Week 10 picks

Picks in bold

New Orleans at Atlanta: Two quarterbacks looking for major honors - New Orleans's Drew Brees for MVP, Atlanta's Matt Ryan for Rookie of the Year - clash in what could be a shootout. The Saints are desperate, and Brees (shown) pulls it out in the end.

Tennessee at Chicago: First the Bears lost Kyle Orton. Then they barely held on against woeful Detroit. Now they take on the undefeated Titans? It'll be close, but Rex Grossman won't beat Tennessee.

Jacksonville at Detroit: What's happened to the Jaguars? An emerging powerhouse last year, they've sunk to 3-5 and are going to need a huge turnaround to get back to the postseason. They'll beat Detroit, but have major questions going forward.

Seattle at Miami: Tony Sparano should be a prime candidate for Coach of the Year. His Wildcat formation is tearing up the league, and affecting other teams' gameplans as well. And of course, he has the Dolphins, 1-15 last year, thinking playoffs. Those aspirations continue as Miami surges above .500.

Green Bay at Minnesota: An intense rivalry gets kicked up a notch, as both teams need wins to keep division and title hopes alive. But Adrian Peterson runs well at home, and the Vikings will benefit.

Buffalo at New England: Last week, the Colts were the team that needed a victory to keep its season alive. This week, the Patriots are the desperate ones, as a loss could drop them from a tie for first place to the AFC East cellar. Randy Moss exposes a suspect Buffalo secondary, and the Patriots march on.

St. Louis at New York Jets: Bad teams (and the Rams are one) have given the Jets problems, as a loss to the Raiders and slim victory over the Bengals showed. New York plays ugly, but wins.

Baltimore at Houston: The Matt Ryan of the AFC, Joe Flacco has emerged to give the Ravens a legitimate passing game. Baltimore wins its fourth straight.

Carolina at Oakland: The Raiders aren't the least talented team in the NFL, but what they lack in bad players, they more than make up for in bad management. Cutting DeAngelo Hall convinces the players that there's no hope of winning this year, so the Panthers do instead.

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh: The Steelers looked impressive Monday night against the Redskins, but that was against a Jason Campbell-led offense that felt no need to try any plays over five yards. Peyton Manning and Co. won't settle like that, they'll make the Steelers work on defense, and the Colts will get the win.

Kansas City at San Diego: The pitiful Chiefs are no match in a division game at San Diego. The Chargers roll.

New York Giants at Philadelphia: The NFC East was supposed to be football's ultra-competitive division. So far, the Giants have been the clear-cut favorite, and their dominance has been astounding. That being said, the Eagles need a win badly to keep pace, and get it in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

San Francisco at Arizona: There was a time when this would have been a 49er blowout. It still won't be close, but it'll be league MVP-hopeful Kurt Warner and the Cardinals putting up the points.

Last week: 9-5. Season: 9-5