With the NFL season heading into Week 9, we are officially halfway through the year, which makes right now the perfect time to hand out some midseason awards. Actually, I'm only handing out one award, and it's going to me, and I don't even want it: It's the award for worst picker from Week 8. 

I went 8-6 last week, which ended up being the worst record out of our experts here at CBS Sports in Week 8. I clearly spent way too much time trying to find a Halloween costume and not enough time researching my picks. Next year for Halloween, I'm going to go as someone who's good at picks, so I guess I'll be dressing up as Jamey Eisenberg. 

Eisnenberg, who is our long-time NFL fantasy analyst here, might want to just make NFL picks full time because he went 12-2 last week. Also, he's 69-49-3 against the spread this year. I might have to copy his picks this week. 

So will I actually copy Jamey's picks? Probably not, but let's get to the picks and find out for sure. 

Actually, before we get to the Week 9 picks, here's a quick reminder that you can check out the weekly picks from every CBSSports.com NFL expert by clicking here. Also, as you probably know by now -- because I point it out every week -- I'm in charge of the NFL newsletter here at CBSSports.com. If you want to subscribe, all you have to do is click here and enter your email address. I'm going to eat one piece of my six-year-old's Halloween candy every time someone signs up. My dentist is going to love this. 

Speaking of things we love, let's get to the picks.  

NFL Week 9 picks

Jaguars (5-2) at Ravens (4-4)

  • Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime)

If you had asked me at 10 a.m. ET on Nov. 1 who was going to win this game, I probably would have picked the Ravens, but a few things have happened since then: 

  • Lamar Jackson suffered a thumb injury and is now heading for injured reserve. 
  • Tyler Huntley suffered a toe injury and likely won't be able to play this week. 

Those two injuries mean the Ravens will likely go into this game with an undrafted rookie (Joe Fagnano) as their starting quarterback, but that's not even a guarantee because he's dealing with an ankle injury. The Ravens literally might have to run the wishbone offense on Thursday. You have to be desperate to run the wishbone and I think the Ravens are there. Bill Walsh actually implemented for a game in 1987 when he had to use a replacement quarterback while the regular players were on strike. 

The Ravens could also run the wing-T. Basically, any offense from 1934 would work at this point. They could even call the Buccaneers' for a few tips. They just won a game without throwing a single pass. The Ravens might have to do that this week. 

So the Ravens don't even know who their starting QB will be this week, and to make matters worse, they have to face what might be the best team in the AFC. If Week 8 was any indication, the Jaguars have finally figured out how to run the ball again and when they run the ball, they're virtually unbeatable. Since Liam Coen took over as head coach, the Jags are 10-1 when they rush for at least 110 yards and they did that in Week 8 by rushing for a season-high 183 yards in a 42-7 win over the Colts. 

When the Jaguars can run the ball, that takes some pressure off of Trevor Lawrence and he seems to thrive in those situations. In Week 8, Lawrence completed just 10 passes, but he threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns while finishing with a 153.3 passer rating. 

  • He averaged 21 YARDS PER COMPLETION! 
  • He threw a TD pass on 30% of his completions! 

Do you want to know how absurd that is? Those stats made Lawrence the first player in 55 years to finish with at least 200 passing yards, three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 150-or-higher on 10 completions or fewer. The last player to pull that off was Roger Staubach and he did that while playing for the Cowboys in 1971. Did I mention that the Cowboys won the Super Bowl that year? Because the Cowboys won the Super Bowl that year. 

I'm not saying the Jags are going to win the Super Bowl this year or am I saying that? I don't know anymore. Pete Prisco made the Jags his preseason pick to win the Super Bowl and I can't comprehend living in a world where Prisco nails a prediction like that. 

I'm going to cut Pete some slack and ignore the Cowboys part of that prediction. 

I don't know if the Jags are going to win the Super Bowl, but I do think they roll to a win on Thursday night. 

PICK: Jaguars 30-13 over Ravens

Bengals (5-2) vs. Falcons (3-5) in Madrid 

  • Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET (NFL Network)

For just the second time, Spain is hosting an NFL game, and the biggest winner might be everyone flying into Madrid this week. I've only been to Spain once, and they were handing out free shots of Jagermeister at the airport. And as we all know, you haven't lived until you've done free shots of Jager in a Spanish airport before noon. At least that's what I tell myself.  

