Week 9 NFL Game Picks: CMC is Back! Jordan Love Starts Career 1-0?

 It's going to be hard to top week 8. I won't get into it again, but let's just say it was one of the wildest weeks in recent memory. So many upsets (again, to say the least). With all of the upsets and such, I suffered my worst week of predictions this season. Hopefully we can rebound this week, I had never been below .500 in game picks for a week until this past. This week likely will be back to some normality. 

Week 8 Predictions Record: 7-8
2021 Season Overall: 76-46

Thursday Night Football - New York Jets (2-5) at Indianapolis Colts (3-5)

A week ago, the world would have been dreading this game. Now it's intriguing. The Jets are coming off one of their biggest and craziest victories of the decade. Backup QB Mike White in his debut was masterful and led the Jets to the shocking upset over the Bengals (en route to White winning our OPOTW as well). Now do the Jets have some momentum? They will head to Indy to face the Colts who are fresh off a back-breaking OT loss to the Titans in which they NEEDED to win. They aren't out of it yet, but winning that one would have boosted their playoff chances astronomically. How will Mike White do this week, on primetime? Can Wentz and Pittman Jr. continue their tear? This could be a close one on TNF, we are still going with Indy.

The Pick: Colts 27, Jets 17

New England Patriots (4-4) at Carolina Panthers (4-4)

Both teams are exactly at .500 coming off of big wins last week. The Patriots shocked the world by taking down the Chargers while the Panthers authored a mini-upset of their own against the rival Falcons. One team will look to get back over .500 in this one. Some huge news for the Panthers is the return of Christian McCaffrey. It looks like he will suit up for this one which will provide a massive boost for a struggling offense. The Panthers were 3-0 when they last had Christian. Meanwhile, the Patriots are getting hot at the right time and figuring out how to use all of their players in great ways. Mac Jones is coming into his own. This is going to be a hard fought game but I like the Patriots to keep rolling as their defense has just been so shutdown this season. Stephon Gillmore revenge game in this one as well. 

The Pick: Patriots 26, Panthers 22

Las Vegas Raiders (5-2) at New York Giants (2-6)

More bad news for the Raiders this week as WR1 Henry Ruggs was released by the team due to some crazy off the field issues. The team will try and put yet another wrinkle behind them as they look to improve to an elite 6-2 vs the lowly Giants. Derek Carr should be locked in coming off the bye and he will still have Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow to feed. The difference in this game is the offensive firepower. Both defenses are solid, but the Giants are just not good enough on O to compete. Raiders win.

The Pick: Raiders 31, Giants 20

Atlanta Falcons (3-4) at New Orleans Saints (6-2)

Not a great game. The Falcons are clearly not good. The Saints defense is elite, but what is their offense now? A tough week for them injury-wise as they obviously lost stud starting QB Jameis Winston to a torn ACL and then it was confirmed that superstar WR Michael Thomas would not see the field this season due to a setback in his recovery process. Despite all of this, even with Trevor Siemian at QB, I expect the Saints to win. They still have the best player in the game in Alvin Kamara and their defense again is SO GOOD. They just shut down the frickin goat last week, why wouldn't they do it to an aged Matt Ryan?

The Pick: Saints 24, Falcons 15

Buffalo Bills (5-2) at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-6)

If the Jags were just smoked by a Geno Smith led Seahawks team, then why would there be any of a different result this week against a fully healthy Bills team? This is going to be one of the Bills' classic blowout wins again this week like we've seen many times this year already. Does Stefon Diggs finally have his big game that we've all been waiting for? Things will be even more grim for the Jags if they do not have James Robinson who is considered day-to-day with a bruised heel right now. 

The Pick: Bills 37, Jaguars 10

Cleveland Browns (4-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-3)

A pretty big game right here. Both teams are not super happy with where they are. The Bengals were rolling and then lost to the Jets last week which was a huge buzz-kill for them obviously. The Browns can't seem to figure out how to string together wins and now face some drama with OBJ likely to be cut and Baker Mayfield / Nick Chubb struggling. This game is going to hurt the losers' playoff chances much more than you might think, and in terms of the race for the division title, it's massive. I don't like all of the controversy surrounding Cleveland right now, I'll take Burrow and the Bengals to bounceback. 

The Pick: Bengals 27, Browns 24

Denver Broncos (4-4) at Dallas Cowboys (6-1)

Dallas is winning this one. No trap game here. The Broncos have been one of the worst teams in the NFL since week 4 and just barely got a win against an awful Washington Football Team. Don't expect some magic here. Dak Prescott should be back from injury and ready to roll. Nothing to see here. I think Trevon Diggs will also get another pick in this one, maybe even two to compensate for finally not getting one last weekend.

