NFL Week 10 Predictions: 10 Reasons To Be Excited About the Weekend

The NFL season is full of ebbs and flows. It has ups and it has downs. It would be a great roller coaster, if one could somehow physically ride it. Instead, we as fans get the emotional roller coaster ride which at times is not the most fun ride. 

It is about this time every season that the contenders begin to separate themselves from the pretenders and the teams at the bottom of the barrel begin jostling for draft position. This season we have all of that going on but we also have an unusual number of teams that are hard to figure out. Luckily, they all play in crucial games this weekend.

By the end of this week, we should have a true gauge on each and every team in the National Football League and a few playoff races could be coming together as well. 

Here are the 10 top reasons to be excited about this weekend.

Reason 10: Cardinals at Eagles Surprisingly Being About Patrick Peterson

The Eagles just might have taken themselves out of contention with that tough home loss on Monday night, but they have all sorts of fast and athletic talent. The Cardinals are one more loss away from being mathematically eliminated, but they have something the All-Star Eagles don't have: Patrick Peterson.

Peterson's rookie resume speaks for itself. He's returned 19 punts for more than 400 yards and sure, the 99-yarder inflates those numbers, but you can't tell me he isn't explosive. The announcer in the booth, as the punt was coming down, says "Peterson looks around" as if he knew there was no way PP was going to call for a fair catch.

The only thing more exciting to watch than the Eagles lately is Peterson. Sunday Ticket owners, including myself, won't be able to see what is worth seeing from this game on the Red Zone channel because the only thing worth seeing is Peterson on fourth down. 

The Eagles look bad, but the Cardinals look worse. Philly will win this game and continue to try and save their season.

Reason 9: Bills at Cowboys Is a Must-Win for Both Teams

The Bills and the Cowboys have both been very hard to figure out week in and week out this season. Since Buffalo's emphatic Week 3 win against New England, they have gone 2-3 and fallen off the wagon. Dallas, on the other hand, has not yet strung together back-to-back dominant performances this season. 

Speaking strictly in worst-case scenarios here, if Buffalo loses Sunday they will fall to 5-4 and considering they still have games against the Jets, Patriots and Chargers on their schedule, will probably miss the playoffs given the strength of the AFC. 

Dallas is in just as tough a spot. They are sitting at a mediocre 4-4 and if they falter and lose Sunday at home, they might as well hang it up for the rest of the year. The Cowboys have not yet played the Giants and if they lose Sunday, it may take a sweep of the New York Football Giants to scratch their way into the playoffs.

Both teams are in "win or go home" mode this weekend and I see Fitzpatrick making the plays he needs to in order for his team to win. Dallas will fall just short, and lose at home.

Reason 8: Texans at Buccaneers Could Get Ugly

Don't look now, but the Houston Texans may be for real. Unlike the past few seasons this year's team may sustain form throughout the rest of the season and potentially well into the postseason.

The Texans do what every serious contender needs to do: They pass the ball well (they have the 14th-ranked pass offense) and they have a great run game (second-best in the league). The Foster-Tate combo is something you don't find every day. Having two guys capable of raking in 100-yard games at the same time is normally unheard of.

Defensively, the Texans have the second-best pass defense and fourth-best run defense. They are also doing what elite teams are supposed to do—put away inferior competition. Four of Houston's remaining seven games are against teams with .500 records or worse. They will do what they've done for three straight weeks this Sunday: jump on the Bucs and put them away early. 

Houston wins this one big.

Reason 7: Vikings at Packers Will Be a Field Day for Aaron Rodgers

The Vikings are coming off a bye week, which normally is just what a team needs to prepare for a guy like Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately for Minnesota, they could have had three or four weeks off and still wouldn't be fully prepared.

The Vikings have league's third-worst pass defense, due to a thin and inexperienced secondary. They have one of the league's premier pass rush attacks overall as well as one of the league's best pass-rushers in Jared Allen. Unfortunately for Minnesota, that won't be enough.

The Packers have a solid offensive line that has meshed and grown throughout the season thanks to the play of their leader behind them. I can't imagine anything more inspiring for a lineman than to block for an MVP. Rodgers has been sacked 17 times throughout eight games and if the Vikings do not crush him, then he will have another career day.

The first time both teams met, Minnesota played them pretty well, and I expect the same again. It will be an offensive shootout that Green Bay wins fairly comfortably. 

Reason 6: Raiders at Chargers Is the Beginning of Thursday Night Football

Thursday Night Football is Thursday Night Football, no matter how many interceptions will be thrown. I'm rejoicing because it's back just as all of you are. We might not have the two best teams in the league, but we do have a pivotal division game on our hands.

Both the Raiders and the Chargers take the field Thursday night sitting tied for first in the AFC West at 4-4. This is also the first meeting of the year between the two, the second meeting coming in the last week of the season.

