NFL Week 10 Picks: Final Predictions and Over-Under Odds Before Thursday Night

Whereas most NFL coaches would be perfectly happy to fill up the airwaves with boilerplate answers and casual deflection prior to a pivotal prime-time game against a divisional rival, Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan has no problem making a heel turn with his sometimes irreverent, often provocative, antics.

From wearing a Clemson helmet at a presser to making all kinds of comments about players from his former team, the New York Jets, Ryan has had no qualms about soaking up the limelight.

Depending on your perspective, he's either outdone himself or overdone it with his most obvious bit of trolling, announcing linebacker I.K. Enemkpali as a captain for the game. Enemkpali was a member of the Jets this offseason, but the team released him after he punched quarterback Geno Smith in the face during a dispute. The Bills subsequently claimed him. He's hardly played, yet he'll be a captain on Thursday, per WKBW's Joe Buscaglia.

It could be that Ryan is trying to keep the focus on himself so his players can avoid scrutiny. That, or he's trying to poke the bear and distract the opposition. The Jets have a one-game lead over Buffalo in the AFC East. Both are likely fighting for wild-card spots at best as New England lord it over the division. 

Thursday night's contest between the two should be an interesting game. The rest of the Week 10 slate is chock-full of good matchups and compelling storylines as well.

Here are the spreads, over-under odds and some score predictions for Week 10. Odds are courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of Thursday, November 12 at 7 a.m. ET.

Thursday, November 12
Sunday, November 15
Monday, November 16
Time (ET)	Away	Home	Over-Under	Prediction
8:25 p.m.	Buffalo Bills	New York Jets (-2.5)	42	Bills 20-17 NYJ
1 p.m.	Jacksonville Jaguars	Baltimore Ravens (-5.5)	48	JAX 27-20 BAL
1 p.m.	Detroit Lions	Green Bay Packers (-13)	47.5	GB 28-17 DET
1 p.m.	Miami Dolphins	Philadelphia Eagles (-7)	48	PHI 24-20 MIA
1 p.m.	Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers (-4.5)	41	CLE 27-26 PIT
1 p.m.	Chicago Bears	St. Louis Rams (-7.5)	42.5	STL 31-20 CHI
1 p.m.	Dallas Cowboys	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1)	43	TB 30-28 DAL
1 p.m.	Carolina Panthers (-5.5)	Tennessee Titans	43.5	CAR 20-16 TEN
1 p.m.	New Orleans Saints (even)	Washington Redskins (even)	50	WAS 24-23 NO
4:05 p.m.	Minnesota Vikings	Oakland Raiders (-3)	44	OAK 17-13 MIN
4:25 p.m.	Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos (-5.5)	41.5	DEN 28-14 KC
4:25 p.m.	New England Patriots (-8.5)	New York Giants	54.5	NE 34-20 NYG
8:30 p.m.	Arizona Cardinals	Seattle Seahawks (-3)	44.5	AZ 21-17 SEA
8:30 p.m.	Houston Texans	Cincinnati Bengals (-12)	47	CIN 27-14 HOU

Prime-Time Matchups

Buffalo Bills (4-4) vs. New York Jets (5-3)

All the bluster and bravado in the world from Ryan can't change the fact the Bills are chasing the Jets, and the latter provide a tough matchup.

Tyrod Taylor's triumphant return to the lineup in Week 9 after missing two games was greatly aided by a standout performance from wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who caught eight of Taylor's 11 completed passes for 168 of his 181 passing yards and the lone touchdown.

Unfortunately, there won't be much pitch and catch against the Jets, as Watkins goes up against shutdown corner Darrelle Revis. Watkins understands the difficulty of the task ahead, per Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News:

"

I look forward to it. I understand it’s going to be a hard match-up. He’s going to be shadowing me probably everywhere. As a top receiver—as a receiver who wants to be noticed as a top receiver—you definitely want to go against those type of guys. I know it’s going to probably be the hardest challenge of my career, season, every year.

