It’s time for Chick’s Picks! Last week, I went 8-6, not bad, but not that good either. There’s a lot of gimmies this week, I think there’s potential to have a great week in picks. Without further ado, let’s get into my picks for week 10 starting out with my beloved Oakland Raiders.
Chargers @ Raiders
The Los Angeles Chargers (4-5) are being hosted by the Oakland Raiders (4-4) in our week 10 Thursday Night Football matchup. The Chargers put the league on notice by beating the Packers convincingly last week. Their defense can play like I thought they could. The team that beat the Packers last week is the team that I thought could be a Super Bowl contender before the season. Sitting at 4-5, not many people are thinking that but they could be on the way to that status I had them at. After firing their Offensive Coordinator, their offense looked as talented as it is. The Raiders secondary is terrible, Philip Rivers could have a big day against them with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. This is not to mention the receiving RB that is Austin Ekeler. The Raiders offense has been clicking themselves. Derek Carr is playing like his MVP-caliber year in 2016, with Darren Waller, one of the best TE in the league if I may be so bold, and Offensive Rookie of the Year, Josh Jacobs being the focal point of the offense. The Chargers’ defense has shown that they can be scary at times, but the Raiders offensive line has been one of the best in the NFL. This game will be a close one for a better standing in the AFC wild-card race. I’m being biased and taking the Raiders.
Final Prediction: Oakland Raiders 27, Los Angeles Chargers 26
Chiefs @ Titans
The Tennessee Titans (4-5) are hosting the Kansas City Chiefs (6-3) in this game. Okay, so the Chiefs can play without Patrick Mahomes, as talented as he is, great to know. I didn’t think that Matt Moore could beat the Vikings and he proved me wrong. The Titans are worse than the Vikings so is it safe to say that the Chiefs should win this game? I would say so, I just don’t trust Matt Moore. I trust Andy Reid and the other offensive weapons though. The Titans play better under Tannehill, that’s just my observation. He could have a good day against the Chief’s porous defense, but I don’t think it’ll be enough for an upset. The Titans defense is better than what it gets credit for, it is hard to stop this Chiefs’ offense, but if they get in the face of Matt Moore, anything is possible. Give me the Chiefs though.
Final Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs 27, Tennessee Titans 17
Cardinals @ Buccaneers
The Arizona Cardinals (3-5-1) are traveling to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers (2-6) in this matchup. The Cardinals are slowly finding their place and show flashes of playing decent in games. Despite their record, they can give any team a little bit of a scare. Kyler Murray is showing that he can play this game despite the lack of height to play his position. He knows the offense better than anyone else on the team. With the Buccaneers, Jameis Winston is a bust. I will continue to say this every week that he proves it. Sure he doesn’t have a great OLine, but it’s been years, I truly don’t believe the guy is good or has the smarts to play the game. I think he’s physically gifted but that is about it. However, it’s still tough to say the Bucs can’t win this game, especially at home. I think this game will be a close one. give me the Cardinals.
Final Prediction: Arizona Cardinals 35, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31
Giants @ Jets
The New York Jets (1-7) and New York Giants (2-7) battle for the throne in New York. ZzZzZzZzz…Snoozefest of the week! This game will bore you to death. The Jets solidified their place in the “terrible” category by losing to the winless Dolphins last week. The Giants are better than what their record states, but not by much. 2-7 just leaves you with the impression that they haven’t been close in a lot of games, but that’s not true. They’ve battled in a lot of them but just do not have the talent to win them. This game, the Giants should have no problem winning because the Jets seemingly forgot how to play for the rest of the year after they beat the Cowboys.
Final Prediction: New York Giants 30, New York Jets 17
Falcons @ Saints
The New Orleans Saints (7-1) are hosting the Atlanta Falcons (1-7) in this week 10 NFC matchup. Before the start of the year, this looks like a game that would have been circled on a lot of calendars but now not so much. It’s clear to everyone including the Falcons that the Saints will win this game. Drew Brees is back, and with Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, no one is going to stop this team easily. The Falcons are bad, especially their defense, they cannot stop anyone. Expect the Saints to easily put up 30 points against them. Start all your fantasy options on the Saints, they’ll have a good day.
