I went 10-3 last week . That puts me at 75-41 for the season. For a comparison, check out the "experts" over at ESPN.

Here are my picks for the NFL's Week Nine:

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Arizona 3-4 at Tampa Bay 4-4 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Tampa Bay by 3½)

Arizona had a bye last week. The Cardinals have lost two in a row, and they are just 1-3 on the road this season. Tampa Bay lost last week to Jacksonville. The Buccaneers have also lost two straight, but have a 3-1 record at home. The team that loses this game will have really hurt their chances of playing in the postseason.

RJ's Pick - TAMPA BAY BY 6

Carolina 4-3 at Tennessee 5-2 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Tennessee by 4½)

Carolina lost to the Colts last week. All four of their wins so far this season have come on the road. They've had some really bad luck at the quarterback position, with Jake Delhomme out for the year, and both David Carr and Vinny Testaverde hobbled by injury. The way things are going, undrafted rookie Matt Moore might be starting under center before the season's out. Tennessee beat Oakland last week. They've won two in a row, and are 2-1 at home. I expect a low-scoring game.

RJ's Pick - TENNESSEE BY 2

Cincinnati 2-5 at Buffalo 3-4 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Pick 'em)

The Bengals lost to Pittsburgh last week. They've given up the third-most points in the NFL. The only two teams that have allowed more points are the winless Dolphins and Rams, both of which have played one more game than Cincinnati. They are 0-3 on the road. The Bills beat the Jets last week for their second win in a row. They've scored the fewest points in the AFC (for a comparison, the Patriots have scored almost three-and-a-half times as many points, and the Colts more than double). Trent Edwards is still injured, so J.P. Losman will get the start this week. I expect an explosion (relatively speaking) of offense from the Bills - at least 20 points.

RJ's Pick - BUFFALO BY 3

Denver 3-4 at Detroit 5-2 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Detroit by 3)

Denver lost to Green Bay at home in overtime last week on MNF. They've already played five home games and just two away games, but are under .500 at 3-4. RB Travis Henry is likely to sit out this game with a rib injury. The Broncos have two of the top CBs in the league in Champ Bailey and Dre' Bly (a former Lion), but they are both recovering from injuries. Detroit beat the Bears last week in Chicago. They've won two in a row and are 3-0 at home. Jon Kitna hasn't thrown a TD since Week Five, and he's up against a solid pass defense this week. But RB Kevin Jones should easily have 100+ yards against the league's 32nd-ranked run defense.

RJ's Pick - DETROIT BY 7

Green Bay 6-1 at Kansas City 4-3 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Kansas City by 2)

The Packers beat Denver last week on an overtime bomb by Brett Favre. They've won two straight and are 3-0 on the road. Favre has thrown for 300+ yards in four of his last five games. Kansas City had a bye last week. They've won two in a row and are 2-1 at home. Offensively, they are near the bottom of the league in points scored, rushing yards, and total yards. However, the Chiefs defense is giving up less than 17 points per game. RB Larry Johnson struggled earlier this season, but has rushed for at least 100 yards in three of his last four games.

RJ's Pick - KANSAS CITY BY 4

Jacksonville 5-2 at New Orleans 3-4 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: New Orleans by 3½)

The Jaguars beat Tampa Bay last week. They've won five of their last six, and their only loss during that stretch was to undefeated Indianapolis. Backup QB Quinn Gray put in a respectable performance last week, while wisely letting the Jaguars potent running game do most of the work. New Orleans beat the 49ers last week, in San Francisco. They have now won three straight. Despite being just 3-4, this team is probably the favorite to win the weak NFC South.

RJ's Pick - NEW ORLEANS BY 6

San Diego 4-3 at Minnesota 2-5 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: San Diego by 7)

The Chargers crushed Houston last week. They've won three in a row. However, they are just 1-2 on the road this season. Minnesota lost at home last week to the Eagles. That was their second straight loss. Quarterbacks Tarvaris Jackson and Kelly Holcomb are both hurt, so third-stringer Brooks Bollinger will likely start this week (unless Jeff George makes an unlikely comeback).

RJ's Pick - SAN DIEGO BY 12

RJ'S LAME-GAME OF THE WEEK: San Francisco 2-5 at Atlanta 1-6 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Atlanta by 3)

San Francisco lost to the Saints last week. The 49ers have lost five games in a row, and have scored the fewest points in the NFL. Atlanta had a bye last week and has dropped three straight. They have scored the second-fewest points in the league. Joey Harrington will make the start at QB this week. This game could realistically end with a final score of 7-6. Or even 3-2...

RJ's Pick - ATLANTA BY 1

Washington 4-3 at New York Jets 1-7 - 1:00 pm (Sheridan's line: Washington by 3½)

The Redskins were absolutely destroyed by New England last week, 52-7. Despite that blowout loss, their defense is still ranked above the league average in nearly every category. CB Carlos Rogers is done for the year after tearing his ACL and MCL. Washington is just 1-2 on the road this season. The Jets lost to Buffalo last week. They've lost five straight, and QB Chad Pennington has finally been benched in favor of Kellen Clemens.

