NFL Week 9 Predictions: Can't-Miss Picks and Matchup Guide

Week 9 of the 2013 NFL season is about to begin with the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals squaring off on Thursday Night Football.

It’s a decent matchup that a ton of gamblers are going to place a wager on, but there are going to be better opportunities to back a sure-thing come Sunday.

Let’s take a look at the latest lines for every game, check out my predictions on the winner of each, followed by a handful of can’t-miss contests you will want to bet big.

Away	Home	Spread
Cincinnati Bengals	Miami Dolphins	CIN -3
Atlanta Falcons	Carolina Panthers	CAR -7.5
Minnesota Vikings	Dallas Cowboys	DAL -10.5
New Orleans Saints	New York Jets	NO -6
Tennessee Titans	St. Louis Rams	TEN -3
Kansas City Chiefs	Buffalo Bills	KC -3
San Diego Chargers	Washington Redskins	SD -1
Philadelphia Eagles	Oakland Raiders	OAK -2.5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Seattle Seahawks	SEA -16.5
Baltimore Ravens	Cleveland Browns	BAL -2.5
Pittsburgh Steelers	New England Patriots	NE -6.5
Indianapolis Colts	Houston Texans	IND -2.5
Chicago Bears	Green Bay Packers	GB -10.5

New Orleans Saints (-6) over NEW YORK JETS

This line opened at New Orleans -4 and seems like it will continue to climb away from that as kickoff draws nearer.

Wise gamblers have been playing the Saints heavily, which is exactly what you should be doing while the spread remains less than one touchdown.

Gang Green is an absolute mess right now and is in complete disarray. The team’s defense conceded five touchdowns to the Bengals offense in Week 8, while rookie quarterback Geno Smith tossed two pick-six interceptions in a 49-9 blowout.

Saints signal-caller Drew Brees should have no issue eviscerating this downtrodden secondary, as he carved up a talented Buffalo Bills defense this past Sunday, going off for five scores on the way to an easy win.

Given that NOLA’s defense isn’t nearly as atrocious as people still believe it is—stemming from last year’s historically bad unit—the Saints should be able to make plenty of stops and get at least one score on that end of the field.

The team’s 15 takeaways and plus-eight turnover differential are amongst the tops in the league. As long as they force Geno Smith into one critical interception or force a key fumble, the Saints are going to be on their way to a double-digit victory.

 

OAKLAND RAIDERS (-2.5) over Philadelphia Eagles

The Raiders have been great at home, going 3-1 against the spread at the O.co Coliseum. They are 3-0 there with Terrelle Pryor under center and 1-0 against teams from the state of Pennsylvania.

Expect Oakland to notch another win in each of those categories against the Eagles this coming Sunday.

While the Raiders haven’t been a fearsome team in 2013, they are a promising squad that is capable of making stands on defense and generating consistent yardage on offense.

They should be able to put up enough points on the board to outright win this one and easily cover the spread in a game where they are projected to lose.

Philadelphia has too many unsolved issues at the quarterback position that make the team impossible to back. Michael Vick is coming off a hamstring tweak and played poorly enough to permanently lose his job, while Nick Foles is still dealing with the post-concussion fallout and Matt Barkley is simply not ready for the spotlight.

Oakland will take advantage of these critical flaws and make life difficult for whoever ends up starting under center. Expect the Raiders to walk away from this one with at least a three-point margin of victory.

Indianapolis Colts (-2.5) over HOUSTON TEXANS

The Colts are a vastly superior team than the Texans, but for some reason the public is still backing Houston like they are a playoff contender.

This downtrodden, collapsing franchise is 2-5 on the season and lost its past five games in a row. There are major concerns at almost every pivotal position and it is doubtful that a bye week was enough to solve even half the problems that the Texans are facing in 2013.

To expect Houston to come off a week of rest and best a foe as elite as Indianapolis is simply crazy, especially considering which opponents the Colts have beat this year.

Emerging superstar Andrew Luck helped knock off the Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers—three legit Super Bowl contenders—before the Week 8 bye.

While the Colts tend to play down to the level of their competition—notably losing to the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers this year—they will avoid sinking to the depths that the Texans have.

Take the chalk in this one, as the Colts are clearly the better side to get behind.