ClutchPoints
The NFL season is officially at the halfway point with nine weeks in the books. Week 9 was a wild one, making up for a relative snoozer of a Week 8 with a wild Sunday. Both windows were full of close finishes, with a statement by the Seahawks capping the night off.
The Commanders, who were on the other end of that beatdown on Sunday night, top the list of losers from Week 9 for a multitude of reasons. Who else will join them? Let’s dive into the list.
Vibes were high in Washington coming into this season after the Commanders stunned everyone with a run to the NFC Championship Game in Jayden Daniels’ rookie year. Now, nine weeks into his second season, it doesn’t feel premature to call their season over. In fact, it might even be too late.
Coming in at 3-5, the Commanders had a chance to get back into the NFC playoff picture with a win over the Seahawks on Sunday night. Instead, Sam Darnold went 16-for-16 with four touchdowns in the first half and Washington was down 28-0 in a blink.
Things got even worse in garbage time, when the Commanders inexplicably ran Jayden Daniels down on the goal line despite a 31-point lead. Daniels was thrown down and suffered a gruesome dislocated elbow injury that will keep him out for the foreseeable future, effectively ending the Commanders’ season.
Washington went all in on an old roster in the offseason, likely overestimating the pieces already in place after the Cinderella run in 2024. Now, it is left with a lost season, an injured quarterback, and a whole laundry list of questions about how the roster can be reshaped in the coming years around Daniels.
For years now, the Bengals defense has been an absolute laughingstock. That side of the ball ruined a potential MVP season from Joe Burrow in 2024, causing Cincinnati to miss the playoffs and forcing defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo to get fired. Now, Al Golden is calling the shots, and things are arguably even worse.
If giving up 39 points in a loss to the Justin Fields-led Jets wasn’t bad enough, Sunday’s 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears represented a new rock bottom.
The Bengals’ defense was a disaster all day. Kyle Monangai ran wild for 176 yards, a new career-high, and the Bears reached 30 first downs and nearly 600 total yards for the day. However, after a miraculous comeback that included more Joe Flacco heroics and the rare successful onside kick, Cincinnati just needed one stop with less than a minute left.
Instead, they did the most Bengals thing possible.
CALEB WILLIAMS HITS COLSTON LOVELAND FOR A 58 YARD BEARS TD!!
Chicago leads 47-42 with 17 seconds remaining
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 2, 2025
After the game, both Ja’Marr Chase and [Chase Brown called out...
