NFL Week 10 Picks: Road Teams That Will Make a Statement

“Win your home games and split your road game,” is the motto that most use in the National Football League. These three teams will make a statement on the road in Week 10.

New York Giants

There is one way the New York Giants can defeat the San Francisco 49ers, and that is by stopping Frank Gore. When teams stop or slow down Gore they are much more successful—see Dallas. When they don’t (which is the past five games) San Francisco is a tough team to defeat.

Eli Manning is a quarterback I wouldn’t want to face in a one-game situation. We have seen it time and time again when Manning plays well in the big games while struggling in the smaller games, similar to how the Giants play as a whole.

If the 49ers were 4-4 instead of 7-1, I would be all-in for the 49ers. But New York comes up big once again on the road.

Houston Texans

Houston’s best season to make the playoffs is unquestionably 2011 because of their divisional competition. Indianapolis doesn’t have Peyton Manning, Tennessee gave up on Vince Young and Jacksonville said goodbye to David Garrard. By default, Houston will win the division.

Whether or not people take them seriously or not is another question. They receive a tough challenge on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has been extremely inconsistent in 2011, especially at the quarterback position. Josh Freeman has eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions on the season.

Houston has a top-five rush and pass defense. They need to take care of business on the road if they want to impress the naysayers.

Running back Arian Foster and quarterback Matt Schaub should be able to have productive days against the 26th-best rush defense and 28th-best pass defense. With a quality defense and offense capable of moving the ball, Houston will grab a quality road victory.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh is angry about dropping the ball against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9. They will not allow another disappointing effort against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Steelers have only lost one time in Cincinnati when Ben Roethlisberger was the quarterback. They own them.

Andy Dalton has been solid in his first season in the NFL, but he hasn’t seen a defense quite like this. Pittsburgh always feasts on rookie QBs when they pressure. They will pressure Dalton and force a mistake or two. Pittsburgh wins a crucial AFC north matchup.