NFL Week 10 Predictions: Projecting the Best Defensive Performances

Anytime a defense puts on a stellar performance, the odds astronomically increase for that team's chances of winning.

So, with a dominating defensive performance in mind, here are three that do work in Week 10.

Baltimore Ravens (at Seattle)

Seattle's offense ranks No. 23 in passing and No. 30 in rush whereas the Ravens defense ranks in the Top 5 against both the pass and rush—do the math.

And it doesn't matter who starts for the Seahawks at QB, because both Charlie Whitehurst and Tarvaris Jackson aren't even considered average NFL QBs. Baltimore will blitz early and often to force the Seahawks into many passing situations as well as to isolate the run game.

In turn, safety Ed Reed will be patrolling the secondary as usual, so expect at least two INTs from the veteran, and maybe even a defensive TD to boot.

Chicago Bears (vs Detroit)

To stop the Lions from really taking over all the Bears have to do is blanket WR Calvin Johnson as much as possible. Detroit has no threatening rushing attack and all other receiving targets can be taken care of in mono-e-mono situations.

Therefore, other than Megatron being doubled, expect Chicago to blitz often and force Matthew Stafford into throwing screens and check-downs. Coach Lovie Smith's LBs (Urlacher and Briggs) are smart and will recognize anything while blitzing, and then adjust their course to making the play.

Also, the Lions will have limited possessions because the Bears will control the game tempo by running the football with Matt Forte. That said, advantage to The Monsters of the Midway as The Motor City struggles with only so many opportunities against a much improved defense.

Houston Texans (at Tampa Bay)

The Buccaneers offense ranks No. 11 in passing and No. 24 in rushing, while the Houston Texans come into Tampa riding a three-game win streak and possess a Top 5 defense.

The Bucs' may play better football at home, but they're just 1-3 in their last four games and Houston has proven to win without LB Mario Williams and WR Andre Johnson. And although Tampa QB Josh Freeman had a spectacular 2010, he's been struggling quite a bit in 2011.

That said, the Texans are a solid defense as they don't rely simply on just forcing turnovers. They get sacks, force the QB under a lot of pressure, stop the run, and overall suffocate an offense.

Tampa Bay has no established WRs or RBs, otherwise they'd be performing a lot better than indicated. Houston will force many punting situations and that will only take its' toll as the game progresses.

Be sure to check out John on Bleacher Report. 

You can follow him on Twitter @ Sportswriter27.