Week Nine Picks: In which the NFL appropriately has two CFL-quality teams play in Canada

On paper, it would appear that the Bears shouldn't have much to worry about when they go up to Toronto this weekend for what counts as a home game to the otherwise winless Buffalo Bills. Yet, here I am feeling increasingly cynical about all the many things that could go wrong and how Chicago will find a way to screw this one up, thus becoming the national joke for the week by becoming the first team to actually lose to the lowly Bills this season.

It won't be the lowest-ranked game among my confidence pool picks this week, for sure, but it will be a game I'll probably be watching through squinted eyes most of the day and feel the queasiest about entering this week's picks.

You know it's a weird week when the Chiefs and the Raiders are battling it out for the top spot in the AFC West. And actually, the Atlanta Falcons are also involved in a game for sole possession of the lead in their division with ... the Tampa Bay Bucaneers?

I never would've guessed that those two games would turn out to be as pivotal as they will be, but who knows what game's really going to turn out to be the one that surprises the most.

Here's how the usual five sees things playing out this weekend:

PFW Spread	Yahoo Users	Wunderdog	Brian Burke	My Numbers
13 (8 ½)	13 (96%)	13 (27-17)	13 (.89)	13 (96)
12 (8)	12 (95%)	12 (26-18)	12 (.85)	12 (83)
11 (7 ½)	11 (94%)	11 (27-19)	11 (.77)	11 (75)
10 (6 ½)	9.5 (91%)	10 (24-18)	10 (.73)	10 (68)
9 (6)	9.5 (90%)	9 (23-17)	9 (.70)	9 (63)
7.5 (5)	8 (89%)	8 (23-18)	8 (.67)	8 (48)
7.5 (5)	7 (86%)	7 (23-18)	7 (.63)	7 (38)
5.5 (3 ½)	5.5 (84%)	6 (25-20)	5.5 (.60)	6 (34)
5.5 (3 ½)	5.5 (84%)	5 (23-19)	5.5 (.60)	5 (27)
3.5 (3)	4 (78%)	4 (22-18)	4 (.58)	4 (20)
3.5 (3)	2.5 (64%)	3 (26-24)	3 (.55)	3 (18)
2 (2 ½)	2.5 (64%)	2 (22-20)	1.5 (.50)	2 (12)
1 (1)	1 (53%)	1 (24-23)	1.5 (.50)	1 (6)
82.5 points (11-2)	72.5 points (10-3)	85 points (12-1)	80 points (11-2)	59 points (7-6)

And while my numbers say to put 13 on the Bears (presumably thanks to the Bills now being the top team in the Power Rankings due to that 0-7 record), here's how I'll actually be turning in my picks:

13 points

Green Bay Packers(5-3) over Dallas Cowboys (1-6)

+26/-7 : +26/68/-42 : -35/0

12 points

New Orleans Saints (5-3) over Carolina Panthers (1-6)

+12/-8 : +59/75/-16 : -8/+47

11 points
Atlanta Falcons (5-2) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2)
+32/0 : +18/12/+6 : +6/-14



10 points
Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) over Cincinnati Bengals (2-5)

+13/-9 : +37/48/-11 : -2/+24

9 points
New York Giants (5-2) over Seattle Seahawks (4-3)

+24/+1 : -1/6/+5 : +4/-25

8 points
New England Patriots (6-1) over Cleveland Browns (2-5)
+39/-1 : +58/63/-5 : -4/+19



7 points
Minnesota Vikings (2-5) over Arizona Cardinals (3-4)

+4/+35 : +22/34/+56 : +21/+18

6 points
New York Jets (5-2) over Detroit Lions (2-5)
+20/-2 : +82/83/-1 : +1/+62

5 points

Chicago Bears (4-3) over Buffalo Bills (0-7)

+2/-15 : +79/96/-17 : -2/+77

4 points

Baltimore Ravens (5-2) over Miami Dolphins (4-3)

+40/-4 : +26/18/+8 : +12/-14

3 points
Oakland Raiders (4-4) over Kansas City Chiefs (5-2)

+8/+14 : +1/38/+39 : +25/-7

2 points 

San Diego Chargers (3-5) over Houston Texans (4-3)

-21/+2 : -17/27/+10 : +8/+4

1 point

Indianapolis Colts (5-2) over Philadelphia Eagles (4-3)

+29/0 : +39/20/+19 : +19/+10