Puka Nacua is great. He is doing things early in his career that have never been matched.
The fatal flaw for the Los Angeles Rams might end up being that Nacua is all they have in the passing game. And now his health is in question.
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Nacua was phenomenal again Sunday in a grind-it-out 20-13 win over the Washington Commanders. He had 14 catches for 150 yards on 19 targets with the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Nacua also ran it twice for 20 yards. Nobody else on the Rams had more than 20 yards receiving. Nacua had 150 receiving yards and everyone else combined had 78. That’s not an ideal formula, no matter how incredible Nacua is as a player.
And then after the game there was some alarming news. Nacua will undergo an MRI on his knee, according to ESPN. The team doesn’t believe he has a torn ACL, the report said, but having an MRI means the team has some level of concern.
The results of that test could lead the Rams to get more aggressive at the trade deadline, which is Tuesday. Even if Nacua avoided a serious injury, the Rams have to know that they can’t play like they did Sunday, without anyone else contributing in the passing game.
The Rams weren’t completely whole in Week 9. They played without cornerback Trent McDuffie and tight end Terrance Ferguson, among others. Davante Adams is out with a hamstring injury and could be out until late in the season, which is why the Rams have so few options at receiver. But they had Myles Garrett back. And Garrett, like Nacua, was great. He had three sacks, including a big 12-yard sack with the game still in doubt late in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles’ defense held on, getting a stop on the final play in Rams territory.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) celebrates after catching a pass for a touchdown during an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, in Landover, Maryland. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)
(AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)
Like LA, every team in the NFL is dealing with injuries. The San Francisco 49ers, who lead the NFC West, can attest to that. The Rams just haven’t been what everyone thought they would be yet, even though they are getting wins against overmatched teams.
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But they are 5-4, which is why the trade deadline is very important for them. Los Angeles has already sold some of its future on trades for Garrett and McDuffie, and it’s a team that probably needs another move or two to get back to the status of Super Bowl favorite, particularly at receiver which could be a pressing need if Nacua misses time. Even with him, the Rams have only one option in the passing game.
In the third quarter Stafford forced a pass into Nacua despite Nacua being bracketed closely. Safety Nick Cross had an easy interception. It was a clear case of Stafford forcing it to his only receiver option. It was Stafford’s ninth interception this season, surpassing last season’s total. That type of play showed why the over-reliance on Nacua in the passing game needs to be addressed.
It doesn’t help that Stafford is dealing with an elbow injury. He has not been able to complete passes downfield in Los Angeles’ past few games. It could be argued that the Rams having one option at receiver and playing three tight ends more than half of their plays is what’s sapping the offense of its explosiveness, but Stafford’s elbow doesn’t help either. LA’s longest play Sunday, against a bad Washington defense, was 21 yards.
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Perhaps Adams returns from a serious injury and fills the Rams’ need, but that’s a gamble for a receiver who will turn 34 on Dec. 24. It also assumes Nacua, who has a long history of injuries and is taking a lot of punishment with all of the touches he’s receiving, doesn’t get bad news on the MRI or that he stays healthy the rest of the season even if this injury scare isn’t bad. If Nacua misses time, the Rams’ passing game will be in trouble.
The Rams can celebrate their third straight win after a disappointing 2-4 start, but with some concern over one of their most important players. It’s clear they need to be making calls before Tuesday’s trade deadline if they want to reach their peak this season. And it could reach a critical level based on Nacua’s MRI.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 9 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Tank Dell: The feel-good touchdown of the NFL might have happened Sunday in Los Angeles.
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Tank Dell hadn’t scored since 2024. He missed all of last season with a horrific leg injury, and had played in just one game this season as he continued to recover. Anyone who had forgotten about Dell was reminded of him when he caught a long pass from C.J. Stroud and was running down the sideline for a 63-yard touchdown. That set off a celebration on the Texans’ sideline. It was a great moment for Dell, whose career had been in doubt after he tore multiple ligaments in his knee and also suffered a dislocated kneecap.
The Texans got an easy 44-22 win over a Chargers team that is 0-8 and somehow getting worse as the season goes on. Stroud was fantastic on Sunday with 384 yards and five touchdowns. The defense got to Justin Herbert often, forcing him into another rough game. Houston had eight sacks. It was a good win, but will be remembered for Dell’s long touchdown, which sealed his comeback from injury.
