NFL Predictions Week 9: Odds, Spread and Picks for Entire Schedule

So far, Week 9 looks like it should be a smooth one for NFL bettors.

Thursday Night Football came and went, with the Cincinnati Bengals in the neighborhood of favorites by 10 or more points against the Cleveland Browns before an eventual 31-10 shellacking.

The rest of the Week 9 slate doesn't seem much more difficult, even with six teams on bye. Granted, a whole week's worth of betting has influenced the current state of the lines, but that's no reason to back away.

Here's a look at the odds and spreads for the entire lineup with a pick for each.

NFL Week 9 Odds

Game	Spread	O/U	Predicted Winner
Miami at Buffalo	BUF -3	46	MIA 23-20
Green Bay at Carolina	GB -3	45.5	CAR 27-24
St. Louis at Minnesota	MIN -2.5	40	MIN 17-14
Washington at New England	NE -13	52	NE 30-24
Tennessee at New Orleans	NO -8.5	48	NO 27-20
Jacksonville at N.Y. Jets	NYJ -7	41	NYJ 23-20
Oakland at Pittsburgh	PIT -6	47.5	OAK 20-17
Atlanta at San Francisco	ATL -3	44.5	ATL 34-20
N.Y. Giants at Tampa Bay	NYG -1	47.5	NYG 33-24
Denver at Indianapolis	DEN -3	48	DEN 27-14
Philadelphia at Dallas	PHI -2.5	45.5	PHI 24-20
Chicago at San Diego	SD -3.5	52	SD 21-20

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.   

Jacksonville at N.Y. Jets (-7)

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

This won't be as simple as Las Vegas projects.

The New York Jets might be at home, but the team has fallen off a cliff in recent weeks, losing two straight. One came to the New England Patriots, sure, but the other was a 34-20 blowout on the road at the hands of an up-and-coming Oakland Raiders team.

Jacksonville happens to fit the same description this year. The team touts just two wins but is right in the thick of things in the miserable AFC South, and there's a budding young offense that can give any team issues.

Blake Bortles has thrown 15 scores to eight interceptions this year while leaning on the duo of Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns, who have at least five scores apiece. Rookie back T.J. Yeldon averages four yards per carry and 67.7 yards per game.

Simply put, the Jaguars are the type of team that comes out of nowhere to stun a playoff hopeful, as they did last week by upending the Buffalo Bills. The Jets are the type of team that fails to meet early expectations, as it has become clear that wins against the Browns, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins before a coaching change inflated the record.

With quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick playing with a thumb injury, look for the Jaguars to keep this one close by way of a few turnovers and a solid ground game.  The home team will still pull it out late, but not by the margin Las Vegas expects.

Prediction: Jets 23, Jaguars 20

Oakland at Pittsburgh (-6)

Make it two unexpected results in a row.

The Raiders have the playoffs on the mind, and this contest couldn't have bigger implications given the time of year.

It's why Oakland's Charles Woodson dropped this note to the media, according to ESPN.com: "I don't like being the underdog. I want to be expected to win games. I want these guys to go out there and be expected to win games. Yeah, it's a little premature to be thinking that far ahead, playoff-wise, but there's no reason you can't think of yourself as a playoff team."

Don't scoff—Oakland sits at 4-3 and one of the primary teams in the playoff hunt. Pittsburgh's at 4-4 and flirting with falling out of the race after last week, taking a loss to Cincinnati and losing Le'Veon Bell for the season despite the return of Ben Roethlisberger under center.

It's a lot to ask the Steelers to turn around from on a week's notice, especially against an underrated Oakland defense that lets up just 82.9 rushing yards per game.

Even if Big Ben gets hot through the air, Derek Carr's completing 65.5 percent of his passes with 15 scores to three interceptions and has one of the league's premier budding talents at wideout in rookie Amari Cooper, who has 39 catches for 565 yards and is one of four players with three touchdown grabs this year.

It's been an odd season so far. Oakland growing up and becoming a threat is part of it, and so is Pittsburgh getting hit with a wicked case of the injury bug. The two factors will show up big Sunday in an upset.

Prediction: Raiders 20, Steelers 17

Atlanta (-3) at San Francisco

How about a blowout this time?

The Atlanta Falcons have dropped two out of three to sit at 6-2, but it's in no way panic time considering both losses came against fellow NFC South members, divisional battles that tend to go either way.

Said losses don't change the fact that Matt Ryan's completing 67 percent of his passes with 11 scores, and it in no way takes away the fact that Devonta Freeman might be the breakout player of the year with his 709 yards and nine touchdowns on just 152 rushes.

It also doesn't change the competition.

After perhaps the worst offseason in NFL history, the 49ers look like this year's biggest disappointment at 2-6. As an ESPN.com writeup notes, San Francisco has benched Colin Kaepernick in favor of Blaine Gabbert and traded away tight end Vernon Davis. 

"I've watched Blaine get better each day and go about his business," coach Jim Tomsula said, per ESPN.com. "I've watched the balls he throws, how he practices, the seriousness and the way he prepares every week since he's been here. He's a veteran guy."

Gabbert has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns on his career and won't be able to match Ryan blow for blow, especially as his defense struggles with Freeman, meaning an average of 123.8 rushing yards surrendered per game will only get worse.

Three points isn't enough here. If there's a time for Atlanta to shore up defensive lapses and make a statement in a blowout, it's now.

Prediction: Falcons 34, 49ers 20

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of Nov. 8. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.