Posts tagged Week 9 NFL Picks

At Carolina -7.5 Atlanta
Panthers got momentum. They get Stewart back as well.
Pick: Panthers -7.5

At Dallas -10.5 Minnesota
Big spread’s justified. Cowboys rally behind Demarco as the Vikings look for answers at QB.
Pick: Cowboys -10.5

New Orleans -6 At NY Jets
Jets should find room to run, but could be down early. Brees lights it up.
Pick: Saints -6

Tennessee -3 At St. Louis
Locker gets back to business. Rams are banged up.
Pick: Titans -3

Kansas City -3 At Buffalo
No Thad Lewis. Should be a ground and pound type game that favors the team that doesn’t turn the ball over.
Pick: Chiefs -3

San Diego -1 At Washington
Redskins are under siege to change their name and the Chargers are well rested. I like the home team here.
Pick: Skins +1

At Oakland -2.5 Philadelphia
Foles doesn’t inspire and Raiders are coming off a big home win.
Pick: Raiders -2.5

At Seattle -16 Tampa Bay
Spread seems a bit too high.
Pick: Bucs +16

Baltimore -2.5 At Cleveland
Browns continue their descent.
Pick: Ravens -2.5

At New England -6.5 Pittsburgh
Upset city as the Steelers bounce back after finding room to run.
Pick: Steelers +6.5

Indianapolis -2.5 At Houston
Colts are hot and the Texans have lost 5 straight. Schaub gets benched and Foster is a game-time call.
Pick: Colts -2.5

At Green Bay -10.5 Chicago
Cutler-less Bears will struggle in Green Bay.
Pick: Packers -10.5

Last Week: 5-8
Season: 55-64-2
Last Season: 136-121-5

Atlanta -7 At Indianapolis
The Colts rank 31st in the league against the run, and the Falcons have been dialing up heavy doses of Michael Turner in recent weeks. Add in a healthy Julio Jones, and the Falcons should be able to handle a winless team that hasn’t been in a close game in weeks.
Pick: Falcons -7

At New Orleans -8 Tampa Bay
The NFC South features three teams that could make some noise in the playoffs. The “youngry” Bucs are streaky as hell, and the Saints have lost two straight. Blount is back for Tampa Bay, but I think the edge has to go to the home team here. Remember, the Bucs beat the Saints by three points earlier this year, but the Saints tend to crush people in the dome.
Pick: Saints -8

At Houston -10.5 Cleveland
The Texans have only lost once at home this season. The Browns offense is anemic at best, and it sounds like Hillis reinjured his hammy in practice this week. While Cleveland is pretty solid in defending the pass, the Browns are so-so at best against the run. Arian Foster has averaged 161.8 yards from scrimmage the past five games. Expect heavy doses of Foster as Houston wins easy.
Pick: Texans -10.5

At Buffalo -1.5 NY Jets
The Jets haven’t won a game on the road this season, and the Bills are just a hard team to root against. They’ve lost two games this season by a combined total of six points. The Jets have lost on the road to Oakland, Baltimore and New England, and those games weren’t really close. Sanchez should have a decent game, but I love Buffalo here. It’s a big opportunity for the 5-2 Bills to show that they’re first place status in the AFC East is legit.
Pick: Bills -1.5

At Kansas City -4 Miami
The Chiefs have won four straight after starting the season 0-3. The Dolphins are still searching for their first win of the year. As hard as Miami is playing, you just get the feeling that the Chiefs are working with some extra good vibe ju-ju right now. Fear the Haley beard and go with the home team that has all the momentum.
Pick: Chiefs -4

San Francisco -3.5 At Washington
All the 49ers do is win games and cover spreads. The John Beck era in D.C. has looked terrible. With a conservative approach on offense and a nasty streak on D, the Niners just need to play their game and watch the Skins implode on their own.
Pick: Niners -3.5

