NFL Picks Week 9: Home Teams Sure to Fall Flat Against Unwelcome Guests

It's one thing to be a gracious host—it's entirely another to allow your guests to have their run of the place, doing what they want, when they want.

For a handful of NFL teams in Week 9, they are going to find themselves in a similar situation, as the road teams they'll be hosting are going to walk out of their houses with a win—and there isn't much that the home team can do to stop it from happening.

Denver Broncos (3-3) at Cincinnati Bengals (3-4)

With a bye in Week 8, the Cincinnati Bengals have had nearly two weeks to prepare for Peyton Manning's arrival.

It's all for naught though as Manning has been throwing the ball as well as he ever has, throwing for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in each of his past three games going up against a Bengals pass defense that is allowing more than 280 yards through the air and has only three interceptions on the season.

Detroit Lions (3-4) at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5)

Sure, the Jacksonville Jaguars hung in with the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 while the Detroit Lions needed more fourt quarter heroics to comeback and beat the Seattle Seahawks, but there's a reason that these teams have the records they have.

Detroit hasn't played up to their potential while Jacksonville simply isn't a very good team.

The Jags rank 23rd against the pass—to be fair, Detroit is even worse against the pass, ranking 30th in the NFL—but the Lions have a far more prolific offense than Jacksonville does.

Even with Jags QB Blaine Gabbert having his first career 300-yard passing day in Week 8, Jacksonville's defense won't be able to keep up with the multiple weapons that Lions QB Matthew Stafford has at his disposal.

Chicago Bears (5-1) at Tennessee Titans (3-4)

It's true: the Chicago Bears were lucky to escape Week 8 with a win against the Carolina Panthers, while the Tennessee Titans lost a heart-breaker to the Indianapolis Colts in overtime.

But the Bears still have one of the best defenses in the NFL, allowing an average of 13 points per game, while the Titans' defense gives up an NFL-worst 34 points per contest.

Offensively, they're close in terms of points, with the Bears averaging 27 points per game while the Titans average just over 21 points per game.

But the defensive advantage that the Bears have will simply be too much for the Titans to handle, even with a veteran signal-caller like Matt Hasselbeck under center.