RJ's Pick - WASHINGTON BY 8

Seattle 4-3 at Cleveland 4-3 - 4:05 pm (Sheridan's line: Cleveland by 2)

Seattle had a bye last week. They've given up the fewest points in the NFC. Their wide receivers are starting to get healthy again, so Matt Hasselbeck should been licking his chops. Cleveland beat the hapless Rams last week, for their second win in a row. The Browns are averaging over 27 points scored per game, but they're allowing 29 points per game. An important question to ask is, who have the Browns beaten? Answer: Winless Miami, winless Saint Louis, 2-5 Cincinnati, and 4-3 Baltimore. So, three horrible teams and one decent team. When they play good teams, like New England and Pittsburgh, they get dismantled. (They also lost to Oakland.) So, a second important question to ask is, is Seattle a "good" team, or just a "decent" team? I believe they are a good team, and therefore I think the line is dead wrong here. Go with the upset.

RJ's Pick - SEATTLE BY 4

Houston 3-5 at Oakland 2-5 - 4:15 pm (Sheridan's line: Oakland by 3)

Houston lost to San Diego last week. That was their third loss in a row. They've given up the third-most points in the AFC. QB Matt Schaub suffered a concussion last week and is unlikely to play this Sunday. So his backup, Sage Rosenfels (who has arguably the coolest name ever), is expected to start under center. Oakland lost last week to the Titans. QB Daunte Culpepper did not play well in that game. The Raiders have lost three straight as well. This one could go either way; it's really just a matter of which team screws up less.

RJ's Pick - HOUSTON BY 1

RJ'S GAME OF THE WEEK YEAR EON: New England 8-0 at Indianapolis 7-0 - 4:15 pm (Sheridan's line: New England by 4½)

New England demolished Washington last week to stay undefeated. They have scored at least 34 points in every game, and they have won every game by at least 17 points. To put this in perspective, only two other teams have scored more than 200 points this season, Dallas with 227 and Indianapolis with 224. New England has put 331 points on the board. The difference between the number of points the Patriots have scored and the number of points they've allowed (127) is 204. To repeat, that's a point differential of 204, folks. In other words, their combined margins of victory are almost as large as the total number of points scored by the next two most potent offenses in the league. This could be the greatest team in the history of the NFL; better than the '72 Dolphins, better than the '85 Bears. Or, on the other hand, they might not even be the best team this season. Indianapolis also remains undefeated, after spanking the Panthers in Carolina last week. The Colts have scored the third-most points in the league, and have given up just 102, second-best in the NFL (behind only Pittsburgh). WR Marvin Harrison is expected to play this week after sitting out the last game with a knee injury. He is unlikely to be 100%, however. I am going to go with the Colts here in an upset, because Indianapolis almost never loses at home, and because Tony Dungy is about a quadrillion times more likable than Bill "Beelzebub" Belichick.

RJ's Pick - INDIANAPOLIS BY 3

Dallas 6-1 at Philadelphia 3-4 - 8:15 pm (Sheridan's line: Dallas by 3)

Dallas had a bye last week. Apparently they needed a week off to negotiate quarterback Tony Romo's six-year, $67.5 million contract extension. The Cowboys are 3-0 on the road and have the second-highest scoring offense in the league (27 TDs in seven games). Philadelphia beat the Vikings last week. You never really know which Eagles team will show up on any given week. Will it be the the guys who allowed Brian Griese and the 3-5 Chicago Bears to drive 97 yards for a game-winning TD with less than two minutes left and no timeouts? Or will it be the guys who scored 56 points in a win against the 5-2 Detroit Lions? Will it be the squad that allowed Donovan McNabb to get sacked 12 times by the New York Giants? Or will it be the squad that nearly beat the 6-1 Packers in Green Bay? Tough call, but I'm going with the upset.

RJ's Pick - PHILADELPHIA BY 2

Monday, November 5, 2007

Baltimore 4-3 at Pittsburgh 5-2 - 8:30 pm (Sheridan's line: Pittsburgh by 9)

Baltimore had a bye last week. The Ravens offense could be described as ten guys watching Willis McGahee run, and then checking to make sure his left knee is still bending in just one direction. The Steelers beat the Bengals last week. They have allowed the fewest points in the league. I smell a shutout.

RJ's Pick - PITTSBURGH BY 13

[Bye week teams: Chicago 3-5, Miami 0-8, New York Giants 6-2, Saint Louis 0-8]

Recap

RJ's Week Nine Picks: TAMPA BAY, TENNESSEE, BUFFALO, DETROIT, KANSAS CITY, NEW ORLEANS, SAN DIEGO, ATLANTA, WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, HOUSTON, INDIANAPOLIS, PHILADELPHIA, PITTSBURGH

- I picked ten Home teams and four Away teams

- I picked nine Favorites and four Underdogs [and one game had no favorite]

(If you're interested, you can check out the full list of Danny Sheridan's Odds and ESPN's NFL "Expert" Picks.)