Bold NFL Week 9 Predictions: Lame-duck Packers defeat red-hot Lions, Joe Flacco-led Colts stun reeling Vikings

Things within the NFL can change at any time. An incorrect look besides the New York Jets’ 21-13 victory over the Houston Texans (6-3) on “Thursday Night Football” in the 9th hour. The Jets (3-6) looked dead in the first half, behind 7-0, as quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ 32 passing yards in the first half were the fewest in any first half of his Hall of Reputation career (minimum 10 passes thrown). In the second half, Rodgers led three consecutive scoring drives before the tournament’s final kneel.

After all, Rodgers was ready to tie his two best weapons in the second half, going 10-of-11 for 147 yards and three touchdowns while targeting Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams the next half for a super. Passer rating of 158.3, according to CBS Sports Research.

What surprises can the park bring out in Hour 9? Let’s take a look at five imaginable events in the new version of our bold NFL predictions from CBS Sports.

Packers’ ball-selling protection slows Lions’ offense on fire for disillusioned victory

The top spot in the NFC North is up for grabs in the 9th hour with the Detroit Lions (6-1) taking on the Green Bay Packers (6-2) at Lambeau Grassland. Detroit is a street favorite by two and a half points, and this will depend on what its top-ranked scoring offense (33.4 points per tournament) can accomplish against a Packers defense that leads the league in takeaways (19), which is another one that Green Bay had throughout 2023.

The Lions are on a five-game winning streak and are generating 38.4 points per tournament throughout the streak, which is the Lions’ most in a five-game span within a season since 1952, according to CBS Sports. Analysis of activities. Detroit may be the only team on record since at least 1940 to have more touchdowns (25) than incompletions (20) in a span of five games within a season, according to CBS Sports Research.

Jared Goff, the Lions’ three-time Professional Bowl quarterback, has been historic throughout this streak. That final statistic gives you an idea, but I’ll give you an idea: His 83% completion percentage and 146.5 passer rating are the most over a five-game span in NFL history, with a minimum of 100 pass attempts. a stretch in which Goff still accounts for 13 total touchdowns (12 passes and one reception) and only one interception. That is exceptional.

The scheme of unused Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and the added defense of released agency Xavier McKinney were exactly what the team needed, as it has followed up with more interceptions (six, the most in the NFL) and recorded more passes defended (seven) than volume (5) because the then defender in protection this season. McKinney’s six interceptions are the most in a player’s first eight games with a team since defenseman Darren Sharper joined the New Orleans Saints in 2009 and had seven in his first eight games. That season, Sharper finished with a league-leading nine interceptions, and the Saints received their franchise’s best Super Bowl title. Quarterbacks were throwing deep against him at their own risk: Five of his six interceptions are on deep passes, throws of 20 yards or longer, according to NFL Pro Insights.

Goff may not have the deep ball available in Hour 9 with speed demon Jameson Williams suspended for two games for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing ingredients (PES) policy. He is averaging 4.3 passing yards per target on 32 passes without Williams in the outfield and 7.6 passing yards per target on 157 passes with Williams in the outfield this season.

I bet Green Bay does enough on defense to allow a less than 100% Jordan Like to push the Packers down the stretch to take control of first park in the NFC North.

The Colts led by Joe Flacco disenchanted the Vikings and the Minnesota ship sank

Do you know who has the longest active streak of starts with some touchdown passes in the entire NFL? If you guessed Indianapolis Colts quarterback Joe Flacco, who has done it in each of his last seven starts, you might be right! Flacco may be averaging 309.1 passing yards per tournament as a starter since the 13th hour of last season when he made his first start for the Cleveland Browns, and that figure is the most in the NFL among those with at least 5 starts in that span, according to CBS Sports Research. The negative alternative certification quarterback is averaging at least 275 passing yards per tournament as a starter since the latter part of last season in that span.

The Minnesota Vikings (5-2) are off to an admirable start this season. Their defense has 15 takeovers this season, second in the NFL, and journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold is averaging career highs in completion percentage (67.2%), passing yards per target (8, 5) and passer rating (107.2). ). Additionally, running back Aaron Jones’ 104.0 yards from scrimmage per tournament this season are the seventh-most in the league, and Justin Jefferson’s 646 receiving yards are the third-most in the NFL.

