NFL Week 9 Picks: 3 Can't Miss Games That Will Go Down to the Wire

If NFL Week 8 was a letdown for NFL fans, then Week 9 is a Kobe Bryant apology gift. The NFL would like to make amends with a slate that features some classic divisional rivalries, some newer divisional rivalries and a recent Super Bowl matchup. Here are three games that can’t be missed.

3. Broncos at Raiders

It was tough not to include Philly and Chicago on Monday night, but you never know which team is going to show up out of that pair. What you do know is that when the Raiders play the Broncos you can throw out the records…and batteries and concessions onto the field.

These teams have never liked each other and expect the combined penalty yardage to be in excess of 200. The Raiders will try to get back in the driver’s seat coming off the bye and ease Carson Palmer into the offense after an embarrassing loss to the Chiefs in Week 7.

You can also expect Tim Tebow to convert around 50 percent of his passes and at least some of the Black Hole to Christianity. We will see how those go…

2. New York Giants at New England

You know Tom Brady hasn’t forgotten being robbed of joining Joe Montana and the loud, grabby guy on Fox as the only quarterbacks with four Super Bowls. New York has had their struggles this year, but Eli Manning is putting together an impressive year (102.1 rating) and has limited his mistakes.

It also helps that the Pats currently have the worst pass defense in football. You know what that means. We could have the offensive fireworks these two teams provided in the last week of 2007, with New England edging the eventual Super Bowl champs and preserving an undefeated regular season. Hey, 16-0 is 16-0, right Tom?

1. Baltimore at Pittsburgh

Ah, a true body bag game. It may not be high scoring, but it will be like watching a series of violent car crashes for 60 minutes. I’m still waiting for somebody to get killed by a member of one of these defenses. The Steelers have reeled off three straight after a lackluster start.

The Ravens, who still play offense sometimes, remembered they had Ray Rice, and Joe Flacco actually came out of hiding to lead the squad to a comeback win against the Cardinals.

The Steelers looked young last week after dominating the Pats on both sides of the ball. Troy Polamalu and Co. always bring their A-game against the Steelers. If I were Vegas, I would set the over-under at 25.