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NFL Week 9 Betting Preview

Zack Garrison

by Zack Garrison in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:40 AM PST

Week 9 in the NFL features a handful of divisional games, including the Saints and Panthers on Thursday Night Football and the Steelers and Ravens in a huge AFC North tilt.  Without a doubt, though, the game of the week is the 16th edition of the Manning-Brady Bowl on Sunday afternoon.

Here is the NFL week 9 preview with the early-week odds:

New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers (-2.5) Thursday

This game is a battle for first place in the (so far disappointing) NFC South. The home team has won four of the last five games in the series. The Saints are coming off of a big win over the Packers at home, while the Panthers lost in Carolina to the Seahawks after leading for most of the game. The Panthers are 2-2 at home, while the Saints are 0-4 on the road and in dire need of their first win away from home.

Tampa Buccaneers at Cleveland Browns (-6.5)

The Browns have been a true surprise this season, but their loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the week 7 has hurt their playoff chances.  They are still above .500 (4-3), but now sit last in the gruelling AFC North. A loss against the Buccaneers would likely seal their fate. The Bucs continued their dismal season last weekend, losing at home to Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings in overtime (19-13). The Bucs gained just 245 yards total on offense and fumbled away the game on the first play from scrimmage in OT.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals (-11)

The Bengals have won and covered the spread in the last three meetings against the Jaguars, but these two teams haven’t met since 2012.  The Bengals picked up a much needed win against division rival Baltimore last weekend, thanks to some clutch play from Mohammed Sanu (in place of A.J. Green) and some clutch officiating. Cincy hasn’t lost at home in the regular season since 2012-13.  The Jags’ rookie quarterback, Blake Bortles, is suffering his share of growing pains this season. He’s averaging a respectable 230 yards passing per game, but has thrown 12 interceptions and just six touchdowns. Last week against the Dolphins, two of those interceptions were of the pick-six variety. Surprise, the Jags lost!

Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys (-4)

The Arizona Cardinals will face a tough NFC East opponent for the second week in a row. This time, though, they will do it in London. As is becoming a trend, the Cards eked out a win in week 8 (against the Eagles) after being outgained (521 yards to 400). A late TD bomb from Carson Palmer to rookie John Brown proved decisive in the 24-20 win.

After a dreadful week 1, Dallas reeled off six straight wins and looked almost unstoppable. Almost. Then, in week 8, the unthinkable happened: Washington and third-string QB Colt McCoy came into AT&T Stadium and beat the Cowboys in overtime. In the process, Tony Romo re-injured his back. Though the injury is not as bad as it could be and Romo returned late in the fourth quarter, it remains to be seen if Romo will play against the Cards. Keep an eye out for breaking news and watch the spread.

Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Texans (+2.5)

The Texans and Eagles have only met three times before. But the Eagles have won all three and covered the spread in two.  The last time they met in 2010, Philly took a 34-24 win on the road at Reliant Stadium. Houston (4-4 overall) is 3-1 at home on the year, while Philly (5-2 overall) is just 1-2 on the road. The Eagles moved the ball well last week on the road against Arizona, but turnovers doomed their chances. The Texans put an end to a three game slide last weekend on the road in Tennessee.  But they had the good fortune of facing Zach Mettenberger, a rookie QB making his first career start. Their next opponent, Nick Foles, probably won’t be taking as many selfies on the sideline as young Zach.

New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs (-10)

The last time the Kansas City Chiefs beat the New York Jets was in 2005. The Jets have won the last three in the series and five of the last seven.  The Chiefs, however, have covered the spread in four of the last five games against the Jets. The Chiefs are also peaking of late: they handed the Chargers just their second loss of the season in week 7 and then pasted the Rams in week 8. The Jets, on the other hand, have lost six in a row and will be making a quarterback switch in week 9.

