NFL Week 9 best bets: Three games with intriguing…

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen directs a teammate before a snap against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

(Jeffrey T. Barnes / Associated Press)

The Bills did not play well against the Dolphins after their bye week, but still found a way to cover the number. To this point, teams coming off of the bye have not played overly well. The Falcons won, but failed to cover in Week 7 against Miami. The Jets got destroyed by the Patriots. The 49ers lost in an ugly game at home. The Saints barely beat the Seahawks on “Monday Night Football”.

This past week, the Chargers lost at home to the Patriots. The Bills were off the bye and covered, but it was a struggle. The Jaguars came back from London and got pummeled by the Seahawks. The Steelers won and looked great defensively, but the offense looked bad once again versus the Browns.

Maybe the bye week is a detriment, as teams are better off keeping up that intensity and focus. The Bills held the Dolphins to 4.1 yards per play, but the offense was uncharacteristically out of sync and Josh Allen was displeased at multiple junctures on the sideline. That should lead to a much-improved performance against another bad team in the Jaguars.

The Bills have the Jets on deck, so there isn’t a lookahead factor here. Jacksonville managed just 4.2 yards per play against a Seahawks defense that had allowed 5.7 yards per play prior to that. The robust Buffalo offense should get good weather in the Sunshine State to get the offense going and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will have the chance to let the Jaguars see what they missed out on by hiring Urban Meyer over him.

This has all the makings of a blowout and that is precisely what I expect to happen.

Pick: Buffalo Bills -14