NFL Week 10 Picks: Score Predictions for the Week's Best Games

Five games in Week 10 feature some of the best teams in the league playing each other in matchups that carry significant weight, and it's those contests that I will focus on in this picks column.

New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons

With the Falcons at 5-3 and the Saints at 6-3 in the NFC South, this Sunday afternoon contest is one of Week 10's biggest and best. The division is still very much up in the air, with three of its four teams among the strongest in the league.  

The Saints still have one of the top offenses in the league—while the Falcons offense is impressive in its own right, they will need to exploit New Orleans' defensive flaws if they are going to hope for a win this week.  

It's hard to pick against the Falcons at home, but there are too many factors in the Saints' favor. It will be close and it will be tense, but it will be the Saints that pick up a win.

Final score: Saints 30, Falcons 24

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals are at the top of the hotly-contested AFC North, and the Steelers are searching to salvage their playoff hopes. Without a win against the Bengals this Sunday, those hopes shrink further.

At the same time, Cincinnati wants to prove that their 6-2 record is no fluke, and beating the Steelers would make a strong case for the team being one of the AFC's best.

The Steelers had significant trouble stopping the Ravens' passing game in Week 9, especially on third down, which ran contrary to their league-leading pass defense in Week 8. Cincinnati has enough weapons in the air, on the ground and on defense to give the Steelers a rough time this week, and I see them winning at home.

Final score: Bengals 20, Steelers 17

New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers

The Giants have a tenuous hold on the NFC East, but that margin is ever-growing.

However, the San Francisco 49ers are one of the best teams in the NFL, with their only loss coming in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys.

With New York, it's hard to predict which team takes the field—the error-prone Giants or the bruisers.

Regardless of which squad we see, it's going to be extremely difficult for New York to best such a powerful team, even though they're coming off an impressive win over the New England Patriots in Week 9.

Final score: 49ers 27, Giants 20

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears

The Bears manhandled the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9, due to a combination of a weak Eagles defense that seemed to regress to where they stood earlier in the season and a firing-on-all-cylinders Chicago offense.

What's unknown is how much that win was the Bears' skill and how much was caused by a poor performance by Philadelphia. A tougher test comes this week when the 6-2 Lions come to town, fresh off of a bye week.

The Bears have managed to impress despite a number of knocks against them, but I don't see them having another success against a team as tough as the Lions this week.

Final score: Lions 31, Bears 14

New England Patriots at New York Jets

Can the Patriots really lose three games in a row? Clearly the Jets are going to work as hard as possible to defeat their divisional rivals and snag the top spot in the AFC East for the first time this season.

The Steelers and Giants have laid the groundwork for a formula to dismantle the Patriot offense while producing in the air and on the ground themselves, and it's something the Jets will look to emulate this week.

In a high-profile Sunday night game, the last thing the Patriots want is to lose a third straight contest in front of a national audience.

But it will be a tall order—I see the Jets pulling out a surprise win in a lower-scoring game with all the potential to go into overtime.

Final score: Jets 23, Patriots 20