The Post’s High Five for Week 9 would not be complete without two of the most marquee matchups we’ve seen all season — the 8-0 Rams vs. the 6-1 Saints and the 6-2 Patriots hosting the 3-3-1 Packers.
But those aren’t the only games or issues to watch:
Game to watch I
The Rams-Saints clash in New Orleans looks like an NFC Championship game preview. With a win, the Saints would be a half-game behind the Rams but would hold the tiebreaker.
The Saints have not lost a game since their season-opening defeat to the Buccaneers. Only the Rams have a longer winning streak. The Saints’ past three wins have come against teams that were leading their respective divisions (Redskins, Ravens, Vikings).
“This week’s game will be different,’’ New Orleans coach Sean Payton told reporters this past week. “It’ll be a different type team, how [the Rams] play — much different than Minnesota in regards to their defensive structure, their offensive structure.’’
The Rams come off a week in which narrowly escaped with a 29-27 win over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. For L.A., it gets no easier Sunday against Saints quarterback Drew Brees.
“You’re looking at another week where a guy, first-ballot Hall of Famer, all-time leading passer, completing 77 percent of his balls,” Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters. “I think just their offensive operation with his command, his presence is incredible. They’ve got a great balance of run and pass. Then obviously, Drew, in terms of just the timing, the rhythm, the accuracy and the anticipation, he’s one of the best of all time at that.”
The Saints defeated the Rams, 26-20, last season — largely in part because they kept Rams star running back Todd Gurley out of the end zone. Gurley is an early favorite for the league’s MVP with a NFL-leading 800 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Game to watch II
When the Patriots host the Packers, it’ll mark the just second time Tom Brady and Rodgers will have faced each other as starting quarterbacks. The only previous meeting came in 2014, when the Packers won 26-21 in Green Bay. The last time the Packers visited the Patriots was in 2010, and Rodgers missed the game because he was injured.
Brady, speaking on his WEEI weekly radio show, called Rodgers “inspiring,” adding, “I watch his game and it makes me want to get out there and practice and improve, because I think he’s so phenomenal with how he manages himself in the pocket. His ability to throw the football is unlike anyone in probably the history of the league. It’s pretty awesome to watch.”
Brady, like Rodgers a native of the Bay Area in California, even said Rodgers “throws some of the best incompletions I’ve ever seen.”
Brady, whose Patriots are in control of the AFC East, called Sunday “a big game for us,’’ and described the Packers as “a great football team.’’
“They’re in it every year, and Aaron is one of the best to ever play,” Brady said.
“He’s got five championships,” Rodgers told reporters of Brady. “So that ends most discussions, I think.”
Rodgers has one Super Bowl title to Brady’s five wins and record eight appearances.
“Tom has been at the top of his game for over a decade, playing at a high level, winning MVPs, obviously winning Super Bowls,” Rodgers said. “He’s been a phenomenal player in this league. I enjoy competing against great players, and obviously Tom is right at the top.”
Trade matchup to watch
The trading deadline sometimes creates interesting matchups in the immediate aftermath.
It certainly has in the case of the Broncos and receiver Demaryius Thomas, whom they traded to the Texans on Tuesday. The Texans, with Thomas catching passes from Deshaun Watson now, play at Denver on Sunday.
The Broncos made it clear when they made the trade how much they’ve valued Thomas and announced they not only plan to honor him Sunday but eventually put him their ring of honor.
Thomas told reporters it will be “very strange to come here [and] then to get ready to play in the Mile High City that [I’ve] been playing in for the last 8½ years.”
“But it’s ball and I’ve got to deal with it,” Thomas said. “It means a lot, but at the end of the day, it’s still the Houston Texans trying to get a win. That will be my main focus before the game, throughout the game and if we get to do it at the end of the game, that will be the focus.”
Broncos coach Vance Joseph called Thomas “a great person, first of all, great player for a long time with this football team. He is a good man. He was all-in all the time.’’
“It’s going to be different, obviously, trading him to a team we’re playing on Sunday,” Joseph said.
“He’s going to want to come up here and show us we made a mistake trading him,” Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. told reporters. “So we got to stop that.’’
Thomas, who has 36 catches for 402 yards and three TDs in eight games this season, called going to Houston “a great opportunity for me.”
“Change can be good, it can be bad,’’ he said. “But I think it’s going to be good here. I’m excited to get to work and see what I can do to help this squad out.”
Cleveland calamity to watch
Not only do the 2-5-1 Browns enter Sunday’s game against the high-flying 7-1 Chiefs having just fired their head coach and offensive coordinator, but they’ll be doing it with rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield trying to pick up the pieces to the broken franchise.
“Bring it on,” Mayfield told reporters this week. “For me, [the firings were] definitely something new. It caught me off guard, but [we] have to roll with the punches. We have to stick together as a team. We have to use this as something to make us come together.’’
The Browns haven’t had a winning season since 2007 and fired head coach Hue Jackson on Monday after he went 3-36-1 in his tenure, along with offensive coordinator Todd Haley. They are now guided by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was elevated to interim head coach, with running backs coach Freddie Kitchens becoming the interim offensive coordinator.
Williams, 60, hasn’t been a head coach since he was in Buffalo from 2001-0303, during which time the Bills were 17-31. He was suspended in 2012 by the NFL for conducting a bounty program while he was defensive coordinator with the Saints.
“With all the distractions, we will see what kind of men we have in this room,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, it could be a huge distraction, or it could be something that could bring this locker room even closer.”
Fitzmagic trick to watch
He’s baaaaaaack. Yes, Ryan Fitzpatrick, he of not nine lives but at least 18 lives, will start at quarterback for the Buccaneers at Carolina.
Fitzpatrick, who started the first three games for Tampa while Jameis Winston served a three-game NFL suspension and went 2-1, was reinserted into the lineup last week after Winston threw four INTs against the Bengals.
He completed 11 of 15 passes for 194 yards and two TDs to lead Tampa back from an 18-point deficit to force overtime in a game the Bengals later won on a last-second field goal.
“Last in the league in turnover ratio at minus-13,” Bucs coach Dirk Koetter told reporters. “We’re not getting any, but that’s one thing — minus-three a week ago and minus-four in this game [against the Bengals]. It just can’t happen.”
Winston turned over the ball 11 times in four games (three starts). Fitzpatrick has thrown for 1,550 yards with 13 TDs and five INTs this season.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been benched,” Winston said. “It’s humbling, and it’s definitely something I can grow from and learn from, and you know what, it just adds to the story. I didn’t expect [the benching], but one thing about me, I can be honest with myself in terms of playing on the field, and turnovers. If you turn the ball over at any [level], college, high school, it’s going to put your team in a bad position to win, and we need to win as a team. I definitely understood why coach Koetter went with Fitz.’’
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