Picking Football Games, Week 9

Now that the season is 18 weeks long, that makes Week 9 the official midway point.  And it really is crazy to think that we're halfway through the season.  It really has flown by!  And, while there isn't a definitive "best" team in the NFL, we know there are a bunch of really good teams (especially in the NFC).  We also know there are a bunch of really bad ones.  Maybe it'll become clearer during this third quarter of the season.

Thursday Night: Indianapolis (Win)

Browns (4-4) at Bengals (5-3): Cleveland-I think the Bengals fell into the classic trap last week.  They were looking ahead to this game (which is a big one for sure) and ended up losing to the Jets!  That really could come back to bite them, especially since they play in a division where all four teams are realistically thinking playoffs.  The Browns had the third wild card, then lost to the Steelers and are now in last place.  So, yeah, it's a big one for both of them.

Broncos (4-4) at Cowboys (6-1): Dallas-A lot of people are saying the Rams are the best team in football, but I think it's the Cowboys.  Dallas continues to impress me.  Last week's victory in Minnesota when they didn't have Dak Prescott reinforced that even more.  They're gonna cruise in the NFC East.  We already knew that.  In fact, they'll have it wrapped up before they even start playing their division games (four of their last five are in the division)!

Texans (1-7) at Dolphins (1-7): Miami-One of these two won't lose this week!  This is a Dolphins team that went to London and lost to the Jaguars and has looked lost most of the season.  The good news for them is that they're nowhere near the mess Houston is!  There was some speculation that Miami was interested in DeShaun Watson, which would've definitely been an interesting storyline in this game.  As it is, all the winner's gonna do is hurt their draft position, so both teams' fans might actually be rooting for a loss here.

Falcons (3-4) at Saints (5-2): New Orleans-Jamies Winston's injury was a devastating blow!  There's no other way to describe it.  Devastating for him, obviously.  But nearly as devastating for his team.  Although, that was an impressive by Trevor Semien to lead New Orleans to a victory over Tampa Bay, and if he can lead the Saints to another win, they'll be in first place because of that tiebreaker.  The schedule ahead is difficult, so they need him to do that if they have any hopes of holding off Brady and Co.

Raiders (5-2) at Giants (2-6): Las Vegas-This one's interesting.  The Giants can win, but I think the Raiders will.  Las Vegas has posted back-to-back wins after that clunker in Chicago and is coming off a much-needed bye week.  That, to me, is what will be the difference.  The Giants are coming off a short week and a tough loss.  The Raiders are rested.  Although, the last time they played at MetLife Stadium, they needed a last-second Hail Mary to beat the Jets!

Patriots (4-4) at Panthers (4-4): New England-Don't look now, but the Patriots can get back over .500 with a win here.  We took them going at least 12-4 for granted for so long that it really is hard to believe they haven't been over .500 since Week 3 last year, when they were 2-1.  Carolina, meanwhile, is currently sitting in playoff position as the seventh NFC team.  New England's playoff chances, of course, will improve greatly with a victory.

Bills (5-2) at Jaguars (1-6): Buffalo-Jacksonville's North American losing streak continues!  Of course, going from London to Seattle, even with a week off, isn't the easiest task for any team, let alone one that isn't good.  Now they get to play their first actual home game in a month, so they should at least be a little more competitive.  They won't beat the Bills, though.

Vikings (3-4) at Ravens (5-2): Baltimore-Call me crazy, but I don't think last week's loss to Dallas was actually that terrible for the Vikings.  Obviously they would've preferred to win and will probably argue that they should've, but they showed they can play with the good teams, and I think the seventh NFC playoff berth is theirs for the taking.  Of course, that might change after this brutal stretch that started with Dallas, then Baltimore this week, followed by the Chargers and Packers.

Chargers (4-3) at Eagles (3-5): Chargers-Remember when everyone was saying the Chargers were the best team in the AFC?  Where are those people now?  A lot of deficiencies were exposed by the Ravens, and New England exploited them again last week.  Fortunately, this week they get the Eagles.  That should help them get back on track.

Packers (7-1) at Chiefs (4-4): Kansas City-Whenever the NFL gets a great idea in its head, something goes wrong.  When they added the 17th game, they were all giddy about all the extra interconference matchups they were creating each season.  One of those was Rodgers vs. Mahomes.  Whoops!  I don't need to go into Aaron Rodgers and what's going on there, but, needless to say, the NFL is likely not happy with the situation.  If Rodgers was playing, I'd say there's no question the Packers are the favorites in this game.  With Jordan Love, however, I've gotta go with the Chiefs to finally get back over .500.

Cardinals (7-1) at 49ers (3-4): Arizona-Arizona's no longer undefeated, but is still technically in first place.  Now we get to see how the Cardinals rebound off a loss for the first time.  The fact that they're playing a familiar opponent--the 49ers--is probably a good thing.  Sorry, but I'm still not buying San Francisco as a "playoff contender."  I know somebody has to get the third NFC wild card and San Francisco is just a half game behind Carolina, but I just don't think the 49ers are that good.

Titans (6-2) at Rams (7-1): Rams-NBC got lucky with this one on Sunday night.  It was a safe bet that they'd both be good, but I don't think anyone was expecting the Titans to be the AFC's current No. 1 seed and Rams to be tied for the best record in football!  It's a good thing that the Titans have built that lead in the AFC South.  Because who knows what kind of a team they'll be without Derrick Henry?!  We'll find out starting this week.  Unfortunately, the Rams at SoFi isn't exactly the best team to be trying out a new offense against.

Bears (3-5) at Steelers (4-3): Pittsburgh-After that slow start, the Steelers seem to have found their groove.  They've won three in a row since that 1-3 start and have moved into a wild card spot.  More importantly, they're just a game behind the Ravens in the AFC North.  They've got a brutal stretch of Chargers, Bengals, Ravens coming up, so losing to the Bears this week and the Lions next week is not an option.  That would erase all this work Pittsburgh has done to get back in it.

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 12-3
Overall: 86-37