Week 9 Panel Picks: Bengals Edge Bills, Ravens Heavy Favorites Over Seahawks
The conversation from the seven panelists this week is about how difficult the games this week are to predict. “This is such a hard week dude” is what George texted me after sending his picks. He’s not wrong either. Over half of the games this week have spreads of three or less. Luckily for George, he tightened his grasp on first place after a 14-3 week (one game shy of the record). However, Theo stayed close, with a 14-3 performance of his own.
The movement in the standings: Ray slipped to third after going 9-8 and was leapfrogged by Theo, and Rahul passed Jackson into 5th place. Here are the complete standings after eight weeks.
Primetime Games
Early Window
Late Window
Most alike picks: For the second straight week, our leaders, George and Theo, are in the closest alignment. They only picked two games differently.
Least alike picks: Ray and Rahul picked different results in eight of the 14 games. This was a theme for Ray, who also differed from Josh by seven games.
Most upsets picked: Ray picked six upsets. In the last three weeks, he’s picked a whopping 17 underdogs.
Fewest upsets picked: Jackson only picked two upsets. He might want to keep playing it safe, as he’s only three games above last place.
Most picks with majority: Jackson and Theo were with the majority for 13 of 14 games.
Fewest picks with majority: Ray was in the minority in five games this week.
What Stands Out?
The Bengals vs Bills certainly appears to be one of the games of the week. Not only will this be highly viewed because it features two great teams led by two great quarterbacks, but it should an incredibly close contest between two squads still trying to find themselves. Additionally, we were denied of this matchup last season, so fans are hungry for a Bills vs Bengals classic.
As has been the case all season, there is a tremendous level of faith in the Ravens. Only one team has been locked four times in the same week, and it was the Eagles last week against a lackluster Commanders team. The Ravens are taking on a top-10 team in the league in the Seahawks, but are still clearly viewed as the heavy favorites (to everyone but Rahul at least).
Through nine weeks of panel picks, the 2-6 Patriots have received 35 votes for them, and 28 votes against. This is an unbelievable proportion for a team ranked last in the entire AFC, but it’s what happens when three panelists are Pats fans, and when we are still used to Bill Belichick winning all the 50/50 games.
Falcons vs Vikings and Chiefs vs Dolphins will have huge implications on the panel standings, as they are the only games that George and Theo picked differently. With them both locking the Ravens, Theo can catch George by the end of the week, but George can also pull away and give himself a four game cushion.
There are a season high five solo riders this week. Ray twice, and Josh, Rahul, and I all once. Throughout last week, there was some discussion if we should offer an extra reward for solo riding a game correctly, but it was determined that we should stick to the basics.
Playoff Picture
Let’s pretend our majority pick in each matchup won this weekend. Here would be the playoff matchups on Wild Card Weekend if that were the case.
AFC
(1) Baltimore Ravens vs BYE | This would be the first week since week 4 that Kansas City wasn’t the 1 seed.
(2) Kansas City Chiefs vs (7) Cincinnati Bengals | These teams met twice times last year, and each game was decided by three points.
(3) Jacksonville Jaguars vs (6) Cleveland Browns | Cleveland beat Jacksonville 27-25 back in 2020.
(4) Miami Dolphins vs (5) Pittsburgh Steelers | Miami beat Pittsburgh 16-10 on SNF last year.
NFC
(1) Philadelphia Eagles vs BYE | Philadelphia were the one seed at this time last year.
(2) Detroit Lions vs (7) New Orleans Saints | Detroit’s last win against the New Orleans was 28-13 in 2016.
(3) San Francisco 49ers vs (6) Dallas Cowboys | San Francisco beat Dallas 42-10 in week 5.
(4) Atlanta Falcons vs (5) Seattle Seahawks | Atlanta beat Seattle 27-23 in week 3 last season.
Tune into to Thursday Night Football! It’s looking like it’ll come down to the wire. Here’s to week 9.