2009 NFL Week 9: A Look Back and a Glimpse Ahead
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And then there were two!
The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints are the only two unbeaten teams left after Baltimore handed Denver their first loss of the season, rolling over the Broncos 30-7. The Ravens defense rose to the occasion holding QB Kyle Orton to only 152 passing yards and taking WR Brandon Marshall completely out of the game by holding him to 4 receptions for 24 yards.
The Colts had a battle on their hands against the 49ers, as it took a 22 yard touchdown pass from RB Joseph Addai to WR Reggie Wayne in the 4th to secure the win. The Saints hung on the beat the Falcons on Monday night 35-27 after intercepting a Matt Ryan pass at their own 5 yard with 3 seconds left in the game. Minnesota beat the Packers for the second time this season with a 38-26 win in Green Bay. Brett Favre torched his old team, throwing for 244 and 4 TD’s.
The Eagles used some big running and passing plays the bury division rival, New York Giants 40-17 and grab a share of the NFC East lead. They are now tied with the Cowboys who were also big winners, beating Seattle38-17. St. Louis and Tennessee got their long awaited first win of the season. The Rams beat the Lions 17-10, and the Titans ran all over the Jaguars 30-13.
Seven home teams won outright, but only five covered the spread. Big road underdogs; 49ers (+12.5), Raiders (+17.5), and the Falcons (+10.5) all covered their double digit spread but still lost the game, while Carolina (+10) won their game outright. Other road dogs winning outright were the Vikings +3, Dolphins +3.5, and Rams + 4.5 In other games with huge spreads, the Cowboys covered the -10 against the Seahawks and the Bears covered the -14 against the Browns. Buffalo was the only home team getting points but they were nowhere close to covering the +3.5, losing to the Texans 31-10.
The over bet had a slight advantage as seven games went over the totals, while only five games stayed under. This could have been really lopsided as three games stayed under by the slimmest of margins. The Texans and Bills total was 41.5 and the total points scored were 41, the Raiders and Chargers scored 40 combined points against a 41.5 total line, and the Jaguars and Titans actual point total was 43 against a total line of 45. The most points scored this week were by the Vikings and Packers who combined for 64 against a total line of 47. In no real surprise, the lowest total points scored for the week were 27 in the Rams and Lions game. The big surprise was the actual totals line being set at 44 making the under pick a gift.
Looking ahead to this week’s games, there a couple of huge divisional battles that could go a long way toward shaping the division race. First up is Dallas at Philadelphia on Sunday night. Both teams come into this game with 5-2 records. A win by the Eagles would not only give them the outright leads, they would have a 3-0 record in the NFC East. Baltimore will be looking for revenge against the Bengals who beat them 17-14 on a last minute touchdown back in week five.
A win by the Ravens could give them a share of the AFC North lead if Pittsburgh should lose to Denver. The Houston Texans find themselves at 5-3, which is the best start in franchise history. They could actually make things interesting in the AFC South if they can find a way to knock off the 7-0 Colts.
Finally, the 3-4 Miami Dolphins have a chance to really tighten things up in the AFC East when they travel to New England to play the 5-2 Patriots. A win, coupled with a Jets loss would actually put them alone in second place only one game behind the Patriots.
Stay tuned to ATS for all the latest NFL betting lines.
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