1. Seattle Seahawks - The Seahawks enter 2013 as the No. 1 fantasy football D/ST. They’re talented at every level of the defense – especially the secondary, and will force turnovers and pick up sacks.

2. Houston Texans - The Texans feature a talented defense led by the great J.J. Watt and play in a weak division.

3. San Francisco 49ers - Their success is dependent on the front 7 which makes them a boom or bust pick. They might not end up a top 5 fantasy D / ST at year’s end due to their division, schedule and some key losses on D.

4. Denver Broncos – This D is poised to take a step back, but they should be able to force turnovers and get after the QB.

5. Chicago Bears - New head coach, new philosophy, similar results? We’ll see, but the defense still has a lot of talent and should force plenty of turnovers once again.

6. Cincinnati Bengals - Marvin Lewis’s D played very well and has a lot of young talent. They could end up a top 3 fantasy defense in 2013.

7. Arizona Cardinals – Their biggest problem a year ago was the offense and its inability to score points and sustain drives. That side of the ball is improved which should help this unit a great deal.

8. New England Patriots - Playing against a weak AFC East helps a lot, and they did fill some holes in the offseason.

9. St. Louis Rams - They have the ability to make a huge jump into the top 5 this year. There’s a lot of talent and play-makers on this side of the ball.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers - LeBeau‘s scheme always creates turnovers with its unique blitzes, and keeps Pittsburgh a No. 1 fantasy defense.

Best Bet

1. San Diego Chargers (+2.5) vs. Det – See money line bet.

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2.  Carolina Panthers (-7.5) vs. TB – The Bucs have regressed horribly in 2011.

They’re in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and the heat is on their head coach, Raheem Morris. The Panthers on the other hand are on the upswing and Cam Newton will lead them to an easy victory here.

3.  Seattle Seahawks (+2) vs. SF – The point spread is less than a FG because the Niners are on the road and on a short week. But the Seahawks are also much better now than they were earlier in the year, especially on defense.

Expect a close, low scoring game, which Seattle may very well pull out in the end.

4. Miami Dolphins (+10) vs. NE – There’s always the possibility of the Patriots suffering a minor letdown after last week’s big win over Tim Tebow and Co. The Fins have also been competitive in nearly every game since the midpoint of the season.

The Rest

Denver Broncos (-3) vs. Buf – The Broncos will move one step closer to wrapping up the AFC West after Sunday’s win.

Arizona Cardinals (+4) vs. Cin – The game has plenty of importance to the Bengals playoff hopes, but the Cards are streaking at the right time. Expect them to keep the final score to within three points.

Kansas City Chiefs (-2) vs. Oak – The Raiders looked poised for an AFC West crown just a few weeks ago but those dreams have disappeared after three straight losses. It’ll be four after Saturday.

Money Line Bet

San Diego Chargers (+120) vs. Det – The Chargers are on fire since the Jacksonville game. The resurgence of Philip Rivers can primarily be attributed to the raised level of play from the offensive line, and San Diego has moved to 7-7 on the season.

The Lions on the other hand still feature an explosive offense but their defense has become ordinary.

Look for the Bolts to win their 4th in a row in a high scoring game on Saturday.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

It’s now onto Week 9 of your NFL suicide pool.

1. Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos – You can pretty much insert any team playing Tebow from here on out. The Dolphins game was an incorrect measuring stick because Miami had something to play for: Andrew Luck.

Not so with the Raiders who are playing for an AFC West title. Expect the Raiders D to make Tebow lo0k painfully silly through three quarters once again while their offense puts 24-27 on the board.

This is the top suicide pool pick of the week.

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2. Atlanta Falcons vs. Indianapolis Colts – The Colts season is over and it’s showing in their play. They lost by 55 two weeks ago and Tennessee made them look foolish in Week 8.

The Falcons are coming off a bye week and have had a chance to heal some players up. Look for a close game until the half before Matt Ryan and Co. pull away late to win by double digits.

3. San Francisco 49ers vs. Washington Redskins – The current betting line is only -3.5 for San Francisco. That seems low… even in Washington. Regardless, expect the 49ers to play stout D and muscle their way to a win by a TD.

The Redskins season is spinning out of control at an alarming rate.

San Diego Chargers: 1-3

Unless something miraculous happens, the Chargers will cruise to another AFC West Championship in 2010. They’re loaded across the board and drafted intriguing RB prospect Ryan Mathews out of Fresno State in the 1st Round to upgrade the running game. WR Vincent Jackson and LT Marcus McNeill are potential long term holdouts, but I think another reason that GM AJ Smith has not caved into their contractual demands is he knows San Diego will have this division wrapped up by the time they come back in Week 12. Both players will then suit up and bring their A game as they will be playing for a long term deal in San Diego – or elsewhere – in 2011.

Denver Broncos: 6-1

Denver’s short run, all of six games to open the season last year, is done. Josh McDaniels has stripped this team of the young talent he inherited (QB Jay Cutler, WR Brandon Marshall and TE Tony Scheffler) and severed ties with DC Mike Nolan because of philosophical differences. He is now betting on one of the greatest college QBs in Tim Tebow to duplicate that success in the NFL and resurrect this organization back to a respectable franchise in the next few years. I don’t think it will happen under McDaniels. While he has shown definite ability to prepare his team and get them to play hard for him, his handling of star players will always keep this franchise at .500 or below while he is calling the shots. The Broncos are staring at a last place finish in 2010. The 2-8 finish last year was not an aberration.

Oakland Raiders: 7-1

The Raiders will be improved – it’s hard not to once you rid yourself of the biggest bust in NFL Draft history – but it won’t be to the point of competing for anything of consequence in 2010. 8-8 is a  more realistic goal. There’s talent on defense and offensively they have some nice young pieces to build on. They should also see a dramatic decline in turnovers under QB Jason Campbell, and the benefits of this will be twofold: it will lead to more scoring opportunities and keep the defense out of unfavorable situations.

Kansas City Chiefs: 7.5-1

The Chiefs are another team stockpiling young talent and have assembled a New England Patriots part Deux coaching staff (DC Romeo Crennel, OC Charlie Weis) around second year HC Todd Haley. However, this team’s ability to rise up and contend for the 2010 AFC West crown will be for naught with QB Matt Cassel behind center. He’s an average signal caller who leveraged a terrific New England offensive situation into a long term contract. There’s definitely some good, young talent on this roster, both on offense and defense, but not enough to raise the ceiling any higher than 2nd in the division in 2010.

* current betting odds next to team name.

Pro Football 101 betting strategy:

The Chargers are a lock – plain and simple. And your 33% return (bet $100 to win $33) will be much better than you’re receiving from the bank or 6 month CDs. The other teams have too much ground to make up in 2010 and none are on the cusp on unseating the Bolts.