Despite all that, the Colts succeed Sunday as five and a half point underdogs. Indianapolis has been in every single tournament it has played in in 2024, becoming the first team in NFL history to have each of its first eight games decided by six issues or less, according to CBS Sports Research . Flacco’s charm continues as he outlasts Darnold to lead the Colts to a successful 5-4 record, handing the Vikings their 1/3 straight loss after their best start.

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The Browns led by Jameis Winston become the first team to score more than 20 points against the Chargers this season

The 4-3 Los Angeles Chargers have the NFL’s Negative. 1 scoring defenseman (13.0 points allowed based on tournament) this season behind unused maestro Jim Harbaugh and unused defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Despite playing the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas Town Chiefs and Kyler Murray’s Arizona Cardinals, among others, they have allowed 20 points or fewer in all seven of their games in 2024.

On the other hand, the Cleveland Browns led by Jameis Winston will be the first NFL team to score 21 or more points in Los Angeles this season. He racked up 334 passing yards and three touchdowns on 27-of-41 passing in his first start of the season, leading to a disappointing 29-24 victory over Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens in Hour 8. That performance made Winston the fifth quarterback since then. at least 1950 had at least 325 passing yards, at least three passing touchdowns and bad interceptions in his first start with a team, according to CBS Sports Research. Winston continues the fresh start and lights up the Chargers’ defense in a way that hasn’t lasted the entire hour due to his fantastic, gunslinging nature along with running back Nick Chubb slowly knocking off the rust from his knee trauma.

Garrett fails to capture him in the fifth instant tournament

Three-time Cleveland Browns first-team All-Pro running back Myles Garrett, the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Time, is clearly a monster. His 92.5 sacks since entering the league in 2017 as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft are the second-highest in the NFL in a lifetime behind Steelers All-Pro TJ Watt’s 103.0, and he’s had a valuable start in 2024 with 4 captures in 8 games.

The illness is none of the four that have come in the last three weeks against Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow, and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. It would be logical to assume that the second-longest single-season sack streak of his career could come to an end Sunday against Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. One reason Herbert is playing, trying to find his patented deep ball and increasing his ability to move, is why his moderate throw time is 3.07 seconds, the 11th longest in the NFL this season.

Unfortunately for Garrett, he won’t capitalize on Herbert’s pursuit of big plays. He has increased his moderate breeze yards per target from 7.4 in Weeks 1-5, which ranked 15th in the NFL, to 8.2 as of Hour 6 before his break in Hour 5. Which ranks 13th in the entire NFL. league. Garrett won’t take a sick Herbert for a layoff on Sunday, and his unlikely layoff famine will last another hour.

Eagles’ first quarter ratings for first life in 2024

Scoring in the first quarter for an NFL team, especially a familiar playoff player like the Philadelphia Eagles (5-2), has to be a bad job. That simply hasn’t been the case: The Eagles have not scored in the first quarter of seven games in 2024. They are the only NFL team that has not scored in the first quarter this season.

A big reason for this is Philadelphia’s negative-three first-quarter performance rating, which joins the league’s worst this season with the Kansas Town Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. . Quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t back up his team’s efforts in this section to start the season with an NFL-high 27 giveaways from Hour 1 of 2023 to Hour 4 of 2024, but he has nine total touchdowns and poor returns on all of Philadelphia’s energetic three. profitable streak of the game. As a unit, the Eagles have not become world football during their entire winning streak, making their three games without a turnover the longest streak of games without concessions since 1960.

After all, coming out of this first quarter break will happen in the 9th hour against a Jacksonville Jaguars team that allows 5.1 points per tournament in the first quarter for an NFL ranking well below the moderate 19th. Pro Bowl receiver AJ Brown’s 4 yards per reception this season leads the NFL among those with at least 20 receptions. Hurts will be tied with Brown in an explosive play that will lead Philadelphia to enter the top zone or at least the outfield goal position to get on the scoreboard in the first quarter for the first life in 2024.