NFL Preview: Week 10

GAME OF THE WEEK: Titans at Bears

Who could have predicted this would be my game of the week (a quick note: I skipped on Giants-Eagles and Bills-Patriots to finally give some recognition to the league’s only 8-0 team)?

But Tennessee is undefeated, and faces one of the first franchises to ever make a push for 16-0 back in 1985. Kyle Orton suffered a high ankle sprain against Detroit, and his status is very much in doubt for the 5-3 Bears.

Rex Grossman led a comeback a week ago, but Tennessee’s defense is a whole different animal compared to the Lions. I’m sure Lovie Smith will try to establish the run, as he usually does, but the Bears will likely find tough luck.

Grossman will determine if they win this game or not (Orton may play, but I am not counting on it). As for the Titans, they have yet to throw for 200 yards in a game this year, and against a Chicago run defense that gives up just 82 yards a game, that could be a problem.

This will be a game of defense, turnovers, and whoever is able to find some running lanes. I like Tennessee to march on to 9-0.

OTHER TOP GAMES:

Bills at Patriots

We have ourselves a race in the AFC East folks. Buffalo, New England, and the Jets are all 5-3, with Miami a game back.

The Bills’ struggles the last two games, ironically against AFC East opponents, is a cause for concern. Maybe this isn’t the team we all thought they were just a few weeks ago. But as they say, NFL stands for “Not For Long.”

If the Bills want to regain the momentum they lost against Miami and New York, they are going to have to win in Foxboro. Here’s the problem: Buffalo hasn’t won there since 2000.

To pull the upset, they are going to have to get pressure on Matt Cassel and force mistakes to shorten the field for the offense, while playing ball control. Even with second-year back Marshawn Lynch, their run offense has been one of the worst in the league in 2008.

Packers at Vikings

The NFC North is about as crowded at the top as the AFC East, with Green Bay and Minnesota a game back of Chicago. As was the case in these bitter rivals’ first meeting back in Week 1, quarterback play will determine the winner.

Aaron Rodgers came out of the gate strong, knowing that Green Bay would struggle to run the ball against one of the league’s best rush defenses. Since that game, the Vikings have replaced Tarvaris Jackson with Gus Frerotte, and the difference has been major.

Obviously, Frerotte is just a sideshow in the Minnesota offense to Adrian Peterson, who has yet to have a really big game this year (by big I mean more than 200 yards, and with his talent, it’s possible on any given Sunday). And Green Bay’s rush defense is ripe for the picking.

Colts at Steelers

Pittsburgh picked up an impressive victory on Monday night, but the cost outweighs the benefits greatly, as Ben Roethlisberger was banged up yet again. The big guy is one tough quarterback, but he has been hit enough for an entire career in this year alone.

While the Steelers’ defense is like a brick wall, they cannot expect to contend in the AFC without a healthy Big Ben. Remember, Baltimore is just a game back in the North, with a meeting in the Charm City still on the horizon.

Indianapolis is still lurking at 4-4 in the conference, and they could really help themselves with a victory in this contest.

This isn’t a favorable matchup, however, as Pittsburgh very well could gash their run defense, and Peyton Manning will likely be slowed down by the league’s No. 1 pass defense.

Giants at Eagles (Sunday night)

Another week passes by, and another Battle Royale is scheduled in the NFC East. It’s rare to see two teams facing off that are in top 10 in both total offense and defense, but that is just what this game provides.

Something will have to give, but what?

It will be interesting to see how Manning holds up against the Philadelphia blitz, although against an aggressive Pittsburgh defense two weeks ago, he put up solid numbers while not being sacked.

Donovan McNabb gets rid of the ball quickly, which will serve him well against the Giants front four. Frankly, I don’t have a damn clue of who is going to win this game. New York is two games up in the standings, but Philadelphia could easily be 7-1 as well.

I’d love to see the Eagles win (did I just say that?), just so Dallas’ deficit in the NFC East shrinks to a manageable two games with seven to play coming out of the bye in Week 11.

AND THE REST:

Broncos at Browns (Thursday night)

It seems like the NFL Network’s first game gets earlier and earlier each year, but hey, at least this year we won’t have to deal with Mr. Personality and Mr. Football, Bryant Gumbel.

Denver was 4-1 at one point, but their defense has really been a major hindrance in recent weeks. And the offense has cooled off after a terrific start. But problems aside, this team is still somehow in first place by a game over San Diego.

Saints at Falcons

I would have put this in my top games category, but I try to limit the number of games there to four. But this game will be one of the best to watch on Sunday regardless.

With the way Carolina and Tampa Bay are playing, this is one of those can’t-lose games, even though it is just Week 10.

I could really care less who gets the job done, although I hope for a lot of offense seeing how Drew Brees and Matt Ryan will be my likely fantasy quarterbacks this week.

Jaguars at Lions

There are two intriguing story lines in this game, which is two more than most Lions games. First, Jacksonville tries to avoid the dubious distinction of losing to 0-8 teams on consecutive weeks (I reckon that has never happened).

Secondly, after a short retirement, Daunte Culpepper is back in the NFC Norris! Culpepper has never been the same since his knee injury, but at least he gives Detroit a veteran option under center.

Seahawks at Dolphins

I might have been premature in my judgment last week saying that Miami would be nothing more than a legitimate playoff spoiler in 2008. They played a great 60 minutes against Denver, and I think the team is really gaining confidence that they can compete with anybody.

Bill Parcells is simply a legend at building franchises. The wounded Seahawks really do not stand much of a chance about as far away from home as possible.

Rams at Jets
Kurt Warner torched his former team a week ago and the last time Brett Favre faced an NFC West team, he threw for six touchdowns. Unless St. Louis has made some adjustments in the secondary, the gunslinger could have a field day.

With huge games against New England and Tennessee the next two weeks, the 5-3 Jets need to come out and put up a strong performance in order to build some momentum.

Ravens at Texans

Eight weeks later than expected, the Ravens finally visit the Texans in a game that features several star playmakers on defense. Ray Lewis, Terrelle Suggs, and Mario Williams are names that come to mind and bear watching.

Houston’s loss to the Vikings was huge in the sense that Matt Schaub tore his MCL, but in the time he is out, I think the Texans can feel comfortable with Sage Rosenfels calling the shots.

Panthers at Raiders

I knew it would only be so long before drama returned to the Oakland circus. Al Davis released DeAngelo Hall today, a guy who he paid a boatload of money for and has to be considered a good cornerback. After all, he has 20 interceptions since coming into the league in 2004. Jerry Jones, are you paying attention?

Back to this game, assuming the Panthers do not suffer from a severe case of jet lag, it likely will get out of hand.

Chiefs at Chargers

Hopefully for my Super Bowl champion pick, they used the bye week to regroup and regain focus. Even at 3-5, the Chargers are right on the heels of Denver.

A few weeks back, a visit from Kansas City would have been viewed as an automatic win, but since Tyler Thigpen took over at quarterback two weeks ago, the Chiefs have been very competitive against two good football teams.

Let’s see if San Diego is ready to step up to the challenge in the second half.

49ers at Cardinals (Monday night)

I frankly do not know what ESPN and the NFL were thinking putting this game on Monday night. It’s bad enough that you have to listen to Kornheiser for three hours, at least give us a game that is guaranteed to be a great draw (when is San Francisco-Arizona ever going to be that?).

I’m sure Kornheiser will have plenty of intelligent insight into Mike Singletary’s first game as Niners head coach two weeks ago, which loss aside, went great in my opinion. The league needs more coaches who will not take crap from the prima donnas suiting up to play a game.