The Pick: Cowboys 32, Broncos 16

Minnesota Vikings (3-4) at Baltimore Ravens (5-2)

Feels like a must-win for the reeling Vikings. The Ravens can lose and still be 2 games over .500 but it would be a major killer if the Vikes lost another. Despite this, I don't see them winning. The Ravens lost badly to the Bengals before hitting their bye week, Lamar Jackson and his boys will be ready to avenge that loss by making Kirk Cousins afternoon hell. This just feels like a Ravens dominant kind of game. Their defense will go off.

The Pick: Ravens 30, Vikings 19

Houston Texans (1-7) at Miami Dolphins (1-7)

This game shouldn't even be televised. Two 1-7 teams going at it. I'm not going to dive into this one really, the Dolphins should win, but it will be close. I give Miami the edge just because I think their defense is decent and should have a big game against Tyrod Taylor who is returning from injury.

The Pick: Dolphins 23, Texans 15

Los Angeles Chargers (4-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (3-5)

Some might call upset here. The Eagles finally had a nice win (even if it was vs Detroit) but it was still nice. Maybe that was all they needed. The Chargers have been struggling mightily lately as they dropped their second straight, this time at the hand of the young Patriots. Their defensive issues have started to lose them games and it can't keep happening. However, this is not a game they have to worry much about. Philly's offense has been pretty rough all season and if you can force pressure on Jalen Hurts, he will not complete the pass. The Eagles defense also isn't very good either so I could sense a bounceback game for Justin Herbert and also Mike Williams who hasn't been tearing it up as much as he had the first couple of weeks. Could be a good game, but Chargers will get back in the win column.

The Pick: Chargers 34, Eagles 26

Green Bay Packers (7-1) at Kansas City Chiefs (4-4)

We were finally set to see the first match between Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes in this one, then COVID struck. Aaron Rodgers is out for this one and possibly even next week with COVID and so it means that 2020 first-rounder Jordan Love will be making his first career start at QB for the Pack. Coming off of the biggest win of the season, the Packers won't be willing to just give in to a Chiefs team that could barely beat the lowly Giants on MNF. Even with Jordan Love at QB, the Packers will have their dominant defense to back them. I'm calling upset, Jordan Love gets the win as the Packers will get to 8-1! 

The Pick: Packers 28. Chiefs 24

Arizona Cardinals (7-1) at San Fransisco 49ers (3-4)

Cardinals could be on upset alert here. Kyler Murray is no guarantee to play in this one. He got hurt late in the loss to GB last week and had a 1-3 week return timeline. That being said, I expect him to play on Sunday, but it's not for sure. The Niners are starting to get a little hot. Both sides of the football looked much improved for them this past Sunday in a close win against Chicago. Deebo Samuel is looking unguardable right now. While the Cardinal D has been good all season, Samuel could cause fits. As much as I want to go upset here, I still don't think the Niner offense has what it takes to match the firepower of a healthy Cardinal offense.

The Pick: Cardinals 24, Niners 21

Sunday Night Football - Tennessee Titans (6-2) at Los Angeles Rams (7-1)

God, as football fans we regret not being able to see Derrick Henry in this one. Aaron Donald vs Derrick Henry is as good as it gets. Even without Henry, this game features a lot of stars, including a few familiar faces in new places (Adrian Peterson for the Titans and Von Miller for the Rams). We have no idea if the Titans can win without Henry or what they even look like for that matter with him not in the fold. The Rams meanwhile have been so hot lately, especially Cooper Kupp, and they aren't slowing down. At home, Sunday Night, with Von Miller added, against a banged up Titan team, I see the Rams continuing to roll.

The Pick: Rams 33, Titans 26

Monday Night Football - Chicago Bears (3-5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3)

Not a great MNF game. Both teams are playoff hopefuls right now but probably won't end up making it. It was a promising performance finally from Justin Fields last Sunday, but with Matt Nagy back on the sidelines from COVID and a fierce Steeler D on the road, it probably won't continue on the road. The Steelers have been finding out how to win with a slow offense, and it's working. The Najee Harris and Diontae Johnson show wears opposing teams down. The Bears defense is also so banged up that it might not be able to stop these two good young players. In a defensive game, expect the home Steelers to get the win.

The Pick: Steelers 19, Bears 17