Week 9 NFL Picks: Latest Betting Odds, Vegas Spreads and Projections

Week 9 of the 2014 NFL season begins with a Thursday Night Football contest the day before Halloween. Given the twists and turns we've seen so far this year, it's likely we're in for a trick instead of a treat.

After all, we're coming off a week in which two teams recorded over 50 points. Other pivotal contests led to every AFC North team accumulating records above .500, while every NFC South team now resides below the .500 mark. It's been that kind of year.

Vegas oddsmakers have been hard at work, and each Week 9 contest has an associated opening line. Let's take a look at each impending game's spread and predict which teams will come out on top as we head into November.

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS
New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers	CAR -2.5	Saints
Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys	DAL -4	Cowboys
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cleveland Browns	CLE -6	Bucs
Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings	WAS -1	Vikings
Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals	CIN -13.5	Jaguars
San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins	MIA -1.5	Chargers
New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs	KC -7.5	Chiefs
Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Texans	PHI -2.5	Eagles
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers	SF -7.5	49ers
Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks	SEA -15.5	Raiders
Denver Broncos at New England Patriots	DEN -4	Patriots
Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers	BAL -1.5	Steelers
Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants	IND -3	Colts

All opening game lines courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of October 27.

Pick Analysis

New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs (-7.5)

Colin E. Braley/Associated Press

The Jets are on a major downward slide, having lost seven consecutive games since a Week 1 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Things worsened Sunday against the Buffalo Bills when starting quarterback Geno Smith was benched after completing two of his eight passing attempts for five yards and three interceptions for a 0.0 passer rating.

Here's a graphic of the ugliness, via ESPN Stats & Info:

Michael Vick came in as Smith's replacement and didn't fare much better. He completed 18 of his 36 pass attempts for 153 yards and one interception for a passer rating of 49.9. He did manage to rush for an additional 69 yards, but he also fumbled four times, losing two.

Don't expect things to get any easier for New York's quarterbacks against a top-ranked Chiefs passing defense that's allowing just 195.7 yards though the air per game.

Kansas City's offense has been extremely efficient of late. Quarterback Alex Smith led his team on six scoring drives in Week 8 against the St. Louis Rams to finish the game with 34 unanswered points. This team is firing on all cylinders right now, and it will prove to be far too formidable of an opponent for a reeling Jets team.

Expect the Chiefs to pour it on while the Jets' quarterback woes continue. This one won't even be close.

Prediction: Chiefs 31, Jets 16

Oakland Raiders (+15.5) at Seattle Seahawks

David Richard/Associated Press

The Seahawks defense looked closer to its 2013 version in Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers. The dangerous Cam Newton was held in check, throwing for 171 yards and a pick while rushing for just 24 yards. While that's a far better performance from the unit, the offensive side of the ball continues to struggle.

Russell Wilson and Co. could only manage two field goals through 59 minutes of action before a last-second touchdown pass to Luke Willson put the team on top. Before that final drive, Willson looked average as a passer against a defense that had previously given up a slew of points to the Green Bay Packers and the Cincinnati Bengals.

The winless Oakland Raiders come to town in Week 9, and while the Seahawks aren't really in any danger of losing, the Raiders may keep the game closer than many bettors would think.

Through seven losses this season, Oakland has lost by more than a 15.5-point margin just twice. Rookie quarterback Derek Carr's big arm has led to some early NFL success, throwing for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions this season.

Gil Brandt of NFL.com tweeted one big reason for the rookie's success:

While the Raiders have put up more than 14 points in a game only once this season, the team's defense is allowing 25.9 points per game. If those averages keep up—and they should, considering these teams' current trends—we're looking at Oakland covering the spread.

Prediction: Seahawks 27, Raiders 14

Denver Broncos at New England Patriots (+4)

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Remember what happened earlier this season when the Patriots were home underdogs? They wound up defeating the Bengals by a score of 43-17. While that's highly unlikely to be the case against the Broncos, there's reason to believe the home team won't have trouble keeping pace.

Tom Brady continues to look better by the week. He was simply unstoppable in Week 8 against the Chicago Bears, completing 30 of his 35 passing attempts for 354 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 51-23 drubbing.

On the defensive side of the ball, New England has the pieces in place in its secondary to slow down Peyton Manning as much as possible. Coming into Week 9, the Patriots are ranked second in the league against the pass, allowing an average of 210.9 yards per game.

Denver has looked fantastic of late, as Manning hasn't looked back since breaking Brett Favre's all-time passing touchdowns record. If any team can give the Patriots secondary trouble, it's the Broncos. However, Manning does have a history of struggling a bit on the road in New England.

Both Manning and Brady have had very impressive numbers through the month of October, via NFL on ESPN:

While Denver's run defense has been stellar, the Patriots haven't relied on a ground game since the season-ending injury to Stevan Ridley, and that's worked out quite well. The Broncos secondary can be exploited by better quarterbacks, and we can expect Brady to do just that.

As with most Brady-Manning clashes, we should expect this one to come down to the wire. This game will be decided by a field goal in the waning seconds by the home team.

Prediction: Patriots 31, Broncos 30