The Microsoft Engine That Nailed The World Cup Is Predicting Every NFL Game - Here Are Its Picks For Week 9

Microsoft Cortana had a decent week picking NFL games, correctly predicting 10 of 15 Week 8 matchups.

It's now 79-42 (65%) on the year.

That leaves it one game behind the Vegas favorites (80-41), which also went 10-5 in Week 8, and six games behind Nate Silver's ELO model (85-36), which went 11-4. All picks are straight up, not against the point spread.

Cortana is a Windows phone virtual assistant that's using an algorithm from Bing Predicts to pick every NFL game this season. The algorithm uses all sorts of statistical variables, in addition to a public perception component that uses Facebook data.

Bing Predicts' World Cup model correctly picked 15 of 16 World Cup knockout stage games. We've yet to see that sort of freakish accuracy when it comes to NFL picks.

Cortana and Vegas agreed on every favorite last week.

Here are Cortana's picks for Week 9 as of Thursday night. We'll update them throughout the week if they change (Vegas favorites in parentheses):

• New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers - Saints win, 55% chance (Saints -3)
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Cleveland Browns - Browns win, 65.9% chance (Browns -6.5)
• Arizona Cardinals vs. Dallas Cowboys - Cowboys win, 59.8% chance (Cowboys -4)
• Philadelphia Eagles vs. Houston Texans - Eagles win, 58.2% chance (Eagles -2)
• New York Jets vs. Kansas City Chiefs - Chiefs win, 76.7% chance (Chiefs -9.5)
• Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals win, 76.7% chance (Bengals -11)
• San Diego Chargers vs. Miami Dolphins - Chargers win, 53.3% chance (Dolphins -2.5)
• Washington Redskins vs. Minnesota Vikings - Vikings win, 55% chance (pk)
• St. Louis Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers - 49ers win, 77.8% chance (49ers -10)
• Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots - Broncos win, 53.3% chance (Broncos -3)
• Oakland Raiders vs. Seattle Seahawks - Seahawks win, 87.2% chance (Seahawks -15)
• Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers - Steelers win, 67.4% chance (Ravens -1.5)
• Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Giants - Colts win, 61.4% chance (Colts -3)

Right now Cortana and Vegas disagree on Chargers-Dolphins and Steelers-Ravens, but that could change before Sunday.

Here are Cortana's results so far this year:

• Week 1 - 10-6
• Week 2 - 9-7
• Week 3 - 10-6
• Week 4 - 5-8
• Week 5 - 13-2
• Week 6 - 11-4
• Week 7 - 11-4
• Week 8 - 10-5
• Total - 79-42