NFL Betting: Week 9 Odds and Picks: Chiefs-Jaguars, Panthers-Saints, Pittsburgh-Denver

Goodbye baseball, hello NFL betting.

OK – the end of the baseball season doesn’t mean we all have to start betting on football. But we sports fans sure will be watching it and some of us will wager on it for office pools, friendly bets and so on. Let’s try a few more Week 9 NFL picks.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Sunday, November 8, 1:00 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: Jaguars -6.5

Sure, most of us won’t be tuned in to this toilet bowl matchup, including Jaguars “fans.” But we should still take the opportunity to make a good pick when it’s available and the Jags look good this week.

Neither team can make a stop; both rank in the NFL’s bottom third in every major defensive category and are 31^st and 32^nd in sacks. But the Jags at least give the odd inspired effort at home, as they did against Indianapolis in Week 1 and Tennessee in their first meeting.

Maurice Jones-Drew should absolutely demolish the porous Chiefs O-line and David Garrard should have one of those good games he mixes in with his strings of mediocre performances.

Pick: Jaguars -6.5

Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints

Sunday, November 8, 4:05 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: Saints -13

Could this be your shocker special of the week, online betting fans? The Saints should win but they may not cover.

• First off, they may underestimate the Panthers after beating the Giants and Falcons in recent weeks.
• Second, the Panthers are running the ball with authority again and Sedrick Ellis’ injury leaves a hole in New Orleans’ run defense, as we saw when Michael Turner went off on Monday night.
• Third, Carolina quietly has the NFL’s No. 1 pass defense; the stat was bloated early on by easy matchups but there was nothing easy about a road game versus Arizona last week and the Panthers still prevailed.

I see them keeping this game surprisingly close.

Pick: Panthers +13

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos

Monday, November 9, 8:35 p.m. ET

Sportsbook favorite: Steelers -3

How’s this for a stat: Pittsburgh has faced Chris Johnson, Cedric Benson and Adrian Peterson already this year…and still leads the NFL in run defense. We can thus expect the Steelers to shut down Knowshon Moreno and force the ball into Kyle Orton’s hands.

I don’t know about you, but I’d bench Orton when I make my NFL fantasy picks this week. He’s just been too mistake-free. Time for the Steelers to correct that.

Pick: Steelers -3

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