Week 9 of the 2019 NFL season is upon us, beginning with an all-NFC West affair on Thursday Night Football between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. The Niners are one of only two teams that still remain undefeated as we round past the midpoint of the campaign—the Patriots are the other—and they are expected to remain that way after this primetime contest, opening as 10-point chalk over their divisional rival. This will lead into an action-packed Sunday slate, one that fans should set an early alarm for to account for the 9:30 a.m. ET start time in the Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars game. This one is being hosted at Wembley Stadium in London, England as the year’s final NFL International Series game, setting up a slew of 1 p.m. ET kickoffs that will be headlined by the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles engaging in a rematch of their epic playoff meeting following the 2018 campaign. There are then four games in the late afternoon timeslot, followed by a can’t-miss matchup on Sunday Night Football. The Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots will be renewing their fierce rivalry in primetime, with Baltimore set to give the reigning champs their first real test of the 2019 NFL season. Week 9 will wind down with an always-exciting showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, two NFC East rivals with plenty of history and bad blood.

Those looking for help wagering on these contests or picking winners for their pools have come to the right place. Pro handicapper Jon Price of SportsInformationTraders.com is back with another set of predictions for readers, which includes an in-depth look at his best bet of the week. Before seeing which teams the Vegas expert likes to win and cover in their respective matchups, have a look at the full schedule, start times, TV channels, live stream sites, updated odds, key betting trends and more for Week 9 of the 2019 NFL season.

NFL Week 9 TV Schedule And Odds

*Game taking place at neutral site of Wembley Stadium in London, England.

Week 9 Byes: Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints

Thursday Night Football live streamed via Amazon Prime, Sunday Night Football via NBC Sports and Monday Night Football via WatchESPN

NFL Week 9 Betting Trends

• The Houston Texans are 9-2 SU over their last 11 meetings with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars have kept things competitive in the last six matchups, however, covering in four of them. These AFC South rivals are set to meet at the neutral site of Wembley Stadium on Sunday, where the Texans are currently favored by a point. Despite having the experience of playing a contest across the pond every season since 2013, Jacksonville is just 2-3 SU in those games. This will be Houston’s first London appearance and second in the NFL International Series after the club lost to the Raiders in Mexico City back in 2013.
• The Buffalo Bills are 6-1 ATS in their last seven meetings with the Washington Redskins. Buffalo has been one of the big surprise success stories of the 2019 NFL season, going 5-2 SU and 4-3 ATS so far. The club will be a 9.5-point favorite for this Week 9 showdown with Washington, which is just 1-7 SU on the campaign and has only covered once in its last 10 games dating back to last year.
• The Philadelphia Eagles have won and covered in each of their last four clashes with the Chicago Bears. The Eagles are 4.5-point chalk at home this week, with the books expecting them to once against best an opponent they have had little trouble with over the past five seasons. These teams last met in the playoffs back in January, where Philadelphia escaped with a 16-15 victory following the now infamous “double doink” missed field goal by the Bears.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers outright won each of their four most recent games against the Indianapolis Colts, covering the spread in three of them. These teams met each year from 2014-17, with the Steelers winning all but the 2017 clash by double digits. Indianapolis has long struggled against this foe, winning just twice in 17 tries dating back to 1985. The Colts are projected to get off the shneid in this Week 9 meeting, however, opening as one-point favorites.
• The Green Bay Packers are 7-0 SU and 6-1 ATS in their last seven meetings with Los Angeles Chargers. The Packers have had little issues historically besting the Bolts, winning every game in the series since 1985 and failing to cover just once, which was as double-digit favorites in their most recent battle. The Chargers are 3.5-point underdogs in their quest to get a victory over Green Bay in Week 9.

NFL Week 9 Best Bet

Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Chargers

The Packers have long dominated the Chargers, winning 10 of 11 all-time games against them. These teams last met in 2015 for a contest that Green Bay was expected to win handily as 10.5-point favorites, but ended up being quite competitive after Bolts quarterback Philip Rivers went off for 503 yards and two touchdowns on 43-of-65 passing. The signal-caller had a chance to force overtime by scoring from three yards out on the game’s final play, although he ultimately saw his red zone pass fall incomplete. Rivers will be hungry for revenge and his first career victory against the Packers in this Week 9 matchup, but he’ll have to outduel Aaron Rodgers to earn it.

Rodgers is once again playing like one of the league’s all-time quarterbacks and is being mentioned in the 2019 NFL season MVP discussion after a blazing start to the campaign. The 35-year-old has racked up 2,324 yards and 16 touchdowns against two interceptions on 120-of-190 passing attempts, all while guiding his team to the top of the wildly competitive NFC North with a 7-1 record. The Packers trail only the undefeated, 7-0 San Francisco 49ers in the conference and are also competing with the 7-1 New Orleans Saints for first-round bye in the playoffs. Rodgers has been near unstoppable over the past fortnight, torching the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs for a combined 734 yards and eight touchdowns with zero picks and a 75% completion rate. While Green Bay’s season may only be halfway done, it seems that the club will finally snap its three-year postseason drought—tying the longest stretch of Rodgers’ career—if the quarterback can keep it up.

