“Pick ‘Em or Kick ‘Em”™: FGT VS. Urban Sports Scene Week 9 NFL Picks

By the Football Garbage Time Staff

If you followed last year, you won over 60% of your picks, and we aim to do even better this year.

And if you’ve been following us, you know that we here at Football Garbage Time have gone head to head against Wally, Will and Ray at Urban Sports Scene on our NFL Picks for the last 4 seasons.  Why?  Because they’re awesome competitors, they KNOW their sports, and, heck, they’re just good guys!  This year we’ll have their picks up right HERE, so keep it tuned in, to both us and them, because we’ll be picking all season all long.

Without further to do, here we go:

Week 9 Games

Ha Kung Wong’s Picks

Ha Kung’s Thoughts:

Last year I ended up with a 64.7% record for the season, so that’s five years in a row with over a 60% pick rate.  Plus, I had a 88.2% record on Locks of the Week and a 64.7% record on Upsets of the Week.  Don’t worry, I don’t plan on stopping now!

We had a mediocre Week 8 going 8-6, leaving us at 82-36 for the season (69.5%), which is still pretty darn good.  I’m also rolling with 6-2 (75%) for Locks of the Week and 4-4 (50%) for Upsets of the Week.  But I’ve got plenty of work to do, so let’s get to that Lock (for Survivor Leagues) and Upset for Week 9…

Lock of the Week Pittsburgh Steelers (-13.5) over Dallas Cowboys

Look, I’m not picking the team playing the Jets this week!  Finally, I have another team, that based on the matchup, may be in an even worse situation, and that’s the Dallas Cowboys.  The Cowboys have been slowly sinking into oblivion after Dak Prescott got hurt in Week 5.  Andy Dalton wasn’t the answer, then got a concussion and COVID-19, so got replaced by Ben DiNucci, who immediately demonstrated he wasn’t ready for prime time against the Eagles. Now we’re down to a QB competition between Garrett Gilbert and Cooper Rush. And if you had to go Google those names to figure out who they were, you’re not alone.  The Cowboys are currently the 26th ranked offense per DVOA and now face the Steelers’ 2nd ranked defense per DVOA.  Honestly, I just don’t see how the Cowboys pull this off, particularly with Zeke Elliott also suffering a hamstring injury.  Lock the Steelers in.

Upset of the Week Las Vegas Raiders (+1.0) over Los Angeles Chargers

Can they do it again?  I think they can. The Raiders surprisingly have the 8th best passing offense, and Derek Carr has the 4th highest Passer Rating (110.2) in the NFL, even after a wind-restricted pass attack in Week 7.  The Chargers have found more ways to blow leads than there are Hellraiser movies (and if you’re wondering, there are 9 Hellraiser movies.  Crazy, right?  Who knew?).  Perhaps I’m subject to some minor hyperbole, but the point is that it’s very difficult to trust the Chargers defense, even being ranked 15th per DVOA.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Raiders pull off another upset.

Joanne Kong’s Picks

Survivor Pick: New England Patriots

Scott King’s Picks

Scott’s Thoughts:

Last week was horrible.  It was an embarrassment  Hope to come back this week.  The knock out is Houston.

Ryan Whitfield’s Picks

Coming Soon!

Ryan’s Thoughts:

Coming Soon!

Follow me on Twitter – @RyanWhitfieldNE

Wole’s Picks

Wole’s Thoughts:

Check out Wole’s thoughts on his picks in the recent Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

Ray’s Picks

Coming Soon!

Ray’s Thoughts:

Check out Ray’s thoughts on his picks in the most recent Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

Will’s Picks

Will’s Thoughts:

Check out Will’s thoughts on his picks in the most recent Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

George’s Picks

George’s Thoughts:

The top two are pulling away so I have to start doing better.

Game of the week: Seattle at Buffalo: Battle of division leaders and the Seahawks excel like Western teams ever have in coming to the Eastern time zone and playing at 1 p.m. like them. Big concern is the Bills ability to run the ball and control the clock. And even with their good defense that is probably their only shot because Russell Wilson and that Seattle offense is unstoppable right now. Buffalo barely beat struggling New England last week and might be nowhere near as good as there 6-2 record indicates. Take the Seahawks.

Survivor: If you are still alive and haven’t used Green Bay use them. 49ers are running out a lineup you would see in the 4th preseason game when all the starters rest.

Others: Tennessee bounces back by pummeling another team nowhere near as good as its record Chicago.

Baltimore ran all over the Steelers’ defense last week. If they can do that to them they can do it to anyone. Ravens knock over the Colts.

Dalvin Cook destroyed the Packers and swung games across the fantasy world. Lions won’t have Matt Stafford. Take the Vikings.

Las Vegas is a slight underdog to the Chargers but they are ramping up a challenge for the playoffs. Take the Raiders.

A lot of folks will be on Washington because they nearly beat the Giants the first time and are at home. But New York dominated most of that game and Daniel Jones loves facing Washington’s awful secondary. Giants are a few plays away from going for 4 straight wins and they win again here.

The Bucs and the Saints face off in a huge game in the NFC South. A New Orleans win would give them a crucial tiebreaker. Tom Brady threw a pick 6 and had a tough day against the Saints D in week 1. Things have improved but I think New Orleans turns Tampa over a lot again and pulls the upset in South Florida.

Week 8 Results

Current Standings

Check back next week for our Week 9 results and Week 10 picks!