The end of Week 9 begets the trade deadline, which could lead to some dramatic stakes for the NFL based on recent deadline activity. In a year where the AFC feels both wide open and locked in at once, the right deal could make all the difference between going to a Super Bowl or a disappointing postseason exit.

We saw plenty of cases for buyers and sellers in Week 9, with Puka Nacua's heroic day making it more likely the Rams would try buying, while a few coaches on the hot seat could lead to sales. Let's dive into the Winners and Losers of Week 9, starting in Washington as Nacua put the Rams on his back against the Commanders.

Biggest NFL Winners of Week 9

Puka Nacua

The Rams' offense was pretty sluggish on Sunday with one notable exception: their star receiver. Nacua was completely uncoverable against the Commanders, catching 14 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown as Los Angeles escaped Washington with a 20-13 win.

The performance was even more impressive since Nacua is by far the most prolific threat on the Rams' offense with Davante Adams on IR. The Commanders threw everything they could at Nacua and couldn't hold him in check, making him the clear difference maker as the Rams are now 5-4 and in position to add another piece towards a Super Bowl run.

Shedeur Sanders

His team may have lost the game but Sanders did enough against the Saints to create a conversation in the Browns' coaching room about their quarterbacks. Sanders, who drew a start after Deshaun Watson missed a week of practice while in concussion protocol, completed 19-of-31 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-22 overtime loss.

Head coach Todd Monken clearly grew more confident in Sanders as the game went on, entrusting him to try and go for a win when they got a touchdown with a minute left in overtime instead of taking an extra point to likely secure a tie. Even if the Browns go back to Watson next week, Sanders put some good tape together that could be helpful towards giving him another opportunity down the road.

New York Giants

Philadelphia has been a house of horrors for the Giants over the years, making Sunday's 19-11 win over the Eagles an important touchstone for John Harbaugh's regime. New York's win at Lincoln Financial Field was their first since 2013 and even survived a quarterback scare as Jameis Winston filled in for a dinged-up J.J. McCarthy and threw a touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely that proved to be critical.

The win was also massive for the Giants' NFC East chances as they essentially buried the Eagles at 2-7 and saw Washington lose early in the day. If New York can beat Washington on Thursday they would improve to 3-0-1 in the division and sit at 6-2-1 overall, which might be enough of a cushion to help them win a very bad NFC East.

Denver Broncos

Everything about Denver's trip to Carolina on Sunday screamed potential trap. Oddsmakers certainly thought so, installing the Broncos as just three point favorites against a sluggish Panthers' team due to a long trip and lingering emotion from a huge win over Kansas City last week, but Denver took care of business.

It wasn't always pretty as Denver trailed by a point early in the second half but they did enough to hang on and improve to 7-2 on the season. With Kansas City suffering an injury scare with Patrick Mahomes in their win over the Jets, the Broncos did good work to hold serve and keep the pressure on the Chiefs.

Biggest NFL Losers of Week 9

Coaches on the hot seat

It was not a good week for coaches with limited job security, as we saw a few master classes in dysfunction. The Eagles lost their seventh straight game after Nick Sirianni changed quarterbacks again, while Dan Quinn watched Washington bungle another late game situation, throwing short of the end zone on the final drive to cost themselves a chance to force overtime.

Shane Steichen's Colts were feisty but lost again to the Cowboys, pushing the draft pick they owe New York even higher. Speaking of the Jets, they completely imploded in the second half in Kansas City with multiple players venting their frustrations on the sideline, which is not a good look for the embattled Aaron Glenn.

Atlanta Falcons

Getting picked to host an international game is usually a significant honor for a franchise because the NFL believes that team is capable of putting up a good performance for a worldwide audience. No one told that to Atlanta, which delivered another stink bomb as they fell 34-17 to the Cincinnati Bengals in Madrid on Sunday morning in the worst international game since Indianapolis blew out Washington in Week 4.

The effort was a complete master class of disaster as Michael Penix Jr tossed a pick and averaged just 5.2 yards per attempt, Bijan Robinson lost a fumble and the defense was shredded routinely by Joe Burrow. The abysmal NFC South is keeping the Falcons nominally alive, but they can't keep stacking uncompetitive efforts like this one if they hope to be a playoff team.

Los Angeles Chargers

The lone 4:05 game featured a battle of the NFL's two biggest underachievers and Los Angeles found a way to hit a new low. Houston rolled to a blowout win over the Chargers, who entered the game on a horrendous offensive run that saw their offense finally score a touchdown after 37 possessions when the game was well out of hand, leading some fans to break out the paper bags.

Anything you could say about the Chargers season can pretty much be summed up with this one picture https://t.co/0cGzT8kpVE pic.twitter.com/PZqZNHHuA5

— Covers.com Football (@Covers_Football) November 8, 2026

A move to the booth for offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel didn't spark much life for the Chargers' offense, which helped the struggling Texans' defense look like the elite unit we expected to see in the preseason. The nation is unfortunately stuck watching them in primetime next week against the Jacoby Brissett-led Ravens, which might lead to anyone who actually watches that contest donning their own paper bags in solidarity with the Chargers' fans.

New England Patriots

The Patriots had this game circled on their calendars for a long time, celebrating Tom Brady's return to Foxboro as a broadcaster and inducting Rob Gronkowski into their Hall of Fame at halftime of Sunday's game with the Green Bay Packers. Mike Vrabel's team sure didn't rise to the occasion of the franchise legends watching them, getting worked over by the Packers in a blowout loss that saw their defense get ripped to shreds by red-hot Jordan Love.

The offense was also pretty non-existent, as accumulating injuries left Drake Maye with few quality options to work with, seeing Demario Douglas act as the No. 1 receiver while A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and Treveyon Henderson were all sidelined due to injury. A trip to Germany next week to take on the Lions could get quite ugly for New England, which doesn't have that much wiggle room between themselves and teams like the Browns in the Wild Card hunt.