In the shadows of Halloween, Week 9 of the 2025/26 National Football League (NFL) regular season proved to be a nightmare for almost all JustBet favourites, and apart from the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, the other two favourites who won did so by very narrow margins. Even the high-riding Indianapolis Colts, who entered last weekend with the best record in the league, was not immune to the ghastly spell, losing 20-27 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

However, possibly the worst of the lot occurred on Monday night, with the Dallas Cowboys playing at home against a team that lost five-straight that was playing with a backup quarterback (QB), who is on his sixth team. The Arizona Cardinals, with journeyman QB Jacoby Brisset dictating the play, put the Cowboys to the sword and dominated from start to finish in a telling 27-17 victory. Sadly, though, in the middle of the weekend’s mayhem, two QBs suffered concerning injuries: CJ Stroud of the Houston Texans went down in a loss against the Denver Broncos due to a concussion, and the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels suffered a gruesome elbow dislocation in a loss against the Seahawks.

That said, Week 9 was not short of highlights, headed by Cam Little of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who broke the NFL record for the longest-ever field goal in the regular season, and Seattle’s Sam Darnold, who had a night that most QBs only dream of. Little bettered the previous record of 66 yards, set by Justin Tucker, kicking for the Baltimore Ravens in September 2021, and he had also previously set an all-time best of 70 yards in a preseason game in August of this year against the Steelers.

Of note is the new ‘K-Ball Rule’, instituted this season, where teams are given access to 60 special kicking balls to “prepare” for kicking throughout the season. Through the first nine weeks of the NFL season, there have been six field goals made from 60+ yards, and a total of 22 kickers have made field goals from 55 yards or more. For comparison, last season, only three players scored goals of 60+ and 28 successful kicks of 55 yards or more over the course of 17 games, each. The “preparation” of the K-Balls has obviously put more foot in football and there is a very good chance that 70 yards will be achieved before the end of this regular season.

For Darnold, he was 16-for-16, for 282 yards and four touchdowns, in the first half of Sunday night’s 38-14 trouncing of the Commanders and finished with 21-of-24 for 330 yards and four touchdowns (plus an interception) for the game. By the time he threw his first incompletion of the game — early in the third quarter — the rout was already on, and the road back for Washington was near impassable. Darnold became the fourth QB since 1991 to throw four touchdown passes before his first incompletion, the others being Lamar Jackson in 2019, Ryan Tannehill in 2015, and Tom Brady in 2007.

This week, unlike the previous few weeks, the NFL slate is filled with matchups where both teams have winning records: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2) vs New England Patriots (7-2), San Francisco 49ers (6-3) vs Los Angeles Rams (6-2), Los Angeles Chargers (6-3) vs Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3), and Green Bay Packers (5-2-1) vs Philadelphia Eagles (6-2), with the Buccaneers, Rams, Chargers, and Packers favoured by JustBet, respectively, in those encounters.

The 49ers’ clash against the Rams is particularly interesting as they are both in the strongest division in the NFL, the National Football Conference (NFC) West, where three teams (including the Seahawks) have six wins. This rivalry has been played 153 times (including two postseason games), with the 49ers winning 79 games and the Rams winning 71, plus three tied games, but the Rams have lost six of the last 10. The 49ers have already beaten the other NFC West front-runners — the Seahawks in Week 2 (17-13) and the Rams in Week 5 (26-23) — but this is the second half of the regular season and the beginning of the business end, so the stakes are much higher.

Fellow NFC West contender, Seattle, is facing off against the Arizona Cardinals, also in the NFC West, where the Seahawks are favoured by JustBet and are expected to win; therefore, neither the 49ers nor Rams can afford to lose ground at this point. The 49ers have been overperforming considering the extent of their injury problems, and the Rams’ receiving core includes Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, who are two of the leading receivers in the league, so the advantage goes to Los Angeles, but special teams may play a hand in the result, where San Francisco has an advantage. The 49ers are looking for a season sweep, while the Rams are out for revenge, and it appears that revenge will be served cold late Sunday afternoon.

Another interesting encounter sees the leader of the NFC North Division, the Packers, tackling the leaders of the NFC East Division, the defending champion Eagles, where fireworks are expected on Monday night. This could be the highlight of a weekend chock-full with unimaginable action. The Colts, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots are unexpectedly leading their divisions with 7-2 records, and have put the rest of the NFL on notice. Week 9 was an aberration, but Week 10 is expected to run true to form. Are you ready for some football?

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