NFL Week 9 Predictions: Projections for the Early Lines, Spreads and Odds

Now would be the time for bettors to capitalize on NFL Week 9 opening lines. 

Las Vegas is by no means perfect, and the early offerings each week always present some serious holes for savvy bettors to make some notable coin on if they invest quality research into the matchups.

Whether it is a line that is entirely too large—take a look at the Seattle Seahawks spread in the table below—or a spread that will surely turn out to be downright wrong, bettors willing to invest the time early in the week can perhaps earn more than someone who waits to recover after a long weekend.

Act fast, though, as lines change in a hurry.

NFL Week 9 Picks Against the Spread

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Reason
New Orleans at Carolina (Thurs., Oct. 30)	CAR -2.5	NO	Two teams headed in opposite directions on a short week favors the one with momentum.
Tampa Bay at Cleveland	CLE -6	CLE	Cleveland is much, much better than Tampa Bay, which says a lot about both.
Arizona at Dallas	DAL -4	DAL	Dallas is the best team in the league right now and has an offense that will abuse one of the worst pass defenses.
Philadelphia at Houston	PHI -1	PHI	As long as Philadelphia totes a balanced attack, the Eagles can win.
NY Jets at Kansas City	KC -11	KC	Next question.
Jacksonville at Cincinnati	CIN -13.5	JAC	See analysis below.
San Diego at Miami	MIA -1.5	SD	See analysis below.
Washington at Minnesota	WAS -1	MIN	Minnesota has a stingy defense that can take advantage of a miserable quarterback situation.
St. Louis at San Francisco	SF -10	STL	St. Louis always shows strongly in divisional battles, if not pulls off an upset.
Denver at New England	DEN -3	DEN	New England is hot right now, but Peyton Manning is even better.
Oakland at Seattle	SEA -16.5	OAK	The Raiders are bad, but nobody should pretend the Seahawks inspire this much confidence after a miserable stretch.
Baltimore at Pittsburgh	PIT -1.5	BAL	Baltimore is better on both sides of the football and will come out angry after a divisional loss.
Indianapolis at NY Giants (Mon., Nov. 3)	N/A	IND (Outright)	Indianapolis has a strong defense that will slow Eli Manning and Co.

Odds via Odds Shark as of 11 p.m. ET, Oct. 26.

Opening Lines to Utilize

Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals (-13.5)

Even at their best, the Cincinnati Bengals have rarely just blown away the competition this season.

The worst part about the Bengals, seemingly as always, is that they are unpredictable at best on a week-to-week basis. Case in point, Cincinnati was hot out of the gates with three wins, then suffered a blowout, a tie, another blowout and just won by a field goal over the Baltimore Ravens.

Good news continues to seep out of the Queen City, though, as the team sounds as if it will have star wideout A.J. Green back for this showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"I think I'll be back. I'll practice this week and see how it goes, but I think I'll be fine," Green said, per Joe Reedy of Fox Sports Ohio. "I was at 40 percent last week and I feel about 80 percent today. I haven't had any soreness after I've worked out."

The thing is, while Jacksonville ranks 30th against the pass, Cincinnati comes in at 27th. Even worse for the home team, its defense ranks 30th against the rush, allowing an average of 146.3 yards per game on the ground.

Now pair that with the fact the Jaguars have finally found a serious threat in the backfield in the form of Denard Robinson, as the numbers from his last two games show:

OPP	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
vs. CLE	22	127	5.8	1
vs. MIA	18	108	6.0	0

Jacksonville has a load of problems, but Gus Bradley and his staff will surely look to stay on the ground and keep Andy Dalton and an erratic Bengals offense off the field.

Add in the fact that the Bengals have a habit of playing down to the competition and may be ripe for a letdown, and Jacksonville—for once—seems like a sound bet.

Prediction: Bengals 27, Jaguars 17

San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins (-1.5)

USA TODAY Sports

It is easy to write off the San Diego Chargers. The team enters Sunday losers of two straight, whereas the Miami Dolphins have won two straight. Add in the fact a team from out west traveling east usually spells trouble, and Miami is right to be the favorite.

Well, somewhat. As ESPN's James Walker muses, the Chargers have had plenty of time to make the proper adjustments: 

On the other side of things, Miami must continue to stress over the fact its season is on the line, as Bleacher Report's Alessandro Miglio illustrates:

Call it a war of strengths. Miami touts a top-10 pass defense that has stifled strong passing attacks such as that of the Green Bay Packers thanks to players such as corner Brent Grimes. But San Diego has Philip Rivers, who continues to play at a stunning rate even if his interceptions have been kicked up a notch in the past few weeks.

Rivers has completed worse than 70 percent of his passes just three times this season. He has thrown for a minimum of three touchdowns five times. Keep in mind that he is backed by a top-10 pass defense of his own and a top-15 rush defense.

With ample time to prepare and angry after a loss to the Denver Broncos, feel confident in riding with the Chargers in Week 9.

Prediction: Chargers 30, Dolphins 24

Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay and Tennessee on bye.