NFL, Week 9: Live coverage, scores, highlights & more

Cause of Death: It’s easy (and, yes, accurate) to point out that Kansas City is a fairly unbalanced team, especially after the defense outscores the offense by five points. But the same Alex Smith that only has three total touchdowns in his last five games has turned the ball over just twice in that time span, helping the Chiefs to become the sixth team this century with a turnover margin of +15 or better through Week 9. Don’t think you can win with a dominant defense and a quarterback who just stays out of the way? REBUTTAL:

6.3 yards per passing attempt, 59.7 percent passes completed, 1.09 touchdowns, 1 interception

Rudolph injured his left foot while fighting to finish off a 31-yard score in the third quarter of Minnesota’s loss at Dallas yesterday. The Vikings have not released any information regarding the severity of the injury, but with the team facing a short work week in advance of its upcoming contest with Washington this Thursday, Rudolph will have less time than usual to rest and recover.

• NFL Debrief: How we learned to love the Jets

Oh, the things that might have been!

Bullet point 1 - Remember all those tweets last week about Chip Kelly and his offense, the one that had scored just three points in two games, had finally met their match in the N-F-ELLLLL? I didn’t see any of those this week. Strange.

• NFL Week 9 updates and highlights | Live scores | Chat with SB Nation’s experts

• NFL picks for all 13 games | Week 9 Watchability

The playoff picture is starting to take shape as some teams have dropped out of contention after Week 9. The AFC and NFC division winners are all the same, but there have been some shakeups in the wild card races. The Jets and Panthers are now in the driver seat of the last wild card spots in their conferences, though they have a host of teams right behind them, looking to steal their seat at the dance.

The Browns will likely have to make some serious strides to stay even with the Titans, Dolphins and Chargers. The Dolphins and Titans can still play for their division so that could make for added incentive down the stretch. The Chargers’ most realistic shot at the playoffs is solely through the final Wild Card spot.

Houston’s offense was out of sync for the entire second half after coach and play caller Gary Kubiak collapsed on the field at halftime and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. The Texans never regained composure.

With the win, Indianapolis improves to 6-2 on the season. The loss sinks Houston’s chances of making a comeback in the division race. They are now 2-6.

Of course, McAfee is also the punter who made a hit so big he got called in for steroid testing.

It’s the most points that Pittsburgh has allowed in franchise history.

Brady threw for 432 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. It is the third-highest yardage total of his career and a far cry from the 228 yards per game and nine touchdowns that he had this year coming into Sunday. Rookie Aaron Dobson caught two of the touchdowns.

Mike James was a waiver wire hero this week, racking up 158 yards on 28 carries and adding a touchdown pass on his jump throw. Marshawn Lynch gutted through a minor knee injury, recording 125 yards on 21 carries.

Seattle entered the game as 16-point favorites, according to OddsShark. The Seahawks obviously failed to cover.

Pryor already missed one start earlier this year with an injury and was replaced by Flynn.

• NFL Debrief: How we learned to love the Jets

McFadden was on the sideline for much of the second quarter, and there was no official update on his status. He had struggled to make an impact in the first half, running for 12 yards on five attempts before leaving the game. Replacement Rashad Jennings had much more success against the Eagles defense, entering halftime with 39 yards on six carries.

Injury is nothing new to McFadden, who has missed a total of 24 games since he was drafted in 2008. He is entering the last year of his rookie contract, and it’s unclear whether the Raiders will bring him back due to inconsistent performance and injury.

He came into the game with 10 catches for 141 yards and at this pace, it might not be long before Gronkowski is the team leader in yardage once again. He played in just 11 games last season but had 55 catches for 790 yards and 11 touchdowns.

It just wasn’t the same NFL without Gronkowski’s signature spike-after-touchdown celebration.

Bess caught a 20-yard touchdown on the play, throwing in a little Shady McCoy imitation for good measure.

See, the AFC North isn’t all bad this year.

Nick Foles isn’t just having a great game by Philadelphia Eagles standards, he’s having one of the best games by a quarterback ever. With just over one quarter remaining, Foles has thrown seven touchdowns, and needs one more to break the NFL’s single-game record.

Just over two minutes remain in the third quarter and the Eagles currently lead, 49-13.

• NFL Debrief: How we learned to love the Jets

• Takeaways: Brady’s back, Saints slip and more

Fox reporter: “Did you just say Cam loves the kids?”

Newton: “Camy Cam loves the kids.”

The Week 9 early games are wrapping up, and the playoff picture is starting to take shape. A handful of teams got big wins to stay in the hunt, while some saw their playoff hopes all but die. Here’s a look at how the 1 p.m. ET games impact things going forward.

The Falcons dropped to 2-6 and their playoff hopes are all but dead. St. Louis lost a nail-biter to the Titans and are now 3-6, an increasingly bleak position in the NFC West. Buffalo also fell to 3-6 and may have run out of chances to make a run in the AFC East.

Rookie receiver Keenan Allen was extremely effective for the Chargers, as he totaled 128 yards receiving and a touchdown.

The Washington Redskins were one-point favorites, according to OddsShark. Their narrow win means they covered the spread.

The Saints hit a 43-yard field goal to pull within six with just over three minutes remaining, and the defense promptly got them the ball back after holding the Jets to a three-and-out. The Saints got the ball on their own 19-yard line with 1:58 remaining, but could not muster any sort of drive thanks in large part to a costly holding penalty that set up a 4th-and-19. A Jets defense that applied constant pressure all day hurried Brees into an off-target throw to end the drive.

The loss drops New Orleans to 6-2. The Jets’ back-and-forth season continues as they improve to 5-4.

Romo found Harris on the next play, giving Dallas a 27-23 lead over the Vikings (yes, the Vikings should have had 24, but they missed an extra point ... because Vikings).

For those of you making prop bets, congrats, he did manage to get the Tony Romo hat trick: a touchdown, a beaned ref and an interception.

Johnson scored his first two rushing touchdowns of 2013, the second of which gave the Titans a seven-point lead with 2:59 remaining. He finished with 23 carries for 150 yards to help the Titans improve to 4-4. The Rams, losers of three straight, drop to 3-6.

Facing a 4th-and-4 from the Titans’ 26-yard line with 16 seconds remaining, the Titans broke up a pass in the end zone to preserve the win.

Buffalo at Pittsburgh, Nov. 10, 1 p.m. ET

Kansas City on bye.

Newton entered Sunday’s game on a three-game streak of turnover-free play, completing 77 percent of his passes and leading the team to a 3-0 record. Against the Falcons he was far from perfect, throwing two interceptions and posting a 68.4 passer rating, but the support of his teammates allowed the offense to shine. Receivers made big catches when they counted, and an eight-yard touchdown run by Newton sealed the Panthers’ victory.

The Falcons simply didn’t have enough weapons to remain in a shootout, especially with Matt Ryan’s suspect decision-making. He threw three interceptions on Sunday, including a pick-six that helped seal the victory for Carolina. Injuries made the game difficult to overcome, but poor passing made it impossible, especially on a day where Atlanta could have remained in the game as they intercepted Newton twice and ran the ball successfully.

Wonder if we’ll have NFL audio on that one too?