NFL Week 10 Picks: Early Predictions for Every Game

NFL Week 9 had no shortage of excitement.

See also: the Minnesota Vikings taking down the St. Louis Rams in overtime to challenge the Green Bay Packers for the lead in the NFC North; Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans pulling out the win over Drew Brees and the New Orelans Saints; the Indianapolis Colts foiling Peyton Manning's chances of breaking a league record and beating the former Colt at his old home.  

The slate for Week 10 has the potential for some juicy matchups and storylines as well, so let's get into it and break down picks for the winner of each game as well as some must-watch matchups. 

Away	Home	Pick
Buffalo Bills	New York Jets	Bills
Detroit Lions	Green Bay Packers	Packers
Dallas Cowboys	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Cowboys
Carolina Panthers	Tennessee Titans	Panthers
Chicago Bears	St. Louis Rams	Rams
New Orleans Saints	Washington Redskins	Saints
Miami Dolphins	Philadelphia Eagles	Eagles
Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers	Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars	Baltimore Ravens	Ravens
Minnesota Vikings	Oakland Raiders	Raiders
New England Patriots	New York Giants	Patriots
Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos	Broncos
Arizona Cardinals	Seattle Seahawks	Cardinals
Houston Texans	Cincinnati Bengals	Bengals

Must-Watch Matchups

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

The road has not been kind to the 6-2 Green Bay Packers, who have lost both their games coming off their Week 7 bye at Denver and then at Carolina in Week 9.

Taking on the flailing Detroit Lions at home represents a perfect opportunity for the Packers to boost their morale and get a much-needed win to either keep pace with or supersede the Minnesota Vikings atop the NFC North.

But is this Packers team in such a freefall that the 1-7 Lions will be able to smell the blood in the water and swoop in with the upset? It doesn't seem possible, but stranger things have happened in the NFL.

Green Bay's defense, which had a strong start to the season, is in complete crisis mode, having allowed roughly 500 yards on average in its last three games.

The Lions would seem on paper to have enough weapons to exploit that defense, including Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate and Eric Ebron, but the offense under Matthew Stafford has struggled to get anything going all year. 

Cleaning house in the form of firing offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew likely won't have any short-term benefits for Detroit. The Lions had their bye week in Week 9 to try and figure out what comes next, but can they really get it together in time to pull a 180 and take down the Packers?

While division-rival Minnesota would certainly like to see that happen, don't bet on it. Expect this game to be a redemption of sorts for the Packers. 

Prediction: Packers 28, Lions 10

New England Patriots at New York Giants

The undefeated New England Patriots are due for an upset, and the New York Giants have been able to deliver that in the past.

"

Should be able to, yes. But you know the Giants and their strange, mystical grip on the Patriots. Their Kryptonite. https://t.co/7EGjW2lUHt

— SI NFL (@si_nfl) November 2, 2015"

When New England travels to the Meadowlands in Week 10 to take on the Giants, might it leave with its first loss of the season?

The Patriots are currently seven-point favorites over the Giants, per Odds Shark. But the Giants will be playing at home and are coming off a big 32-18 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which helped them improve to 5-4 to lead the NFC East. 

New York will be motivated to protect its lead in the division, while the Patriots are in danger of playing down to their opponent and letting a loss sneak up on them. 

New England's 27-10 victory over Washington was pretty convincing, but that's just the thing: the Patriots have had a fairly easy schedule leading up to this point.

And while New England has blown out teams with losing records such as the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys, things have gotten a bit trickier when they've played better opponents.

The scores were much closer in New England's matchups against two teams with winning records: the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Those games ended within one touchdown. 

Ultimately, this matchup will likely come down to one thing: Tom Brady versus New York's No. 32 passing defense. But if anyone has the ability to give the Patriots a surprising upset, it's the Giants.

Prediction: Patriots 35, Giants 24

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

This is a crucial matchup for the NFC West, to say the least—and not just for the Cardinals and the Seahawks. 

The 4-4 St. Louis Rams will be waiting with bated breath to find out the results of this division showdown.

The 4-4 Seahawks have a chance to pull ahead of St. Louis for second place in the West and put themselves into contention for an NFC wild-card berth. 

But if the 6-2 Cardinals lose and the Rams beat the Chicago Bears in Week 10, St. Louis will be that much closer to the top of the division and, at the very least, will solidify its chance at a wild-card spot.

All in all, expect this to be one of the league's most exciting games. Seattle has struggled this season, but it's always a force to be recognized at home.

Meanwhile, Arizona has appeared dominant throughout most of the year but has shown in losses to the Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers that it can be beaten. 

Both teams enter the matchup coming off a bye week, which gives both squads a chance to get to full strength and put their best product on the field. 

The Seahawks open as three-point favorites against Arizona, which seems somewhat surprising considering that Arizona ranks better in total offense and is scoring an average of 32.9 points per game. 

But Seattle's defense and home-field advantage turn the heat up on this matchup and make it the can't-miss game of the week. 

Prediction: Cardinals 31, Seahawks 27