NFL Week 9 Picks: Who's a Legit NFC Contender, the Bucs or Falcons?
The NFL Week 9 picks are here as the Week 8 games have concluded and the league now determines the fate of Randy Moss and Shawne Merriman.
This week is really tough week for picks because of the amount of games that have real upset potential, and the games that are closely matched up.
With that in mind, call me crazy and let's get to the picks.
Last Week: 10-3
Overall: 79-38
New York Jets vs. Detroit Lions
1 of 13
The Jets are coming off of a shutout at home versus Green Bay while the Lions got their second victory of the season behind the arm of Matthew Stafford and the bull rush of Ndamukong Suh.
On paper, this should be an easy Jets victory. However, the Lions are looking way better than their record, and we've only seen one complete game with Stafford behind center.
Meanwhile, Mark Sanchez is regressing, but he won't have winds to deal with in Detroit.
While the Lions may be improving, the Jets aren't the Washington Redskins.
Jets 24 Lions 20
San Diego Chargers vs. Houston Texans
2 of 13
When you look at the matchup, the Chargers lead in every offensive category, but they have yet to win on the road in 2010.
The Texans suffered a setback Monday night against the Colts, but they're still a very good team with real playoff aspirations.
The wildcard here is the Chargers special teams, and their ability to not give the game away in the fourth quarter through mistakes.
The Chargers didn't do that last week, and the Texans end up dropping two in a row.
Chargers 38 Texans 31
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons
3 of 13
Something tells me this could end up being the LeGarrette Blount-Josh Freeman Show.
Both the Buccaneers and the Falcons have a 5-2 record, with identical division records and the Falcons showing a very slight edge in the division standing.
The question of who gets to lead the division gets answered on Sunday in a game that really should be primetime instead of at 1:00 p.m.
The Falcons rush defense is good, but Blount already is showing he can be the kind of runner that blows stats up. On top of that, the Falcons pass defense isn't so good, and Freeman is turning into a rally machine in the fourth quarter.
On Tampa Bay's side, their pass defense is decent, but Michael Turner can run all day on the Bucs run defense.
Playing a hunch and going with the Bucs
Bucs 30 Falcons 24
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New Orleans vs. Carolina
4 of 13
The Saints got back on track against the Steelers after being upset by the Cleveland Browns.
Now they play a really bad team in the Carolina Panthers, and a few weeks ago, this was a tougher game to call because the Saints were playing so bad.
The Browns game served as the official wake-up call and the Saints won't get fooled again by a bad team.
Saints 35 Panthers 6
Chicago Bears vs. Buffalo Bills
5 of 13
How do you predict a game featuring the Buffalo Bills this season?
Seriously.
You can predict they'll lose, but then they go and take two games into overtime against teams that should've had the game put away in the first quarter.
Then you have the Bears, who never met a defensive line they didn't step aside for, or an interception opportunity they wouldn't give to the other team.
This game goes into overtime again and becomes the most ridiculous game of the week.
Bears 23 Bills 20 OT Final
Arizona Cardinals vs. Minnesota Vikings
6 of 13
This titanic battle of the quarterbacks becomes intriguing for what COULD happen versus what might actually happen.
The Cardinals may end up throwing John Skelton out on the field in the desperate hope he can move the offense without turning the ball over.
Favre is expected to start again this week, but he seems to be one good hit away from leaving the field on a cart, and that's assuming he's not benched before that happens for forcing too many balls and throwing a bunch of interceptions.
This game is a complete toss up, so I'm going to go with Arizona because they seem to be less injured than the Vikings, who in addition to Favre's bum ankle also have to worry about Percy Harvin's bum ankle and a team that is completely falling apart.
Cardinal 17 Vikings 10
New England Patriots vs. Cleveland Browns
7 of 13
This game becomes a head-scratcher because of the New Orleans game.
