Week 9's Rest Is a Quarterback Story: Wentz, Sanders and Burrow in Madrid

Week 9 opened Thursday night with Jacksonville's 33-10 win in Baltimore, and the rest of the slate — 14 games from Sunday morning in Madrid to Monday night in Minneapolis — runs on one theme: quarterbacks. Who has one, who lost one, and who is about to hand the ball to somebody nobody planned on in August. Here is the weekend, game window by game window.

Madrid gets the hottest arm in football

Sunday starts at the Santiago Bernabéu, where the Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) meet the Atlanta Falcons (3-5) at 9:30 a.m. ET in the NFL's second regular-season game in Madrid. Cincinnati arrives behind the performance of the season so far: Joe Burrow threw for 462 yards and five touchdowns and ran for the overtime winner in a 43-36 win over Tennessee, with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combining for 21 catches, 296 yards and three touchdowns, RotoWire reported. DAZN's Week 9 preview notes Burrow is up to 20 touchdown passes in seven games.

Atlanta's counter is Bijan Robinson and a desperate need for a response. The Falcons just lost 16-0 to Tampa Bay in a game where Michael Penix Jr. threw four interceptions, per DAZN. If Atlanta cannot run the ball and shorten this game, Burrow in a dome-like shootout window is the worst assignment in the league right now.

Cleveland's decision makes itself

The early window's most-watched quarterback room is in New Orleans, where the Cleveland Browns (5-3) visit the Saints on Sunday. Deshaun Watson entered the concussion protocol on November 3 after reporting symptoms from a helmet-to-helmet hit in the loss at Pittsburgh, and the Akron Beacon Journal reported Shedeur Sanders took the first-team reps in practice while Watson sat. Sanders is in line to make his first start of the season if Watson cannot clear the protocol.

This is not new territory for Sanders — a concussion to the starter is what opened the door to his first NFL start as a rookie last season, and he turned that chance into seven straight starts to close the year, the Beacon Journal noted. The difference now is the stakes: Cleveland is 5-3 and in the playoff race, not playing out a string. How Sanders handles a real defense with a real record on the line is the early window's best storyline.

Sunday night, then a Monday night problem

Sunday night belongs to Chicago: the Bears (6-2), in their third straight primetime game, host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5), who have won two straight since Baker Mayfield's return, according to NBC Sports' Week 9 schedule breakdown. The same breakdown flags Green Bay at New England as the late window's headline game.

Then Monday night closes the week with the best records and the biggest question. The Buffalo Bills (6-1) visit the Minnesota Vikings (6-1) at U.S. Bank Stadium — and Minnesota will start Carson Wentz. Reuters reported head coach Kevin O'Connell ruled Kyler Murray out with a hamstring strain, called him week to week, and said injured reserve is not under consideration. Max Brosmer backs up Wentz, who makes his second start of the season and, per Athlon Sports, the 101st of his career.

Wentz against Josh Allen and Brian Flores' defense on the other sideline is the whole ballgame. Minnesota's defense has carried this team to 6-1; asking Wentz to protect the ball and let that unit work is a viable plan for exactly as long as the turnovers stay at zero. Allen, who has already stacked five games this season with both a passing and a rushing touchdown, does not usually cooperate with plans like that.

The deadline hangs over all of it

One more date matters this weekend: Tuesday, November 10 at 4 p.m. ET, the trade deadline. Bleacher Report's deadline tracker lists the moves already made — Jeffery Simmons to Chicago, Quenton Nelson to Seattle, DeForest Buckner to San Francisco, Marvin Harrison Jr. to Houston — and Baltimore's Brissett deal is expected to be completed this weekend. Every result on Sunday reprices somebody's decision on Monday morning. The Colts, who have already sold two starters, still hold the weekend's biggest name in Jonathan Taylor. Watch the games. Then watch the phones. Follow it all in The Zone, and compare the quarterbacks driving it in the Stats Hub.