NFL Week 9 Predictions: Who Is Primed for an Absolutely Huge Week?

Ben Roethlisberger, LeSean McCoy, Calvin Johnson and Fred Jackson turned in the most impressive Week 8 performances and not surprisingly, all of their teams emerged victorious. 

As we move ahead to the second half of the 2011 season, we've got three pivotal divisional showdowns in Week 9 along with some defensively-challenged matchups that should yield more video game-like numbers for the offensive stars...

Michael Turner

The Falcons are coming off the bye to face the winless Colts, and it seems like the Falcons have realized that they should be a run-first team. 

Thank God, because when they weren't utilizing Michael Turner enough, they were squandering a great opportunity to make a run at the Super Bowl with all the talent on their team. 

Indianapolis allows 144 yards on the ground per game. 

Time for Burner Turner to be let loose. 

He'll reach the 100-yard mark for the third consecutive game. 

Cedric Benson 

Benson returns from suspension and gets Titans' 27th ranked run defense (allowing 129.3 yards per game). 

Now that Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and the rest of the Bengals offense has proven to be quite dangerous, Tennessee won't be able to focus solely on the run which should lead to some major holes for the rested runner. 

In a game that should feature more defense than offense, Benson will be the heartbeat of Cincinnati's offensive attack and will wear down Tennessee's defense in the second half en route to a big afternoon. 

Eli Manning

So, I penciled in Drew Brees for well over 300 yards and at least three touchdowns against the Rams this week, and as it turns out I was totally wrong. 

However, this week the extremely hot Eli Manning is matched up with the worst pass defense in football, the New England Patriots. 

New England is better at home, there's no doubting that, but opposing quarterbacks haven't seemed to care where they're playing against the Patriots secondary. 

Tony Romo and Philip Rivers eclipsed the 300-yard plateau in Foxborough and Mark Sanchez finished the game with a 105.6 passer rating. 

With the talent at wide receiver he has at his disposal, Manning will continue his terrific season that isn't getting much publicity right now.