NFL Week 9 Picks: Assessing Odds for Teams Coming Off Week 8 Byes

NFL teams coming off byes this week: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders.

Denver Broncos (2-5) at Oakland Raiders (4-3)

The headlines from this game will come from the quarterbacks on each sideline. Carson Palmer will be making his first start as a Raider after having the bye week to get acclimated with the offense. If for no other reason than time, Palmer should be better in Week 9.

The other guy is obviously Tim Tebow, who is the most talked about third-string quality quarterback in the history of the NFL. Even with only two or so weeks in Oakland, I like Palmer in this matchup. 

Raiders 24, Broncos 6

Atlanta Falcons (4-3) at Indianapolis Colts (0-8)

The Falcons were getting healthy even before their bye came in Week 8. In consecutive weeks, Atlanta beat both the Lions and Panthers to get their head above the .500 water.

In Week 9, the Falcons might as well be getting another bye week. The Colts shouldn't be much of a road block in Atlanta getting to 5-3. Chalk up an easy win in Indianapolis. 

Falcons 31, Colts 10 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) at New Orleans Saints (5-3)

It isn't do-or-die yet for either team, but you get the feeling that this game is a major crossroad for both.

The Buccaneers have been decimated by injuries, but they got their bye week to get healthy and rebound from a loss in London to the Bears. The Saints, on the other hand, need to bounce back from one of the more shocking losses of the season in St. Louis to the previously-winless Rams.

At home, after that kind of loss, you'd have to think the Saints have the edge.

Saints 27, Buccaneers 17 

New York Jets (4-3) at Buffalo Bills (5-2)

Over the next month or so, we really get to see which of these two teams are for real. The Bills and Jets play twice during that stretch, while the Bills also face a trip to Dallas and the Jets welcome the Patriots to New York. The next month could really decide the playoff fate for both clubs.

Despite coming off a bye in Week 8, the Jets have been a completely different football team on the road than at home. I like the Bills to get to 6-2, and 5-0 at Orchard Park.

Bills 23, Jets 14 

Green Bay Packers (7-0) at San Diego Chargers (4-3)

Chargers fans have a right to be ticked off at the NFL's schedulers. Who in their right mind schedules a team coming off their bye week (Packers) against a team who played the Monday night game the week before (Chargers)?

Add in the heart-breaking overtime loss for San Diego in Kansas City, and you could see a physically-challenged team in the second half on Sunday. Despite a long trip out west, the Packers should stay undefeated by kicking the Chargers while they're down.

Packers 28, Chargers 20  

Chicago Bears (4-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (3-4)

With both teams experiencing mini-revivials of late, the Monday night game suddenly looks a bit more tasty now than it did a couple of weeks ago.

The Bears won two straight games before their bye, and they're running the ball with Matt Forte and stopping it with their vaunted defense. The Eagles have also won two straight, with their recent drubbing of the Cowboys standing out as their best performance of the season.

This game also features two of the more exciting backs in the NFL right now in Forte and LeSean McCoy—each of whom would be MVP candidates if Aaron Rodgers wasn't playing so well up in Green Bay.

As good as Forte has been, the Eagles should get back to .500 with a home win over the one-dimensional Bears.

Eagles 30, Bears 21