It was a spooky Halloweekend, which, for NFL fans, started on Thursday when the freak quarterback Lamar Jackson came out of his injury hiatus on Thursday night against the Dolphins in South Florida, bursting for four touchdowns. This latest slate of NFL games captured the exhilarating feeling of the Halloweekend for many of us: chilling, shocking, and surprising, yet filled to the brim with excitement.

The betting-underdogs defeated the heavy hitters of the league simultaneously, almost collectively, as three Super Bowl betting favorites – and favorites in their respective games – all lost at home: the Chiefs, Lions, and Packers; after an unsurprising previous week where betting favorites went 11-2 against the spread. The Revenge of the Underdogs is another beacon of an extremely volatile year, where nothing is set in stone and very little can be understood about the near future.

This restlessness carried into this week, even when on-field action between teams ceased, as the Jets traded away both of their defensive superstars, Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner to the Cowboys and Colts respectively Tuesday afternoon. After a great on-paper week 9 schedule left fans satiated, with nine out of 14 games being won by a single score, we begin our feast with a historic and bitter Thursday night matchup: The Las Vegas Raiders at the Denver Broncos. Before that though, we’d like to take you through who we view as the top-10 teams in the NFL and discuss why we see it that way.

#1 – Indianapolis Colts (7-2)

(Week 9: #1)

After a Cinderella-esque run to start the season, everyone can now hear the ticking midnight clock. They’re carefully watching Daniel Jones and the Colts’ beautiful carriages they’ve built themselves, in expectation for them to turn back into pumpkins after a jarring, five-turnover upset in Pittsburgh. You might ask, “if the Colts are on pumpkin watch, how are they number one?”. Well, the team who sits third for interceptions taken away, and 11th in yards allowed per pass decided to swing for the seats and trade two first-round picks in the next two upcoming drafts for former two-time All Pro corner Sauce Gardner.

Bolstering a banged up DB room with a Rookie of The Year winner and superstar talent like Gardner is good reason to keep the Colts still atop the power rankings despite the loss. A loss that, yes, was ugly, but will be hard for teams to replicate, since two of the Steelers’ five forced turnovers were a muffed punt – which was the Colts’ first of the year – and an interception that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Unless the remainder of their opponents can find a way to force Indianapolis to regress in the special teams department or tip every pass that’s thrown under five yards, this won’t be a norm for the Colts and they should bounce back in Berlin with added defensive firepower to counter Atlanta’s top-tier offensive talent on Sunday.

#2 – Seattle Seahawks (7-2)

(Week 9: #7)

After yet another dominant victory on the road against a despair-ridden Commanders team 38-14, who lost their bright quarterback Jayden Daniels in the matchup indefinitely to a dislocated left elbow, Seattle has continuously proven that defenses must fear them. Secondaries should cower when the Seahawks walk into their building, especially since they remain undefeated on the road this year. The high flying Seahawks offense has been lighting up defensive backs across the country; and they just added one of the fastest receivers in the league.

In another personnel move during what has been an extremely active trade deadline, the Saints gave the Seahawks receiver Rashid Shaheed for Seattle’s fourth and sixth round picks next year. Shaheed ran the fastest than any other player on a scoring play when he torched Giants’ safeties Jevon Holland and Tyler Nubin for an 87-yard touchdown during the week 5 matchup. Shaheed reached up to 21.72 mph on the score, per NextGenStats.

Now, the team who averages the deepest depth of target in the league (9.59) will now add the burner wideout to their white hot passing offense next to their star receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who’s on pace for a 2,000 yard season. As long as the Mike Macdonald-coached defense can remain consistent in not allowing teams to run free either through the air or on the ground, and the offense can just plateau from the point they’re at the moment, very few teams are going to be equipped to deal with Seattle.

#3 – Los Angeles Rams (7-2)

(Week 9: #5)

Matthew Stafford has never looked this good. The 16-year veteran MVP candidate has been the forefront of a Rams’ offense which has scored 25 or more points in five out of eight games so far. Stafford leads the league in passing touchdowns with 21 to only two interceptions and is on pace to finish the year with 44 touchdowns and just four picks; the most ever touchdowns and fewest interceptions in his career if completed. Stafford is hardly L.A’s only offensive weapon. Puka Nakua’s on pace for 1,625 yards despite missing a game and Davante Adams’ on pace to average one receiving touchdown a game and finish with 17.

