NFL picks: Experts split on 3 Week 9 matchups

After eight weeks, a few teams have established themselves as consistent threats, and others look safely out of the realm of postseason contention. That makes for some easy picks for experts, and for SB Nation’s panel it meant 10 of the 13 Week 9 matchups had at least eight of the 10 pickers taking the same team.

The first of those 10 games was on Thursday Night Football when eight of the 10 on SB Nation’s panel correctly predicted the Atlanta Falcons would beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The three games splitting experts were set for Sunday, though. The first two were a pair of divisional matchups in the early group of games.

When the Philadelphia Eagles traveled to face the New York Giants in a battle of 4-3 NFC East teams, only three picked New York to get the win at home. The Giants got off to a strong start against Philadelphia, taking a 21-10 lead into halftime, and while the Eagles tried to mount a comeback in the second half, New York won with a final score of 23-28.

The majority of our experts picked the Eagles to win, with just Thomas George and David Fucillo correctly picking the Giants.

For an AFC North game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens it was the opposite. Six of the 10 are experts were right when they picked the Ravens to defend their home field against the Steelers. Baltimore won 21-14 and now sits at first in the division.

In the second slate of games, six of the 10 on the panel took the Carolina Panthers to beat the Los Angeles Rams, and they were correct. Adam Stites, Louis Bien, Fooch, and the OddsShark Computer all liked the Rams to come through with the home win, but it was just a mess for the Rams.

To finish the week, only one panelist got it wrong by taking the Denver Broncos in Sunday Night Football. The Broncos fell, 30-20, to the Oakland Raiders. On Monday night, all but one of our writers were on the money when they picked the Seattle Seahawks over the Buffalo Bills.