Final Prediction: New Orleans Saints 38, Atlanta Falcons 24
Bills @ Browns
The Buffalo Bills (6-2) are being hosted by the Cleveland Browns (2-6) in this game. The Browns are bad, absolutely terrible. I will agree that Baker Mayfield has played bad, but it’s not just him, there’s too much talent on this team to be this bad. I think a lot the blame needs to go on Freddie Kitchens. I’m not sure that guy knows what he is even doing. Wouldn’t surprise me if this team doesn’t win any more games this year. Speaking of surprises, the Bills are 6-2, how about that? I would have said you’re smoking dick if you said the Bills would have been 6-2 so far. Although, they’ve lost against the only two good teams they’ve played in the Patriots and the Eagles. This Bills team is going to be a playoff team as weird as that is to say. Depending how the Browns feel, the Bills could be on an upset watch, but expect their defense to handle business for the win.
Final Prediction: Buffalo Bills 21, Cleveland Browns 17
Ravens @ Bengals
The Baltimore Ravens (6-2) are traveling to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals (0-8) in this week 10 AFC North matchup. The Bengals are bad, they’re coming off the bye week and I am not giving them any chance to win. Not only did they bench Andy Dalton, who wasn’t even playing all that bad, but Ryan Finley is significantly worse than him. The Bengals might be the surprising 0-16 team this year. The Ravens beat the undefeated Patriots last week and put silence to any noise that they cannot beat the best in the league. I still have questions about their defense but I will put that to rest this week because they’re about to thrash the Bengals. If you want to watch a murder, watch this game.
Final Prediction: Baltimore Ravens 38, Cincinnati Bengals 13
Lions @ Bears
The Chicago Bears (3-5) are hosting the Detroit Lions (3-4-1) in this NFC North matchup. The Chicago Bears aren’t that bad of a team, really they’re not. I think the general consensus around the league is that Mitch Trubisky is the problem for the Bears. Their defense is the best in the league but you need at least a competent QB to win games. The guy is so bad, it hurts to watch. The Lions barely lost to the Raiders last week, their offense was great and but their defense couldn’t get the job done. The Lions defense shouldn’t have any problems trying to stop Trubisky. I will quote what I said last week in regards to the Bears game against the Eagles. Mitch Trubisky will fail you, Matt Stafford will not. The Lions will win this game.
Final Prediction: Detroit Lions 23 Chicago Bears 16
Dolphins @ Colts
The Miami Dolphins (1-7) are being hosted by the Indianapolis Colts (5-3) in this matchup. THE DOLPHINS WON A GAME. HALLELUJAH, THERE IS A GOD. Overreactions aside, the Dolphins played great against a squad that beat the Cowboys. However, Jacoby Brissett or not, this team isn’t beating the Colts. Even if Brain Hoyer is starting, this team will win pretty convincingly against the Dolphins. Let’s not forget after one win that the Dolphins are still the Dolphins. But at least the Dolphins can hang their hat on one win, right?
Final Prediction: Indianapolis Colts 31, Miami Dolphins 16
Rams @ Steelers
The Los Angeles Rams (5-3) are traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers (4-4) in this game. The Steelers had an impressive win over the Colts, Jacoby Brissett injury or not. 26 points on a decent defense like that is nothing to downplay. The Steelers are improving on both sides of the ball every week it seems like. The Minkah Fitzpatrick trade isn’t looking so bad after all. They’ll need as many wins as they can get so the Dolphins don’t get too good of a draft pick. While I don’t think that Mason Rudolph is the long term answer for the Steelers, if he continues to do just enough, he can lead this team to the playoffs still. The Rams are coming off a bye week after seemingly underperforming this year, they are still 5-3. Their offense under Sean McVay always has a chance to do well as long as he is leading it. Despite the fact that I think Jared Goff is terrible. With their trio of WRs and Todd Gurley, this offense can score on anyone. Their defense has improved since they acquired Jalen Ramsey. It’ll be a Jalen Ramsey and Juju matchup to watch. I’m taking the Rams, but they’ll be on an upset watch.
