Trade deadline’s surprising deals reflect wide-open playoff race

No one epitomizes a midseason adjustment quite like Duane Brown. A week ago, the Pro Bowl left tackle was getting ready to play in his first game of the season with the Houston Texans after holding out since the start of training camp over his contract.

Now Brown, traded on Monday, is adjusting to a new city, new playbook and new teammates with the Seattle Seahawks.

Shoot, there was even the matter of flying to Seattle for Sunday’s game – he knocked off the rust by playing 68 offensive snaps – and returning the next day after flying back to Houston.

It’s no wonder that Brown told reporters, it has been “a bit of a whirlwind of a week.”

The Brown trade looked to suffice as the big one before the deadline – Houston wound up with secondand third-round picks, in 2019 and 2018, respectively, after cornerback Jeremy Lane was sent back due to a failed physical – but was merely the first domino in the hours before the market closed on Tuesday.

The San Francisco 49ers landed Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots as perhaps their franchise quarterback. Jay Ajayi was dealt from Miami to Philadelphia. The Buffalo Bills got Kelvin Benjamin from Carolina.

And, well, Cleveland almost obtained A.J. McCarron.

Who says the NFL trade deadline does little to promote wheeling and dealing?

Not this time. The flurry of action before the deadline – and in the two weeks prior the Arizona Cardinals landed Adrian Peterson and the Jacksonville Jaguars obtained Marcell Dareus – illustrates that there’s a lot of urgency in the NFL that can be connected to just how wide open the playoff race is as the second half of the season looms.

For the most part, the trades reflect a win-now mentality seemingly bolstered by the standings.

Take the deal for Benjamin. Surely, new Bills general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott – who both came from Carolina – have an intimate read on Benjamin. Yet their team is also 5-3, positioned to maybe end the NFL’s longest playoff drought, and sorely in need to improve one of the league’s worst passing attacks. Now, it has Benjamin, an instant, tall target for Tyrod Taylor.

Ajayi, meanwhile, adds punch to an injury-challenged backfield that also hasn’t had the desired impact from offseason free agent pickup LeGarrette Blount. For all that has gone right for the Eagles and Carson Wentz in building the NFL’s best record (7-1), Blount has just two TDs. Last year, with New England, he led the NFL with 18 TDs.

Every team in the league, even the ones who didn’t make deadline trades, has some key issue to address. That’s life in the NFL.

Think of how dangerous the Kansas City Chiefs would be if they could fix the run defense. Bill Belichick, with the NFL’s top-ranked offense and worst-ranked defense, has lamented the red-zone attack and big plays allowed. With the NFC North wide open after Aaron Rodgers fractured his collarbone, the Detroit Lions would stand a much better chance if they could run the football with any consistency.

The action on the trade market, meanwhile, underscored the potential benefit of quick-fixes… which might also settle issues for the long term.

Phil Savage, the former NFL general manager and executive director of the Senior Bowl, agrees that the robust trade market indicates more teams are willing to “go for it” amid a wide-open race.

Yet Savage also notes at least two other factors:

“Teams assessing what may be available in the draft and free agency and deciding a trade is a better option.”

“More GMs from contract/salary cap background, willing to try and make something happen.”

Time will tell which trade ultimately has the biggest impact. For the long haul, maybe that will be Garoppolo, joining a winless team. But who knows? He didn’t get much action as Tom Brady’s backup. So there’s not much of a track record. And his durability must be proved.

For this season, maybe it’s Brown, a seasoned left tackle who fills a major hole for a team that looks poised to make another strong push for the Super Bowl.

If you’ve seen the Seahawks this season, you’ve seen Russell Wilson scrambling for time and creative magic on the run. Brown, whose work under Alex Gibbs earlier in his career was lauded by Seattle coaches because of his familiarity with O-line coach Tom Cable’s schemes, will presumably settle some of that.

Yet he may have even more of an impact as a plow for the running game that the Seattle desperately need to establish.

