NFL picks 2019, Week 9: A difficult Sunday slate is tearing our expert panel apart

The experts nailed Week 8.

Everybody on our panel — with the exception of the still very good dog, Bailey — got at least 11 games right. DraftKings Nation gambling editor David “Fooch” Fucillo led the pack with a 14-1 record in Week 8, only missing the Eagles’ road upset of the Bills.

This group will have its hands full replicating that success in Week 9, though. While the primetime games are easy, the Sunday slate is a doozie.

There are five different games that have our experts in disagreement:

All five are tricky to pick, and didn’t garner much agreement. Even Fucillo and his trusty sidekick, Rio, didn’t see eye to eye on every game.

Rio is not what you would call a “Good Dog,” but for purposes of Halloween week, we can reasonably pretend he’s dressing up as such.

Rio was adopted from the DC Humane Rescue Alliance back in 2016. He started out as a cuddly kitten, and has grown into a slightly moodier cat. He’ll show some love in the morning and when he’s ready to nap, but sometimes he just enjoys sleeping in his green chair or his mini-tower. His favorite hobbies are eating, napping, and trying to wrestle with Fooch. As you can see in the picture, he’s a big boy.

There’s some obvious choices with cats being a regular pick. However, not all animals got the nod. When Rio is sitting on his tower near the window, birds will fly by and he’s not a fan of them. Rio probably thinks they’re mocking him and wants to bat at them. So, no birds picked this week. And most definitely not the Cleveland Browns because a cat will not be siding with the Dawg Pound, even for Halloween.

Here are all our picks for Week 9, although they’re still subject to change until Friday. Injuries — like the one that could keep Mahomes out of the lineup — could make someone change their mind.

Our guest this week from the NFL blogs is Lester Wiltfong, the manager at our Bears blog, Windy City Gridiron.