Drew Lock: At very least, Lock is establishing himself as a reliable backup quarterback. That can lead to a lot of contracts and a long career.
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Lock has been called upon to start twice this season and has done his job each time. He had a steady game for the Seattle Seahawks, which was without Sam Darnold due to a quad injury, not turning it over once. That’s a perfectly fine formula for the Seahawks, who rely on their defense. With Lock doing enough on offense, the defense clamped down on the Arizona Cardinals and won 17-3.
Lock had 175 yards and a touchdown in the win. He wasn’t spectacular. But he didn’t make any big mistakes and played an important role in a win, which is all any team asks of its backup quarterback.
The Broncos and their good fortune: Denver is catching every break this season. It simply can’t lose in one-score games.
The Broncos were trailing 14-13 and the Carolina Panthers had first-and-goal at the 1-yard line when they got one of the most fortunate interceptions you’ll see, and it turned the game around. The Panthers decided to throw on first-and-goal. The pass was heading for the ground only to be tipped in the air by tight end Tommy Tremble. Broncos safety Devon Key made a great play to realize the ball was still live and pluck it out of the air before it hit the ground. A challenge and a review showed it was a clean interception. That was a big turning point in a 26-21 Broncos win.
The Broncos got going after that. They scored two straight touchdowns to take a two-score lead.
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But Denver doesn’t play easy games. Carolina scored and then forced a punt after a pitch to Broncos running back Jonah Coleman was fumbled for a big loss. Denver eventually hit Bryce Young, who fumbled, and the Broncos recovered with 1:15 to go. It was another win for the Broncos, their 16th in a row in one-score games. That sets an NFL record which they tied last week when they held on in the final seconds against the Chiefs. The Broncos are 7-2, and piling up wins in close games. Per usual, they had some serendipity on their side.
Jameis Winston: He didn’t start Sunday but came up with the key drive the New York Giants needed to get past the Philadelphia Eagles.
Winston came in when J.J. McCarthy briefly left the game after taking a hard hit to his side. Winston got one full drive and made it count. On the drive he completed 6-of-7 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown to Isaiah Likely. Winston also ran for 11 yards.
Offense was a struggle for the Giants all game but Winston did his job. It was the Giants’ only touchdown in a 19-11 win, their first road win at Philadelphia since 2013. They improved to 5-2-1.
Winston was benched for McCarthy as the Giants chase a division title in the terrible NFC East. But he might have been their most important player Sunday, coming through when nothing else was working for New York’s offense.
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Kenneth Walker III: After a couple of quiet games against very good defenses, Walker got an easier assignment Sunday. And he took advantage of it.
Walker scored two touchdowns on catches and another on the ground as the Chiefs’ offense broke out in a 35-12 win over the New York Jets. He rushed for 102 yards and had another 41 receiving. It hadn’t been easy for the Chiefs on the road against the Seahawks and Broncos the past two weeks, and Walker in particular was stymied. He was on a blistering pace early in the season but had just 105 rushing yards and no touchdowns the past two weeks. On Sunday he was back to his form of the first few weeks when he was getting buzz as a potential MVP candidate. The Chiefs are 6-2, and still very much in the mix for an AFC West title as long as Walker continues to play well.
Joe Burrow for MVP: The Atlanta Falcons were one of Burrow’s toughest matchups in November. All he did was go 18-of-22 passing for 239 yards with two touchdowns, and one rushing TD. And that was just the first half.
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Burrow’s MVP push continued Sunday in Madrid as he finished with 271 passing yards and three touchdown passes in a 34-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons. He probably could have put up even bigger numbers but the Bengals were up double digits for most of the second half. The NFL Network broadcast repeatedly talked about how Burrow told them in production meetings how confident he feels and how healthy he is. It shows.
The Bengals are 6-2 and in good shape to win the AFC North, which is usually a prerequisite for winning MVP. He is putting up monster numbers. He hasn’t won before and there will be some sentiment to recognize him with his first MVP award as he turns 30 years old. By the end of November he could be the clear favorite, though Josh Allen, Brock Purdy and Caleb Williams are also in the race. But Burrow is looking like the league’s MVP.
LOSERS
Patriots secondary: The Green Bay Packers had a receiver go for 164 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, and it wasn’t even the biggest receiving performance on his own team. That’s how bad New England’s defense was Sunday.
