NFL The Final Word: CJ Stroud the real deal, Josh Dobbs stuns on debut and Miami fall to another contender (2024)

Week Nine in the NFL felt like a significant one with huge games across the league, and on either side of the Atlantic. And that is where we will begin, in Germany...

1) The Chiefs' defense triumphs in Germany

We got a game in the end in Frankfurt as the Miami Dolphins came back against the Chiefs, but it was notable for the way Kansas City won the game. They leaned on their defense again, that has been their mainstay this season, they genuinely have one of the best defenses in the NFL and passed the eyeball test in Frankfurt.

If Miami had been offered the chance to hold Kansas City to two offensive touchdowns, Travis Kelce to 14 receiving yards and no points in the second half, they would take that 100 times out of 100. Yet the Chiefs still found a way to win and incredibly Patrick Mahomes was not the story.

That defense has still only allowed opponents to score more than 20 points twice this season, it's very normal looking to see the Chiefs winning games, but they are very much doing it a different way.

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2) Bryce Young vs CJ Stroud

It's such an early stage of their two young careers, but you will see Bryce Young and CJ Stroud connected for the next 10 or 15 years. As one succeeds it puts pressure on the other to keep pace, or that player is going to be deemed a failure.

CJ Stroud is ahead at the moment and was outstanding in leading Houston to victory against Tampa Bay. Takes the ball with 46 seconds left, doesn't blink, needs a touchdown, marches downfield and throws the winner to Tank Dell with ice in his veins.

The numbers were incredible: 470 passing yards, which is a rookie record, five touchdowns, no interceptions. CJ Stroud is the real deal.

3) Dobbs makes dream debut

The NFL is struggling to keep its star quarterbacks on the field this season and that's why we saw six rookies start on Sunday. We also saw a journeyman come off the bench, five days after he joined the Minnesota Vikings, as Josh Dobbs was thrown into action against the Atlanta Falcons.

He threw for 158 yards, two touchdowns, ran seven times for 66 yards and another score. I just don't know how he would have known the playbook; how much offense did he know when he was throwing that six-yard touchdown catch to Brandon Powell to win it with 22 seconds left.

The NFL has lost star power at quarterback, but it hasn't lost its storylines.

4) Bengals firmly in the mix

We talked ahead of Sunday's game in Frankfurt about the leading teams in the AFC, we were talking Chiefs, Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars. We need to add the Cincinnati Bengals to that list after their Sunday night win over the Buffalo Bills.

They have now won four games in a row, Joe Burrow is heating up and looks back to the superstar that has led the Bengals to the last two AFC Championship Games. He threw for 350 yards and took down a Buffalo team that continues to play poorly on the road and make mistakes at key times.

5) Can Cowboys and Dolphins challenge the NFL's best?

Philadelphia and Dallas played out a heavyweight fight in the NFC East, with the Eagles winning 28-23. I had two major takeaways from this. One, the Eagles find the way and always do, it's why they have the best record in the NFL at 8-1.

They may not look like the best team in the league at first glance, but they find a way to win.

Dallas, I put in the same category as the Miami Dolphins; they are a good team but not in that top tier. They can't take down those above them, both the Cowboys and Dolphins can be excellent but when are they going to rise up and prove they can make a serious run in January.

Player of the Week - CJ Stroud, QB, Houston Texans

The numbers were great, the energy he has given that city of Houston, they probably feel they have a genuine star on their roster who will be there for the next 10-15 years and shift this team back to relevance and in the playoff conversations.

It's how he handled himself with the game on the line. Quarterbacks are judged on their performances when asked to deliver wins with their backs against the wall.

He did that, he spread the ball around on that final drive and was just excellent. Just the way he handled the situation was so impressive.

Play of the Week - Bryan Cook's 59-yard fumble return TD vs Dolphins

We didn't know it at the time because it looked like Kansas City were going to romp away with that game, but it turned out to be the winning points. Very emblematic of that Chiefs defense; short pass in the flat to Tyreek Hill with no room to breathe, the excellent Trent McDuffie forces the fumble, Mike Edwards picks it up, laterals it and Bryan Cook is away for the fumble return touchdown.

Great effort from the Chiefs and Trent McDuffie deserves a shout, he was excellent all day, he was aggressive all day and had a late tackle in open field on Tyreek Hill when he was inches from going away to send it to overtime.

Coach of the Week - Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings

Not only did he guide the team to their fourth straight win after an 0-3 start, but it's the fact they have had so many injuries. Cam Akers went out at running back, Justin Jefferson was already missing, KJ Osborn goes out with a concussion, they lose Jaren Hall having already lost Kirk Cousins, offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw gets hurt, and they have to go with a guy who has been there for five days in Josh Dobbs.

I think Kevin O'Connell had to hold the hand of Dobbs, explain the plays, explain the routes - talk about a coach who needed to be hands on.

It was such an impressive case of digging deep from the Vikings, who are winning close games they had lost earlier in the year and showing spirit thanks to their coach.

On my radar... going global!

On my radar is what I think will be a pretty dramatic expansion of international games coming in future years. We know we'll have three games a year in London, Germany is going to have a game and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told me they will definitely go to a new market in 2024.

That will be either Brazil or Spain, Paris is on the agenda as well, Dublin is being eyed by the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's being accelerated so fast, a Formula 1 style model could be coming at us very soon with games around the world.

The NFL is serious about expanding and it's not just limited to regular season games. I think we'll see a team host a training camp in Europe some time.

It's a fascinating time, explosive and historic international growth is happening before our eyes.