Neither team has looked great in a long time but in the NFL, all that matters is wins and losses and the winner of this game takes a big step forward in the division race. Thursday night is going to be a great example of smash-mouth football and I know I'm excited. Are you?

I've got San Diego winning this one in a bounce-back statement game.

Reason 5: Steelers at Bengals Is the First True Test for Andy Dalton

Pittsburgh coming into Cincinnati this weekend has all sorts of storylines. Can Pittsburgh bounce back? Can Andy Dalton hang with a premier defense? Can Cincy run the ball on the Steel Curtain?

But more than anything, is Cincinnati legit?

Cincinnati enter Sunday with the league's 10th-best pass defense and second-best rush defense but they only have the league's 21st overall offense. Cincinnati is one of the tougher teams in the NFL to figure out primarily because their five-game win streak was run off against teams with a combined record of 13-28. 

Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh and we all know that. No NFL team wants to play Pittsburgh under any circumstance; the least enjoyable time to play them is when they're coming off a loss. The Steelers are going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at rookie Andy Dalton and I actually think he'll be ready and he'll handle it.

I'm going with the upset here, and picking Cincinnati. 

Reason 4: Giants at 49ers a Statement-Game Oppurtunity for Both Teams

For as long as I have been an avid football fan, East Coast teams traveling west and West Coast teams traveling east are never expected to win on the other end of the country. The 49ers are debunking that theory this season; they are 4-0 on the road, all four wins coming in the Eastern time zone.

This week, however, the 49ers get to stay home as the New York Giants come to play in their house, and the Giants are going to come prepared. The Giants haven't won a game by more than four points since their shellacking of Philly in Week 3 but week in and week out they have done what needed to be done. In my eyes, they look like the team that's going to lose to Green Bay in the NFC Championship.

San Francisco is the truly remarkable story of the season. Rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh has taught his 49ers team what Mike Singletary tried teaching them for several years: how to play football the right way. The Niners run more than they pass, and they hit you more often than they miss you. They are clicking on all cylinders right now playing the game the way they want to play it, but this Sunday, they hit a bump in the road.

The Giants are going to go across the country and win this one. 

Reason 3: Saints at Falcons for a Foothold in the Division

If I had to pick a theme of the week based on this article thus far, it would be something like "teams we aren't sure about having opportunities to prove themselves." New Orleans deserves to be at the top of that list. The Saints are somehow fourth in this week's ESPN.com Power Rankings, a position they haven't earned whatsoever. 

They have beat Chicago, Houston and Tampa Bay this season but they have also lost to the St. Louis Rams and overall they have had the second-easiest schedule in the NFL this season. They have the second-best passing game in the NFL, which is not surprising, but their defense has fallen off from their Super Bowl run several years ago; their defense is ranked 15th this year.

Their competition this week, the Falcons, are just as hard to figure out. With losses to Chicago, Tampa Bay and Green Bay it is almost as if the Falcons are trying to tell us they aren't very good. They have a mediocre defense defending the run and the pass this season and both their stars (Matt Ryan and Michael Turner) are having sub-par seasons.

New Orleans is going to establish that much-needed foothold atop their division with a win Sunday in Atlanta. 

Reason 2: Lions at Bears a Battle of Future Wild Cards

The Lions and the Bears are not going to catch the Packers, but they both have to like their chances of making the playoffs as a Wild Card. Both teams have a few easy games remaining on their schedules and considering how poor the NFC West is and the inconsistent play of the NFC East and NFC South, both the Lions and Bears could find themselves playing football in late December and early January. 

As for this Sunday's game, both teams seem to have fixed the kinks they had earlier in the season and are playing pretty solid football in all three phases of the game. Neither team stops the run or the pass extremely well but the defenses on both sidelines are filled with big-time names that love making big-time plays.

The offenses aren't too bad either. Calvin Johnson and Matt Forte could easily trade blows all afternoon long and negate both tough-nosed defenses or the defenses could shine and be the story of the day—but either way, we are in for a great game.

Detroit makes another statement, winning a hard-fought game on the road. 

Reason 1: Patriots at Jets

Not much more needs to be said other than it's the Patriots and the Jets on Sunday night. These two teams do the talking for me and set the stage themselves better than I could ever imagine setting for them.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick continue to look human week in and week out. Several botched drafts, specifically this season's, coupled with poor depth and the possible notion of poor coaching have made the always invincible Pats look mortal on a regular basis. 

The Jets, meanwhile, are coming off their biggest win of the season and what you could argue was their best 60 minutes of defense under Rex Ryan. The Jets are the home team and the Jets are the home team. Couple that with the Patriots' poor run game, lack of a deep threat and bad secondary, and I see an ugly game being dominated by Ryan's Jets.