NFL Week 10 Picks: Awful Teams That Will Take Advantage of Soft Matchups

In the NFL, as elsewhere, it can be better to be lucky than good. This trio of very bad teams finds themselves with favorable matchups that should net them wins in spite of themselves:

Miami Dolphins (vs. Washington)

In the battle of the dismal backup quarterbacks, Miami’s Matt Moore grabbed a decided advantage by suddenly looking like an NFL signal-caller last week. Moore’s three-TD performance in beating Kansas City may not mean that he’ll keep the Dolphins winning for the rest of the year, but should be enough to beat undermanned Washington in Miami.

The Redskins have dropped five of six thanks to an offense that hasn’t topped 20 points in that span. Expect Reggie Bush to feast on a shaky run defense and extend Washington’s losing streak.

Indianapolis Colts (vs. Jacksonville)

With Miami potentially headed for a second straight victory, the 0-9 Colts get their best chance of the season to land in the win column. Blaine Gabbert and the Jaguars have one of the only passing attacks in the league that’s been less effective than Curtis Painter’s efforts for Indianapolis.

Maurice Jones-Drew has the potential for a monster day against a weak Colts run defense, but Jacksonville has been a low-scoring offense even when it’s playing well. The bet here is that Painter and Pierre Garcon will land a couple of big plays to swing the game (barely) in Indy’s favor.

Carolina Panthers (vs. Tennessee)

A big part of the Panthers’ inability to win this season has been a dreadful run defense that ranks 28th in the NFL. Fortunately for them, the Titans ground attack (led by the disastrous Chris Johnson) is even worse, ranking dead last in the league.

With Carolina at home, rookie Cam Newton (eight TDs against just four interceptions at Bank of America Stadium) will have a great opportunity to pull off an upset against a Tennessee defense that couldn’t lock down Andy Dalton last week. Look for another monster game from Newton in a close Carolina victory.