The regular season has reached the halfway mark.

Week 9 is the official end of the first half, with nine more full Sunday slates remaining after this one before the postseason begins.

Who were the standouts in Week 9? And who fell flat? Here are the winners and losers from Sunday's games:

WINNER: Fourth quarter Broncos

Week after week, the Denver Broncos deliver in the fourth quarter.

This time it came in a 26-21 win over the Carolina Panthers, where Bo Nix led the team to a 13-7 advantage in the final frame. The third-year quarterback was 25 of 37 for 237 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the game, but the Broncos' defense was the difference-maker as usual. Denver, trailing 14-13 late in the third quarter, had an improbable interception in the end zone on a pass that somehow never touched the ground.

Carolina made a late comeback attempt, but Bryce Young's fumble sent the team to its third straight loss. Even so, the 3-5 Panthers are still tied for the NFC South lead as the division continues to struggle. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-5 entering Sunday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints are 3-5 and the Atlanta Falcons are 3-6.

LOSER: Eagles lose seventh straight

The Philadelphia Eagles started the season 2-0. They haven't won since then.

The New York Giants were the latest team to defeat the Eagles, leaving Lincoln Financial Field with a 19-11 victory on Sunday. Joe Milton made his first start at quarterback for the Eagles, but that didn't spark the offense at all. Philly totaled just 220 yards, with Milton going 18 of 34 for 169 yards.

Despite the relatively lopsided scoreboard, this game was anything but smooth for New York. J.J. McCarthy exited with a painful-looking injury, and backup Jameis Winston led a touchdown drive while trailing 8-6 in the third quarter. McCarthy miraculously returned to the field and finished the game, completing 12 of 19 passes for 127 yards and leading two late field goal drives to seal the win.

WINNER: Kenneth Walker carries Chiefs

Despite an injury scare involving Patrick Mahomes, the star of the Kansas City Chiefs' 35-12 win over the New York Jets was Kenneth Walker III.

The Chiefs running back had three touchdowns in the blowout victory, two receiving and one rushing. He totaled 143 yards (41 receiving, 102 rushing) in an unstoppable performance against Aaron Glenn's defense. Kansas City had a brief scare before halftime when Mahomes jogged off with an arm injury, but he didn't end up missing any snaps and played the entire second half.

While the Chiefs improved to 6-2, the Jets are now 2-7. They arguably outplayed the Chiefs for much of the first half, but had to settle for five field goal attempts after being unable to punch in any touchdowns. New York ran 25 plays in Kansas City's territory in the first half. On the bright side for the Jets, rookie first-rounder David Bailey continues to shine -- he had two sacks, including the forced fumble where Mahomes was briefly injured.

LOSER: Commanders can't contain Puka Nacua

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua dominated the Washington Commanders in a 20-13 win.

Nacua finished with 14 receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown. Matthew Stafford targeted him 19 times in the victory as the Rams improved to 5-4 on the season. Myles Garrett, playing for the first time since Week 1, had three sacks and a forced fumble, showing no signs of rust in his return.

The Commanders, though, had another questionable conclusion in a close loss. The team had two plays from the Rams' 31-yard line in the last 10 seconds, but Jayden Daniels threw the ball short of the end zone twice to finish the game. It's been a season full of dubious decisions for the Commanders' coaches and players, and Sunday was no different.

WINNER: Field goals

A lot of teams had trouble finishing drives with touchdowns in the early window.

Fifteen minutes into the 1 p.m. ET slate, every game had a score of 3-0. Two games were especially heavy on field goals -- the Detroit Lions' 19-9 win over the Miami Dolphins and the Saints' 23-22 win over the Cleveland Browns.

In South Beach, the Lions moved to 6-2 despite only scoring one touchdown in a rare quiet offensive effort. Jahmyr Gibbs, of course, was the one player to reach the end zone -- giving him a 11 total scores on the season. Other than that, the game featured four made field goals by Detroit's Jake Bates and three by Miami's Zane Gonzalez.

The Browns-Saints game had no touchdowns in the first three quarters. Rookie receiver K.C. Concepcion finally found the end zone on a 64-yard hookup with Shedeur Sanders in the fourth quarter. The Saints then pulled ahead in the final minute on an Audric Estime touchdown run, then another field goal by Andre Szmyt sent the game to overtime. The Saints stopped the Browns' 2-point conversion with a minute left in overtime to end the game as New Orleans improved to 3-5 and Cleveland fell to 5-4.

LOSER: Colts' slide continues

In the last game before the Tuesday trade deadline, the Indianapolis Colts' losing streak was extended to five games.

This time it was the Dallas Cowboys getting the better of Shane Steichen's squad, coming away with a 27-23 road victory after a late comeback. The Cowboys nearly blew another game in the fourth quarter, but rookie Caleb Downs clinched the win with his first career interception. Dallas, which had lost three of its last four games, improved to 4-5 and remains in the mix to win the NFC East.

For the Colts, this might have been the last gasp for a number of players on the roster. They've already traded away Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner, but other players like Jonathan Taylor and Josh Downs could be on the move this week. At 2-7 without their own first-round pick, it will be interesting to see how interim GM Ed Dodds and owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon approach the trade deadline.