At the season's midway point, several teams continue to puzzle oddsmakers, the betting public and players making NFL office pool picks. The Bears already have lost as many games, four, as they did all of last year. The Chargers have rushed for fewer than 40 yards in four straight games, a dubious feat last accomplished in 1946. The Colts beat the Chiefs and Texans but lost to the Raiders and nearly were upset at home by the Broncos. The Eagles can get blown out one week and look like one of the top Super Bowl contenders the next. Getting a handle on these enigmas, knowing which weeks they'll be "up" and which weeks they'll be "down," is key to making your NFL football pool picks. Which teams will show up big-time in NFL Week 9? And which should you avoid with your NFL confidence picks? View the latest NFL picks from SportsLine's proven computer model before you make any NFL predictions.
This model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times, went 12-2 on straight-up picks last week, part of a sparkling 22-6 run. The model ranked in the Top 10 on NFLPickWatch on straight-up NFL picks for the third straight year last season, when it beat more than 96 percent of CBS Sports office pool players. Anyone who has followed it is way up.
Now, the model has simulated the entire slate of Week 9 NFL games 10,000 times and generated its optimal NFL pick'em plays. We can tell you the model likes the Lions even though they're underdogs in Oakland. In fact, Detroit is winning 56 percent of computer simulations.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has emerged as a darkhorse MVP candidate. He threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns in last Sunday's 31-26 win over the Giants, the third time this year Stafford threw for at least 340 yards with three scores. No. 1 target Kenny Golladay, a 6-foot-4 mismatch for every cornerback, is tied for the NFL lead with six touchdown catches and paces the Lions with 508 receiving yards.
Oakland has allowed 19 TD passes, second-most in the NFL. Opposing quarterbacks have posted a 115.5 rating, fourth-highest. The Lions are battle-tested too, as their three losses came to contenders Green Bay, Minnesota and Kansas City by an average of just 5.7 points.
The model also has made the call on Jets vs. Dolphins, Jaguars vs. Texans, Vikings vs. Chiefs, Titans vs. Panthers, Bears vs. Eagles and and the rest of the Week 9 NFL schedule. In fact, the model says one team the public loves goes down in flames. You can only see all of the model's NFL pool picks at SportsLine.
So who should you pick in every Week 9 NFL game? And which favorites get absolutely stunned? Visit SportsLine now to get optimal NFL office pool picks, all from the advanced computer model that went 12-2 last week.