Copyright CBS Sports
Week 9 of the NFL season has already been a wild one. We had one of the games of the year with the Bears-Bengals barn burner in Cincinnati, but we also had some games whose results ranged from unexpected to downright shocking. Three different favorites who came into their games at or near the top of the standings lost at home on Sunday, with the Colts dropping a game to the Steelers, the Packers taking a loss at the hands of the Panthers and the Lions succumbing to defeat against the Vikings. Because of the unusual nature of these results, we're going to break out the panic meter and determine how worried these teams and their fans should be about what happened to them on Sunday. Panic meter: 🚨 = Low panic level 🚨🚨 = Medium panic level 🚨🚨🚨 = High panic level Indianapolis Colts Panic Meter: 🚨 The Colts have looked like a machine for most of this year. Coming into Sunday, they were leading the league in almost every offensive category, with Jonathan Taylor looking like the best running back in the NFL and Daniel Jones playing at the highest level of his career. Going up against a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that had been getting torn asunder by basically everybody, it looked like things were set up for the Colts to go off yet again. But that's very much not what happened. Instead of going off, the Colts imploded offensively against Pittsburgh. Jones turned back into the turnover machine he was during his time with the New York Giants, throwing three interceptions and fumbling three times, with two of them being recovered by the other team. Yes, he gave the ball away five times. Taylor was also held to just 45 yards on his 14 carries, so it's not like he was picking up much of the slack. The defense, which has been suspect at times this year, did give up 27 points to the Steelers, but also held them to just 5.8 yards per pass attempt and 1.7 yards per rush. This game was all about the offense going into the tank. All of that said, the Colts are still 7-2. They have a multi-game lead in the AFC South no matter what happens with the Jaguars in their Sunday afternoon game against the Raiders. They probably only need to win two or three more games to ensure themselves a playoff spot. In the big picture, they should be fine ... unless this game leads to Jones' turnover issues snowballing. So there isn't *zero* concern here, but the Colts and their fans shouldn't really be panicking just yet. Overreactions from NFL Week 9: Has Daniel Jones turned into a pumpkin? Are the Packers frauds? Tyler Sullivan Green Bay Packers Panic Meter: 🚨🚨🚨 For the second time this season, the Packers lost to a team that had no business giving them a legitimate scare. They had already lost to the Browns earlier in the year, and on Sunday, they fell to the Panthers -- losing at home on a last-second field goal. At this point, the Packers seemingly play up or down to their level of competition in any given week. Since that ridiculously hot two-week start where they smoked the Lions and Commanders, they're just 3-2-1 with losses to Cleveland and Carolina and a tie against the Cowboys, and wins over only the Bengals in Joe Flacco's first game with a new team, the Cardinals with Jacoby Brissett under center and then the Steelers last week. Even the wins weren't exactly convincing, with the Packers prevailing by just nine points against the Bengals (and leading by six until very late) and four against the Cardinals (and trailing with less than two minutes left in the game). They led more comfortably against Pittsburgh last week, but that's looking more like the exception than the rule when it comes to their recent performances. The Packers are 5-2-1 and still hold a lead in the NFC North, but every team in the division is .500 or better now, and considering the expectations that people had coming into the year and the schedule they've faced since their aforementioned hot start, it's definitely a disappointment that they are where they are at this point in the season. Detroit Lions Panic Meter: 🚨🚨 The Lions, like the Packers, lost a game they probably should have won, and did so in their own stadium. Detroit was nearly a double-digit favorite against division rival Minnesota on Sunday, but instead allowed the Vikings to grab an early lead and largely control the game from start to finish. It wasn't exactly the same because they didn't get blown out, but it was reminiscent in some ways of how they lost to the Packers in Week 1, where they just couldn't get much going offensively and were playing in catch-up mode for almost the entire afternoon. Really, that's how things have gone in all three of Detroit's losses so far this year, because they went down early and couldn't play the way they want to play against the Chiefs, as well. It's at least somewhat worrisome that they seemingly get out of rhythm and find themselves unable to run the ball successfully or get into their play-action passing game when they go down -- especially if the deficit gets to multiple scores. They're a team that's built to play from ahead and lean on their opponents until they wilt; but that only works when you actually get ahead. In the big picture, the Lions are still 5-3 and probably in pretty good position to make a playoff run. But they had a chance to move into first place in the division here thanks to Green Bay's loss, but instead are still looking up at the Packers in the standings and now have two division losses, which could obviously be something that comes into play in what looks like it will be a very close NFC North race.
