Dowdle, Darnold, Allen or Bowers: NFL Week 9 'Himmy' Award

From improbable comebacks to blowouts, Week 9 offered a little bit of everything.

It started Thursday, when Lamar Jackson returned from injury and led the Baltimore Ravens' 28-6 rout of the Miami Dolphins with four touchdown passes.

On Sunday, the intensity increased, with nine of 12 games decided by one possession.

Highlights of the day included a 58-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left to give the Chicago Bears a 47-42 win in a wild finish. The Pittsburgh Steelers also provided drama, winning by just seven points despite forcing six Indianapolis Colts turnovers. And the Jacksonville Jaguars edged the Las Vegas Raiders by one point in overtime.

This week's matchups were action-packed with standout performances.

But only one player can be "him."

Ahead of this week's "Monday Night Football" matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys, it's time to decide who earned the honor in Week 9.

This week's nominees for ESPN's "HIMMY" Award are:

Rico Dowdle, Carolina Panthers running back

Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks quarterback

Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills quarterback

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders tight end

Already made up your mind? Cast your vote below. Need a refresher first? Keep reading for each candidate's case, then make it official.

ESPN Research contributed to this story.

Carolina Panthers RB Rico Dowdle

Stats to know: 25 car, 130 yards, 2 TDs

Dowdle was instrumental in Carolina's 16-13 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday that lifted the Panthers above .500 and snapped the Packers' three-game win streak. His second score gave the Panthers a 13-6 lead late in the third quarter, prompting a two pelvic thrust celebration -- a nod to the "Hingle McCringleberry" character from a "Key & Peele" sketch -- that drew an unsportsmanlike conduct flag but also caught the eye of the show's co-creator Keegan-Michael Key.

Dowdle's biggest play came in the final minute, when his long 19-yard run set up Ryan Fitzgerald's 49-yard game-winning field goal. Since making his first start of the season in Week 5, Dowdle has rushed for an NFL-best 633 yards, with the Panthers going 4-1 in that span.

Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold

Stats to know: 21-of-24, 330 yards, 4 TDs

Darnold was near-perfect against the Washington Commanders. At halftime, Darnold was 16-for-16 for 282 yards and four scores, with rookie wide receiver Tory Horton hauling in the first two and practice-squad elevation wide receiver Cody White adding another as the Seahawks built a 31-7 lead.

The numbers only got more absurd from there.

Darnold finished with a Total QBR of 97.8, the highest single-game mark of his career. There have been four instances of a player posting a Total QBR of 97 or higher this season, and Darnold owns three of them. His three games with at least a 97 Total QBR are tied for the most by a starting quarterback in a single season since ESPN began tracking the metric in 2006, matching Tom Brady (2007), Tony Romo (2014) and Lamar Jackson (2019).

He also became the first player in the play-by-play era (since 1978) to throw for at least 250 yards with zero incompletions in any half.

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen

Stats to know: 23-of-26, 273 yards, 1 TD; 6 car, 19 yards, 2 TDs

Allen delivered a near-perfect outing of his own. The reigning MVP set a franchise record for completion percentage (88.5%) and piled up a career-best 149 passing yards to tight ends, targeting Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes.

It was Allen's 47th career game with both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown, extending his own NFL record. He now has 72 career rushing touchdowns, pulling within three of Cam Newton for the most by a quarterback in NFL history.

Since 2020 -- the first season Allen and Patrick Mahomes faced off -- the Bills are 5-1 in regular-season games against the Kansas City Chiefs. No other team has more than three wins over Kansas City in that span.

Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers

Stats to know: 12 rec, 127 yards, 3 TDs

Bowers keeps rewriting the record books. The Raiders' tight end extended his streak of games with at least two receptions to 22, the longest such run to start a career by a tight end, passing Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta's mark set in 2023. He also became the first tight end with at least 125 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns in a game since Rob Gronkowski in 2014 with the New England Patriots.

Bowers made Raiders history as the team's first tight end with three touchdowns and at least 125 receiving yards in a game since Todd Christensen in 1983 against the then-San Diego Chargers.

Bowers now has 1,546 receiving yards in 22 career games -- the fewest games needed by any tight end to reach 1,500 receiving yards since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger.

Click here to read article