NFL Picks Week 9: St. Louis Rams and More Winners of Division Matchups

Week 9 has five division matchups on the schedule, highlighted, of course, by the Steelers-Ravens rematch. No game is more hyped than their matchup, but there are some that are just as important. 

Here are my picks for the division games this week:

Tampa Bay at New Orleans 

The Saints are coming off a terrible loss to the previously winless St. Louis Rams. What makes the loss even worse was that the Rams played without their starting QB, Sam Bradford. The game further exposed the Saints secondary and the young Rams defensive line abused the Saints offensive line.

The Buccaneers are fresh off of their bye week; in Week 7, they lost to the Chicago Bears in London. Both teams have lost two of their last three, but the Saints hold a half-game lead over the Bucs for first place in the division.

This game comes down to the running games for both teams. The common denominator in the losses for both teams has been a lack of rushing effectiveness and an inability to stop the run. The Saints' lone win in the last three is against the Colts, a 62-7 debacle that really can be thrown out the window.

In their losses, they haven't rushed for 100 yards as a team, but have surrendered an average of 150 yards per game on the ground. The formula has been similar for the Bucs, as Matt Forte and Frank Gore gashed the Buccaneers defense for a total of 135 yards per game on the ground.

The team that runs it most effectively will wins this game and that will be the Saints. The home crowd and the bad loss last week will spur the Saints to the win.

NY Jets at Buffalo

It is no secret the Jets have struggled to stop the run all season. That sounds like it'll be a field day for Fred Jackson, and I think that's what will happen.

The Jets run game has been inconsistent, and relying on Mark Sanchez against an opportunistic defense like the Bills is unrealistic. Buffalo allows you to move the ball through the air, while they depend on turnovers and their own potent offense to defeat you.

The Jets can't keep pace, nor can they run the ball effectively enough. The defense scares no one at this point; the only teams the Jets have shut down this year are the offensively woeful Jaguars and Dolphins, whom they held to 4.5 points per game. Everyone else is averaging 30.4 points per game against the Jets. The Bills will win this game and take control of the division.

Denver at Oakland

This is the perfect time for Tim Tebow and the Broncos to come into Oakland, as far as the Raiders are concerned. The Broncos offense looks terrible and Tebow will ensure that Carson Palmer is not the worst-looking QB in the game this week.

Tebow needs an entire offseason to prepare as the starter, but he won't have that luxury by Sunday. The Raiders running game will pound the Broncos and Denver's inability to sustain drives will kill them in the field position game.

The Raiders will love the media attention "Tebowing" brings to the Coliseum, and they will love beating up on the Broncos. This one is going to get ugly. The Raiders will win handily.

St. Louis at Arizona

The Cardinals will likely be without Kevin Kolb and that hurts the team; their demoralizing collapse last week against the Ravens won't help their psyche either.

The Rams on the other hand are flying having pulled off the season's biggest upset so far this year in their defeat of the Saints.

The Rams' young defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage and they should have even better luck against the Cardinals. Steven Jackson is healthy and ran with a purpose last week. If he inspires his team that same way this week, the Rams will find themselves on a two-game win streak.

He will and they will. Rams win this one.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh

This is the big one, the most bitter rivalry in the NFL. The Ravens took Round 1, but the Steelers are playing the best football in the NFL over the past three weeks; yes, even better than Green Bay.

The Ravens certainly are not playing well right now. In their last two games, they have looked very mediocre against the likes of the Jaguars and Cardinals.

Joe Flacco and the offense have especially struggled. The defense is the core of this team and it feels as though things are coming to a boiling point. They pulled out a win last week after falling far behind a bad Cardinals team.

They will not be afforded the same mistakes against Pittsburgh, who are clicking in most every facet of the game right now.

The Steelers will return the favor and lay a defeat with a sizable margin on the Ravens in Week 9. The Ravens offense will not move the ball effectively against a stout and hungry Steelers defense.