NFL Week 9 Picks

I went 8-5 last week bringing my record to 65-52 for the season. It wasn’t a bad week, but I can do better. Let’s see what happens this week.

     NYJ vs. DET

                                 While Detroit has been showing the progress they’ve been making the past few years, they still haven’t been winning a lot of games. I’m not of the opinion that they’ll be able to overcome the stifling Jets defense to win this game. Jets win.

                MIA vs. BAL 

                                  Miami has shown that they have the ability to compete with even the best of teams; however they don’t show that level of play consistently. A lot of this has to do with the fact that they are still transitioning to Chad Henne as their full time quarterback and getting use to the loss of Joey Porter and Jason Taylor as leaders of the defense. Baltimore should be able shut down the Miami offense enough to win this game, but this season has shown that games like this could easily be turned on its head.

               

                NE vs. CLE

               

                                                Cleveland seems to have surrendered to the fact that they are rebuilding yet again this season. While Colt McCoy is doing the best he can in his first few starts, he’s not enough to give the Browns any kind of advantage over the Patriots. New England should win easily.

                SD vs. HOU

                                 This is somewhat easier to pick. While Phillip Rivers should have a great game since he is playing of the NFL’s worst pass defenses, San Diego has been horribly mistake prone. It’s likely they’ll give up as many turnovers as they could force if their defense was playing at its best. I don’t think they’ll be able to contend with the Texans offensively or defensively. Texans win.

                CHI vs. BUF

                                 I really don’t know what to say here. While Buffalo is winless, they are still a really tough team and at any point could pull an upset. However, they never can seal the deal. Even if Jay Cutler throws a bunch of picks this week, the Bills will probably find some way to blow it. I’m going with Chicago.

                ARI vs. MIN

                                 The natural inclination is to give the major advantage to the Vikings. However, the Vikings have looked horrible this season and as long as Brett Favre continues to be the starter and tries to fight through his ankle injury, the Vikings are going to struggle to be successful. I’m still picking the Vikings to win, because Derek Anderson is still very turnover prone and Adrian Peterson can still carry this offense on the strength of his running.

                TB vs. ATL *Game of the Week*

                                 This game became the game of the week for two major reasons. The first reason is that these are two of the three best teams in the NFC, facing off to determine the leader in the NFC South. The second is because the Falcons are my favorite team and I wanted to get them in a game of the week. This matchup comes down to the rushing offense of the Falcons facing the rushing defense of the Buccaneers. The Bucs have the third worst rushing defense in the NFL while the Falcons have the fifth best rush offense. This gives the edge (and my pick) to the Falcons. However, Josh Freeman has shown that he can pull the Bucs out of the jaws of defeat in the fourth quarter, so he could still pull this victory out.

                NO vs. CAR

                                 Logic tells me that this game should easily go to the Saints. However New Orleans has played down to their opponents on several occasions and are barely able to get the turnovers their defense needed to be anything more than mediocre. I’m still picking them to win over the rebuilding Panthers, however they could blow it for no reason other than they can.

                NYG vs. SEA

                                 Matt Hasselback is sitting out this game and Charlie Whitehurst is getting his first start against the Giants who have knocked out five other quarterbacks. I’m going with the Giants in this one. Can you guess why?

                IND vs. PHI 

                                 Michael Vick returns from injury and gets his first start against the Colts. I’m certainly not a fan of the rotating quarterback situation that the Eagles seem to have decided to go with, but I can’t deny the success they have experienced to this point. However, I don’t think that they’ll play well enough to keep pace with the Colts.

                                 

              

                KC vs. OAK

                                 Definitely one of the more interesting matchups of this weekend, this game will determine which team has the advantage in the AFC West title race. Oakland has been surprisingly good offensively these past few weeks and their defense has found ways to stifle opposing offenses. Kansas City has also found ways to win, using their great rushing offense and tough minded defense to win games. Ultimately I have to go with Kansas City on the basis of that rushing offense. It’s the best in the NFL while the Raiders have the 26^th ranked rushing defense. I think that matchup says it all.

                DAL vs. GB

                                 Both of these teams have looked very little like the Super Bowl contenders they were thought to be coming into the season. Green Bay has lost a good number of starters and key contributors to injury and Dallas has lost their starting quarterback. Dallas clearly has last the more important piece of their offense and the Packers have one of the best pass rushing defenses in the NFL right now. I’m going with the Packers.

                PIT vs. CIN

                                 It looks more and more like Cincinnati’s division title last year was a fluke. They still have a dangerous passing offense, but Cedric Benson looks like a shadow of the player he was last year and the defense seems to have taken a huge step back. Pittsburgh should win this game handily.