I'm not sure if the shot guy is still there and I feel like someone needs to investigate, so I'll be heading to Madrid this week to find out. I will definitely report back my findings. 

This is the fifth NFL game being held in Europe this year, and so far, the team that leaves later in the week has had a major advantage in each game. The team that has arrived on Friday has gone 4-0 this year. If you're wondering who has the travel advantage this week, the answer is NO ONE. The Bengals and Falcons will both depart on Tuesday night and spend their entire practice week in Madrid. I hope they've brushed up on their Spanish. 

The bad news for the Falcons is that there's rain in the forecast for Sunday, and based on what I saw in Week 8, they might want to just forfeit if it rains, because they are arguably the worst team in NFL history when it comes to playing in the rain. Actually, forget that whole forfeit thing; the stadium in Spain has a retractable roof, so weather won't be a problem. That's good news for the Falcons. 

The other good news for the Falcons is that they could not have asked for a better matchup after an embarrassing loss on Sunday. The Bengals defense has given up 621 yards to tight ends this year, which is the second-highest number in the NFL. Kyle Pitts is on my fantasy team and this might be the first time all year where I actually feel confident about starting him. I've let my team know that no one is safe and that I will start cutting people if we don't start improving. And I will start with Kyle Pitts if he doesn't go off against the Bengals. 

Another reason this is a solid matchup for the Falcons is that they have Bijan Robinson. The Bengals are giving up 4.8 yards per carry this year, which is the fourth-worst number in the NFL, and now, they have to face Robinson, who is averaging 5.2 yards per carry. That seems like a recipe for disaster. Basically, the Falcons offense is built to exploit every weakness on the Bengals' defense. 

Also, if you watched the Falcons play the Buccaneers in Week 8, you may have noticed that Atlanta's defense can't stop the run, but that might not matter in this game, because the Bengals can't run the ball. 

I think what I'm trying to say here is that the Falcons might put up a lot of points. However, that probably won't matter because the Bengals have Joe Burrow. Over his past three games, Burrow is averaging 314.7 passing yards and 4.3 touchdown passes per game. During that span, he became the FIRST quarterback in NFL history to throw at least four TD passes with a completion percentage of 70% in three straight games. 

Burrow is currently on fire. Oh, and did I mention that he practically requested to play in Spain back in 2025 after the NFL announced that Madrid would be getting an NFL game. There's no one who wants to win this game more than Joe Burrow. 

This is supposed to be a home game for the Falcons, but based on everything I've seen, it's starting to feel like the Bengals are going to feel more like the home team here. 

The Falcons defense will likely get a small bump from the return of James Pearce, but I think Burrow still ends up torching them in a game that the Bengals end up winning in a shootout. 

PICK: Bengals 34-31 over Falcons

Packers (5-3) at Patriots (5-3)

  • Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (Fox)

There's a good chance that there's no NFL team facing more pressure to win this week than the Patriots. For one, Tom Brady is making his return to Foxborough. For the first time since he was hired by Fox, Brady is going to be on the call for a Patriots game and this probably won't be the last time this week that you hear about this. 

The crazy thing is that Brady won't be the only Patriots legend in town for the game. Rob Gronkowski is being inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame this weekend, so yeah, this feels like a game the Patriots can't afford to lose. They don't want to spoil everyone's weekend. 

It's fitting that Brady will be on the call because the Patriots' current quarterback, Drake Maye, has been looking a lot like Brady over the past few weeks. Maye has totaled three touchdowns in five straight games, which is the second-longest streak in franchise history. Brady has the only streak that went longer and he did that back in 2007 when he led the Patriots to an undefeated season. 

Maye also has seven touchdown passes of at least 30 yards over the past four games, which is the most in a four-game stretch by ANY NFL quarterback since 2019. When Maye channels his inner-Tom Brady, the Patriots are unbeatable, but the problem is that he also sometimes channels his inner-Tom Hodson. 

