Gaffney's 2025 NFL Week 9 Team of the Week

Jack Gaffney
6 hours ago
4 min read

Despite one of the best, if not the best, early slate of games in the NFL this year, Week 9 will sadly be remembered for a slew of devastating season-ending/likely season-ending injuries. Star players like Jayden Daniels, Tucker Kraft, and Joe Alt all suffered significant injuries over the course of Sunday, and they were far from the only ones; with players like Luke McCaffery, Marshon Lattimore, and rookie Mykell Williams joining them as well.

As brutal as things got, especially with the Daniels injury and the circumstances around him being in that game to begin with, there were still some excellent games and some superstar performances all over the place in Week 9. Here were my best of the best.

Gaffney's 2025 NFL Week 9 Team of the Week (First-Team)

Offense: Sam Darnold (QB, SEA), Troy Fautanu (OL, PIT), Rico Dowdle (RB, CAR), Brock Bowers (Pass Catcher, LV)

Surgical would be the right way to describe Sam Darnold's performance against the Washington Commanders. No incompletions until the second half, and he was the only quarterback with a 300-yard outing that won this week. Not to mention the fact that his 0.82 EPA per dropback was more than the two players behind him this week, Matt Stafford and Caleb Williams, combined. Elite performance against one of the worst defenses in the league.

I can't imagine that I was the only person with Brock Bowers in fantasy and was happy to see him have the type of game he did, albeit in a losing effort, against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Like Falcons' wideout Drake London, the Raiders tight end put up over 100 yards and three touchdowns in a one-point loss, but the Jaguars had been pretty good at defending tight ends this year. Bowers' performance was the best against Jacksonville this year, and it wasn't even remotely close. There should be no argument on who the league's best tight end is at this point.

Another second-year player who stood out this week was Steelers right tackle Troy Fautanu, who pitched a shutout in the Steelers' huge win over the Colts. Just watch him absolutely smoke DeForest Buckner on this play-action pass rep.

Another week, another fantastic outing for Rico Dowdle as a Carolina Panther, meanwhile. His two touchdowns proved pivotal in their massive upset win over the Packers, and lo and behold, he now sits third in the league as far as rushing yards go, and is only 0.1 yards per carry off of MVP candidate Jonathan Taylor through nine weeks. Truly a tremendous story for the ex-Dallas Cowboy.

Defense: Leonard Williams (IDL, SEA), Josh Sweat (EDGE, ARI), Blake Cashman (LB, MIN), Talanoa Hufanga (DB, DEN)

This is only his first appearance on our defensive first team in 2025, but Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga has been everything Denver would've hoped when they signed him this offseason and then some, and that especially rang true in Houston two days ago, doing a little bit of everything. He ended the day with nine tackles, a couple of pressures and pass breakups, and simply having a hard-nosed safety who can do all of that kind of stuff is gigantic, especially with Patrick Surtain not out there for the time being.

Another first-time nod this week goes to Josh Sweat of the Cardinals, who was practically living in the backfield with Dak Prescott last night, with a pair of sacks and eight total pressures. No other real notes here other than he looked like the best player on the field at all times; really good game for him.

Elsewhere, the ever present Leonard Williams put together a good night at the office in D.C, highlighted with a sack and then a fourth down shoelace tackle of Jayden Daniels that effectively ended things in the fourth quarter, and Vikings 'backer Blake Cashman logged up 14 tackles, plus a hustle-play force fumble on David Montgomery on a play that looked like it was about to break huge for the Lions.

Rookies: Colston Loveland (TE, CHI) and Walter Nolen (IDL, ARI)

While I think it's fair to point out that the Colston Loveland game-winning TD for the Bears was a lot more on the Bengals' poor two-minute defense, the Bears needed him to step up in a big way once Cole Kmet went down, and boy, did he answer the bell. His six grabs for 118 yards and two scores all came with his teammate out of the game, and for as bad as that final play defense was, he still had to take it the distance and stay upright. Hopefully, this is the start of the Bears using him much more in the passing game.

Hard to really overstate how good Walter Nolen was for the Cardinals in his first-ever NFL game last night vs. the Cowboys. He was all over the place, nabbing his first career sack and a pair of TFLs in Arizona's huge victory on the road on Monday Night Football. Very, very impressed with the Ole Miss product.