Game week 9 in the 2021/22 NFL has been and gone, with some very intriguing results. During the action on Thursday, Sunday and Monday, fans were looking for the best NFL picks  on their sports betting sites trying to work out who looked the most likely to gain a positive result.  

Without wasting any more time, let’s look into a few of the results from the weekend just gone, then preview a number of the upcoming fixtures in game week 10.

Falcons win out in the battle of the South

Given how large the United States are, there are only a few examples of rivalries that occur between teams who are based within the same state, let alone the same city. Therefore, many team’s closest competitors could well be hundreds of miles away.

That is the case with the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints, whose stadiums are actually 470 miles apart. This doesn’t stop the two sides hating each other, as their rivalry had developed since their first meeting back in 1967. Both teams compete in the NFC South, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers.

They faced off against each other this weekend at the Superdome, with both sides looking for victory, in the hope they could catch the Bucs and possibly overtake them in the standings. The Falcons dominated the first 3 quarters, and held a 17-3 advantage going into the later stages of the game. The Saints then fought back, scoring an impressive 22 points. However, the Falcons also scored 10 points in the 4th quarter, meaning they ended the game 27-25. 

It will be one to savor for the Falcons fans, whilst the Saints will be wanting to move past this result as soon as possible. Unfortunately for them, they face the Tennessee Titans in their next fixture, who have won their last 5 games.

Dolphins come out on top in the battle at the bottom

Two of the sides who have really been poor this season are the Miami Dolphins and the Houston Texans. Before this game, both sides only had one win each, the Dolphins shocking everyone by beating the New England Patriots in game 1, whilst the Texans also picked up their solitary win early on, in their second fixture against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While the outcome of this game wasn’t for much other than pride, so both sides were motivated to get the victory. The Dolphins started the brighter, and were up 17-6 by half time. A scoreless 3rd quarter went by, and while the Texans added 3 more points in the 4th, it wasn’t enough as they were condemned to a 17-9 loss.

The Texans are rock bottom of the NFL power rankings, and have a bye in the next game week. They then face off against the Titans in game week 11, so will probably still be in 32d place at the end of that fixture too.

Cardinals carry on their good form

It is this stage of the NFL season that we start to get a clearer idea of who will be a strong contender in the playoffs. One team who will be a threat are the Arizona Cardinals. It seems odd to see them doing so well this season, when only a few years ago they were one of the worst sides in the whole league.

It couldn’t be more different this year, as they currently have a 7-1 record. Their defeat against the Green Bay Packers came as a surprise, but they managed to recover this week when taking on the San Francisco 49ers. By the end of the 1st quarter they were 14-0 up, and never looked back from there, and ended the game 31-17.

They should carry on their good form next week against the Carolina Panthers, and quite possibly in the following 2 weeks as well, against the Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Bears.

Chiefs punish a Rodger-less Packers

One of the biggest disappointments this season have been the Kansas City Chiefs. They won the Super Bowl in 2020, and made it to the final earlier this year, where they lost out to the Tom Brady inspired Bucs.

With Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, many pundits thought that they would make the playoffs as a minimum this year, if not go even further. It really hasn’t played out that way at all, as going into last weekend they had an overall 4-4 record.

They faced off against the Packers, who were without their start QB Aaron Rodgers, who had tested positive for COVID-19. With him missing, the Chiefs didn’t really have to get out of 2nd gear, cruising to a 13-7 win. Let’s see if they can follow this result up against the Las Vegas Raiders in game week 10.