaker because they beat Buffalo in first meeting. San Diego is the sixth seed at 6-3 after beating the Titans 37-20 and the Jaguars moved back into the seventh seed with a 30-29 victory over the Raiders, who went for two at the end of the game but had the pass batted down. Cam Little set a league record with a 68-yard field goal at the end of the first half. Kansas City fell to the eighth seed with the loss to Buffalo at 5-4 while the Texans and Ravens are ninth and 10th with 3-5 marks.
–Philadelphia and Tampa Bay had byes and remained the top two NFC seeds at 6-2. Seattle moved up to 6-2 as the third seed as the Seahawks crushed Washington as Sam Darnold threw four touchdown passes in the first half. Washington Coach Dan Quinn kept Jayden Daniels in the game with the Commanders trailing 38-7. Daniels then suffered a dislocated elbow and Quinn will be second guessed for not pulling Daniels in the fourth quarter.
–The fourth seed is Green Bay, which is 5-2-1 after being upset by the Panthers, but the NFC North Division title race is wide open with all four teams having a chance to win it. Detroit fell to 5-3 with a loss to 27-24 loss to the Vikings as coach Dan Campbell took the blame for not having his team ready to play. Chicago boosted its record to 5-3 when Caleb Williams threw a 58 yard touchdown pass to beat Cincinnati with 17 seconds left. The Bears have won five of their last six. The Rams at 49ers in the fifth and sixth slots at 6-2 and 6-3 while Detroit is now seventh after its loss. The Rams routed the Saints 34-10 and the 49ers beat the Giants 34-24. 6-3. The Eagles have a three game lead over the 3-5-1 Cowboys in the NFC East and the Bucs have a two game lead over the 5-4 Panthers while the other two divisions are close. The Packers, Lions, Bears and Vikings are 5-2-1, 5-3, 5-3 and 4-4 in the NFC North. In the West, the Seahawks, Rams and 49ers are 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3 with Cardinals trailing at 3-5 after they ended a five game losing streak with a win over the Cowboys on Monday night. Most games in the second half of the season will have a lot at stake.
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