NFL Week 9 Predictions

Week 9 is here and we’re at the midpoint of the year. We’ll be predicting every matchup this week and through 8 weeks, we’re 75-43-1 in predicting matchups. This article was written before all games were played – WordPress has had issues over last several days in logging in, apologies for delay if this impacted your planning.

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins

It’s Lamar Jackson’s first game back and he’s mad for how the team has done without him. Lamar is going to single-handedly turn this offense around and back into playoff contention. It’s going to be an uphill battle, but he gets to ease his way back into things with a dominant performance against the woeful Miami Dolphins. 

Winner: Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals

This game will be contingent on the status of Joe Flacco. With Jake Browning playing, the Bengals will have no hope to beat the Bears. Either way, this game will be high scoring with two of the worst defenses in the NFL against one another. We’ll assume Flacco does play.

Winner: Cincinnati Bengals

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

The Minnesota Vikings had to rule out Carson Wentz for the remainder of the year, meaning its time for JJ MCCarthy to test his luck with their offense. With Wentz so far, it’s been disappointing. McCarthy will bring a new presence, but that doesn’t mean anything when you are going up against a perennial Super Bowl contender in the Detroit Lions. 

Winner: Detroit Lions

Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers

Green Bay is playing some of their best football right now and are going to have a tight race with the Detroit Lions for the NFC North title. Every game from now until then, needs to be a win to keep atop and thankfully, this one will be an easy one for them. 

Winner: Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Chargers at Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans might end up with the #1 overall pick for two years in a row. The losses will continue to rack up and the schedule doesn’t get easier for rookie Cam Ward. He’s going to continue to get hammered, with this weekend by the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Winner: Los Angeles Chargers

Atlanta Falcons at New England Patriots

The Atlanta Falcons showed their true colors last weekend with the beatdown by the lowly Miami Dolphins. The New England Patriots are 10x better than the Dolphins and Drake Maye will do more destruction to this Falcons defense.

Winner: New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants

Unfortunately, rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart lost another player on his offense, with this time being fellow rookie Cam Skattebo, after he lost wideout Malik Nabers earlier in the year. Without the two, it’s going to continue to be hard for him to succeed. He is going against a defense that lost its top player in Nick Bosa, but the 49ers are still strong even without him. The 49ers should win this one from the play of their defense. 

Winner: San Francisco 49ers

Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s Danny Dimes season in Indianapolis as he has the Colts off to a commanding 7-1 start, with the best record in the entire NFL. If the Colts can win this game, this will be a true test to how much of a threat they truly are. We think this will be the Colts getting handed only their 2nd loss of the year and the start of their tough second half stretch.

Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers

Denver Broncos at Houston Texans

This is going to be a defensive heavyweight matchup – two of the top 3 defenses in the league against one another, with two lower scoring offenses. The Broncos can light it up when they want to which is why they prevail in this one, but the Texans keep in the fight. 

Winner: Denver Broncos

Jacksonville Jaguars at Las Vegas Raiders

If you are in Jacksonville or Las Vegas where this will be your local market game on TV and you are not a fan of one of these teams, this would be a good time to take a nap. This matchup will feature inconsistent play from their entire team. We don’t know which version of the team will show up. The Jaguars just lost Travis Hunter to make things worse, right after he had a breakout game. The Jaguars are still the better team even without him and should barely squeeze this one by. 

Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints rookie Tyler Shough will be getting his first career start in the NFL and it’s against a tougher defense in the Los Angeles Rams on the road. This is not going to be pretty for him and his first win won’t come this week. 

Winner: Los Angeles Rams

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills

If only this were the Sunday Night matchup this weekend, this is the one we deserve. Two AFC heavyweights who faced one another last year in the game. This is the rematch we’ve been waiting for. The Bills couldn’t get the job done last year despite heroics from Josh Allen and unfortunately, we think this game will end the same way. It’s going to be the magic of Mahomes that continues to put the Chiefs on top in their rivalry. 

Winner: Kansas City Chiefs 

Seattle Seahawks at Washington Commanders

The Sunday Night matchup we do have will surprisingly be one that’s better than expected. Sam Darnold has found an instant connection with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, as JSN leads all receivers in receiving yards heading into this week. The Commanders offense has struggled this year with injuries. Jayden Daniels is back, but he’s going to be missing his top wideout in Terry McLaurin. The run game isn’t great for either team and it’s going down to who can win in the aerial attack and right now that’s Darnold & Seattle. 

Winner: Seattle Seahawks 

Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys

For the Arizona Cardinals, it’s going to be another week of Jacoby Brissett under center. That might actually put them in a better spot to win against the Dallas Cowboys as Brissett can sling the ball. The Cardinals are going to look good on offense, but Brissett won’t be able to keep up with the Dak attack of the Dallas Cowboys.

Winner: Dallas Cowboys