NFL Week 10 Predictions: Projections for the Early Lines, Spreads and Odds

We've almost reached the end of Week 9. Once the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills do battle on Monday night, it will officially be time to turn the page over to Week 10.

We're going to take a look ahead here, though, because it's never too early to get a jump on upcoming NFL action. There are 14 games on the Week 10 schedule, beginning with the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns on Thursday night and culminating with the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants next Monday.

The Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders and Bills will be on bye.

We're going to run down the full schedule along with the early lines, courtesy of Odds Shark. We'll also make our picks against the spreads and examine some of the top matchups of the coming week.

NFL Week 10

Day, Time (ET)	Game	Line	Prediction
Thur. 8:25 p.m.	Cleveland at Baltimore	BAL -10	BAL
Sun. 1 p.m.	Atlanta at Philadelphia	PHI -1	ATL
Sun. 1 p.m.	Chicago at Tampa Bay	TB -2	TB
Sun. 1 p.m.	Minnesota at Washington	WAS -2.5	WAS
Sun. 1 p.m.	Kansas City at Carolina	CAR -3	KC
Sun. 1 p.m.	Houston at Jacksonville	HOU -1	HOU
Sun. 1 p.m.	Green Bay at Tennessee	GB -2.5	GB
Sun. 1 p.m.	Los Angeles at NY Jets	NYJ -2.5	NYJ
Sun. 1 p.m.	Denver at New Orleans	NO -1	NO
Sun. 4:05 p.m.	Miami at San Diego	SD -3.5	SD
Sun. 4:25 p.m.	Dallas at Pittsburgh	PIT -2.5	DAL
Sun. 4:25 p.m.	San Francisco at Arizona	ARI -13	ARI
Sun. 8:30 p.m.	Seattle at New England	NE -7	SEA
Mon 8:30 p.m.	Cincinnati at NY Giants	NYG -2.5	NYG

Matchups to Watch

Dallas Cowboys at Pittsburgh Steelers

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Right now, the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers feel like two teams trending in opposite directions. The Cowboys are on a roll and haven't lost since the opening week of the season, while Pittsburgh is staggering and losing its hold near the top of the AFC North.

This game probably means more for the Steelers, who lost the top spot in their division with a loss to the rival Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

While Pittsburgh ended up losing by only a touchdown to the Ravens, the game wasn't close. The Steelers offense could do virtually nothing against Baltimore for three full quarters, and a blocked punt-turned-defensive touchdown put the game away for the Ravens.

We cannot expect the Steelers offense to be this inept when the team returns home to face the Cowboys. The Steelers have played much better football at Heinz Field than they have away from it. The Dallas defense is an opportunistic but often inconsistent unit rated 21st overall by Pro Football Focus.

It's the Pittsburgh defense—rated 22nd overall and 21st against the run by Pro Football Focus—that should worry us. We're just not sure it can contain an efficient Dallas offense led by rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott.

It's likely that the only way Pittsburgh wins this game is via an offensive shootout. The chances should be better with Ben Roethlisberger a week healthier, but we don't feel good about it.

The Cowboys probably won't steamroll the Steelers the way they did the Browns on Sunday, but they should do enough to pick up a win.

Miami Dolphins at San Diego Chargers

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The Miami Dolphins have managed to win three games in a row, primarily behind the running of second-year back Jay Ajayi. The team now appears poised to make a possible run at a playoff spot. The next challenge, though, comes on the opposite side of the country.

The San Diego Chargers will host Miami, and the Chargers are anything but an easy out.

San Diego hasn't won consistently this season, but the team has regularly been in the games it has lost. Four of the team's five losses have come by fewer than seven points. The Chargers have also managed to knock off quality teams like the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons.

On Sunday, the Chargers relied on the hard running of their own talented rusher, Melvin Gordon, and some surprisingly strong defensive play to put away the Tennessee Titans. The San Diego defense created multiple turnovers and produced two defensive scores.

"Phenomenal," Chargers head coach Mike McCoy said of the defensive plays, per Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. "We’ve always talked about creating turnovers, and…that’s what the game is all about—making the plays that present themselves."

If the suddenly strong Chargers defense—now rated sixth overall by Pro Football Focus—plays well, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins offense will find it difficult to keep pace on the scoreboard. If Ajayi can get going for a fourth consecutive game, however—he has 529 yards rushing over his last three—then the Dolphins can control the tempo and the game.

Given the travel involved for Miami, we'll give the early edge to the Chargers.

Cincinnati Bengals at New York Giants

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The New York Giants are another team that seems to be finding its way on defense. New York is rated eighth in overall defense by Pro Football Focus and is rated second in pass coverage.

This defense could create some serious problems for the Cincinnati Bengals when they visit on Monday night. The Bengals have a chance to make a serious move in the AFC North thanks to Pittsburgh's Week 9 loss, but they'll have to play better road ball than they have been playing in order to do so.

Including a game against the Washington Redskins in London (technically a home game), the Bengals are just 1-3-1 away from Paul Brown Stadium this season. Their lone win was of the one-point variety and came against the New York Jets in Week 1.

Overcoming their road woes and the Giants defense will be critical, because the Bengals possess a defense that has massively underwhelmed this season.

Cincinnati is allowing an average of 378.5 yards per game (25th in the NFL) and is rated 27th in overall defense by Pro Football Focus. The Bengals cannot afford to get into a shootout with Eli Manning and the Giants offense. If they do, the game could get ugly fast.

If the game turns into a back-and-forth battle between receivers A.J. Green and Odell Beckham Jr., it will quickly favor the Giants and their superior defense.