While I am a Browns fan, what I bring to the discussion here is the knowledge this team is better than its record. The offense isn't great, but it's improving and the Browns have held the lead in almost every game this season going into halftime.
The defensive line is solid but the secondary is Swiss cheese.
Then there are the Patriots, coached by Bill Belichick, who are the masters of taking apart teams on any given week.
Mangini is the student, and he's beaten the master before while in New York.
I'm going with my Browns fan gut on this one because I do believe the Browns can pull of the upset. Rob Ryan's defense got the best of Drew Brees last week, and they know their weaknesses now and shouldn't be leaving the corners as exposed as they did earlier in the year.
Browns 21 Patriots 20
Miami Dolphins vs. Baltimore Ravens
8 of 13
The Dolphins haven't lost on the road. That's a pretty big stat.
The Ravens are 5-2, but got a good scare from the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago and lost to New England on Oct. 17.
The Dolphins are built to beat the New England Patriots, they have Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, ready to face the Ravens run defense, which is ranked 17th.
The Ravens have cracks in their foundation, and their defense took a huge blow when rookie Sergio Kindle was injured off the field and now unable to play. The needed injection of good, young talent has been delayed and that's starting to show.
Not that the Ravens defense is bad, but it's not as fearsome as it was a year ago.
Dolphins win a tough one.
Miami 28 Ravens 20
New York Giants vs. Seattle Seahawks
9 of 13
The New York Giants look like a legitimate threat to win the Super Bowl as we sit here going into Week 9.
The Seahawks, however, don't.
The Seahawks lead the NFC West, but that's not because they're becoming a team to be feared. Go down the NFC West and ask yourself if you see any deep runs into the playoffs there.
The Seahawks got totally outmatched by the Oakland Raiders last week, and the Giants are much better team than the Raiders.
Giants 34 Seahawks 10
Indianapolis Colts vs. Philadelphia Eagles
10 of 13
This is going to be a very interesting game.
The return of Michael Vick. Peyton Manning still better than just about any other quarterback you can think of, and two teams who absolutely can't afford to lose on Sunday.
Manning makes things happen, and so does Michael Vick, who might have DeSean Jackson back on the field to throw to.
Manning did okay Monday night without some of his main targets, but there's no guarantee that will happen two weeks in a row.
This one comes down to a gut feeling as well, and my gut is telling me the Colts will find a way to win.
Colts 28 Eagles 17
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Oakland Raiders
11 of 13
What looked what was going to be a ho-hum matchup between two rebuilding teams this spring, now becomes a very explosive battle between two very good teams ahead of the curve on the rebuilding schedule.
The Raiders offense and defense all of a sudden are firing on all cylinders, and a Chiefs team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes.
It's also the battle of the running games as Darren McFadden and Michael Bush go against Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones.
But it's also going to be the battle of Oakland's 26th ranked run defense versus the Chiefs seventh-ranked run defense.
Stats win out.
Chiefs 30 Raiders 28
Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers
12 of 13
The Cowboys probably are going to be better offensively this week now that Jon Kitna has had one more week to work on his timing with the receivers, and they'll all be on the same page when it comes to patterns.
That being said, the Cowboys defense still kills itself with stupid penalties and dumb mistakes.
Not to mention there have been no changes on the coaching staff yet, and the coaches are a big part of the problem this year.
The Packers appear to have overcome the stupid mistakes they were making at the beginning of the season and held together despite all the poor play in New York last week.
Packers get a win while Dallas still tries to get things figured out.
Packers 21 Cowboys 14
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
13 of 13
The Steelers are coming off of a tough loss to the New Orleans Saints while the Bengals are trying to figure out why their season has rapidly run off the rails.
The Bengals offense has all the tools to be successful, but Carson Palmer throws too many interceptions at the end of the game.
The Steelers have one of the best defenses in the league, and Roethlisberger doesn't make as many mistakes as Palmer does.
The Steelers offense is far from perfect, but it's good enough to win the game here.
Steelers 24 Bengals 20
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