"

Taylor will have to look elsewhere for completions. With Jets corner Antonio Cromartie doubtful, per his team's official site, the Bills could look to Robert Woods or Chris Hogan in the passing game. The Jets' formidable defense will get a stiff test from Bills running backs Karlos Williams and LeSean McCoy.

The rookie Williams has seen the light quite a bit this year, scoring in every game he's played. Meanwhile, Shady is averaging 4.4 yards per carry and 10 yards per reception. 

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

New York can combat the Bills' rejuvenated attack with a strong offense of their own. Harvard-educated QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is third in the league in total QBR this season, per ESPN, ahead of the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Taylor. He'll need to be at his best if Chris Ivory can't get going again. After rushing for 460 yards in his first four games, Ivory has just 84 yards on 55 carries in his last three. 

The Jets are favored in this contest and at home, but the Bills might have enough firepower to start the second half of their season off right with a big AFC East win.

Arizona Cardinals (6-2) vs. Seattle Seahawks (4-4)

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

While the Jets and Bills scrap it out for second place on Thursday, Sunday evening will see the Arizona Cardinals look to exert even more control over the NFC West with a win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Both teams are coming off bye weeks, so there's been plenty of time for coaching up on each other's strengths and weaknesses. Seattle was last seen edging out an ugly 13-12 win over Dallas in Week 8.

The Seahawks are 20th in the league in scoring, have had difficulty integrating talented tight end Jimmy Graham into the offense and aren't getting many extra possessions, with just eight takeaways on the season. The bye week has done wonders for the team's health, reported Seattle P-I, so there will be little excuse—other than a formidable Cardinals defense—for the team if Russell Wilson can't move the chains or Marshawn Lynch (3.6 YPC) can't grind out some tough yards.

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

While the offense has been subpar, the defense has been its usual dominant self more often than not, especially once safety Kam Chancellor returned to the lineup. He made an instant impact upon his return to the gridiron in Week 3, but ESPN's Sheil Kapadia picked out another member of the secondary as the most valuable player on the team at the halfway point:

"

He doesn't have an interception through the first eight games, but it doesn't matter. Cornerback Richard Sherman has been the Seahawks' MVP.

Sherman has been asked to shadow opposing wide receivers more than ever before. He held A.J. Green in check for three-plus quarters in the team's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He shut down Torrey Smith (zero catches) in San Francisco. And he limited Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant to two catches for 12 yards in the Seahawks' latest win.

Sherman is an irreplaceable cog in the Seahawks' defense, and coach Pete Carroll has credited him with being a great leader and teammate during the rocky 4-4 start.

"

Sherman should spend some time guarding Larry Fitzgerald on Sunday. The 32-year-old is having a resurgent season after a difficult 2014 campaign, with 55 catches for 706 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Carson Palmer has looked his way quite a bit in 2015 but doesn't necessarily have to rely on him with wide receiver Michael Floyd making good on increased playing time in October.

Time Frame	REC	TGTS	YDS	AVG	TD
First Four Games	7	13	89	12.7	0
Last Four Games	13	23	230	17.7	3

Floyd may not start if John Brown is able to play after missing the Cleveland game in Week 8. Even so, he gives the 35-year-old Palmer, who is aging like a fine wine, another excellent option in the passing game against one of the league's best secondaries.

Seattle's run defense is giving up just 3.8 yards per carry, per ESPN, so it will be interesting to see whether the Cardinals' other aging (at least by running back standards) star, Chris Johnson, can produce.

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Johnson, 30, is third in the league in rushing with 676 yards, although this apparently isn't enough to impress the folks over at Pro Football Focus, as Bryson Vesnaver noted he may just be in the right place at the right time: 

"

Johnson has long been someone that puts up the stats but has never graded well, and there are a few reasons for that. It’s easy to run when your O-line is creating holes the size of three people. Currently, the Cardinals have our fourth-best offensive line in terms of run blocking. Johnson’s elusive rating is a mere 40.2, as he’s broken just 20 tackles on 146 touches.

