NFL Week 10 Picks: Early Predictions for Every Game

The ninth week of the 2016 NFL season is set to wrap up on Monday night when the Seattle Seahawks host the Buffalo Bills. In just a few days, Week 10 will get underway with the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.

The season seems to be flying by at a rapid pace, which is why it's never too early to take a look ahead. We're going to do exactly that here by examining the full Week 10 schedule and making our picks for the eventual winners.

We will be running down the schedule and the early lines—courtesy of Odds Shark—and predicting our winners against them. We'll also take an in-depth look at some of the most exciting games residing on the upcoming slate.

Our picks will be based on factors like past performances, team health and matchups.

NFL Week 10

Away Team	Home Team	National TV	Line	Prediction
Cleveland Browns	Baltimore Ravens	NFL Network	BAL -10	BAL
Atlanta Falcons	Philadelphia Eagles	Fox	PHI -1	ATL
Chicago Bears	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Fox	TB -2	TB
Houston Texans	Jacksonville Jaguars	CBS	HOU -1	HOU
Minnesota Vikings	Washington Redskins	Fox	WAS -2.5	WAS
Kansas City Chiefs	Carolina Panthers	CBS	CAR -3	KC
Green Bay Packers	Tennessee Titans	Fox	GB -2.5	GB
Los Angeles Rams	New York Jets	Fox	NYJ -2.5	NYJ
Denver Broncos	New Orleans Saints	CBS	NO -1	NO
Miami Dolphins	San Diego Chargers	CBS	SD -3.5	SD
Dallas Cowboys	Pittsburgh Steelers	Fox	PIT -2.5	DAL
San Francisco 49ers	Arizona Cardinals	Fox	ARI -13	ARI
Seattle Seahawks	New England Patriots	NBC	NE -7	SEA
Cincinnati Bengals	New York Giants	ESPN	NYG -2.5	NYG

Games to Watch

Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

The Philadelphia Eagles got off to a hot start this season, but have cooled considerably since. The same can be said about rookie Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. 

Wentz is still playing at a high level, of course—Pro Football Focus rates him eighth overall among all quarterbacks—but he hasn't looked quite like the phenom he did when the season began. On Sunday, for example, he completed just 57.4 percent of his passes and tossed two interceptions with zero touchdowns.

Perhaps he has hit the dreaded rookie wall. Perhaps opponents have simply gotten enough tape on him to counter what he does best.

Regardless of what the reason is for Wentz's decline, it's put a serious damper on Philadelphia's playoff hopes. The Eagles have lost four of their last five games, despite playing excellent defensive football.

The Eagles are allowing an average of just 18.1 points per game (sixth-fewest in the NFL) and are rated 10th in overall defense by Pro Football Focus.

Wentz and the Eagles offense will get an opportunity to get back on track this week against the visiting Atlanta Falcons. While the Atlanta defense has shown improvements this season, it is still allowing an average of 28.8 points per game (28th in the NFL).

The other side of the equation is that the Eagles defense will be significantly challenged by Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and the rest of the Falcons' explosive offense. Mike Conti of 92.9 The Game shared how prolific Atlanta's offense has been this season:

The Falcons, who are averaging an NFL-best 33.9 points per game, are downright scary on the offensive side of the football. As good as the Eagles defense can be at times, we're not sure it can stop Atlanta.

We'll give the edge to the experienced Ryan and the Falcons offense in this game.

Green Bay Packers at Tennessee Titans

Jeffrey Phelps/Associated Press

Just when you thought the Green Bay Packers might be able to cement themselves as legitimate playoff contenders, they go and produce a dud at Lambeau Field. The Packers were embarrassed by the Indianapolis Colts in a 31-26 game that wasn't as close as the final score would indicate.

The fact the Packers gave up 31 points to Andrew Luck and the Colts offense isn't necessarily cause for alarm. The fact that Green Bay struggled so mightily against a Colts defense that is rated dead last by Pro Football Focus is.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers just couldn't seem to find a rhythm on Sunday, which has been an issue for him for most of the season. It didn't help that the Packers are thin at running back and relying on guys like Rodgers and wide receiver Ty Montgomery to carry their ground game.

Things aren't going to get much easier for the Packers in Week 10. Green Bay travels to face an underrated Tennessee Titans team that is still hanging around in the AFC South race.

Tennessee possesses the league's third-ranked rushing attack (144.2 yards per game) and is getting solid play from second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota (passer rating of 94.1).

However, the Packers actually match up well with the Titans, which means they have an opportunity to right the proverbial ship in Week 10.

Green Bay boasts a run defense that is rated third overall by Pro Football Focus. Rodgers and Co. will get to go against a Titans defense that allows an average of 260.4 yards passing per game (20th in the NFL).

This should be an excellent game, but it's one the Packers can win.

Seattle Seahawks at New England Patriots

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

The obvious highlight of Week 10 is the game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots on Sunday night. Not only will this be a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, but it's a game that pits two of the league's top teams against one another.

The Patriots have been preparing for this one for a while.

New England head coach Bill Belichick recently explained, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com:

"

We're pretty far ahead on Seattle. We've had a chance to work on them all week, done all their games up through the Saints game [in Week 8], so there's no more to do, and there won't be any more to do until Monday night. I think Monday night will be a good opportunity to kind of take a look at the game against Buffalo with a little bit of a blank slate.

"

Belichick is referring to the fact that New England will be coming out of its bye in Week 10 and has had two weeks to prepare for Seattle. That's a lot of time for a team that consistently changes its game plan to fit the looming opponent.

When you combine this with home-field advantage and the state of the Patriots team—rated sixth in overall offense and fifth in overall defense by Pro Football Focus—it becomes incredibly difficult to predict a road upset for Seattle. However, we do believe the Seahawks can play well enough to keep the game within a touchdown.

Just don't expect Seattle to be throwing the ball near the goal line.