Week 9 of the NFL is upon us. Only two teams are on bye this week: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans. After the Jacksonville Jaguars laid it on the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football, that gives us 14 more NFL games to bet on this weekend! Let’s dive into The Opening Script and find the NFL first-half best bets for Week 9.
Bengals/Falcons Over 26.5 Points (-120)
Set those alarms early for this one. The Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons are set to kick off at 9:30 am ET at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain. You might think, long overseas flight, the offenses would hit the field slow and sluggish. That just hasn’t been the case thus far in 2026 with these international games. The Steelers and Saints kicked off the day in France with 23 first-quarter points, hitting the over in their game.
Houston and Jacksonville exchanged blows early and often, racking up 31 first-half points in London. The week before, Philadelphia and Jacksonville put up 21 points. Add to it two very potent offenses led by Joe Burrow and Michael Penix Jr. let’s get an early shootout going in Spain.
Kansas City Chiefs -5.5 (-125)
My favorite game on the weekend? The Kansas City Chiefs taking on the New York Jets. This is arguably one of the most lopsided coaching matchups in the history of the NFL. The legendary Andy Reid facing off against Aaron Glenn. That alone is enough to feel like the Chiefs should have no problems in this game.
Add in the fact that the New York Jets have begun to fall apart lately. And the Chiefs are coming off back-to-back losses. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are pissed off about losing a couple of tough games, welcoming the Jets into Arrowhead. Sign me up for that. New York is also the worst team in the last two minutes of the first half in scoring differential. Who do you want to have the ball the most in a two-minute drill? Patrick Mahomes.
Carolina Panthers +.5 (-110)
The Carolina Panthers welcome the Denver Broncos into Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte this week. Carolina is coming in on 10 days’ rest, having not played since their trip to Lambeau Field last week on Thursday Night Football. After starting 3-2, they’ve stumbled, losing their last two games, but somehow still lead the NFC South at 3-4.
Denver enters this one after a huge goal-line stand at home to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Super Bowl hangover type start loading? That’s the hope here. Denver leaves the comfort of the western half of the United States for the first time this year to travel to the East Coast. This Panthers team is better than they’ve played the last few weeks, and they have the Broncos up for an upset alert this week. A slow start keeps Carolina in this game in the first half.
Los Angeles Rams -3.5 (+100)
Los Angeles went from a super team to a lot of question marks quickly. They enter this game against the Washington Commanders at just 4-4 on the season. They can’t afford to keep letting teams hang around and beat them. This is another game with a sizable coaching mismatch. Sean McVay is going up against his former team, taking on Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels. Los Angeles is the ninth-best team in the league when it comes to points scored in the first half; Washington checks in at 22nd. Rams need to get things rolling; they’ll do so in the first half here.
