Week 9 means we are at the halfway point of the season officially. Each team has played or will play their eight game of sixteen this week. Nearly half of the league has already had their bye or off week. Lets look back on week 8 before we jump into week 9. In what was the largest win of the week the 49ers put 51 on the Panthers. The Patriots continued to roll as they beat the Browns by double digits. These two remain the only undefeated teams left. The Dolphins allowed 27 unanswered points on Monday night to Pittsburgh as the Steelers won 27-14. Drew Brees returned and led the Saints to a 31-9 win over the Cardinals. Adam Vinatieri nailed a game winning field goal in the last minute against the Broncos as the Colts now sit at the 2 seed in the AFC. Chicago's kicking woes continued as they missed a game winning field goal as time expired. The Seahawks nearly blew a 24-0 halftime lead in Atlanta. Seattle held on to beat the Falcons 27-20. Now lets look at the playoff picture as if the playoffs started today.
AFC
Byes: 1 New England Patriots, 2 Indianapolis Colts
6 Houston Texans vs 3 Baltimore Ravens
5 Buffalo Bills vs 4 Kansas City Chiefs
NFC
Byes: 1 San Francisco 49ers, 2 New Orleans Saints
6 Minnesota Vikings vs 3 Green Bay Packers
5 Seattle Seahawks vs 4 Dallas Cowboys
Week 9 Picks (all times central)
San Francisco 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals 7:20 (Thursday) FOX (Pick: San Francisco)
Houston Texans vs Jacksonville Jaguars 8:30am (London) NFLN (Pick: Houston)
Minnesota Vikings vs Kansas City Chiefs 12:00 FOX (Pick: Kansas City) (NFL 100 Game of the Week)
New York Jets vs Miami Dolphins 12:00 CBS (Pick: New York Jets)
Chicago Bears vs Philadelphia Eagles 12:00 FOX (Pick: Philadelphia)
Indianapolis Colts vs Pittsburgh Steelers 12:00 CBS (Pick: Indianapolis)
Green Bay Packers vs Los Angeles Chargers 3:25 CBS (Pick: Green Bay)
New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens 7:20 NBC (Pick: New England)
Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants 7:15 (Monday) ESPN (Pick: Dallas)
What to Watch For
The one division that has the best team in the NFL and then two of the worst is the AFC East. In this division this week you have two of the worst teams playing for probably the number one pick in the draft. That game is the Jets and Dolphins. The other game we are picking from this division is the Sunday night game. Two of the top three seeds in the AFC face off as New England travels to Baltimore. This will be the Patriots first true test of the season. The Ravens can make things very interesting with a win. In Los Angeles, we may see a duel of two of the best QBs of the last 15 years in Aaron Rodgers and Phillip Rivers. This may be the last time they face off against each other in a regular season game. In Philadelphia we have a playoff game basically. The Eagles are 4-4 and the Bears are 3-4, the loser of this game goes to 5 losses in week 9. That is a deep hole to climb out of for either team. In Kansas City we have two contenders and Mahomes may be back. The Steelers sit at 3-4 and welcome in the 5-2 Colts. If the Steelers win then they are right back in the AFC playoff race and maybe the race for the AFC North. Sunday morning as you are waking up, there will be an AFC South showdown in London. The Texans and Jaguars are separated by one game in the division. The winner will have a leg up on the other and then they will be on the heels of the Colts. It should be a fun and dramatic week as the playoff race is just beginning.
Have a magical day and we will SEE YA! real soon.