The reason they fall behind their NFC West counterpart is the other side of the ball. In no way are the Rams even slightly underperforming on defense, they just can’t outmatch Seattle. The Seahawks are second in the league in rush yards allowed, only 124 yards behind the Rams in passing yards given up, and have more takeaways than L.A., and while the Rams sit third in the league in sacks with 27, the Seahawks are tied with them with the same amount.

Despite the slight edge defensively, these rivals mirror each other. Two physically talented quarterbacks, airing it out better than 95% of the NFL, with an Offensive Player of The Year candidate lined up to the side of them and a young, hungry defense. But, because of that slight defensive edge, we can’t move the Rams above Seattle until they prove to have a slight offensive edge with the more experienced quarterback.

#4 – Kansas City Chiefs (5-4)

(Week 9: #2)

The annual Kansas City-Buffalo regular season matchup, completed with the signature Chiefs loss. Although Patrick Mahomes had his worst completion percentage in his career (44%), and the usually-staunch Spagnolo coached-defense allowed Mahomes’ adversary, Josh Allen to complete 88.5% of his passes – his career-best completion percentage – we shouldn’t over panic over yet another Bills regular season win, which they have yet to follow up on in the postseason against Kansas City.

That doesn’t mean the fact that in the game Mahomes has been pressured the most in this season, 52.6% to be exact, and he proceeds to complete less than half of his throws is igsignificant. A similar gameplan could arise in a hypothetical playoff matchup between the two clubs since its already seen success; but it should be guaranteed Kansas City will show up with something different and not on tape. Andy Reid is known for his secrecy and willingness to not show his special plays or plans prematurely. He infamously doesn’t host joint practices with teams in the offseason because they reveal too much.

Given Coach Reid’s documented history of confidentiality, and, of course, his Super Bowl pedigree and Hall of Fame talent-quarterback, the Chiefs are far from dead yet, despite being out of the playoff picture currently. They still have top-10-pick teams on the docket to play, like the Raiders and Titans and though the Cowboys are a tougher foe than the other two teams, their defense will be no match against the Mahomes-Rice combo on Thanksgiving.

Now that K.C rolls into week 10 on a bye, ready for key players like running back Isiah Pacheco to get fully healthy, they can start stacking some late-season wins to secure their seat at the postseason table; a table they’ve run multiple times in the past.

#5 – New England Patriots (7-2)

(Week 9: #8)

The beat of Mike Vrabel’s snare drum grows louder and louder in Foxborough as his Patriots team hammers out another hard-earned win, marking six consecutive victories for the Pats; against an actual formidable team this go around. The Atlanta Falcons and their skill players are not to be taken lightly and Vrabel didn’t do such a thing. Despite Drake London showcasing his top-5 receiver case, recording 118 yards on nine receptions and three touchdowns, other playmakers were noticeably silenced in the game. Star running back Bijan Robinson only had 46 rushing yards while averaging less than four yards a carry.

As their new-on-the-scene quarterback Drake Maye continues being one of the most accurate QBs we’ve seen this season and of all time, and Vrabel can extract the level of competition from his defense that they exerted on Sunday, the Patriots’ confidence in themselves and everyone else’s confidence in the team is going to grow bigger as they continue to win and contest for their division against Buffalo; a team they beat in their own building.

#6 – Detroit Lions (5-3)

(Week 9: #3)

Over in Detroit, coming off a rewarding bye week after a firm win against the Buccaneers, the vibes were high. They were locked in for their next opponent, the Minnesota Vikings, a division rival. Coming into the game the confidence might’ve been just a little too high as the Vikings sprung out two straight touchdown possessions to take the lead over Detroit. After that it was back and forth between two top forces in the North. Despite the late effort, Detroit was out of commission after a late first down run by the Vikings sealed the deal for their upset victory.

Detroit had trouble running the ball last week, which is a common occurrence in their losses. In the 3 losses, the lions only average 3.2 yards per carry, which is below average. Primarily, Jahmyr Gibbs seems to be the X-factor in their wins and losses. Gibbs has been very below his norm in losses, averaging just 47 total yards per loss on 2.9 yards per carry. Compared to their wins these numbers differ by a wide margin. If the Lions want to have more success and fix their problems, they need Gibbs to be more steady in the backfield.

