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TOUCHDOWN! Steelers 14-7 Colts 4:34, 2nd quarter
Narrative developing alarm! The Steelers defense is good, today at least. Linebacker Payton Wilson picks off Daniel Jones for Pittsburgh’s third turnover of the day. The Steelers are knocking on the door with only 14 yards to go. Aaron Jones has the lead in the palm of his hand. He slings it to this tight end Pat Freiermuth who falls down and just breaks the plain of the goal for a 12-yard score. What a turnaround for Pittsburgh, they are on top but can they stay there?
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Updated at 20.10 CET
TOUCHDOWN! Titans 14-17 Chargers 8:37, 2nd quarter
LA take a lead on the road with a 19-yard pass from Justin Herbert to Quentin Johnston.
TOUCHDOWN! Packers 3-7 Panthers 2:22, 2nd quarter
All the twos 2:22. Running back Rico Dowdle bursts up the middle for a five-yarder and the lead.
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TOUCHDOWN! Patriots 21-7 Falcons 5:11, 2nd quarter
Drake Maye bags his second passing touchdown of the day with an 11-yard strike to veteran Stefon Diggs. The QB has 157 yards at an average of 12.1 per pass, tasty
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TOUCHDOWN! Steelers 7-7 Colts 6:09, 2nd quarter
The drive is sparked by a massive play on 3rd and 10. A fingertip cartch from Calvin Austin with a diving finish just puts him over the line to gain. Or did he?! The Colts aren’t so sure and challenge. Pittsburgh wait nervously. Challenge … ACCEPTED and the Steelers have a no-brainer on 4th and 1. They smash it forward to lineman Cam Heward who rumbles for four.
Next Rodgers hits Austin again for 11 yards and then, unbelievably almost finds the touchdown with a rush on 1st and goal but is just stopped short. That looked painful as he is bent violently down to the turf. Second try is an unsuccessful slant on the outside to DK Metcalf. The third try is the charm as Jaylen Warren bundles it over from a yard out. The old ways are the best. Great second effort from the running back to power it home.
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Updated at 20.01 CET
TOUCHDOWN! Lions 14-14 Vikings 9:39, 2nd quarter
Human wrecking ball David Montgomery puts the Lions level with a bruising two-yard run after some stiff defense from Minnesota. End to end stuff in Detroit.
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TOUCHDOWN! Patriots 14-7 Falcons 8:51, 2nd quarter
Backup running back Terrell Jennings smashes in a three-yard score for his first in the NFL. Fantasy football gurus pleased with themselves if they started Jennings. Genius!
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Steelers 0-7 Colts 11:27, 2nd quarter
HUGE play from TJ Watt. The edge battles through the offensive line and sneaks around the corner behind Daniel Jones and swats the ball out of the oblivious QB’s hand. Pittsburgh with another big leg up. They need to make it count. 62 yards to pay dirt.
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Updated at 19.47 CET
TOUCHDOWN! Bengals 10-14 Bears 14:54, 2nd quarter
Cincinatti’s defensive struggles continue as they allow Olamide Zaccheaus to sprint out to the right and dive into the end zone. One of a few players had a shot at stopping the receiver but he leaps home for a 15-yard touchdown.
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TOUCHDOWN! Giants 7-14 49ers 13:08, 2nd quarter
Jauan Jennings puts San Francisco ahead with an 11-yard touchdown from Mac Jones. The back-ups solid play for the 49ers continues with his second of the day.
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Updated at 19.41 CET
TOUCHDOWN! Titans 14-7 Chargers 1:55, 1st quarter
Tennessee have come to play. And it is the special teams who come up huge for the Titans. Rookie Chimere Dike races the punt return back 67 yards to give the home team something to shout about. This is not going as expected thus far for LA. They need to … ahem … titan up.
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Packers o-0 Panthers 12:15, 2nd quarter
Interception master Xavier McKinney picks off Bryce Young to give the Packers the turnover. A floated ball is just too easy for the corner back to cruise over and take way in the end zone way before it would have arrived at the receiver. Can Green Bay capitalise?
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Updated at 19.37 CET
TOUCHDOWN! Lions 7-14 Vikings 4:08, 1st quarter
JJ McCarthy is cooking. A seven-yard pass to tight end TJ Hockenson gives the away side the lead and the young quarterback his second touchdown pass of the day.
TOUCHDOWN! Patriots 7-7 Falcons 0:24, 1st quarter
Michael Penix Jr gets it out quickly to Drake London on the goal line for a one-yard score. All square.
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It’s good! Texans 3-0 Broncos 15:00, 2nd quarter
As expected in this battle of powerhouse defenses the scores are low. Houston take the lead but it is Denver who will be the happier coming out on offense. The Broncos stuff the Texans on the goalline then force a fourth down but when they go for the touchdown again they get caught offside and have to settle for 23-yard chip shot from Kai Faibairn.
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Steelers 0-7 Colts 4:17, 1st quarter
The Steelers go out with a whimper again and again. Pittsburgh’s second punt goes deep, Josh Downs is there but spills it and the Steelers recover. Instant red zone for Pittsburgh. They edge closer but Indi’s defense forces a fourth down, they go for it and Rodgers fires a fastball at his tight end Darnell Washington. He would have had a walk-in touchdown if he had caught it. Colts take over with 95 yards to travel.
