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Week 9 Picks

It must be noted that I am a college student and I am not a journalism major, nor do I plan on ever writing for a living. I make picks because I find them entertaining. I base my picks off the spread because my dad and I used to bet on the spreads for every game every week.

Disclaimer: My picks will NOT win you money in any arena of betting; in fact they will probably lose you money. I do them for fun and for small amounts of money with my friends as a competitive thing.

Denver at Detroit – Denver is experiencing some growing pains with the young Cutler, I believe from watching that he will be quite good some day, but not yet; and it looks like Kitna may not have had a concussion when he guaranteed 10 wins for the apparently formidable lions. Detroit beats the spread and wins by at least 3.

San Francisco at Atlanta – I can’t think of a more boring game that I’m thankfully not forced to watch, except maybe the Texans – Raiders bout that takes place later. I don’t even know what either of these teams are doing right now, this was supposed to be the 49’ers chance to make a move for the division and they’re moving in the wrong way, Atlanta was lost seemingly since Vick, which is sat, and it’s rough for Petrino who inherited this system. This game could go either way, but I’ll give it to the 49’ers with 3 gimme points to help their cause.

Cincinnati at Buffalo – As a lifelong Browns fan who goes to college near Cincinnati I really love this year for the fact that my “fluke” Browns beat the “all-mighty” Bengals. But back to this game; it is clear that one of these teams is on their way down and one is on the way up. I’m taking Buffalo in a pick-em game, but as is the nature with pick-em this one could really go either way.

Carolina at Tennessee – I feel bad for a team with David Carr starting, especially when Delhomme was doing pretty well before he went down. Tennesse easily beats the spread and wins by more than 4.

Green Bay at Kansas City – What a great year for Favre, he is such a fun player to watch. I think this will be a tough game for the Packers, but against this Chiefs team that is pretty bland (they're 4-3, but nothing spectacular in my eyes), Green Bay wins with 2.5 points on their side.

San Diego at Minnesota – I wonder if LT’s looking at Adrian Peterson, knowing that if Peterson were on a better team he could easily be not only the offensive rookie of the year but also the offensive player of the year. But sadly, AP is on the Vikings and LT is still a great runner and is still on the “back-to-basics” Chargers team that Norv decided would help their chances to win (big surprise, Norv!). The Chargers beat the 7 point spread in heroic fashion, making everyone wonder why we counted them out after a shaky start.

Jacksonville at New Orleans – This is a tough game for me to pick, because Jacksonville seemed like they were heading up straight towards a Wild-Card and New Orleans was down 4 straight into oblivion…right? Well as it turns out NO still has a chance to win their incredibly weak division and after Quinn Gray played well for the Jags in one game, but I think the Saints match their 4-game loss streak with a 4-game win streak and make it back to .500, New Orleans beats the 3.5 spread and the Jags along with it, making everyone who originally picked them in a Superbowl match-up happy but also curious as to what took them so long.

Washington at NY Jets – Kellen Clemens chose a bad week to get picked to debut. Washington will be looking for revenge, and will get it after a nasty loss to NE, Washington is yet another team that beats the Jets at home, the 3.5 point spread doesn’t hinder them.

Arizona at Tampa Bay – This was Arizona’s year with a chance at the division (much like the aforementioned 49’ers), and they’re squandering it after a good start. The Bucs have some injuries but win at home by more than 3.5 to beat the spread.

Seattle at Cleveland – No one thought my Browns would be a favorite in a game against a 2 year removed Superbowl team this year, and most people thought Brady Quinn had a good chance of starting by now. Well, the Browns are only 1 point favorites and Quinn is up to 2nd string, so the world isn’t completely mad. But (excluding my homer-ness) I believe the Browns will continue beating everyone who shows up at home except the Steelers, and the Browns will beat the Seahawks in a fun game, taking the 1 point spread by storm.

New England at Indianapolis – Game of the week? I just can’t believe that the Patriots are 5.5 favorites IN Indianapolis when the Colts have won the Super Bowl and not lost since. Either way, this Patriots team is something special, I’m not a fan of New England but they are fun to watch, they play great football. Sorry Indy, I hope you can win it later in the year when it matters more, but the Patriots give you 5.5 points in the spread and still beat you.

Houston at Oakland – Another boring game. Houston had a great start and has fizzled with the Andre Johnson injury. The Raiders, with some help from Mike Shanahan, are barely 2-5 and although they have matched their win total from last year, they will not surpass the 2 win mark this week. Houston graciously takes the 3 points given to them and beats Oakland while no one is watching (literally, all TV’s will be on Colts – Pats).

Dallas at Philadelphia – The Eagles have been sliding and Dallas is climbing, enough said. Not an easy win for the ‘Boys, but they can beat the spread and win by more than 3.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh – What a great Monday Night Game! The Ravens have been struggling but they know how to turn it on when people are watching, and the Steelers should be plenty beat up taking on my Browns in Pittsburgh next week (not that that will matter, Pittsburgh will probably still win next week). But I’m getting ahead of myself, point is this should be a great, old-school, physical game won in the trenches as Baltimore battles for a tie in the division with the Steelers. But the fact that everyone’s watching doesn’t help, the imploding Ravens keep heading in the wrong direction and the Steelers win by at least 9, covering my bet.

That’s it for my first week of public picks, let me know what you guys think!