It might not have been evident on Monday night, but Week 9 was a great week for those who are fans of quarterback play and high-powered offense.
As many of you saw on America’s Game of the Week, Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers easily defeated the New England Patriots with a strong passing attack down the field. Receivers Christian Watson and Matthew Golden seemingly caught everything that was thrown as part of their 45-27 victory.
However, only one of those players was able to make the cut on this week’s All-Star team because there were so many good performances at quarterback and wide receiver. Which Packers standout was able to make the cut and who joined him?
Here is our complete All-Star team for Week 9.
It’s hard to watch a five-hit game, which is what CJ Stroud had in the Texans’ win over the Chargers. Joe Burrow’s three-TD game in Madrid also could have won this week’s QB spot.
But we’ll go with Jordan Love, who was efficient and dominant. He finished 23-for-29 for 372 yards and three touchdowns without a touchdown (Stroud had one) in the Packers’ win over the Patriots. He also added a quick landing.
And because the Packers were snubbed in the receiver vote, we’ll give the likes of Christian Watson (seven receptions for 171 yards and a touchdown) and Matthew Golden (10 catches for 164 yards and a touchdown) big plays on an unreal weekend for receivers.
Kenneth Walker might have made this team as often as anyone by now, but Sunday was an easy call. He ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, plus two more receiving scores in an easy Chiefs win over the Jets.
The second sweep wasn’t as easy, as Cowboys standout Javonte Williams rushed for 101 and a score and the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey had two scores in their win.
But we’ll go with Bucky Irving, who rushed for 97 yards and two scores with four more catches for 28 yards in the Buccaneers’ narrow loss at the Bears.
There were five legitimate receivers with at least 150 receiving yards and a touchdown Sunday. And we strongly considered Texans receiver Kayshon Boutte, who had four catches for 125 yards and two scores.
But we’ll respect CeeDee Lamb’s big numbers for 195 yards on 10 catches with a score to lead the Cowboys past the Colts, and Ja’Marr Chase getting Sunday started with a big game in Madrid. The Bengals star had 10 catches for 155 and a score in the win over the Falcons. We could easily counter this week and go with a third receiver, but we won’t.
It’s almost inevitable here with Brock because the volume is always there: seven catches for 111 yards and a score in the Raiders’ loss to the 49ers.
It’s not often that we consider a player strong with 10 rushing yards, but Seahawks tight end AJ Barner had the only tackles in their win over the Cardinals. He had a QB sneak for a touchdown and caught two passes for 7 yards and a score.
OL: Seattle Seahawks
Seattle was without left tackle Charles Cross and newly acquired left guard Quenton Nelson on Sunday, and the Seahawks still took home weekly o-line honors, defending Drew Lock without a single sack and rushing for 120 yards on 33 carries in a win over Arizona. The starting line (lr) of Josh Jones, Gray Zabel, Jalen Sundell, Anthony Bradford and Abraham Lucas played every snap for Seattle. We almost went with Houston’s line, which held up well with a sack on a busy day for Stroud, but Seattle is.
This is the present and the future here. Myles Garrett’s impact has been long overdue for the Rams, and he came up with three sacks and a forced fumble in their win over the Commanders.
David Bailey, pick no. 2 overall in this year’s draft, had another big game in a loss to the Jets, with nine tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and three tackles for loss against the Chiefs.
Close but not quite the honor is the Chiefs’ George Karlaftis, who had two sacks and three TFLs in the Kansas City win.
More initial presence here. Arvell Reese had a three-sack game of his own as part of a 12-hit game with one forced fumble in the Giants’ win over the Eagles. Reese now has 4.5 sacks, showing he’s dangerous as a rusher as well.
We paid heavy attention to Browns star Carson Schwesinger, who racked up 15 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in their overtime loss to the Saints.
It was a strong weekend for defensive backs, with Green Bay’s Xavier McKinney and Tampa Bay’s Zyon McCollum getting two picks each. Cowboys rookie Caleb Downs also picked up a game-defending tape and a sack as well.
This was also a multiple choice weekend. The 49ers’ Jaden Dugger had one, but not as significant as Jaylon Johnson’s 67-yard return of a Baker Mayfield pass in the Bears’ home win. That play came on the heels of Caleb Williams’ fourth pick of the day, proving to be vital in Chicago’s victory.
There were hit streaks, yes, but were any of them the longest in 25 years? Braden Mann opened an 86-yard drive for the Eagles in their loss to the Giants โ from his own 8 to the opposite 6-yard line โ for the longest drive since 2001.
Mann had an odd kicking day, with punts of 60, 62 and 63 yards as well, but he also had a punt that was smothered and hauled out of bounds for a minus-2-yard touchdown. He also had a punt of 17 yards, so despite the longest single punt in 25 years, his average for the day was just 48.0 yards.
