NFL Week 9 Predictions: San Diego Chargers and Underdogs That Will Cover Spread

Picking games against the spread gets tougher with each passing week. The oddsmakers have furthered their understanding of every team, which means lines are more accurate than they were in Week 1. That said, here are three underdogs that will cover in Week 9.

All lines courtesy of 5dimes.com.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+9.5)

Three weeks after knocking off the New Orleans Saints at home, Tampa Bay heads west as huge underdogs in the divisional rematch. Josh Freeman had his best game of the season in the first meeting, throwing for 303 yards and two touchdowns.

He'll need to be on target again to keep up with Drew Brees and New Orleans' high-powered offense. LeGarrette Blount is expected to return, which will provide a boost to the offense, and the Buccaneers should be fresh coming off a bye.

These two teams know each other too well for the Saints to turn the tables around by 16 points from three weeks ago.

Seattle Seahawks (+12.5)

The Seahawks are coming off two straight losses and head into Dallas for what's a virtual must-win game for the Cowboys, so that's why the line is so bloated. However, anybody who follows the Cowboys knows they never make things easy.

Seattle defeated the New York Giants on the road before the bye week, so it's not a team incapable of sticking with talented teams. Tarvaris Jackson should be close to full strength and will help put a scare into Dallas.

Tony Romo and the Cowboys should emerge victorious, but it won't be as easy as many people are expecting.

San Diego Chargers (+5.5)

Who knows what happened to San Diego on Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. Whatever it was needs to be moved on from immediately because the undefeated Green Bay Packers are coming to town in one of the weekend's marquee games.

Perhaps more perplexing than last week's loss is the downfall of Philip Rivers. Plenty of people, myself included, picked him to win the MVP Award and instead he's struggled. That should change against a shaky Green Bay secondary.

Even though the Chargers haven't lived up to expectations so far, they are still unbeaten at home and should be able to stay within a field goal of the Packers.