NFL Predictions Week 9: Every Game's Odds, Lines and Score Predictions

Week 9 of the 2016 NFL season promises a slate filled with division matchups and some potentially high-scoring affairs.The Oakland Raiders are coming off a 30-point performance, aided by an overtime quarter, to continue their trend of racking up points this year. Oakland is the fourth-highest-scoring team in the league this season with 215 total points.The Raiders will take on the Denver Broncos, another high-scoring team, in Week 9. The Broncos are eighth in scoring, with 194 points on the season.Those AFC West rivals aren't the only division opponents meeting in Week 9. The Atlanta Falcons will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Detroit Lions will face the Minnesota Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers.Let's take a look at the opening point spreads for Week 9'smatchups and make some score predictions.Note that the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Washington are on bye in Week 9.Safe Bet: Dallas Cowboys (-6.5)It's hard to imagine the Dallas Cowboys being unable to put away the Cleveland Browns by at least a touchdown, so this point spread is one of the safest Week 9 has to offer.The Cowboys continued their winning ways against division rival Philadelphia on Sunday night to the tune of a 29-23 victory.At 6-1, Dallas remains atop the NFC East and is still in the top 10 in the league in scoring with 188 points on the year, an average of 26.9 per game.Some might worry that a quarterback switch for Dallas could interrupt the team's momentum or change the scoring efficiency the Cowboys have been exhibiting each week.But recent indications from team owner and general manager Jerry Jones are that as long as Dak Prescott continues to perform at a high level, he won't lose his starting job to Tony Romo:Prescott has thrown for nine touchdowns to just two interceptions so far this season and is completing 65.2 percent of his passes. And the Cowboys have reaped all the rewards of their investment in running back Ezekiel Elliott, who has already rushed for nearly 800 yards.Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns have allowed 29.8 points per game on average this season, the third-most in the NFL. Big Gamble: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1)Opening lines usually tend to favor the home team, especially onThursday Night Football.That being said, it's not likely that the Buccaneers will continue to be favored by a point (or straight up) over the high-flying Atlanta Falcons come Sunday.But if for some reason you do see this line, run away; it's not a good bet to take.Tampa Bay hasn't been terrible this season, but it's a rather middling team. The Bucs rank around the middle of the league in scoring (19th), averaging 21.7 points per game.But their defense has fared worse, allowing opponents to score an average of 27 points per game.That's not a winning equation against the Falcons and their No. 1-ranked offense. Even if the Green Bay Packers were able to contain Julio Jones in Week 8, the Falcons still got the job done.Matt Ryan spread the ball around to his other weapons, and Terron Ward had no problem assisting Devonta Freeman in the backfield with Tevin Coleman out.Home team or not, it's not going to be easy for the Buccaneers to beat the Falcons, even by only a couple of points. Odds via Odds Shark and are current as of Monday.
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