Week 9 in the NFL proved that the action is only picking up as the campaign reaches midseason and the trade deadline approaches.
One week after a historically lopsided slate, Sunday proved exponentially more scintillating thanks to upsets, close calls, injuries and plenty of other notable developments. And the shifting isn't likely to stop there, as Tuesday's trade deadline could prompt more movement in the next 36 hours or so, even if the swaps are of the more minor variety seen in the last month or so.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 9 in the NFL:
The league's highest-paid defense has been sharply criticized this season for being static and ineffective, particularly in consecutive losses in the last two weeks. Sunday, however, marked a clear breakthrough. In a 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh nabbed six takeaways from an offense that only had four turnovers in its previous eight games. Good fortune surely played into that sharp contrast, but so too did strong execution. Running back Jonathan Taylor was held to a season-low 45 yards on 14 carries by a unit that made his erasure its top priority. From there, the Colts struggled to replicate their previous magic, as edge rushers Alex Highsmith (two sacks) and T.J. Watt (one sack) feasted against an Indianapolis front that was out of sorts in obvious passing downs. Pittsburgh still has to prove it can exist somewhere closer to this performance extreme rather than the other it in which it resided recently, but conjuring an answer for the league's most efficient attack made quite the statement.
