2010 NFL Week 9's Best: Dallas @ Green Bay & Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati

Sunday Night Primetime
The Packers are in a spot where they really have to win a game even though you look and see they're 5-3 and in the lead in the NFC North division. That's true though the Packers have tough games ahead against the New York Giants and the New England Patriots both of which they could lose. They also host the Bears in a late season game and play the Vikings on the road in a late season game in Minneapolis. The Cowboys have to be in an unpredictable state of mind with a 1-6 record and an astounding 0-4 on home turf in Texas. They are the unknown quantity and I wouldn't want to bet on this game though I feel the Cowboys should stay close...playing for pride is a phrase you might hear being pointed at them this week... the remaining games haven't been lost yet, though, and at 1-6 a break even season isn't impossible... their final won-loss record will continue to be resolved on the road in Green Bay. The Packers are ripe for an upset with 10 players on injured reserve and seven players struggling with injuries. The Packers have played most of the season without defensive backfield players Atari Bigby and Al Harris...they're out this week. Donald Driver, the Packers slick wide receiver, is out for this Sunday's game. Ryan Grant who gained over 1200 yards at running back for the Packers in 2009 is and has been out for the season after surgery on an ankle ligament earlier this Fall. The Green Bay running game has suffered in yardage output...for the lack of a go-to back to relieve the need to pass the ball to keep things moving forward the overall offense has suffered. The Packers, though, are just three field goals away from being a perfect 8-0. They lost two straight overtime games by a field goal and lost another regulation game by just three. Their scoring defense is fourth overall giving up just 17 pts/ game. Both the Cowboys and Packers have scored the same points per game at 22.0 with the Packers playing one more game The Cowboys defense is the key having been blown out on more than one occasion including last week against Jacksonville who crushed the Cowboys in Dallas. Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard achieved an almost perfect quarterback rating of 158 with four touchdown passes in that effort. He is the backup quarterback at Jacksonville and it's hard to imagine how to get more thoroughly outperformed and embarrassed in a home game. The Cowboys simply couldn't have performed any worse on defense.

Monday Night Lights
The Steelers go to Cincinnati to play a team that looks to be underachieving, again... or still...I expect Cincinnati to end up 5-11 or 6-10 this year. This is a divisional game for the two teams and makes it unpredictable...pride is an issue for the Bengals who come into the game with a very similar offensive output scoring just one fewer points than the Steelers in the same number of games. Pride has won a majority of these Bengals/Steelers match ups for Pittsburgh over the last twenty years. Pride hasn't been valued in Cincinnati as it has been in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers, though, have Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback who is looking good after being suspended and he must still be relatively refreshed from his time off early in the season. The Bengals are noted as the team with two sometime-all-star receivers in Terrell Owens, and Chad Ochocinco (is that really his name now?) and former Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Palmer to throw the ball around. At 2-5 the Bengals have to start winning this Monday night because a sixth loss would make the team fight the uphill fight even more. The wild card doesn't often go to a team with seven losses. The Steelers are in good shape and must be confident going to Cincinnati for this short trip into Ohio. They don't have any divisional opponents who really challenge them realistically for the divisional crown. I'd have to favor the Steelers to add a few points to the -4.5 status they have been assessed at on Monday night. I think they'll win by 6 or 7. The Bengals will find a way to underachieve this week and this year. When was the last time the Cincinnati Bengals met the expectations of NFL prognosticators and football fans?

Bengals fans must think pride is a forgotten commodity in the Bengals brains.

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