NFL Week 10 Predictions: Teams That Will Prevail in Weekend's Closest Games

In Week 9 of NFL action, seven games were decided by less than a touchdown.

The trend of close contests around the league, despite the obvious disparity in the standings, continues in Week 10, as several matchups are locks to be close affairs between evenly matched teams—regardless of whether it comes from good or bad rosters.

In particular, three matchups have the look of close contests, whether it's via strong offensive or defensive performances.

Here's a look at the full slate of games, followed by predictions for some of the week's closest encounters.

Away Team	Home Team	Prediction
Washington Redskins	Minnesota Vikings	Vikings
Oakland Raiders	New York Giants	Raiders
Seattle Seahawks	Atlanta Falcons	Seahawks
Detroit Lions	Chicago Bears	Detroit
Philadelphia Eagles	Green Bay Packers	Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars	Tennessee Titans	Titans
St. Louis Rams	Indianapolis Colts	Colts
Buffalo Bills	Pittsburgh Steelers	Bills
Cincinnati Bengals	Baltimore Ravens	Bengals
Carolina Panthers	San Francisco 49ers	Panthers
Houston Texans	Arizona Cardinals	Texans
Denver Broncos	San Diego Chargers	Broncos
Dallas Cowboys	New Orleans Saints	Saints
Miami Dolphins	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Dolphins

Detroit Edges Chicago

On paper, this one seems to favor Detroit. Sure, the Lions hit the road for Soldier Field in a battle for NFC North supremacy, but a bye week adds extra prep time, and the momentum from a last-second victory over Dallas remains a positive.

Of course, things look bad for Chicago with quarterback Jay Cutler non-committal about his status for the game, per Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune:

Cutler's absence may not be a negative.

Check out how backup Josh McCown has performed in two stopgap performances in place of Cutler recently:

Week/Opponent	Yards	TD	INT	Rating
Week 7 at WAS	204	1	0	119.6
Week 9 at GB	272	2	0	90.7

McCown may find success against a Detroit defense that allows 272.5 yards per game through the air, but Chicago's inconsistent unit has not been much better.

In a quarterback duel featuring two miserable defensive units, we'll take Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson to pull out another close one.

Prediction: Lions 28, Bears 24

Buffalo Overcomes Pittsburgh

Things are bad for Buffalo, but at least the Bills have remained somewhat competitive without starting quarterback EJ Manuel. 

Last week was simply an embarrassment for Pittsburgh.

The once-vaunted Steelers defense allowed more than 600 total yards of offense and 55 points to New England in Week 9 while quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was once again abused en route to five sacks.

Buffalo continues to have a top-10 rushing attack thanks to the combo of Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, while the defense led by Mario Williams continues to terrorize quarterbacks.

Perhaps the biggest nugget of news swinging this close matchup in Buffalo's favor is the fact that Manuel will be back under center, per the team's official Twitter:

Point blank—Pittsburgh has clearly cashed in on the season, whereas Buffalo has continued to fight. It will show on Heinz Field Sunday.

Prediction: Bills 17, Steelers 14

Carolina Shocks San Francisco

Who would have thought at the beginning of the year that this matchup would feature two teams with massive winning streaks?

San Francisco has rolled over the opposition on its five-game streak—literally, via the NFL's No. 1 rushing attack led by Frank Gore.

Conversely and quite the opposite, Carolina has shut down any and all comers on its four-game streak via the NFL's No. 2 ranked defense with only 13.2 points allowed per game.

We know the running games will grind this one out, but it's the quarterbacks who will make the difference. Therein lays the issue for San Francisco—Colin Kaepernick has not shown he can beat teams with his arm this year.

Kaepernick has surpassed 200 passing yards just twice this year and has thrown multiple touchdowns three times. Cam Newton has done it all as an under-the-radar MVP candidate and has thrown for more than 200 yards in each game except one, with multiple touchdowns in half.

It will be Newton who rises above the rest on the road in a major victory.

Prediction: Panthers 20, 49ers 17

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