NFL Picks Week 9: Latest Odds and Best Predictions Against the Spread

Week 9 features as many top matchups between conference heavyweights as you'll see all season, but amid the tough-to-predict battles lie a world of opportunity for betting aficionados.

Sure, the Denver Broncos' close favorite status against AFC rival New England on the road may be a good line to avoid. Staying away from the Cardinals' upcoming visit to the Dallas Cowboys wouldn't be a bad idea either, unless you're just certain last week's Monday Night Football was a sign of things to come. 

But a closer look at the weekend slate—yes, even with six teams sitting at home with byes—guarantees a couple of games for which are worth taking on the spread.

Save the best matchups throughout Week 9 to simply watch, because there's plenty of coin to be won on some of the other games on tap. Let's take a look below at predictions for each and highlight the best ones to target.

Sunday, Nov. 2	Time (ET)	Spread	Pick Against Spread
Monday, Nov. 3	Time (ET)	Spread	Pick Against Spread
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cleveland Browns	1 p.m.	CLE -7	Browns
Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys	1 p.m.	DAL -3	Cardinals
Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Texans	1 p.m.	Even	Texans
New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs	1 p.m.	KC -10.5	Chiefs
Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals	1 p.m.	CIN -11.5	Bengals
San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins	1 p.m.	MIA -1	Chargers
Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings	1 p.m.	Even	Redskins
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers	4:05 p.m.	SF -10.5	49ers
Denver Broncos at New England Patriots	4:25 p.m.	DEN -2.5	Broncos
Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks	4:25 p.m.	SEA -16	Raiders
Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers	8:30 p.m.	Even	Steelers
Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants	8:30 p.m.	IND -3	Colts

Note: Odds are courtesy of Odds Shark, last updated Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. ET

Best Picks Against the Spread

Pittsburgh Steelers (Even) over Baltimore Ravens

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened up as underdogs in the AFC North tilt on Sunday Night Football against the Ravens, but the line has shifted back to even and for good reason.

The Steelers will go into their third straight home contest flying high after winning the previous two, and it could prove too much for the Ravens to get back in the win column with a tough visit to Heinz Field.

Baltimore took care of Pittsburgh easily in a 26-6 win in Week 2, but Ben Roethlisberger wasn't firing near the level that he is now. He threw for 522 yards and six touchdowns (and no interceptions) in a shootout victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

After that historic performance, he'll go up against a Ravens secondary that will be without starting cornerback Jimmy Smith, per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun:

Smith did well in helping to limit Antonio Brown in their first matchup, holding the Pittsburgh star wideout to caught seven receptions for 90 yards. But as he's going off lately—19 catches, 223 yards and three total touchdowns in the last two games, Brown should continue his roll with Smith out of Sunday's game and Roethlisberger slinging it so efficiently. 

The Ravens are a respectable 2-2 on the road this season, but two of those losses came in the last three games. Meanwhile, the Steelers' only defeat at home was an unthinkable collapse to Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh looks leaps and bounds better than they did back then.

Prediction: Steelers win, 34-28

San Diego Chargers (+1) over Miami Dolphins

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

The San Diego Chargers are coming off two straight losses, but it's hard to think back before then and imagine them being underdogs to the Miami Dolphins—even on the road.

Alas, that's exactly where Philip Rivers and Co. stand entering a Week 9 matchup that got a lot tougher in light of the Dolphins racking up two straight wins while the Chargers fell on two consecutive weekends.

Miami's defense has led the way with a third-ranked passing unit, but the Dolphins secondary hasn't seen many tests like Rivers. The last time was against the Packers, when Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns and pulled off some late heroics to steal the victory.

The Chargers just have to get back to how they were playing before the losing streak to top the Dolphins, as Rivers explained via the team's Twitter:

Miami's defense created two pick-sixes to get the win over Jacksonville in Week 8, but Rivers won't be prone to the same mistakes of rookie Blake Bortles. He'll take care of the ball and have a chance to win the game late, and he won't disappoint.

Prediction: Chargers win, 24-20

Indianapolis Colts (-3) over New York Giants

The Colts expected a much tougher fight last week in Pittsburgh, but nobody expected Indianapolis to concede 51 points to the Steelers. Now, the Colts defense will enter Week 9 with a chip on its shoulder and the Giants will be the victim.

Indianapolis was throttled by 17 points last weekend against the Steelers, but the offense still found ways to put up big numbers. They racked up 34 points, with Andrew Luck throwing for 400 yards and three scores with two picks.

The Giants have forced 11 interceptions on the year (second in the NFL) and could frustrate Luck again, but he should bounce back and take care of the ball much better after a poor game in that regard against Pittsburgh. Plus, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had trouble staying on the field in Week 7 and has been practicing in a limited capacity following the bye, per NJ.com's Nick Powell.

It's the defense, however, that will propel the Colts to the victory. It ranked in the top 10 both against the run and the pass prior to the drubbing in Pittsburgh and will be hungry to get back at it.

Luck will rack up the points in this one, and Eli Manning won't be able to answer.

Prediction: Colts win, 28-17

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.