Sportsnaut
The 2025 NFL season has delivered a bit of unpredictability, as demonstrated in Weke 8 with the Miami Dolphins’ win over the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Jets getting their first win of the season by defeating the Cincinnati Bengals. As we look ahead to our NFL Week 9 predictions, it’s fair to assume that more chaos is coming on Sunday.
Related: Week 9 Fantasy Rankings
Let’s dive into our game-by-game NFL picks for every matchup on the NFL schedule for Week 9.
The tentative expectation is that Lamar Jackson will play this week against the Miami Dolphins. It will make it even easier for the Baltimore Ravens to run the football against a unit that allows 5 yards per carry and over 140 rushing yards per game. Baltimore also boasts the secondary to limit Miami’s passing game, taking away Tua Tagovailoa’s top read and forcing him to hesitate. We expect De’Von Achane to perform very well versus Baltimore (128.9 rush ypg and 4.5 ypc allowed), but the Ravens come out of Thursday Night Football with the victory.
Sunday’s matchup between the Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals should be one of the highest-scoring games in Week 9. Over the last six games, opponents have averaged 251.5 passing yards and 2.5 passing touchdowns per game with a 113.4 QB rating, all while averaging 171.2 rushing yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry. To Joe Flacco’s credit, the Bengals have scored 33-plus points in consecutive games. Chicago is the better-coached team, and its defense has proven more capable of generating takeaways, with one being what could make the difference in this game.
There’s an opportunity here for the Detroit Lions to bury the Minnesota Vikings further down at the bottom of the NFC North. That’s our expectation. Minnesota’s defense has allowed a 5.92 yards-per-play average, 353.8 total yards, and 26.5 points per game in the last four contests. On top of that, Jared Goff has a history of picking Brian Flores’ defense apart. Given everything the Vikings have shown offensively this season, there’s zero reason to believe they can score enough here to win. The Lions currently hold a 5-2 record and sit above the Vikings, who are 3-4, in the NFC North standings. Detroit’s offense and defense rank among the top in the division, supporting the expectation of their advantage in this matchup.
One thing the Carolina Panthers do well is run the football, but they draw a Week 9 matchup versus a Green Bay Packers defense that allows the third-fewest rushing yards per game (76.5) and just a 3.7 yards-per-carry average. Carolina also has nothing that resembles an effective pass rush. Being unable to pressure Jordan Love paired with the Panthers’ own issues in pass protection for Bryce Young are a recipe for a two-score loss to Green Bay...