At Dallas -11.5 Seattle
This Cowboys team is frustrating as hell. One week their going toe-to-toe with New England and the next week they’re getting blown out by the Eagles. Romo needs to get on the same page with his receivers. Dez Bryant and Miles Austin were both held without a catch in the first half last week. Seattle surrenders 237.1 yards per game through the air, but Eli Manning and Big Ben tore up this defense. If Romo can sync up with his receivers this week, he could be in line for a big game. The spread is huge, but so is the urgency for the Cowboys to bounce back.
Pick: Cowboys -11.5

At Oakland -7.5 Denver
Carson Palmer says he’s got the offense down. We’ll see about that. Guy looked rusty as hell in his first game back. Darren McFadden is likely out, but Michael Bush is no slouch. He’s no DMC, but he can carry the load. Denver sucks. Tebow can’t get it done and everyone knows this.
Pick: Raiders -7.5

At Tennessee -3 Cincinnati
The Bengals make big plays on D and they play well on the road. Their only road loss was to the Orton-led Broncos in Week 2, who barely hung on to win by two points. The Titans have had an up and down season, and their running game has left much to be desired. The Bengals have held opponents to 85.4 yards per game on the ground, second best in the league. As long Dalton has a relatively mistake-free game, the Bengals should be able to win this one.
Pick: Bengals +3

At Arizona -3.5 St. Louis
Kevin Kolb was supposed to be the answer in Arizona, but it just hasn’t worked out that way. Now he’s hurt and there’s a good chance that John Skelton will get the nod. Starting four games last season, Skelton completed only 47.6 percent of his passes. His QB rating was 62.3. The Rams are coming off a huge upset win against the Saints. Steven Jackson rushed for 159 yards and two scores and AJ Feeley managed the game. With Bradford likely to sit again, expect S-Jax to carry the load for St. Louis. The QB that makes the least mistakes wins. I say it’s the Rams.
Pick: Rams +3.5

At New England -9 NY Giants
New England doesn’t lose at home, but the Pats will face all kinds of pressure upfront from New York’s dominant pass rush. The Giants sure can pass the ball, too. While Nicks and Bradshaw will probably miss the game, the Giants still have plenty of weapons. The Pats love bouncing back after tough losses, but I think this spread’s just a tad too high. The Pats win, but the G-Men keep it close.
Pick: Giants +9

Green Bay -5.5 At San Diego
Rivers actually had a pretty good game before he fumbled the win away in KC. He started slow and ended poorly, but the middle was strong. Rivers should be able to find some creases against a Green Bay pass defense that ranks 31st in the league and gives up 288.9 yards passing yards per game. That said, the Packers offense is just too damn good. They seem a little less potent on the road, but it’s hard to bet against this team. Expect a shoot out.
Pick: Packers -5.5

At Pittsburgh -3 Baltimore
Game of the week right here. We got a primetime slugfest between the two biggest rivals in the NFL. The Steelers want vengeance after their Week 1 road thumping in Baltimore. The Ravens offense has looked out of sync the past couple weeks. The Steelers have looked great on both sides of the ball, but the team will be short on linebackers on Sunday. Woodley and Farrior are out and Harrison’s questionable. Big Ben had a nightmare game against the Ravens is Week 1, but he did beat this team in seven consecutive starts before that. Even with the missing pieces on D, the Steelers are going to win the rematch. And after playing each other three times in the last two seasons, you just know these two teams are going to meet again.
Pick: Steelers -3

At Philadelphia -7.5 Chicago
I’m pretty sure I haven’t called a Bears game right all season. When you think they can dominate, they find a way to lose. When you’re think they’re vulnerable, they deliver a victory. This game seems like a tough one to call. The Eagles looked great against Dallas – balanced, efficient and equal parts desperate and devastating. The Bears have won four straight. Coming off the bye, I don’t think the Bears are going to get manhandled like the Cowboys did. The Eagles will probably win this one, but I think the Bears and their underpaid workhorse will keep things close.
Pick: Bears +7.5

Week 8: 9-4
Season: 67-44-9 ATS