NFL winners and losers: Jim Harbaugh is already working his magic with the Chargers

Jim Harbaugh should have needed a little time to turn the Los Angeles Chargers around.

They had an interesting roster, but one that didn't really fit the style of play Harbaugh prefers. And the Chargers hadn't won anything notable in a long time. They also had to let a lot of veterans go last offseason due to salary cap issues.

Additionally, Harbaugh has not been in the NFL for nine seasons. The game rotates completely during this time. For everyone else, that alone would have required a period of getting used to it.

But it is clear, and has been for some time, that Harbaugh is one of the best football coaches in the world. He proves it again with the Chargers. The Chargers dominated the Cleveland Browns 27-10 on Sunday to improve to 5-3. They face the Titans (2-6) and Bengals (4-5) at home in the next two weeks and can take a step toward a commanding lead in a relatively weak AFC wild-card race.

Be so cynical about beating the Browns, but it's the same Cleveland team that beat the Baltimore Ravens a week ago. And they had no chance against the Chargers.

The Chargers took advantage of the Browns' mistakes, which is what happens when a team is well-coached. Two bad Browns coverages led to two long touchdowns by Justin Herbert. That was all the Browns needed. After that, the defense took over, making Jameis Winston look like the error-prone quarterback we're used to.

Harbaugh's method is pretty old-fashioned. He wants to run the ball and play defense, even against a talented quarterback like Herbert. That led the University of Michigan to a 15-0 record and a national title last season. Herbert was good and was almost perfect on Sunday, showing that he can perhaps be more efficient when not everything is asked of him. Harbaugh's route is working again in the NFL, although there's plenty of reason to believe it might take him some time to get things going. Imagine what he'll do with a few more offseasons to build the roster. Maybe the Chiefs (7-0) finally have a challenger in the AFC West.

The Chargers have been largely irrelevant since moving from San Diego to LA. The only thing they were known for was strange ways of losing games and constant underperformance. That will change under Harbaugh. And faster than it probably should have been.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 9 of the NFL season:

WINNER

Tyler Bass: We can't say Bass is forgiven for missing a key field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs last postseason. But Bass was a hero on Sunday.

Bass, who missed an extra point early in the game, hit a 61-yard field goal with five seconds left to defeat the Miami Dolphins 30-27. The Bills found themselves only because of a terrible, unnecessary roughness penalty by Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer on a third-and-9 incompletion in the final minute when Poyer hurled himself helmet-first at rookie Keon Coleman. That kept the Bills' drive alive and gave them just enough yards for Bass to attempt the long field goal.

The Bills (7-2) will run away with the AFC East. They could do it before December. Bass' long kick ended any dreams the Dolphins had of becoming relevant again this season.

Joe Burrow: No one should have questioned that, but Burrow reminded everyone on Sunday that he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Burrow cruised to a 41-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. He had five touchdown passes, tying his career high, and leading to an easy win against a bad team. The Bengals need wins to get out of the slump, no matter who they play. At 4-5, they are far from dead in the AFC wild card race.

If the Bengals manage to make the playoffs, it will be because of Burrow. He played well on Sunday without Tee Higgins, who missed another game due to injury. What we saw on Sunday is what many people expected from the Bengals all season. It just took a long time for them to warm up.

NFC South leading Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons picked up some lucky victories early on. That pays off.

The Falcons are getting better and better as the season goes on and it looks like they will pull away with the NFC South. The Falcons handled their business against a bad Dallas Cowboys team, with Kirk Cousins ​​scoring three touchdowns in a 27-21 win.

The Falcons defense also did its job. It blew up a crucial four-on-1 Jet sweep against CeeDee Lamb that will be talked about a lot as people wonder if head coach Mike McCarthy will be fired soon. According to the Fox broadcast, Atlanta forced four turnovers on downs, the most for the Cowboys in a game since 2000. The Falcons limited the Cowboys' passing attack and eventually knocked Dak Prescott out of the game with a hamstring injury. And the Falcons' offense has improved as Cousins ​​becomes more comfortable.

Despite a few victories, it wasn't quite that early yet. Now the Falcons look like a real division winner.

LOSER

Dennis Allen and the Saints: There isn't much reason for New Orleans to stick with Allen any longer.

Allen and the Saints lost 23-22 to the weak Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Bryce Young led a late touchdown drive to take the lead. Then the Panthers got a stop by repelling a deep pass from Derek Carr on fourth down to complete the victory. That will probably be enough for Allen to be the Saints' head coach. The only question that remains is whether the Saints want to make a change during the season or wait until it is completed.

The Saints have had injuries, including an injury to star receiver Chris Olave during Sunday's game, but that doesn't excuse everything. Since a 2-0 start, they have been one of the worst teams in the NFL. Allen is between 18 and 25 years old as the Saints coach. They fall behind. There is no reason for the team to wait any longer to decide Allen's future, especially after Sunday.

Daniel Jones: The New York Giants had to be in bad shape on Sunday as they looked across the field and knew that the Washington Commanders had found their star quarterback for the next decade in Jayden Daniels.

The Giants still don't have a quarterback and that showed in a 27-22 loss. Daniel Jones struggled again in the first half on Sunday and took his team out of the game early. Jones had the strangest passing line you can find in the first half, completing 4 of 6 passes for a touchdown and…zero yards. According to ESPN Stats and Info, he became the first quarterback since at least 2000 to have a touchdown pass in a half but no passing yards. Jones played better in the second half, but his first half was too much to overcome.

The Commanders have made a huge leap in just one offseason, thanks in large part to figuring out their quarterback. The Giants will soon begin the search for their next quarterback.

Denver Broncos against a tough opponent: The Broncos have some quality wins. Winning away games with the Buccaneers and Jets isn't all that bad. But they were 5-3 largely because there were some flaws in the game plan, and to their credit, Denver took advantage of that.

But the schedule is getting tougher and the Broncos' outing on Sunday wasn't a good first impression.

The Broncos allowed two first-half touchdowns to Baltimore Ravens receiver Zay Flowers and fell behind 24-10 at halftime. Things never got better in the second half and the Ravens, one of the best teams in the NFL, cruised to a 41-10 win. Many teams will lose to Baltimore this season, but the Broncos exposed themselves as a bit of a contender, posing as the AFC's top wild-card team entering this weekend.

Sunday's loss doesn't mean the Broncos are falling apart. It just showed that they are far from being a team anyone would worry about playing in the postseason.

Jerod Mayo ruins Drake Maye's moment: The New England Patriots offense, particularly rookie quarterback Maye, may have been gassed. He ran around for what seemed like a minute before throwing a fantastic, desperation touchdown pass to Rhamondre Stevenson as time expired.

But Mayo still should have gone for the 2-point conversion.

The Patriots hit the extra point to tie the Titans and send Sunday's game to overtime instead of going for 2 and the win, and that left too much to chance. The Titans got the ball first in overtime and went on a long drive. They kicked a field goal and then intercepted Maye's deep pass to complete Tennessee's 20-17 victory.

Since the Patriots are an underdog on the road (2-7), they probably should have gone for 2. It's not like they have much to lose. For a new head coach, that's a lesson to be learned.