NFL picks Week 9: Falcons-49ers and every other game

December 23, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; General view of the line of scrimmage between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons during the fourth quarter in the final regular season game at Candlestick Park. The 49ers defeated the Falcons 34-24. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Last week, I went an average 9-5 in my weekly NFL picks. There were some tough matchups in there, and there are plenty more this week. The Packers play the Panthers, the Vikings host the Rams and the Dolphins play the Bills. Yeah, that’s tough to predict.

That puts me at 78-40 for the year, which isn’t bad. There are 13 games this week, and there are some intriguing ones. All lines are provided by OddsShark.

Atlanta Falcons (-7.5) at San Francisco 49ers

Atlanta (6-2) needs some serious improvements on offense, turnovers being the biggest problem. If they can clean those up, they should be able to take down a struggling San Francisco (2-6) team. Colin Kaepernick has been benched and in comes Blaine Gabbert. That’s how bad it’s gone for the 49ers.

Pick: Atlanta 21, San Francisco 10

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals (-12)

This could be the worst Thursday Night Football contest yet. There’s only one winner, and it’s not the Cleveland Browns (2-6). Andy Dalton and the Bengals (7-0) keeps rolling, and Johnny Manziel won’t be able to lead his team to a shock win.

Pick: Cincinnati 28, Cleveland 17

Next: Early games