Fernando Ramirez posted a clip of Chargers running back Austin Ekeler discussing the prowess of Green Bay’s defense:

#Chargers RB Austin Ekeler talks about how good the Packers defense is. He also says that many around the league believe the Packers have the best edge rushers, but Ekeler believes the two best are on his team in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. pic.twitter.com/4vi15h5dg3

— Fernando Ramirez (@RealFRamirez) October 30, 2019

Rivers hasn’t been too shabby himself, helming an offense that hasn’t shied away from airing it out during the 2019 NFL season. The 37-year-old is on track to attempt more than 600 passes this year, connecting on 202-of-305 attempts for 2,315 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games. He’s thrown seven interceptions, however, which has hurt LA’s attempt to live up to its lofty preseason expectations. Sportsbooks projected the Chargers to win 10 games this year, a mark the Bolts are off pace to hit with a 3-5 record going into Week 9. The team did pick up a big win this past Sunday though, besting the Chicago Bears thanks to a missed field goal with the clock expiring. That “W” ended an ugly three-game losing streak for Los Angeles and kept the organization’s playoff hopes alive, as they are just two games back from the AFC West-leading Chiefs.

The public almost unanimously believes the Packers will continue their winning ways in Week 9, however, with 89% of all tickets and 95% of the money wagered against the spread coming in on Green Bay. Despite the lopsided action from the public, the discrepancy between the sharp and square wagers has forced Vegas to adjust the line in Los Angeles’ favor. The betting line for this game has moved from GB -4 to GB -3.5, showing that the wiseguys think the Chargers will find a way to keep things close on Sunday. The total for this contest has also moved quite a bit, although these odds haven’t shifted against the public trends. The over/under went up on the board at 46 points, but has since jumped to 47.5 with 86% of all public bets and 80% of the cash on that side of the line.

This could certainly wind up being another shootout, especially with so many offensive weapons set to hit the field on Sunday. The Packers seem have a star in the making with running back Aaron Jones, who has scored three touchdowns—all via receptions—in the last two games. He racked up over 200 all-purpose yards in last week’s win over Kansas City and could be in line for another big day against the Chargers. LA has no shortage of talented skill position players either, a group headlined by Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen. Allen has already hauled in 51 receptions for 617 yards and three touchdowns on the year and torched Green Bay for 157 yards on 14 catches the last time these teams faced off. The wideout is coming off a relatively average seven-catch, 53-yard game against Chicago, but notably did that after being questionable all week with a hamstring injury. With more time to rest and recover, Allen may be poised for yet another sterling outing versus the Packers secondary.

Bolts head coach Anthony Lynn didn’t think Allen would even suit up last week (via Chargers.com):

He’s a little sore. I’ll know more on Wednesday if he’ll be able to practice, but this is a guy that didn’t really practice much during the week. To be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting him to play but that’s just Keenan Allen. On Sunday, it’s time to go and he said, ‘Coach, I want to play.’ It started out just putting him in on a limited basis and as the game went on, he played probably more snaps than we thought he was going to play.

Although both these defenses rank in the upper echelon for scoring (the Packers are No. 11 with 20.4 points per game allowed and the Chargers come in at No. 10 with 19.6), they will have their work cut out trying to limit the amount points going up on the board during a duel between two savvy veteran quarterbacks. Don’t be surprised if this Week 9 battle turns into a shootout that goes well over the total, especially with injuries mounting for both defenses. The Chargers went without defensive tackles Cortez Broughton, Justin Jones and Brandon Mebane at practice on Wednesday, while safety Roderic Teamer was limited. Green Bay saw cornerback Tramon Williams, safety Will Redmond and linebacker Blake Martinez limited as well, but notably didn’t have a single player unable to participate at all.

Rob Demovsky tweeted a status update on Packers receiver Davante Adams courtesy of head coach Matt LaFleur

Matt LaFleur called today's practice a walk-through but said Davante Adams "did a nice job and we'll see how he progresses." LaFleur called Adams day by day and "when he's ready to go, he'll be ecstatic." https://t.co/rNf0fIMVuM

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 30, 2019

Interestingly enough, Packers wideout Davante Adams was getting some reps in on Wednesday, which could indicate a return from a long layoff on Sunday. The star receiver has been sidelined since suffering a turf toe in Week 4 against the Eagles, which resulted in Green Bay’s only loss of the 2019 NFL season. If he can suit up and play, that should push the Pack over the edge and help them not only win, but handily cover the spread. Even if the WR isn’t able to get back on the field, Green Bay is still a strong bet to cover here, but it’s worth monitoring the line movement to try and get them at -3 or less. Either way, expect the Packers to come away with the victory in what should be an exciting, hard-fought contest.

Bonus Week 9 Predictions

Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars

Pick: Jaguars +1

Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers

Pick: Steelers +1