The bad, the brutal and the ugly: Ranking the most offensive offenses in Week 9 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Some of the season’s most productive quarterbacks showed out in Week 9, from Joe Burrow to Trevor Lawrence, but the slate featured plenty of ugly on the offensive side of the ball.
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Sunday’s games, which featured a handful of teams fighting through lost seasons, included plenty of errant passing, inefficient rushing and overall sluggish play.
Some offenses were bad, even in wins. Others were even worse than that.
Here’s a look at the worst NFL offenses in Week 9, ranked from bad to worst.
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The Commanders were only out-gained by 30 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Rams, but they were held to just 13 points and didn’t finish drives against a Myles Garrett-led defense.
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Missing Terry McLaurin, Jayden Daniels relied in Van Jefferson and Chig Okonkwo next to Stefon Diggs. Daniels had a fine day considering the circumstances, but his running game did not: Washington rushed for only 60 yards on 19 attempts, with Austin Ekeler ineffective on eight carries.
The Lions managed a 19-9 win over the lowly Dolphins, but it was not the kind of day Detroit envisioned. Jared Goff and the offense didn’t score a touchdown until the second half, and that would be the only time either team found the end zone all day.
Detroit finished with 270 yards as Goff threw for only 174 and Jahmyr Gibbs averaged 3.7 yards per carry against a Miami defense that plays hard but hasn’t been very effective this season.
Beating the 49ers in Santa Clara was always going to be an uphill battle for the Raiders, but they didn’t help themselves offensively. Kirk Cousins was intercepted three times in the 38-17 loss, and the running game was non-existent with 24 yards on 15 carries as Las Vegas was quickly forced to go to the passing game
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The Giants finally earned a win in Philadelphia, but it was an ugly one. New York saw J.J. McCarthy exit for a portion of the game with a hip injury, and the only touchdown of the day for the Giants came when Jameis Winston found Isaiah Likely in the third quarter. Devin Singletary was the source of much of New York’s offensive issues, as he ran for just 31 yards on 21 carries, but it was enough to walk out of Lincoln Financial Field victorious.
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In recent weeks, the Jets‘ offense hasn’t been the problem. It was the problem in Kansas City on Sunday, as New York failed to take advantage of numerous scoring opportunities in the first half by settling for field goals over touchdowns and couldn’t score at all in the second half. The Jets finished with only 229 yards of offense as Geno Smith threw for 165, and Smith was sacked five times in the 35-12 loss.
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The Eagles turned to Joe Milton III at quarterback this week, but it predictably didn’t energize the offense. Philadelphia did find the end zone early thanks to Saquon Barkley, but that would be the extent of the scoring until a field goal out of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. Barkley finished with just 22 yards on 13 carries, while Milton rushed for 64 yards but was only 18-of-34 through the air.
No one is expecting much out of the Dolphins’ offense, but there is no way to characterize its performance against a shaky Lions defense as positive. Miami finished with 228 total yards, with Malik Willis throwing for only 128 along with an interception as Ollie Gordon II averaged just 3.4 yards per carry. Even on a difficult day for the Lions’ offense, the Dolphins’ offense didn’t do much to put real pressure on Detroit.
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The Seahawks keep getting fortunate that Sam Darnold only misses time when they are facing the Cardinals, as Arizona has yet to solve Seattle’s defense. The Cardinals mustered less than 200 yards of offense in Gardner Minshew’s first start of the season, with Tyler Allgeier regressing to the mean out of the backfield with only 46 yards and Minshew not working the same magic he did last week in a 166-yard performance. The Cardinals scored only three points in a dismal all-around showing.
The combination of steady rain, third-string QB Joe Fagnano and a middling offensive line did not pan out for the Ravens against the Jaguars on Thursday night.
