Week 9 NFL Betting Picks (7-1 Last 3 Weeks, 15-8, 65% YTD)

The Week 8 NFL betting picks went 2-0 with a push, and we’re now 15-8 on the year for +6 units of profit.

Both of the winners came in relatively easy fashion. New England pounded the Bills 41-25 in Buffalo to easily cover the -5 point spread. And in our teaser, the Saints (+8) won outright while the Chargers (+10.5) lost by 8 in Denver.

There was a bit of luck involved in the push. We had Browns +3, and we needed a Cleveland TD and 2-point conversion with 12 seconds left in order to push that bet as the Browns blew a 20-7 halftime lead to remain winless on the year.

The 2-0-1 week extends our 3-week run to 7-1-1 with these weekly NFL picks. Let’s keep it going in Week 9.

(FYI: You can get these weekly free NFL picks emailed directly to your inbox. Just subscribe to our email list at the base of this article.)

1. Broncos +2


Denver visits the Raiders in a Sunday Night Football showdown of 6-2 teams for top spot in the AFC West. Both teams have won 2 straight games, with the Broncos coming off a 27-19 win over the Chargers and the Raiders pulling out an OT victory over the Buccaneers.

These teams are basically polar opposites. Denver ranks 1st in the NFL in defensive passing yards allowed, third in total yards allowed and fifth in points against, but is ranked 27th in offence and 27th in passing yards for. Oakland is 4th in the NFL in passing yards, fifth in total yards and sixth in points per game, but ranks 27th against the pass, 28th against the run and 31st overall in total yards allowed.

We’ll take great defence over great offence any day. Raiders QB Derek Carr’s biggest weakness appears to be making quick decisions, and the Broncos have the ferocious pass rush that can hurry Carr into inaccurate throws or even mistakes this week. Meanwhile, the Broncos’ conservative offence should still be able to move the ball against Oakland’s mediocre defence.

This rivalry has long been dominated by the road team, with Denver covering its last 5 visits to Oakland. The Raiders are 1-2 at home this year, compared to 5-0 on the road. We like what Oakland’s doing this year and even picked them at the start of the season to win the West, but we can’t forget 5 of their 6 wins have come over the Saints, Titans, Ravens, Jaguars and Bucs. Denver should be favoured here, and we’ll gladly take the 2 points at www.Pinnacle.com.

2. Ravens +1.5

Ben Roethlisberger is expected to return this week for the Steelers, so all of a sudden Pittsburgh will start winning again, right? We’re not so sure. Baltimore’s having a down year, losing 4 straight after a 3-0 start, but they’re in every game (none of their games this year have been decided by more than 8 points) and they always get up for this fierce AFC North rivalry.

So do the Steelers, of course, but Pittsburgh has lost its last 3 trips to Baltimore. That shouldn’t be a huge surprise, given how poorly the Steelers have played on the road in general over the past several seasons. We referenced that when we took the Dolphins over Pittsburgh in Week 6, and Pittsburgh is now 6-23-1 against the spread in its last 30 games when visiting teams with losing home records (the Ravens are 1-2 at home this year).

Both teams are rested, coming off their bye weeks. While the week off bought the Steelers some time for Roethlisberger to heal, we think it may have helped the Ravens more. They switched offensive co-ordinators a few weeks ago and could benefit from a chance to learn Marty Mornhinweg’s offence. They return some players this week as well, including several starters on the offensive line as well as emotional leader LB Terrell Suggs.

We like Baltimore to win a low-scoring game here. The Ravens are small favourites at most sportsbooks, but we grabbed Ravens +1.5 at www.SportsInteraction.com on Friday morning.

3. Vikings/Seahawks 2-Team, 6-Point Teaser (-110)

For this week’s teaser, we’re taking 2 teams that are favoured by a TD or less and moving their spreads down to where they basically just have to win the game.


Minnesota is a 6-point favourite at home to the Lions despite having lost its last 2 games and its offensive co-ordinator. It looks like things may be in disarray in Vikings land right now, but this team wins with defence and should be able to shut down a Detroit attack that ranks 27th in the NFL in rushing and 21st in total yards. The Lions have lost 3 straight road games and have covered just 1 of their last 7 trips to Minnesota. Detroit could stay inside 6 points, but we don’t see them winning.


The Seahawks should be loaded for bear after posting a tie and a loss in their last 2 games. Seattle’s crowd is known as perhaps the most noisiest in the NFL, and now the Bills have to visit there on Monday Night Football. Buffalo’s offence is a mirage, ranking 8th in the NFL in points per game but just 25th in total yards. We expect the Seahawks to focus on shutting down the Bills’ running game, which they should be able to do with a defence that ranks 7th in the league against the rush, and we don’t like Tyrod Taylor’s chances of betting Seattle through the air.

We got Vikings pick ’em and Seahawks -1 at -110 odds at www.Bodog.eu, which offers the best 2-team, 6-point teaser odds (along with Pinnacle) of any sportsbook we recommend to Canadians.