Anything can happen in the National Football League, and the kickoff to Week 9 of the 2026 season certainly solidified that idea. 

The Baltimore Ravens defense entered Week 9 on a 12-game streak of not allowing a 50-yard play, but they allowed two to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first half of a 33-10 "Thursday Night Football" home defeat. It's also incredibly stunning that Ravens running back Derrick Henry has run for under 60 yards in four consecutive games. However, he did surpass Pro Football Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson and Jerome Bettis for seventh on the all-time rushing list Thursday night. 

It's also a good thing Baltimore traded for veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett this week because the Ravens have now scored 14 or fewer points in four straight games for the first time in Ravens history. 

What other shocking events could happen during the rest of the NFL's Week 9 menu of games? Let's take a look at five bold predictions.

Joe Milton-led Eagles upset first-place Giants

The New York Giants (4-2-1) are 3.5-point road favorites at the Philadelphia Eagles (2-6), per DraftKings Sportsbook, marking the first time they are favored over the back-to-back NFC East champs since 2016. It makes sense: The Eagles have lost six in a row, and the Giants have gone three consecutive divisional games without a loss.

However, the Eagles will snap their losing streak on Sunday behind new starting quarterback Joe Milton III. Milton, who was Dak Prescott's backup with the Dallas Cowboys since 2025, was scooped up off of the Cowboys' practice squad by Philadelphia. He will take his turn at the wheel of the Eagles' offense after Tanner McKee lost all three of his starts this season. 

Milton will bring big plays back to Philadelphia's offense. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has compared Milton's arm strength to that of Brett Favre, whom he coached with the New York Jets in 2008. 

This preseason, Milton showed significant strides in the accuracy and touch departments in Dallas' three exhibition games in 2026. He completed 29 of his 43 passes (67.4%) for 378 yards, three passing touchdowns and no interceptions for a 118.2 passer rating. Milton will use the lessons he learned from Prescott to emerge victorious over a Giants team Prescott has dominated throughout the course of his career. 

Vikings sack Bills QB Josh Allen more than five times

 Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores YOLO defense leads the NFL in the following statistics:

• Scoring defense (13.3 points per game allowed)
• Red zone defense (25% red zone touchdown rate allowed)
• Goal-line defense (37.5% goal-line touchdown rate allowed)
• Completion percentage allowed (56.2%)
• Touchdown-to-interception ratio allowed (4-8)
• Sack rate (11%)
• QB pressure rate (46%)
• Blitz rate (73.6%, the highest by any team in the 21st century)

They are bad news for any offense, but especially a Buffalo Bills offensive line that is allowing a 38% quarterback pressure rate, the 11th-highest in the league this season. Bills 2024 NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen has a propensity for going haywire in primetime against the league's top defenses. In the Week 12 edition of "Thursday Night Football" at the Houston Texans last season, Allen absorbed a career-high eight sacks. 

Playing on the road in Minnesota on "Monday Night Football" in Week 9 against Flores' ferocious pass rush group could lead to a slightly similar disaster. The Vikings will sack Allen over five times, something that has happened to him just four times in his nine-season NFL career. 

Cowboys hold the Colts to under 20 points

The Cowboys' (3-5) defense hasn't recovered from trading away All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers less than a month away from the start of the 2025 season. Dallas has allowed 29 points per game since 2025, making them the second-highest-scoring defense in the entire league. That figure is driven by the Cowboys allowing 20-plus points in 15 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL.

However, they will go on the road and hold the Indianapolis Colts (2-6) to under 20 points on Sunday. Indianapolis is fresh off a 42-7 defeat at the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8, and they have scored 10 or fewer points in consecutive games for the first time since 2022. Facing a familiar face in Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, whose 68.7 passer rating is the worst in the league this season, the Cowboys will finally hold a team under 20 points for the first time since Week 11 of the 2025 season.

Jets' Braelon Allen goes off against Chiefs

New York appeared to suffer a major blow when Jets running back Breece Hall, whom the team extended on a three-year, $43.5 million contract this offseason, went down in Week 3 with a quadriceps injury. However, 2024 fourth-round pick Braelon Allen slid into the Jets starting running back spot and has balled out ever since. Allen's 504 rushing yards in the five games since Hall's injury are the second most in the entire NFL behind only Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving's 548.

Despite the 5-2 Kansas City Chiefs allowing the eighth-fewest rushing yards per game (96.3) in the NFL this season, Allen will go off for over 100 once again to become the first Jet with five consecutive games with 100-plus scrimmage yards since running back Thomas Jones in 2008.

Dolphins hold Lions QB Jared Goff to under 200 passing yards

The Detroit Lions (5-2) are soaring this season, leading the NFL in total offense (395.4 total yards per game) and ranking third in scoring offense (29.0 points per game). Quarterback Jared Goff is at the center of that success.

Goff is averaging 280.6 passing yards per game (third in the NFL) with 15 passing touchdowns (tied for fifth in the NFL) and just one interception. Goff is the fourth quarterback to have those numbers through the first seven games of a season, joining Tom Brady (2015 and 2016), Alex Smith (2017) and Patrick Mahomes (2019). Goff is also third in the NFL in EPA per dropback (0.25).

However, the Miami Dolphins (1-6) will keep Goff relatively in check by holding him to under 200 yards passing. The only team to do that to Goff in 2026 is the Vikings, the NFL's No. 1 defense. However, the Dolphins will do it on the strength of 2024 first-round edge rusher Chop Robinson's efforts. Robinson leads the NFL in quarterback pressure rate (20.6%) this season (among those with at least 100 pass-rush snaps), and Robinson will get in Goff's face enough to throw him off his game.