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The Packers made it clear where the ball was going. It was either heading to Matthew Golden or Christian Watson, and usually deep. New England did nothing to stop it. Golden and Watson ran wide open in the Patriots’ defensive backfield all game and Jordan Love kept piling up yards in a 45-27 win in New England.
Love was so good he was pulled early in the fourth quarter, with the Packers cruising to a blowout win. He had 372 yards and three touchdowns, riding his two red-hot receivers.
Watson had 171 receiving yards and a touchdown. Golden had 164 yards and a touchdown, including 126 yards in the first quarter.
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The Packers are 6-3, and have completely turned things around since a sluggish first month of the season. Their combination of Love throwing to Golden and Watson has been devastating. Ask the Patriots, who are usually a solid defensive team. On Sunday, it was like they weren’t even on the field against the Packers.
Raiders offense: The scoreboard didn’t reflect it, but the Las Vegas Raiders had a chance to at least make the San Francisco 49ers sweat on the second half Sunday. But they turned it over five times after halftime.
The Raiders had six possessions in the second half and one turned out well, with a touchdown. The other five ended with three Kirk Cousins interceptions, one of which was returned for a pick-6 and another that was thrown into the end zone with the Raiders inside the 5-yard line. There were also two fumbles, one of which came right before tight end Michael Mayer was about to score, which would have cut San Francisco’s lead to 28-24. The Raiders went on to lose 38-17.
The 49ers’ defense played well, as it has all season, and that’s a big reason San Francisco is 7-1. But on Sunday, the Raiders played their sloppiest half of the season. It’s hard to turn it over five times in one half, but Las Vegas somehow pulled it off.
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Malik Willis: The whole season is a tryout for Willis, who has to prove he’s worthy of being the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback of the future. Sunday wasn’t a good day for him.
Facing a Detroit Lions defense that isn’t good and was down multiple starters due to injury, the Dolphins never reached the end zone. Willis was inaccurate on many passes. The Lions were surprisingly quiet on offense too but it didn’t matter. Miami couldn’t score enough to keep up and lost 19-9. Willis was 13-of-25 passing for 128 yards and an interception against a Lions defense that was 29th in yards per game allowed coming in.
Willis has had decent moments, and he has to be graded on a curve because of the lack of talent around him. But he wasn’t good enough Sunday.
Deshaun Watson: Shedeur Sanders couldn’t come up with the 2-point conversion he needed to close out the win over the New Orleans Saints. But he might have given the Browns a reason to consider a quarterback change.
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Sanders, who threw a go-ahead 64-yard touchdown to KC Concepcion late in the fourth quarter and also led a game-tying field-goal drive in the final seconds of regulation, hit tight end Harold Fannin Jr. for a 39-yard touchdown in overtime after the New Orleans Saints scored first, with Fannin making a great play after the catch. But Sanders threw incomplete on the 2-point conversion that would have won the game (there was also a holding call on the Browns) and the Saints held on to a 23-22 win.
The loss stung but Sanders played well, as Watson sat out due to being in the concussion protocol during the week. Watson has mostly played poorly and the Browns have been winning in spite of it. Sanders had 297 yards and two touchdowns against the Saints with multiple clutch drives. It will at least be worth considering a change after that.
Sauce Gardner: His presence on the Indianapolis Colts is a constant reminder of the franchise’s on-field collapse.
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Last season, when the Colts were 7-2, Indianapolis traded two first-round draft picks and receiver Adonai Mitchell for Gardner, an elite cornerback. But Gardner has been mostly hurt with the Colts, who have fallen apart since the middle of last season. And on Sunday, with a chance to beat the Dallas Cowboys, Gardner got beat for the biggest play of the game.
Ryan Flournoy, playing a bigger role with George Pickens out, beat Gardner for a 46-yard catch late in the game when the Colts led 23-20. That set up a go-ahead rushing touchdown from Javonte Williams and the Cowboys’ defense closed out the win when rookie safety Caleb Downs picked off Daniel Jones, who had another rough day. Dallas held on for a 27-23 win.
The Colts’ fall is far from Gardner’s fault, but he hasn’t helped and the Colts paid way too much for him. Him giving up the game-changing catch to Flournoy was another reminder of how costly that trade was.
