Here we go… week 10 already. Most teams have played half their games, but very few are separating themselves from the pack. Now it’s an all-out sprint to the end of the season.
GAME OF THE WEEK – Seattle Seahawks (5-2-1) at New England Patriots (7-1), NE by 7[/b] – A rematch of the Super Bowl from a couple years ago at Foxboro is this week’s Sunday Night matchup. The Seahawks certainly aren’t playing Super Bowl caliber football, but still pose an interesting matchup with the Patriots, and are far and away the biggest challenge the Patriots have had to face yet this year. That being said, I just can’t see anyone taking down the Patriots with the way Brady is playing right now.
Patriots 27, Seahawks 17THURSDAY NIGHT – Cleveland Browns (0-9) at Baltimore Ravens (4-4), BAL by 10 – Browns.
Ravens 23, Browns 9Houston Texans (5-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6), HOU by 1.5 – Jaguars.
Texans 24, Jaguars 17Kansas City Chiefs (6-2) at Carolina Panthers (3-5), CAR by 3 – This one could be interesting. The Panthers are basically in desperation mode right now, and I have not yet heard whether Alex Smith will be playing or not. Still, the Chiefs are playing some inspired football right now and basically nobody is talking about them. They’re going to take it to Carolina, and this is going to go down to the wire.
UPSET! – Chiefs 27, Panthers 24Denver Broncos (6-3) at New Orleans Saints (4-4), NO by 1.5 – Man, pretty brutal for the defending champs to not be favored against the lowly Saints, but that’s just how bad they’ve looked the last few weeks. Honestly, with the Saints playing at home, I really do see them picking up the win, too. The Broncos just can’t play offense.
Saints 30, Broncos 17Los Angeles Rams (3-5) at New York Jets (3-6), NYJ by 2 – This one promises to be a shitshow. I’ll take the home team, because the Rams only beat divisional foes.
Jets 20, Rams 13Atlanta Falcons (6-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (4-4), PHI by 1- After a promising start to the season, the Eagles are suddenly beginning to fall apart. They’re going to need this win here if they’re going to be able to hope to keep pace in the NFL playoff hunt. But with how the Falcons’ offense is looking, I don’t think they can pull it off.
UPSET! – Falcons 30, Eagles 19Minnesota Vikings (5-3) at Washington Redskins (4-3-1), WAS by 2.5 – The Vikings are an absolute mess right now, and they’re playing against a hungry team on the road. Spells another week of disaster for them.
Redskins 24, Vikings 17Green Bay Packers (4-4) at Tennessee Titans (4-5), GB by 2.5 – The Packers are bad, but just average enough that they’re going to win a game before letting everyone’s hopes down again.
Packers 30, Titans 20Chicago Bears (2-6) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5), CHI by 1 – No clue what to make of this one, honestly. But with Cutler back under center, I’ll go with the Bears. Why not.
Bears 20, Bucs 17Miami Dolphins (3-5) at San Diego Chargers (4-5), SD by 3.5 – Look for the Chargers to get back to .500 with a win here. What a race there is shaping up in the AFC West.
Chargers 24, Dolphins 16San Francisco 49ers (1-7) at Arizona Cardinals (3-4-1), ARZ by 13.5 – As disappointing as the Cardinals have been this year, they’re nowhere near as awful as the 49ers. This team is BAAAAAAAAD.
Cardinals 31, 49ers 13Dallas Cowboys (7-1) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4-4), PIT by 2.5 – There hasn’t been an official announcement yet about the Cowboys’ starter for this weekend yet as far as I know, but I don’t know that it honestly that makes that much of a difference any more. The Steelers brought Roethlisberger back probably a week too early, and the result was some really ugly football. They may be playing at home, but they’re banged up and going against a team playing some real smashmouth football. This will be a fun one to watch, but I’ve got Dallas in the mild upset.
UPSET! – Cowboys 27, Steelers 20Cincinnati Bengals (3-4-1) at New York Giants (5-3), NYG by 2.5 – This could be an intriguing matchup, for sure. And what a strange season it’s been so far for the Giants, who started the season looking fantastic, lost a few in a row, then won a few in a row. Who are the real Giants? And for that matter, who are the real Bengals, who have so much talent yet keep under-delivering? I’ll tell you one thing you can bank on… never pick the Bengals in primetime.
Giants 28, Bengals 20BYES: Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Oakland Raiders