If you don't know who Hodson is, then just ask any hardcore NFL fan. If they don't know, then ask a Patriots fan who was alive in the 1990s. If you don't know a Patriots fan, then talk to an LSU fan. If you come up empty there, go to your local library and find the 1990 NFL Fact and Record book. If you don't have a library near you, then Google Hodson, but definitely do that last. I'd like to see everyone go through all the effort above because I feel like we're getting lazy as a society.

Hodson started 12 games for the Patriots over three seasons and went 1-11 in those starts. During his time as a starter, he threw seven touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions, which I'm only mentioning because I feel like that's how Maye kind of plays whenever the Patriots face a good team. New England has played five teams this year that currently have a winning record: They've gone 2-3 in those games with Maye throwing six touchdown passes compared to eight interceptions. That's not ideal. 

So is Maye going to look like Tom Hodson or Tom Brady? 

Based on what I've seen from the Packers defense this year, I don't think the answer is going to be Brady. The Packers defense has been surprisingly good -- even without Micah Parsons -- and I think Green Bay somehow manages to find a way to spoil Gronk's Hall of Fame weekend and Brady's return to Gillette. 

PICK: Packers 23-20 over Patriots

Buccaneers (3-5) at Bears (6-2)

  • Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)

I can't say this for sure, but I think the NFL might have fired the person who's in charge of flexing Sunday night games. Last week, we got stuck with the 1-4-1 Commanders playing the 2-5 Eagles. This week, we're getting the 3-5 Buccaneers. That being said, I'm glad that the NFL didn't move this game and there is one reason for that: The country needs to know what's happening in Tampa Bay. 

The Buccaneers have decided to stop throwing the football, and it's ACTUALLY WORKING. The Bucs beat the Falcons on Sunday in a game where they didn't COMPLETE a SINGLE PASS. They became the first team with zero completions and zero points allowed since 1945. And with 324 rushing yards, they became the first team with zero completions and at least 300 rushing yards in a game since 1933.

I'm starting to feel like Buccaneers offensive coordinator Zac Robinson accidentally watched a 1930s NFL highlight video and got intrigued. 

Now, before I get ahead of myself, I want you to know that I am fully aware that half the reason the Bucs ran the ball on almost every play against the Falcons was that the weather was bad. The two teams were basically trying to play through a hurricane. 

That being said, even if there had been no rain, I still think the Bucs were going to roll with a run-heavy game plan against the Falcons, and that's mostly because they used the EXACT SAME game plan in Week 7 against the Panthers. In that game, the Bucs called 60 plays and it broke down like this: They had 49 runs and just 11 pass attempts -- Baker Mayfield completed 7 -- and the Bucs ended up running for 258 yards in a game they won by 30. 

They've completed SEVEN total passes over their past two games while still managing to outscore their opponents by a total of 46 points. We haven't seen a team do that since 1936. The Bucs are fully embracing a pre-World War II style of football, and somehow, it's working. 

The Bucs have held the ball for over 35 minutes in each of their past two games and if they can do that against the Bears, that will keep Chicago's high-powered offense off the field. 

The Bears will be coming into this game on a short week after winning a huge game in Seattle on Monday night, so we certainly could see a small letdown. And it certainly doesn't help that the Bears are about to face a team that wants to punch them in the mouth and run the ball down their throat. 

I'm not sure whether running the ball on every play is sustainable in the modern NFL, but we'll find out on Sunday night. The NFL is a copycat league, and if the Bucs win this game, you might see not see a single pass thrown in the NFL for the rest of the season. 

This game will actually feature the two best rushing attacks in the NFL. The Bucs are ranked at the top at 168.6 yards per game and the Bears are right behind them at 150.8. As good as Tampa Bay has been at running the ball, I don't think they're going to beat the Bears are their own game. I think Tampa Bay keeps this close, but the Bears come out on top in a wild one. 

Although I'm picking the Bears, there is a glimmer of hope here for Buccaneers fans: When it comes to making picks this year, these are the two teams I've been the absolute worst at picking, which means there's a 67% chance this pick is going to be wrong. 

PICK: Bears 23-20 over Buccaneers

Bills (6-1) at Vikings (6-1)

Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)

One thing I've noticed about the Vikings is that if they had anyone on their roster who remotely resembled a quarterback, they'd have the best team in the NFL, but they don't. They have Kyler Murray. And he might not even be 100% this week. 

