NFL Week 9 Picks by Cooper NFL Analyst and Cup of Joe in the D

        NFL Football Week 9 begins the second half of the Football season with a match up of two NFC South teams when the Atlanta Falcons (5-3) visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4).  The Falcons one of the hottest teams right now take their high flying offense into Tampa Bay and face a Buccaneers team who allowed 500+ yards to the Raiders last Sunday.  Philadelphia plays the NY Giants and try to get their offense back on track after losing 2 of the last 3 and QB Carson Wentz is only throwing short passes.  The Chiefs host the Jaguars and will play without QB Alex Smith who took 2 hits to the head and also may not have RB Spencer Ware and Jamaal Charles was put on season ending IR..  Dallas winners of 6 straight and winning behind rookies Prescott and Elliott, head into Cleveland to play the winless Browns. Pittsburgh who may or may not have Big Ben back at QB head into Baltimore to play a Ravens team with a good defense but sporadic low scoring offense.  The Jets are in Miami to try and stop Jay Ajayi and the running attack of the Dolphins. Detroit travels to Minnesota to play the Vikings who are losers of two straight and whose offesne ranks next to last in all the NFL had their OC, Norv Turner resign.  The Vikings have a very good defense but a terrible OL and offense that has a hard time scoring points, Should be a good Sunday for them to score some points against a porous and bad defense of the Lions.
      Carolina fresh off an impressive win over the disappointing Arizona Cardinals play the LA Rams. Panthers QB Cam Newton called out the NFL Refs for once again allowing late and cheap hits to his head and body. It will be interesting to see if the NFL starts to protect him like they do other QB's in the league.  The Saints behind QB Drew Brees and their high octane offense travel to San Fran to play  the 49ers in a game that should see the surprising Saints continue their winning ways. The Titans are in San Diego in a game where on team likes to run the ball often and the other team loves throwing the ball. Turnovers will determine this game. Indianapolis travels to Green Bay as both teams try to start a winning streak and where both QB's Rodgers and Luck will be flinging the football all over the field.  The Sunday night game has the Broncos playing the Raiders in a battle for first place in the AFC West. Denver relies heavily on their defense whereas the Raiders who have won 5 straight games on the road have little to no defense but a very potent high scoring offense. Denver looks to stop Oakland QB Carr who passed for over 500+ yds last Sunday against the Bucs.  Monday night will showcase the Bills and Seahawks, which should be a low scoring hard hitting game featuring 2 very good defenses and teams with just enough offense to win close games.
       The NFL trade deadline has come and gone and the one major trade had the New England Patriots trading star LB Jamie Collins to the Browns for a 3rd round draft pick. The trading of Collins who was the leader of the defense just goes to show that their is no loyalty anymore by NFL teams and also shows everyone that we should not blame the players when they want a guaranteed contract or a lot of money to play anymore. Blame the NFL teams for creating this environment.   Injuries continue to haunt many teams who have been decimated by the amount of injuries and this year seems that many RB's have been more then just dinged up and also WR's are taking a toll as well.  Defenses seem to be going after opposing offensive players heads more than ever and with the greater emphasis on concussion protocol, it is evident  that some defenses are deliberately going after star players to put them out of the game. And those who have fantasy football teams are scrambling this season to just put a team out there week in and week out.  Week 8 results;  Cooper 9-3-1, YTD; 91-27-2   CupofJoeintheD 8-4-1,  twitter; @cupofjoeinthed  email; cupofjoeinthed@gmail.com

                            Cooper the NFL Cat Analyst after making Week 9 picks

 

		NFL - Week 9 CupofJoe Cooper Atlanta at Tampa Bay Atl Atlanta Pittsburgh at Baltimore Pitts Balt Dallas at Cleveland Dallas Dallas Jacksonville at Kansas City KC KC NYJets at Miami Miami NY Jets Philadelphia at NY Giants Philly NY Giants Detroit at Minnesota Det Minn Carolina at Los Angeles Carolina Carolina New Orleans at San Francisco NO NO Tennessee at San Diego Tenn SD Indianapolis at Green Bay GB GB Denver at Oakland Den Oak Buffalo at Seattle Seattle Seattle Bye week;  Chicago, Cincinnati, New England, Arizona Washington, Houston