Final Prediction: Los Angeles Rams 28, Pittsburgh Steelers 23
Panthers @ Packers
The Green Bay Packers (7-2) are hosting the Carolina Panthers (5-3) in this NFC matchup. Man what the hell happened to the Packers last week. The Chargers weren’t supposed to give them any trouble, and well they did. The Packers offense couldn’t get anything going against the Chargers. Instead of overreacting, I’m going to write this game off as what it is: a bad game. All teams are bound to have one bad game that they really cannot explain. This is the Packers’ bad game, and it’s over now. They can focus on the Panthers’ seemingly one-man offense in Christian McCaffrey. The ability to still do well while the whole defensive gameplan is to stop you amazes me every week. CMC deserves MVP in my opinion but that is neither here nor there. This game will be about the Packers’ offense versus the Panthers’ defense. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Panthers’ have enough talent on defense to win that battle. Expect the Packers’ to bounce back in this one.
Final Prediction: Green Bay Packers 26, Carolina Panthers 17
Vikings @ Cowboys
The Minnesota Vikings (6-3) are being hosted by the Dallas Cowboys (5-3) in our Sunday Night Football matchup. This is a great primetime game. The Vikings are playing well their offense is good enough to score on anyone as long as Kirk Cousins is playing decent. Dalvin Cook, the league’s leading rusher, is obviously a BEAST and keeps defenses on their toes. The Cowboys are very similar to the Vikings if I’m being honest. One of the best in the business in RB with Ezekiel Elliott. Average QB in Dak Prescott. The Vikings’ WR core is better than the Cowboys but the Cowboys have more depth in that position. Their defenses have the potential to play really well or just eh. This game will be a close one, I like the Vikings to win, maybe because I don’t like Cowboy fans, or maybe because I think the Vikings will actually win. You’ll never know.
Final Prediction: Minnesota Vikings 31, Dallas Cowboys 24
Seahawks @ 49ers
The Seattle Seahawks (7-2) are traveling to San Francisco to take on the 49ers (8-0) in our Monday Night Football matchup. This one is a doozy. I’m not too sure who I should pick here. On one hand, Seattle is 7-2, their playing well on both sides of the ball and they have MVP candidate, Russell Wilson. Their WR core is improving, especially DK Metcalf. Their offense will be hard to stop. Very intriguing. On the other side, I have the undefeated 49ers who’ve only really played two good teams in the Los Angeles Rams and arguably the Panthers. This is the 49ers’ hardest game yet. But their offense gets the job done and their defense is so dominant. This will be one to watch for sure. I’m gonna be safe here and take the 49ers at home.
Final Prediction: San Francisco 49ers 24, Seattle Seahawks 20
Teams on Bye
‘The Philadelphia Eagles (5-4) are heading into the bye in week 10. The Eagles will be watching the Cowboys game this week hoping that they lose to the Vikings. That’ll help their chances to win the division, but at this point, I think both teams get into the playoffs. The Eagles have a tough matchup next week against the Patriots.
The New England Patriots (8-1) are heading into week 10 on the bye. The Patriots are celebrating even though they lost last week to the Ravens. Being 8-1 is nothing to complain about, they’ll be getting ready to play the Eagles next week.
The Washington Redskins (1-8) are heading into the bye in week 10. The Redskins are rooting for the Dolphins, Jets, and the Bengals this week. They’re in the fight for the number 1 pick in the NFL Draft. They’ll need the bad teams to do some good for them here. The Redskins play against the Jets next week.
The Denver Broncos (3-6) are heading into week 10 on the bye. The Broncos are seemingly ready to call it quits and start tanking for the rest of the year. To help that tank, they need everyone will the lower record to win this week. If you can’t win, might as well get the best player you can get right? The Broncos play against the Vikings next week.
The Jacksonville Jaguars (4-5) are heading into the bye in week 10. The Jaguars will be watching EVERY AFC Wild-Card team in the race. They need all the help they can get to make sure they can stay relevant in the race, this is where the fun begins. The Jaguars have a big game against the Colts next week.
The Houston Texans (6-3) are heading into week 10 on the bye. This week they’ll be watching the Colts game hoping the Dolphins can pull off some miracle to beat them. The Texans should be watching the AFC Wild-Card race just in case. You can’t be too cautious about trying to secure a playoff spot. The Texans have a huge game against the Ravens next week.