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Updated at 19.29 CET
TOUCHDOWN! Titans 7-7 Chargers 7:24, 1st quarter
TOUCHDOWN! Giants 7-7 49ers 6:34, 1st quarter
It is officially raining touchdowns and all of these are equalisers. Christian McAffrey does some Christian McAffrey things and catches the dump off pass and runs it in for a five-yarder for the 49ers. Justin Herbert then redeems himself quickly with a nifty two-yard strike to the fullback Scott Matlock. The big man’s only made two receptions in his career and this one puts the Chargers back on track.
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TOUCHDOWN! Bengals 7-7 Bears 8:44, 1st quarter
They just keep on coming as Caleb Williams marches the Bears downfield and pops it to DJ Moore for a two-yard score.
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TOUCHDOWN! Lions 7-7 Vikings 10:17, 1st quarter
TOUCHDOWN! Steelers 0-7 Colts 8:05, 1st quarter
Minnesota hit back immediately with a 10-yard touchdown from JJ McCarthy to Justin Jefferson while the Colts make a fast start against the Steelers. Pittsburgh’s defense come up huge on the goalline to force a fourth down but no matter for Indianapolis. They go for the QB sneak and Jones dives over. Cheeky!
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PICK SIX! Titans 7-0 Chargers 11:19, 1st quarter
Oh no. Justin Herbert looks for Keenan Allen but can only find linebacker Cody Barton who returns the interception for a 24-yard touchdown.
Titans linebacker Cody Barton runs it back for a touchdown. Photograph: George Walker IV/APShare
Updated at 19.47 CET
TOUCHDOWN! Giants 7-0 49ers 10:50, 1st quarter
TOUCHDOWN! Patriots 7-0 Falcons 5:53, 1st quarter
Jaxson Dart hits Theo Johnson for a 15-yard touchdown for the Giants while Drake Maye finds Pop Douglas with a 16-yard pass and a score. Cracking start for both.
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TOUCHDOWN! Lions 7-0 Vikings 12:37, 1st quarter
Detriot dig into their bag of tricks with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta on fourth down. With four yards to go they risk it all for the score and the Jared Goff finds his man but the tight end has to battle tooth and nail through three defenders and only just falls into the endzone.
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Steelers 0-0 Colts 12:43, 1st quarter
Disappointing start for Pittsburgh with a punt highlighted by a shocking drop from tight end Jonnu Smith.
The Colts come out on offense and Jonathan Taylor is stuffed on their first play behind the line of scrimmage. They’ll need a few more of them.
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TOUCHDOWN! Bengals 7-0 Bears 14:49, 1st quarter
Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?!
Cincinnati’s Charlie Jones rips off a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown! Only the second return for a score this season. Wow.
After a 98-yard kickoff return, Charlie Jones still has the energy to jump into the crowd. Photograph: Joshua A Bickel/APShare
Updated at 19.48 CET
Preamble
Hello football fans, welcome to week nine of NFL action. After thrashageddon seven days ago the playoff contenders are emerging, however there is still enough rope left on the spool for the underdogs to plot a postseason course. So how about it Houston? What have you got Atlanta? The Ravens are flying, Pittsburgh, so can you take down the mighty Colts?
With a stup(id)endous eight games to track we want drama, nay, we DEMAND drama. So let’s, as they say, ‘ave it.
Your octet starting at 12pm CST/1pm EST/6pm (home teams listed first):
(3-5) Cincinnati Bengals v Chicago Bears (4-3)
(5-2) Detroit Lions v Minnesota Vikings (3-4)
(5-1-1) Green Bay Packers v Carolina Panthers (4-4)
(3-4) Houston Texans v Denver Broncos (6-2)
(6-2) New England Patriots v Atlanta Falcons (3-4)
(2-6) New York Giants v San Francisco 49ers (5-3)
(4-3) Pittsburgh Steelers v Indianapolis Colts (7-1)
(1-7) Tennessee Titans v Los Angeles Chargers (5-3)
There are a number of potential upsets in the offing here but Pittsburgh seeing off Indianapolis would be the most spectacular. The game plan will likely revolve around stopping Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor. The back is enjoying a breathtaking year so far as he sits first in total rushing yards by almost 100 with 850, second (by a whole tenth of a yard) per carry at 5.9, and first in rushing touchdowns with 12. Slow him down and you have a foothold from which to build success, as the Rams found when they slapped the brakes on Taylor to the tune of 76 yards at 4.5 per carry and zero touchdowns during their 27-20 victory in September.
Pittsburgh’s defense has been solid enough against the run. Only five touchdowns conceded shows some promise with a middle of the road EPA per rush of -0.02 meaning that on average they perform, well, very averagely. So crucially not disastrous like their passing defense. What they haven’t yet faced is an offense as abundantly brilliant as the Colts that puts quarterback Daniel Jones and his receivers are firmly in the conversation for being one of the best passing attacks. They might even be on top if Taylor wasn’t hogging so much of the limelight.
The Steelers are in a bind. Head coach Mike Tomlin has to pick his poison, Jones is the likely choice so Pittsburgh may throw bodies into the box to force the Colts to pass. It is a gamble, but the risk could be worth the reward of a vital win in the race for the AFC North.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones warms up in Pittsburgh. Photograph: Matt Freed/APShare
Updated at 19.03 CET
