NFL Week 9 winners and losers: Bengals fold to ruin wild comeback; Vikings back in business with J.J. McCarthy

Another Sunday, another full slate of NFL action nearly in the books. And Week 9 delivered lots of drama, that's for sure.

Joe Flacco unleashed another high-scoring attack for the Cincinnati Bengals, only for the AFC North squad's porous defense to steal the thunder (for the wrong reasons) once again. J.J. McCarthy returned under center for the Minnesota Vikings and didn't get swallowed up by the rival Detroit Lions on the road; quite the opposite, in fact.

Meanwhile, across the NFC North, the Green Bay Packers went cold and suffered a stunning defeat. The Indianapolis Colts' magical run in the AFC came to a halt against the suddenly stout Pittsburgh Steelers. And the Denver Broncos survived the Houston Texans, who lost starting quarterback C.J. Stroud due to injury.

Basically, all the fireworks went off for the bulk of Week 9's schedule, and it resulted in some surprising names serving as both victorious heroes and culprits of defeat. So which players, coaches and teams stood out the most, for better and worse?

A Bengals challenge results in a Bears touchdown leading to one of the wildest finishes of the season

Here are some of Sunday's biggest winners and losers across the league:

The Vikings seemed destined to get steamrolled Sunday, with Carson Wentz all but driven into the ground (and onto injured reserve), both units sapped of full health and energy, and McCarthy returning for just his third career NFL game in Detroit. Instead, the youngster injected much-needed life into Kevin O'Connell's club on the road, shaking off five sacks and scoring three touchdowns to upset the Lions. The best part? Just like way back in Week 1, he saved some of his most confident stuff for late.

Taylor isn't directly in charge of the Bengals' defense, but how can you not face intense scrutiny when you're the head coach of a team that's now given up 500+ yards in three games this year, and lost back-to-back contests in which your emergency quarterback, Joe Flacco, helped put 38+ points on the board? This is now two years running where even Joe Burrow's availability -- or any kind of prolific points-scoring -- means almost nothing, because the "D" is so consistently soft and/or devoid of talent.

Another day, another multi-score showing from the ageless Los Angeles Rams gunslinger, who at 37 remains the club's sturdiest playmaker of the 2025 season. Yes, he was matched up with the lowly New Orleans Saints on Sunday, facing little to no competition from a team starting a rookie signal-caller in Tyler Shough. But even with Puka Nacua exiting due to another injury, Stafford was lights out, tossing four scores, including two to Davante Adams, to quietly vault the Rams to 6-2 on the year.

Not a lot went No. 15's way at Highmark Stadium. We all know the Kansas City Chiefs star has the Buffalo Bills' number when it counts; he's a perfect 4-0 against Josh Allen and Co. in the playoffs. But Sunday was a different story as Allen led a fifth straight regular-season victory over K.C. Sean McDermott's defensive front hit Mahomes more than a dozen times, sacking him thrice, and the secondary did its part, too, with Maxwell Hairston snagging a game-sealing pick. In a surprise twist, Mahomes was also dinged by the officials thanks to a wrongful intentional grounding call, which might've been overturned if it were technically reviewable.

A week ago, Tomlin looked out of his league trying to squeeze results from an aging secondary at the close of a decisive defeat at the hands of the Packers. His inability to find answers spoiled an otherwise valiant effort from Aaron Rodgers. A week later, Tomlin's unit reversed its fortunes, with T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and the Steel City pass rush totally engulfing Daniel Jones, who endured five sacks and five turnovers in easily his roughest outing as the Colts' signal-caller. Pittsburgh hasn't quite lost its edge just yet.

Just as Tomlin's Steelers rediscovered their grit, the man who shredded them in Week 8 went the other direction on Sunday. Love's calling card is uncorking one of the NFL's prettiest deep balls, but he slung it upwards for the sake of slinging it against the Carolina Panthers, seemingly "chasing the big play," as Packers coach Matt LaFleur later put it. As a result, the Panthers had an easy pick against the star quarterback and could've easily had another, riding another big day from Rico Dowdle to a surprise 16-13 upset.

The Bengals deserve all the heat they're already getting over their inability to, say, wrap up on a single tackle after their wild loss to Chicago. But the Bears' head man also deserves some credit for scheming up the attack that broke Al Golden's defense. Caleb Williams caught not one but two critical passes on trick plays dialed up by Johnson, and the creative designs also sprung loose a pair of surprise young standouts in Kyle Monangai (176 rushing yards) and Colston Loveland (six catches, 118 yards).