Five outrageous predictions for Week 9 of the NFL season

Well, we hit on two of our five predictions from last week while missing big time on the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns pulling off upset wins.

Back at it this week, the common theme here will be a continuation of what has been a surprising NFL season thus far.

Can the Atlanta Falcons finally find a way to dominate against an inferior opponent? Are the Jacksonville Jaguars going to find themselves atop the AFC South standings when the week draws to a conclusion?

These are among the questions we answer in the ninth installment of our weekly outrageous predictions around the NFL.

1. The Jacksonville Jaguars will be in first place by week's end

Jacksonville has won less games (five) since the start of last season than seven teams have won this year alone. In fact, this squad has won 18 games since the start of the 2011 campaign. That's 71 opportunities to win a game, for those keeping score at home.

With all this said, the Jaguars could very well find themselves in first place by the time Week 9 draws to a conclusion. And it's not all that unlikely.

They would need the Indianapolis Colts squad to fall to the undefeated Denver Broncos while winning their outing against a New York Jets team that has lost two consecutive games.

This would have Jacksonville tied with the Houston Texans for first in the AFC South with a 3-5 record.

Semantics be damned. We couldn't care less that Jacksonville has already lost to Houston this season — pretty much putting the Texans in first due to the tiebreaker. The Jaguars would have the same 3-5 record, which is good enough for this one scribe.

Just think about it. A Jaguars team with an opportunity to play for something in the second half of the year. Shall we say a home playoff game in Duval?

Either way you spin it, Gus Bradley's squad has an opportunity to win its second consecutive game this week. With the ability of Jacksonville's offense to put up yards in a hurry and the Jets' question marks at quarterback, this game could be ripe for an upset. If this happens, the Jags will match their win total from last season.

2. Todd Gurley will double up Adrian Peterson's yardage total

Gurley is averaging 157.3 total yards per game over his past four outings and is going up against a Minnesota Vikings defense that has yielded an average of 130 total yards to running backs on the season. Based on what we've seen from the dynamic young running back, there's no reason to believe he can't put up another monster day for the suddenly charging Rams.

Peterson, the best running back of his generation, may have to start handing off the status as the best running back in the game to Gurley here soon. While the future Hall of Famer has done well this season (740 total yards in seven games), he's going up against a dominating Rams defensive line that ranks ninth in the NFL against the run.

I wouldn't expect a huge game for Peterson. Instead, Teddy Bridgewater is going to have to beat St. Louis in the passing game for Minnesota to come out of this one with a 6-2 record.

3. Blaine Gabbert will lead the San Francisco 49ers over the Atlanta Falcons

This would be par for the course in what has been a surprising NFL season up to this point. A fledgling franchise that just benched a quarterback that it signed to a $100 million-plus contract just over a year ago finding a way to beat a 6-2 Falcons team in front of an annoyed home crowd. Oh, and doing so with one of the biggest quarterback busts of the modern era under center and two street free agents sharing time at running back.

There are outrageous predictions, and then there's this. The way San Francisco has played for the vast majority of this season, it would have a hard time beating one of the top-five teams in the college football world.

It is, however, rather interesting how an otherwise talented Falcons squad has continually played down to the level of its competition this year. Despite a 6-2 record, Dan Quinn's squad needed overtime to defeat the Washington Redskins back in Week 5. Then, two weeks ago, Atlanta barely survived a one-win Tennessee Titans squad by the score of 10-7.

Unless Atlanta can start proving it has capability of dominating much lesser teams, it's going to be ripe for an upset each and every week. Part of that is the learning curve under a first-year head coach. But part of that is a lack of real talent at specific positions — mainly along the interior of the offensive line and in the defensive front seven.

4. Chuck Pagano will be fired on Monday

There's absolutely no way Pagano will keep his job if the Indianapolis Colts put up yet another dud performance Sunday against the undefeated Denver Broncos — a Broncos squad that's coming off a blowout win over the Green Bay Packers.

If the Colts do lose on Sunday, they will enter their Week 10 bye with a 3-6 record and outside of first-place in a disastrous AFC South. They will have done so mere days after the team fired offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton.

We know very well the issues in Indy right now. Not only is the team performing at a substandard level on the field, there are major rifts within the organization's hierarchy. A disastrous performance here could cement Pagano's status moving forward.

And in reality, there's no real reason to believe Indianapolis will do much against the Broncos. Aided by elite-level play in the secondary and a tremendous pass rush, Denver's defense ranks fourth in the NFL against the run, is first overall against the pass and has allowed the fewest points in the NFL.

This unit has also forced 17 turnovers in seven games and is going up against a quarterback in Andrew Luck that has committed the most turnovers in the NFL this year. A blowout loss by the Colts seems to be in the cards here.

5. Every team in the NFC East will be under .500 when the week is all is said and done

There's a decent chance every team in this division will be under .500 heading into Week 10 — joining the AFC South at the bottom of the heap. This shouldn't be a huge surprise considering how mediocre the NFC East has been over the years.

With the New York Giants taking on a hot Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad on the road this week, it wouldn't shock anyone to see them come out with a loss. That's only magnified by the disastrous performance of this defense over the past several weeks. Heck, how does your quarterback throw six touchdowns in a losing effort?

Is it relates to the Philadelphia Eagles, they will be taking on a Dallas Cowboys squad that is in desperation mode after losing five consecutive. Interestingly, the Cowboys last win came against this very same Eagles squad in Philadelphia back in Week 2. That game saw Dallas pull off the victory despite an injury to Tony Romo and with Dez Bryant sidelined.

Oh, and the Washington Redskins take on an undefeated New England Patriots squad in a game that's only drama really includes how many points Tom Brady and Co. are going to drop on the Skins.

If it were to play out this way, the Cowboys would be the biggest winners of Week 9. They would be one week away from getting Romo back while remaining firmly in the NFC East title picture. That's amazing in and of itself.

Check out Vincent's other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL.