NFL Best Bets for Week 9 (Predictions for Bears vs. Cardinals, Bucs vs. Chiefs)

The Sports Illustrated Betting team shares their favorite bets on the board for Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The SI Betting team is red hot in our NFL best bets, going 8-1 over the last three weeks, including a perfect 3-0 showing in Week 8.

This week, there are a ton of interesting matchups, including a Monday Night Football clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

NFL betting insider Iain MacMillan is eyeing a moneyline upset as his best bet, while Peter Dewey has a play for the Monday night game.

Here's a breakdown of each of the best bets for Week9.

NFL Week 9 Best Bets

• Chicago Bears Moneyline (+102) vs. Arizona Cardinals – Iain MacMillan
• Kansas City Chiefs -8.5 (-110) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Peter Dewey

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Chicago Bears Moneyline (+102) vs. Arizona Cardinals – Iain MacMillan

It’s time to sell high on the Arizona Cardinals. They have a tough test ahead of them in the Chicago Bears, who boast one of the most elite secondaries in the NFL. 

They rank second in the NFL in opponent dropback EPA and sixth in opponent dropback success rate. That could prove to be too much for Kyler Murray to handle.

On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals defense has been one of the worst in the league this season, ranking dead last in opponent success rate and 29th in opponent EPA. 

The Bears offense struggled against the Commanders last week, but they should be well poised to bounce back in a big way against this Arizona defense.

Kansas City Chiefs -8.5 (-110) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Peter Dewey

Kansas City has been an elite team to bet on this season not only as a straight up winner, but against the spread as well. 

The Chiefs are also a significantly better defensive team than the Bucs, which I truly think will be the reason they win this game going away.

Kansas City ranks fifth in the league in yards per play allowed, while the Bucs are 29th in that same category. It was obvious last week that Tampa’s defense couldn’t stop the Falcons enough for Mayfield to win the game, and I expect more of the same against Patrick Mahomes and company.

Without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the Bucs just aren’t as explosive on offense to play the shootout style that they did the first six-plus weeks of the season.

I’ll lay the points with the Chiefs in their fourth home game of the season.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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