The irony of the Vikings' QB situation is that they might have actually traded away the best quarterback on their roster: J.J. McCarthy. 

Not only is McCarthy now with the Giants, but he has the longest active winning streak of ANY starting quarterback in the NFL at five games. Talk about throwing salt on the wound, and then rubbing it in, and then throwing more salt on it. 

The Vikings defense looks like a reincarnation of the 1985 Bears, but it's hard to see this team as a serious Super Bowl threat because the offense can't get out of its own way. The offense has been so bad that even Justin Jefferson is getting frustrated and he almost never gets frustrated about anything. Jefferson was so angry after Minnesota's loss to the Lions on Sunday that he didn't even stick around to talk to reporters. 

Jefferson is one of the best receivers in the NFL, but he has just 28 catches this year, which ranks outside the top 50 in the NFL. Also, there are 43 players who have more receiving yards than him, including 11 tight ends. This is like having a Ferrari in your garage, but you lost the keys, so you can't actually drive it, or in Kyler Murray's case, you can't reach the pedals.  

The Vikings probably would like to get Jefferson more touches, but there's no easy way to do that. 

As bad as the offense has been, this game might represent their best chance to actually do something. The Vikings get to face a Bills defense that hasn't been able to stop anyone this year except for Joe Fagnano and I'm not giving them any credit for that. 

The Bills are surrendering 254.7 passing yards per game, the third-worst mark in the NFL. The Ravens threw for just 68 yards and if we don't include that game, then the Bills are actually surrendering 285.8 passing yards per game. That's a big yikes. 

This game is fascinating because it's giving us a strength-on-strength matchup with Josh Allen facing Minnesota's dominant defense, and that battle could go either way. On the flip side, we have the Vikings offense facing the Bills defense in a "Who can be less worse" battle, and let me just say, I love a good "who can be less worse" battle. 

I think the Bills defense will be less worse. 

PICK: Bills 24-17 over Vikings

NFL Week 9 picks: All the rest

Cowboys 23-16 over Colts
Chiefs 27-20 over Jets
Lions 31-17 over Dolphins
Giants 24-16 over Eagles
Rams 30-22 over Commanders
Broncos 24-17 over Panthers
Texans 27-16 over Chargers
Browns 20-17 over Saints
49ers 30-23 over Raiders
Seahawks 30-20 over Cardinals
BYES: Titans, Steelers

Last Week

Best pick: Raiders over Jets. Last week, I predicted that the Raiders would fly across the country and beat the Jets in a crazy game, and guess what happened? The Raiders flew across the country and beat the Jets in a crazy game. Now, did I know that Kirko Chainz was going to make his triumphant return on the Raiders' return flight to Vegas? I did not. But he's back and he's wearing more chainz than ever. 

If Kirk's plan here is to add a chain every time the Raiders win a game, then I will be rooting for the Raiders to win the rest of their games. I want to see Kirko Chainz wearing all the chainz. 

Worst pick: Browns over Steelers. Last week, I was so convinced that Browns would finally win a game in Pittsburgh that I became blinded by common sense. The Browns haven't won in Pittsburgh since 2003, they haven't swept the Steelers since 1988, and for some reason, I thought they were going to end both of those droughts on Sunday. I was wrong. The Browns got embarrassed 27-6. I got embarrassed for picking them. And I ate an embarrassing amount of candy on Halloween. My teeth now hurt. This has not been a good week. 

Finally, if you guys have ever wondered which teams I'm actually good at picking, I'm going to start sharing that information with you now that we've got six full weeks of information. Here's a quick look at my best and worst teams when it comes to picks this year. 

Teams I'm 7-1 picking this year (Straight up): Patriots, Eagles, Jaguars (6-1), Dolphins (6-1), Commanders (5-1-1)
My worst teams this year (Straight up): Bears (2-6), Buccaneers (2-6)

Every other team is somewhere in the middle. 

Picks record

  • Straight up in Week 8: 8-6
  • SU overall: 68-52-1
  • Against the spread in Week 8: 6-8
  • ATS overall: 52-66-3
  • BREECHIGAMIS: 1

You can find John Breech on Facebook, TikTok or Twitter, and if he's not doing one of those things, he's probably wandering around the Madrid airport looking for free shots of Jagermeister.