NFL Week 9 Picks: Predictions for the Week's Defensive Struggles

Some games get labeled a "defensive struggle" because the offenses aren't very good. Others meet that distinction because one or both of the defenses involved are strong. In other cases, it's some combination of those two factors.

In looking at the Week 9 slate of games for this, a few jump out as games that should be defensive struggles. 

Looking at those games a little deeper, what can we expect? Let's find out.

San Francisco 49ers at Washington Redskins: The final score will be misleading.

I am not talking about the margin of victory. You can look below and see that I am predicting a 14-point 49ers win. That will be about right. 

However, 27 points is a pretty good amount. I see at least 10 of those being directly set up by the San Francisco defense, if not actually scored by the defense. 

The Redskins do have a strong defense that will give the 49ers offense trouble, but their offense just won't have a chance versus the 49ers defense.

Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans: Chris Johnson will continue to struggle.

There may not be a more disappointing player in the NFL this season than Chris Johnson. Don't expect that to change this week. 

It's not that I think Johnson is done. Actually, he's young enough to think that he'll be a good player for a few more seasons. However, this year has just been an unmitigated disaster. 

The Bengals defense is a strong unit. Don't expect it to struggle too much against Johnson or the Tennessee offense. 

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers: Big plays will decide the game.

Quite frankly, I don't see either of these teams doing enough on offense to sustain drives against the other, but when it comes to moving the ball, both teams will do relatively well. Why? Well, they both have big-play potential. 

I like a few big plays from Ben Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace to make the difference in this one.

Scores:

49ers 27, Redskins 13

Bengals 23, Titans 13

Steelers 27, Ravens 20

Check out more B/R week 9 picks here.