On top of that, the Cardinals’ have one of the most dangerous passing games in the league. So, when you’ve got a really strong offensive line, and a passing game defenses need to focus on, you’re going to get some running lanes. But despite all the yards, Johnson just hasn’t done enough on his own to show he can succeed without the perfect offense around him.

"

With the passing game potentially stymied by a great secondary, and Seattle healthy and primed for a big second-half surge, Johnson may need to prove he's not just a lucky beneficiary of others' talents.

Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The steady guidance of head coach Marvin Lewis has the Cincinnati Bengals looking like one of the best teams in the league. They have playmakers in nearly every facet of the game, from A.J. Green at wide receiver to Carlos Dunlap terrorizing QBs off the edge to Giovani Bernard shaking would-be tacklers in the ground game. 

It's a very talented group of individuals on both sides of the ball. According to Football Outsiders, the Bengals rank second in the league on offense and 10th in defense in defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA), an efficiency metric.

Andy Dalton has marshaled the passing game unbelievably well this year and is a legitimate MVP candidate with 18 touchdowns against just four interceptions.

Although he's been known to wilt in pressure games during his career, Dalton bucked that trend this season with a big game against Cleveland on Thursday in Week 9.

He has the chance to bury two lines of criticism on Monday by winning a prime-time game against Houston, a franchise he's historically struggled against, per ESPN's Marty Callinan: "In four career games against the Texans, including the playoffs, Dalton has a 1-3 record, two touchdowns, six turnovers and seven sacks. All five of the Texans' interceptions against Dalton were on passes intended for A.J. Green."

Frank Victores/Associated Press

Dalton doesn't have to force it to Green, not with Tyler Eifert playing out of his mind and Marvin Jones on the upswing. This could be a very different game for Dalton against a poor Texans outfit.

Houston has taken, rather than dished out, most of the hard knocks this season, flip-flopping on quarterbacks before Ryan Mallett essentially forced their hand and Brian Hoyer into a permanent starting role. Arian Foster is out for the year, leaving DeAndre Hopkins as the only truly dangerous weapon on offense.

Pro Football Focus pointed out he was a good bet to pick up some yards in October when sending him out on a pattern:

J.J. Watt and his 8.5 sacks clearly can't do it alone on defense. Houston has allowed opposing quarterbacks a cumulative 95.2 passer rating and is giving up 4.4 yards per carry, per ESPN.

Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images

Texans head coach Bill O'Brien is well aware the Bengals' quick-hit passing game is well equipped to keep Watt from wreaking too much havoc, per Cincinnati.com's Paul Dehner Jr.:

"

They have a really good quick game where they get the ball out quick to their quick receivers. Andy does a good job getting it out quick. Protection-wise they’ll use some seven-man protections and give some help to some guys. That’s what a lot of teams are doing against us. We have to learn how to combat that and do the best we can to try to limit that.

"

Despite all the doom and gloom in their numbers and a losing record, the Texans are still very much playing for something this season. They're second in the AFC South with a 3-5 record, just behind Indianapolis (4-5), who now face the prospect of playing without quarterback Andrew Luck for several weeks because of his lacerated kidney.

Hoyer has been quite good this season, with 13 touchdowns and just three picks. Wide receiver Nate Washington has emerged as a solid target alongside Hopkins. Houston also has the luxury of coming off a bye week, although that's partially mitigated by the fact Cincinnati will have had 11 days rest instead of the usual seven. The heavily favored Bengals can't take the Texans too lightly, not with so much football left and so much on the line.

Expect the Monday-night glare to remind the Bengals this game is just as important as any other despite the wide gulf in talent and expectations between the two teams. After all, a beatdown on Monday would go a long way toward establishing dominance in case of the unlikely, but nevertheless possible, event these two teams meet in the playoffs.