NFL Week 10 Picks: Rounding Up Top Experts' Predictions

The 2014 NFL season's already eclipsed the halfway point, which means the hot seats are getting hotter, and the playoff windows are slowly closing.

The league's castes have for the most part revealed themselves. In all but a few divisions, the line has been drawn between postseason hopefuls and also-rans.

With that said, eight weeks remain in the regular season, which is more than enough time for those teams at 3-5, 3-6 or even 2-6 to right the ship and make the Wild Card Round.

It would be incorrect to add any sort of added importance to Week 10 on the basis of that. It will be interesting, though, to see if some of those teams hovering below .500 pick up the kind of victory that proves to be a season-defining win.

Below are the Week 10 picks from Bleacher Report's six NFL national lead writers.

Matchup	Matt Bowen	Mike Freeman	Matt Miller	Ty Schalter	Michael Schottey	Mike Tanier
KC at BUF	KC	BUF	BUF	KC	KC	BUF
MIA at DET	MIA	DET	DET	DET	DET	DET
DAL at JAX	DAL	DAL	DAL	JAX	DAL	DAL
SF at NO	NO	SF	NO	NO	NO	NO
TEN at BAL	BAL	BAL	BAL	BAL	BAL	BAL
PIT at NYJ	PIT	PIT	PIT	NYJ	PIT	PIT
ATL at TB	TB	TB	ATL	ATL	TB	TB
DEN at OAK	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN	DEN
STL at ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI	ARI
NYG at SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA	SEA
CHI at GB	GB	GB	GB	GB	GB	GB
CAR at PHI	PHI	PHI	PHI	PHI	PHI	PHI

Note: You can view the picks from all 16 members on B/R's NFL panel here.

Top Matchups

New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers

It's almost impossible to get a read on the San Francisco 49ers. While they own nice wins over the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, they've also lost to the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams at home, in addition to their 42-17 drubbing at the hands of the Denver Broncos.

Perhaps it's too early in the season to go into panic mode, but another defeat and the Niners will fall below .500. San Francisco can't afford to lose any more ground in the NFC West.

Jim Harbaugh hasn't coached a team to an under-.500 record since 2008, per Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News:

Speaking of the 49ers head coach, the knives are starting to come out for Harbaugh. Jerry Rice intimated that Harbaugh's style is wearing thin on some players in San Francisco.

"I have heard some complaints from some players that he likes to try to coach with the collegiate mentality," Rice said, per Newsday's Bob Glauber. "And that's just not going to work in the NFL."

Calls for Harbaugh's job will only grow if the 49ers suffer their third defeat in a row. And with the team's offensive problems, the odds San Francisco moves to 5-4 look somewhat slim.

Against what could only be described as a generous Rams defense, the 49ers only gained 263 yards and scored 10 points. In the event its game against the New Orleans Saints turns into a shootout, San Francisco is cooked.

New Orleans is undefeated at home and has one of the most potent offenses in the NFL. The Broncos didn't have any problem carving up San Francisco for 419 yards, so the Saints shouldn't be thrown off their game too much.

This shouldn't be the one-sided demolition that Denver-San Francisco was, but New Orleans should win comfortably.

Prediction: New Orleans 30, San Francisco 17

Detroit Lions vs. Miami Dolphins

In a way, the Miami Dolphins are a bit like the Detroit Lions from a couple of years ago in that the Dolphins have more than enough talent to make the playoffs, but for one reason or another, they can't seem to get in.

It's hard to believe that Miami has been to the postseason once since 2002. During that time, the franchise finished with a winning record on four occasions. The Fins are one of the league's biggest perennial underachievers.

But after last week's shutout of the San Diego Chargers, maybe the team is turning a corner. Miami's won three games in a row and sits tied with the Buffalo Bills for second in the AFC East. Beating the Detroit Lions would affirm that the Dolphins' strong run is more than a false dawn.

The Lions, however, are coming off a bye week, and with the Green Bay Packers right on their heels in the NFC North, there's little chance they overlook Miami.

Detroit's also buoyed by the likely return of Calvin Johnson. Megatron said on Wednesday that he's planning on playing Sunday, per ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein. Golden Tate's been a revelation in Johnson's absence, but there's no question that having the four-time Pro Bowler would only improve the Lions offense.

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said as much, per Paula Pasche of The Oakland Press:

Fox Sports Florida's Jameson Olive wrote that the matchup between Johnson and Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes will decide the game:

"

For the Dolphins, minimizing big gains has been one of their biggest keys to success this season. Through their first eight games, they have allowed just 20 completions of 20 or more yards and just two completions of 40 yards or longer, the fourth and second fewest totals in the league, respectively.

"

This should be an extremely close game, with little separating the two teams. The Lions may have one of the best defenses in the league, but the Dolphins offense is hitting on all cylinders right now, and Ryan Tannehill's playing the best football of his life.

Since Detroit is playing at home and had an extra week to prepare, the Lions should grind out the win.

Prediction: Detroit 24, Miami 21

Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Al Bello/Getty Images

Keeping it in the AFC East, the Buffalo Bills enter Week 10 in a tie with the Dolphins for second in the division and are riding a two-game winning streak. Since the victories came against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets, respectively, neither of the two elicit much more than a passing glance.

Beating the Chiefs would help legitimize Buffalo's run.

Perhaps the biggest question is whether the Bills' below-average aerial attack will succeed against a defense that ranks first against the pass. The Chiefs are surrendering only 199.4 passing yards a game, and Football Outsiders ranks the unit 11th using defensive DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average).

Compare that to the Bills, who are only getting 228 yards a game through the air (20th) while ranking 27th in DVOA. Buffalo also has one of the worst offensive lines in the league when it comes to pass blocking, which is bad news when facing a defense that's sacked the quarterback 27 times (third in the NFL).

The onus will be on Kyle Orton, which is bad news for Buffalo. While Orton has punched above his weight so far this year, there's a reason the 31-year-old's jumped around the league as he has. He can't keep this up forever.

The sacks are bound to catch up sooner or later as well. Sunday will be the perfect storm, between the Bills line and the Chiefs pass rush. Kansas City's on a strong run itself, winning three in a row, and will make it four in a row on Sunday.

Prediction: Kansas City 20, Buffalo 14