Still, you wonder what it says that Houston, unwilling to renegotiate Brown’s contract, would trade away its best O-linemen. Yet that’s trending, too. Miami traded away its best running back. Carolina dealt away its best receiver, adding to Cam Newton’s frustrations. Buffalo traded away its best defensive lineman, adding to Jacksonville’s deep defensive line.

All of which set the stage for some serious adjustments down the stretch. Here is a breakdown of the most intriguing Week 9 duels:

Rams (5-2) at Giants (1-6)

The matchup: An unexpectedly high-scoring offense has received much of the publicity through the Rams’ surprisingly strong start, their best since 2003, but lately the defense has risen to a championship level. In its last three games, LA has allowed 275.3 yards and 11 points per game while recording 11 sacks and five interceptions. The Rams’ 10.6 points-per-game margin of victory is the NFL’s largest, more bad news for the Giants, who come out of their bye week knowing that, for all intents and purposes, their season is over. The story lines floating around are familiar to losing teams – who’s to blame (general manager Jerry Reese and coach Ben McAdoo are on the hot seat) and whether to bench aging QB Eli Manning in favor of rookie Davis Webb. The offense has been a disaster all season, ranking 30th in scoring (16 points per game). Expect the booing to continue. The Giants have six players listed as out, including LB Jonathan Casillas (neck), who had hoped to play.

Broncos (3-4) at Eagles (7-1)

The matchup: This is the third of three consecutive road games for the Broncos, who have six takeaways after seven games. There have been consistent offensive issues in a stretch of five games in which they have scored a total of 71 points. In the last three games, the Broncos had 11 turnovers and went 13 quarters with only one TD. With Eagles LT Jason Peters lost for the season (knee), Halapoulivaati Vaitai played the position in the 33-10 victory over the 49ers. The jury remains out as QB Carson Wentz was sacked three times and the offense had six three-and-outs, averaged 4.6 yards per play and was 4-for-14 on third down. The Eagles have been especially strong coming out of the locker room, outscoring opponents 47-9 in the first quarter and 58-30 in the third.

Redskins (3-4) at Seahawks (5-2)

The matchup: A Redskins defense that held the Raiders to 10 points a few weeks ago has given up more than 30 points to Philadelphia and Dallas back-to-back, and Seattle is coming off its most impressive offensive performance of the season. QB Kirk Cousins might have to be at his best, because Washington’s leading rusher last weekend, RB Rob Kelley, gained 19 yards. Washington is 3-1 this season when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards and 0-3 when teams run for triple figures. But Seattle’s offensive line won’t pose the same challenge the Cowboys’ line does. While Seahawks QB Russell Wilson continues to make plays when needed, he’ll need more out of the run game and a better performance from the defense if the Seahawks are to survive again.

Chiefs (6-2) at Cowboys (4-3)

The matchup: The Chiefs are among the AFC’s elite thanks to their top-five offense. The catalyst is QB Alex Smith, in the midst of his best season. The veteran leads the league in passer rating (120.5), completion percentage (.724) and interception percentage (0). RB Kareem Hunt leads the league in rushing (763 yards), but winning the time of possession battle will be tough vs. the Cowboys, who have topped 32 minutes in each of their last three games. RB Ezekiel Elliott had his six-game suspension reinstated, but the players union has appealed and it’s possible the NFL will let him play this weekend. That would be huge for the Cowboys as the Chiefs rank near the bottom of the league against the run.

Lions (3-4) at Packers (4-3)

The matchup: Detroit piled up 482 yards in its 20-15 loss to the Steelers, the third most in NFL history by a team without a TD. QB Matthew Stafford posted his eighth 400-plus yard passing game – the Lions are 3-5 in them – and, along with the defense, played much better after the bye than he was heading into it. It’s a brave new world for the Packers, who placed QB Aaron Rodgers on injured reserve October 20 with a broken right collarbone and start Brett Hundley. The Packers must forge a new offensive identity to stay in the division race with the 6-2 Minnesota Vikings, winners of four in a row including the game that likely ended Rodgers’ season. Byes: Bears, Browns, Chargers, Patriots, Steelers, Vikings. (USA Today/TNS)