Pierce's Picks - Week 9

Last week, I was 8-5, giving me a 72-45 mark for the season so far.

Winners in gold as usual.

Sunday at 1:00pm ET -
Tampa Bay (5-2) @ Atlanta (5-2)
Chicago (4-3) @ Buffalo (0-7)
New England (6-1) @ Cleveland (2-5)
NY Jets (5-2) @ Detroit (2-5)
Arizona (3-4) @ Minnesota (2-5)
New Orleans (5-3) @ Carolina (1-6)
Miami (4-3) @ Baltimore (5-2)
San Diego (3-5) @ Houston (4-3)

Sunday at 4:00pm ET -
NY Giants (5-2) @ Seattle (4-3)
Kansas City (5-2) @ Oakland (4-4)
Indianapolis (5-2) @ Philadelphia (4-3)

Sunday Night -
Dallas (1-6) @ Green Bay (5-3)

Monday Night -
Pittsburgh (5-2) @ Cincinnati (2-5)

Byes:

Denver, Jacksonville, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tennessee, Washington

I like most of the home teams this week, which means I'm going out on a limb on a few games - yes, that means I'm picking Detroit, Philadelphia, Seattle and even Buffalo this week. I like the homefield advantage Seattle has against a Giants team I haven't fully bought into yet. I think Philadelphia, fresh off their bye, can give an Indianapolis team without Dallas Clark more trouble than Houston could. If San Diego were healthier, I might like them over Houston, but as it stands, I think they're almost out of healthy receivers and Antonio Gates is supposedly out now, too. I like the momentum Detroit is building and while it is a bit of a homer pick, I think Detroit can make a statement win at home against a Jets team that looked incredibly shaky against the Packers last week. I'd love to see Tampa keep rolling, but I think Atlanta - especially at home - is the class of the NFC South and won't be beaten. The KC/Oakland game is certainly the surprise game of the week and I think I'd take whoever is home... in this case, I'm buying into the roll Oakland is on. Until the Vikings prove otherwise, I'm considering them in full implosion and unable to win a game... they need this win, but I don't think they get it. I'm also picking Buffalo for the first time all year - after gutting out close losses against some of the best teams in the AFC, I think they can - at home - beat a Chicago team that can't keep its quarterback upright, even coming off their bye.

Gonna be an interesting week if I called some of these right... definitely playing some homefield advantages and some gut hunches this week.