2023 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 9

Buffalo Bills (5-3) @ Cincinnati Bengals (4-3)

Sunday, November 5, 8:20 PM ET

Things were looking shaky early on, but the Cincinnati Bengals have come roaring back with a 4-3 record heading into a very important Sunday Night Football matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Each of these two teams has put forth some complete dud performances this season, which were out of character for what we've come to expect from them, but this promises to be one of the most hard-fought games of the week.

Oddsmakers are giving the Bengals three points at home in this matchup and they also think this is going to be one of the highest-scoring matchups of the week with an over-under of 48.5 points. The only game with a higher over-under is Kansas City vs. Miami.

Typically when two teams like this come together, I think you can expect more of a defensive battle early on and maybe some explosive offense mixed in. Could this game be a shootout? Sure, but the Buffalo Bills boast the 3rd-best scoring defense in the NFL so far this season, and the Bengals lead the NFL in interceptions with 10 in just seven games.

While many are expecting a barrage of points here, I think it could be tough sledding, at least for the first 2-3 quarters before someone ultimately breaks this game open.

And in this case, I'm fully expecting Joe Burrow and the Bengals to be the ones to do that. The Bills have played down to their opposition in recent weeks, so I think they'll play better in this game than we've seen from them, but Cincinnati is catching fire right now and I think you can ride that wave. And after all my commentary earlier, I'm going to project the over, but only slightly.

Prediction: Bengals win 27-23