Week 9 NFL Picks:
2025 Edition

Shoutout to the top performers of Week 8! UnusualMan47* won as the only entrant with 10 correct picks out of 13 games. We'd love to know who you are, UnusualMan47, as this is their second weekly win of the season after winning back in Week 2 on the MNF tiebreaker.

This year we are hosting our pick'em contest on Sleeper, and just because you missed the first three weeks doesn't mean you can't still join and try to catch the pack.

Let's get to our concensus misses and lone wolf picks from Week 9.

*If you want to be shouted out by name, be sure to let us know who you are!

Big Misses

This week featured five games where the three of us were in agreement and went down with the ship together. Those games were:

Chicago Bears (-2.5) at Cincinnati Bengals - All three Sportsballers took the points. Joe Flacco led a furious comeback in the fourth quarter but a defensive letdown of epic proportions lost them the game and cost all three of our hosts their game pick.

Pool results: 63% took CHI

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions (-8.5) - All three Sportsballers laid the points on Detroit. After an early touchdown by the Lions, things went downhill quickly. They never led by even eight points, let alone nine, and ultimately lost the game outright.

Pool results: 4% took MIN

Atlanta Falcons at New England Patriots (-5.5) - All three Sportsballers laid the points. The Patriots looked like they were in a great position to easily beat the spread, taking a 21-7 lead more than halfway through the second quarter, but a late touchdown drive by the Falcons in the first half and a fourth-quarter meltdown by the Patriots ended with New England barely holding on for the victory.

Pool results: 19% took ATL

Los Angeles Chargers (-10.5) at Tennessee Titans - All three Sportsballers laid the points. Offensive and special teams miscues by the Bolts cost them dearly. They won the game and never trailed in the second half, but Tennessee's pick-6 and punt return touchdown in the first quarter prevented LA from beating the spread.

Pool results: 26% took TEN

Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys (-3.5) - All three Sportsballers laid the points on Dallas and watched the Cowboys get embarrassed in their home standing by Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals in a double-digit defeat.

Pool results: 13% took ARI

Lone Wolf

We also had several games where one of us went off the beaten path. Here are those games and whether our lone wolf got the kill or unexpectedly found himself as the prey:

Baltimore Ravens (-8.5) at Miami Dolphins - All three Sportsballers technically went lone wolf this week as Evan didn't put a pick in while Cory and Eric disagreed on the outcome. Eric trusted the Ravens despite the large spread on the road on Thursday night and his faith paid off as the Ravens hammered the Fins to the tune of a 22-point victory.

Pool results: 67% took BAL

Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers (-12.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers unafraid of the large spread. He laid the points, nearly two touchdowns worth of them, and paid the price dearly as the Packers didn't even win the game.

Pool results: 33% took CAR

San Francisco 49ers (-2.5) at New York Giants - Evan was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. An early Giants touchdown may have had him feeling pretty good, but the 49ers scored the game's next 20 points and never allowed New York to pull back within single digits after that.

Pool results: 74% took SF

Indianapolis Colts (-3.5) at Pittsburgh Steelers - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points on the home team. The Steelers wound up handing Indy their second loss of the season as they held Jonathan Taylor under 90 scrimmage yards for just the second time all season.

Pool results: 41% took PIT

Jacksonville Jaguars (-3.5) at Las Vegas Raiders - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points on the Raiders. In overtime, the Jags took a touchdown lead but gave up a late touchdown back and barely held on to the win by batting down Geno Smith's pass on the game-winning 2-point conversion attempt.

Pool results: 21% took LV

Standings

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