#7 – Buffalo Bills (6-2)

(Week 9: #9)

In what seems like a yearly catch-up date with your ex, Josh Allen took on Patrick Mahomes in another mid-season matchup where Buffalo came out on top. This game wasn’t new to anybody, as Josh Allen, in regular season head-to-head matchups against Patrick Mahomes, is now 5-1 following the Bills 28-21 victory over the juggernauts from Kansas City. Despite this, Allen and the Bills are 0-4 against the Chiefs with Mahomes under-center in the poseason. The narrative that Allen can’t beat Mahomes is January is stamped in NFL fan’s brains, but can he turn it around this year?

Allen had a phenomenal game last week, only having 3 incompletions along with 292 total yards and 3 total touchdowns, reminding everyone why he’s labeled as a top 3 quarterback in the league. James Cook also had a solid bounce back game coming up with 124 total yards and a touchdown along with 4.2 yards per carry. Another highlight for the Bills was their defense stepping up, when this season, they’ve been questionable. They held Mahomes to under 50% completion through the air, as Mahomes went 15/34 in the game, and they also forced a turnover. If the Bills want to make it to Levi’s Stadium in February, they’ll need this kind of play to continue.

#8 – Green Bay Packers (5-2-1)

(Week 9: #4)

Despite their win against the Lions in week 1, the Packers just can’t seem to stay consistent against middle-of-the-pack teams. They had an exceptional win vs the Steelers just a couple weeks ago, but this week, Jordan Love and the Packers offense just couldn’t find a way to put points on the board against Carolina at home. Once they finally found pay dirt in the endzone with just under 3 minutes in the game to tie things up at 13, the Panthers upset all of the cheeseheads in their seats, after kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Jordan Love had arguably his worst game of season a week after coming off one of his best. He made irrational throws multiple times throughout the game, preventing the Packers from finding a rhythm offensively. Josh Jacobs also couldn’t find any success on the ground, averaging just 1.9 yards per carry on 16 touches. Not only did they lose the game, but the Packers also lost young star Tight End, Tucker Kraft, for the season, as he tore his ACL on a run play in the third quarter. The Packers have an extra day to prepare this week for their Monday night matchup versus the defending champs in Green Bay.

#9 – Minnesota Vikings (4-4)

(Week 9: Unranked)

Just barely surviving the treacherous starting quarterback play from Carson Wentz, The Vikings were thrilled to get young 2024 first round pick, JJ McCarthy back in the lineup returning from a high ankle sprain he suffered in just the second week of the season. Although he didn’t play his best ball in the win in Detroit, JJ made the plays that were needed in order for Minnesota to get back to .500 on the season.

Now just a couple games back from 1st place in the NFC North, the Vikings are looking to steal the division from the Lions and Packers as Minnesota is getting healthy and momentum at just the right time. 4 of their last 7 games are against division rivals, and all games are versus NFC opponents. Kevin O’Connell and his squad are a sneaky team to take over the conference with the Packers, Lions, Eagles not showing enough effort to take this conference. Lets not forget the Vikings have one of the best in the game and a player that can win them any game, Justin Jefferson.

#10 – Denver Broncos (7-2)

(Week 9: Unranked)

Atop the AFC West, the Mile High city has won six straight games, continuing that streak in Houston against one of the best defenses in the league. In a gritty win, the Broncos held on by just a field goal, which has been the story of almost all of their wins this season. Five of their seven wins have been by just one possession and one of the wins only being victorious by just one point, two weeks ago against the Giants. They have beat some solid teams, including the Eagles and the Cowboys. Their only two losses also only have a negative margin of 4 total points, those losses coming against the top of the conference and a division rival.

The question that everyone has with Denver is, when are they going to play consistently against a good team, especially in the first three quarters of a game. In their last three games, the offense is averaging 19.3 points per game in just the fourth quarter. They are also third in the league in time of possession in the fourth quarter. Not only does the offense clearly play their best in the fourth, but the defense also only allows just four points per game in the final 15 minutes, which is fourth in the league. Look out for Denver to be a team everyone sleeps on heading into the playoffs.