Thursday, November 2, 2023

NFL - Week Nine Preview

There are some really good looking games this week around the NFL as the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs will battle it out in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday morning. Later in the day, the Seattle Seahawks will travel to Baltimore to face the surging Ravens. In Philadelphia, the Eagles will host the Dallas Cowboys in a huge NFC East tilt. On Sunday night, the Buffalo Bills will take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincy and finally on Monday Night Football, the Los Angeles Chargers will play at the New York Jets. 

 

The Chiefs and Dolphins (both 6-2) will be battling for AFC supremacy in this one and the Dolphins have the highest scoring offense in pro football while the Chiefs have been struggling to get the offense going, managing just three field goals in a loss against the Denver Broncos last week. Miami torched the Broncos for 70 points back in the third game of the season. Look for a tight game here with a late score pulling it out for Kansas City. 

The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles (7-1) is always a great game and first place in the NFC East division could be on the line this Sunday in the "City of Brotherly Love" (or brotherly shove in recent weeks). The Cowboys are 5-2 and would love to push the Eagles in this one, but they need the offense to keep pace with Philly's high scoring offense. The quarterback play will likely decide the outcome in this game and Jalen Hurts rates the edge over Dak Prescott. Both defenses will be amped up to slow the opposing offense down. Look for a lower scoring game with Philly winning a close one. 

In Baltimore, the Ravens (6-2) host the Seattle Seahawks (5-2) is what should be a physical game. Baltimore is rolling right now and QB Lamar Jackson will look to keep the good vibes going against a surprisingly solid Seattle defense. The Ravens defense will look to shake things up against quarterback Geno Smith and the 'Hawks offense, which averages 24 points per game. The kicking game for Baltimore is superior and Justin Tucker should provide the winning margin in this one. 

On Sunday night, look for the Cincinnati Bengals (4-3) to get their fourth straight win against a Bills team that is banged up on defense. Bengals QB Joe Burrow looks to be healthy again and he can move around and fling the ball all over the field to his favorite targets (wide receivers) Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd. The Bills (5-3) must stop the Bengals air attack if they want to win this game. It should be a higher scoring game, but look for the Bengals to emerge with the victory. 

The Los Angeles Chargers (3-4) have been dubbed the "NFL's most under achieving team" in recent seasons and that is true so far in the 2023 season. The Jets (4-3) have been doing it on defense this year and have won three consecutive games with QB Zach Wilson doing just enough on offense to keep the Jets competitive. 

The Chargers showed some signs of life in their rout of the Chicago Bears last Sunday night and quarterback Justin Herbert had his best game this season. The L.A. offensive line must protect Herbert from the fierce Jets pass rush. On the other hand, the same can be said for the Jets O-line as the Chargers have amassed 23 QB sacks in seven games. This will be another close game, but the Chargers have the better offense and should get the win. 

The rest of the action for Week Nine is featured in the capsule style format and the Heftyinfo picks for all 14 games follows up. 


Tennessee Titans (3-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) - The Thursday night game in the Steel City goes for the home team. 

Washington Commanders (3-5) at New England Patriots (2-6) - Take the Patriots at home in this one. The Commanders are cleaning house as they traded away two of their top defensive players. 

Arizona Cardinals (1-7) at Cleveland Browns (4-3) - The Cards traded away QB Josh Dobbs (to Minnesota) and Kyler Murray will feel the heat of the vaunted Browns defense. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) at Houston Texans (3-4) - The visiting Buccaneers have lost three straight coming into this one, but QB Baker Mayfield and company should do just enough to get the win. 

Chicago Bears (2-6) at New Orleans Saints (4-4) - The Saints and QB Derek Carr must find a way to out perform the Bears. This game will be closer that many people might think, but the Saints should march off with the victory. 

Minnesota Vikings (4-4) at Atlanta Falcons (4-4) - Two teams with new quarterbacks playing this Sunday. Vikings QB Kirk Cousins is out for the season with Achilles injury while Falcons benched Desmond Ridder and will go with Taylor Heinicke. Toss up here. 

Los Angeles Rams (3-5) at Green Bay Packers (2-5) - This could be the stinker game of the week. Rams could be without QB Matthew Stafford (thumb injury) while the Packers offense has been struggling big time with Jordan Love having troubles so far. 

Indianapolis Colts (3-5) at Carolina Panthers (1-6) - The Colts have lost three in a row and have been getting lit up (allowing 38 PPG in the losing streak), but the Panthers offense is pretty weak. Toss up in this one. 

New York Giants (2-6) at Las Vegas Raiders (3-5) - The Raiders have a new head coach as Josh McDaniels was fired and QB Jimmy Garoppolo has been benched. Will the shake up be enough for the host team to beat the Giants? Expect a lower scoring game here. 

 

The Heftyinfo picks for Week Nine   . . . . . . . . . . . . .     (Home teams are listed in bold; Lock of the Week is listed in BOLD CAPS

PITTSBURGH over Tennessee 

Kansas City over Miami (Game being played in Frankfurt, Germany) 

New England over Washington 

Baltimore over Seattle 

Cleveland over Arizona 

Tampa Bay over Houston 

New Orleans over Chicago 

Atlanta over Minnesota 

L.A. Rams over Green Bay 

Indianapolis over Carolina 

Las Vegas over N.Y. Giants 

Philadelphia over Dallas 

Cincinnati over Buffalo 

L.A. Chargers over N.Y. Jets 

 

Last Week's Record - 11-5 

SEASON RECORD - 78-44 

Lock of the Week Record - 8-0 

 


 






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