San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins (-2)

The Dolphins are 4-3 on the year, but just 1-2 at home. They have already lost to a very good AFC West opponent at Sun Life Stadium (the Kansas City Chiefs) and will face another this weekend.  The Chargers (5-3) will enter this game on ten days of rest. After looking like the best team in football through six weeks, the Chargers have suddenly lost two in a row and now find their chances of a division title rapidly evaporating. A fourth loss for either team would put them outside the playoff picture for the time being.

Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings (+1.5)

Yesterday, this game looked like a dud. However, after Colt McCoy stunned the Cowboys in Dallas, the 3-5 Redskins suddenly have new life. With the potential week 9 return of RGIII and the Vikings and Bucs next up on the schedule, Washington could find itself back at .500 heading into week 12. The Vikings also picked up a big road win last weekend, but against a much less impressive opponent: Tampa Bay. That said, Teddy Bridgewater’s poise down the stretch belied his rookie status. The first-year pivot led the Vikings on a game tying drive late in the fourth quarter and the defense finished the job in OT. Minnesota is just 1-2 at home though, and only managed three points in their last home game against the Lions.

That said, the last three games in the series between these two have hit the over.

St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers (-10)

This will be the second and final meeting between the Rams and 49ers this year. San Francisco won the week 6 meeting on Monday Night Football 31-17, with QB Colin Kaepernick throwing for 343 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no picks. St. Louis got off to a fast start in that game, but neither the offense nor the defense could put together a full 60 minutes. The Rams are 1-2 on the road this season, while the 49ers are 2-1 at home.

San Francisco has won five of the last seven in the series and hasn’t lost at home to the Rams since 2007.

Denver Broncos at New England Patriots (+3)

You’ll be hearing plenty of hype for this game in the coming days, so we won’t add to the Manning/Brady noise too much. We’ll just give you the facts: Peyton and Tom Terrific have met 15 times before. Brady has been dominant, leading the series 10-5; but Manning clearly has the stronger team this year, and the disparity between rosters should give the edge to Denver. The oddsmakers agree and have New England as a rare home dog.

New England has been rolling lately, winning four straight and looking dominant in three of those. The Pats’ current win streak is in spite of some key injuries on both sides of the ball (among the casualties are RB Stevan Ridley, LB Jerod Mayo, and DE Chandler Jones). The lean roster may finally catch up to the Pats in week 9.

Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks (-15.5)

The Seahawks gutted out a win in Carolina last week and now return home for what looks like an easier test against the winless Raiders. This could be just the remedy the stumbling Seahawks need. Oakland hung with the Browns for three quarters on Sunday, but wound up losing – again – 23-13. Derek Carr put up great numbers (34/54 for 328 yards and one touchdown), but the running game let the Raiders down again, posting just 81 yards. In are-you-serious news: Oakland’s backup QB Matt Schaub picked up where he left off last year, throwing an interception on his only pass attempt of the game (which came on a fake field goal).

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (PK)

Baltimore has won five of the last seven games against Pittsburgh, including this season’s 26-6 victory in week 2, where the Ravens outplayed the Steelers all game long. Pittsburgh turned the ball over three times in that meeting and was unable to stop Baltimore’s run game, which recorded 157 yards on the ground. They are coming off drastically different performances in week 8, though. “Big Ben” Roethlisberger had a career game against Indy, leading the Steelers past the streaking Colts 51-34. Baltimore, on the other hand, gave up the division lead and continued its struggles against the Bengals, losing 27-24. The loss came despite Cincinnati missing its top two receivers and losing RB Giovanni Bernard part way through the game.

Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants (+3), Monday

This will be the first meeting between Andrew Luck and Eli Manning. Manning has never beaten the Indianapolis Colts, as he lost the two Manning Bowls while Peyton was with Indy. Three of the last four games between the Giants and Colts ended over the game total, and Indy has scored points almost at will this year. In addition, Indy’s defense – which had been quite stingy prior to week 8 – just got torched by the Steelers to the tune of 51 points. If Manning and OC Ben McAdoo can figure out what gave the Steelers success, this could be another high scoring affair.

(Photo credit: “Andy from Pittsburgh” [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo may appear cropped from its original.)

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