NFL Point Spreads Week 10: Best Picks Against the Spread

Devastating news for the Houston Texans as they have lost rookie superstar quarterback Deshaun Watson for the season to a torn ACL. That obviously changes the Texans’ outlook going forward. On the byes this week are Kansas City, Philadelphia (maybe the two Super Bowl teams), Oakland and Baltimore. Here’s a quick look at all the Week 10 matchups with Sports Interaction NFL odds. Games Sunday unless noted.

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals, Thursday

The Cardinals came out of their bye week Sunday and played their first full game without injured QB Carson Palmer and beat the sorry 49ers 20-10. Adrian Peterson carried a career-high 37 times for 159 yards. The Seahawks saw their four-game winning streak end in a 17-14 upset at home against Washington. Arizona was 1-0-1 against its NFC West rival last year. The two teams played perhaps the most interesting 6-6 tie in league history in the desert.

Point spread: Seahawks -5.5
Pick ATS: Arizona

New Orleans Saints at Buffalo Bills

A year ago, this would have been a matchup of polar opposites as the Saints were pass-heavy and the Bills dependent on the run. Buffalo’s offensive strategy hasn’t changed, but now New Orleans relies less on Drew Brees and more on the ground game and defense. The Bills looked terrible last Thursday night in a 34-21 loss at the Jets. Newly-acquired receiver Kelvin Benjamin didn’t play but should debut here. The NFC South-leading Saints won their sixth straight Sunday, 30-10 over Tampa Bay. New Orleans rushed for 151 yards, its fourth game in a row with at least 150.

Point spread: Saints -2
Pick ATS: Buffalo

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears

Chicago is off its bye week, while it’s a short one for Green Bay as it hosted Detroit on Monday. Players never wish injury on one another, but I’m guessing that members of the Bears won’t be too broken up that they won’t be facing the injured Aaron Rodgers here considering he’s 15-4 in his career in the NFL’s oldest rivalry. In a 35-14 Week 4 win, Rodgers had four TD passes. The Bears turned to rookie QB Mitchell Trubisky after that game.

Point spread: Bears -3
Pick ATS: Green Bay

Cleveland Browns at Detroit Lions

Winless Cleveland is off its bye week and somehow botched a trade for Bengals backup quarterback A.J. McCarron during it. Detroit is on a short week after visiting Green Bay on Monday night. What do these flagship franchises have in common? Fan bases used to disappointment as they are two of four active teams to never make a Super Bowl.

Point spread: Lions -9.5
Pick ATS: Detroit

Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans

The Bengals lost 23-7 at Jacksonville and might not have star receiver A.J. Green for this one. That’s because he was involved in a fight, was ejected and probably is looking at a minimum one-game suspension. He’s clearly their best offensive player. The Titans are tied for the AFC South lead and have won three in a row. They edged Baltimore 23-20 on Sunday. Marcus Mariota threw for 218 yards and two touchdowns.

Point spread: Titans -5.5
Pick ATS: Tennessee

Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts

The Steelers are off their bye. Indianapolis was an upset winner at Houston, 20-14, to end a three-game skid. T.Y. Hilton had 175 yards receiving and two scores. Jacoby Brissett, who will now start the rest of the season with Andrew Luck ruled out for the year, threw for 308 yards. In recent meetings, Ben Roethlisberger has torn up the Colts. Last year in a 28-7 victory, Big Ben threw three touchdown passes, all to Antonio Brown. Luck missed that one with a concussion.

Point spread: Steelers -10.5
Pick ATS: Indianapolis

New York Jets at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Current Jets starting quarterback Josh McCown was in that role for Tampa Bay most of 2014 – the year before the Bucs selected Jameis Winston No. 1 overall in the draft. In last Thursday’s 34-21 upset of Buffalo, McCown threw for a score and ran for another. The journeyman has been much better than expected this year. Tampa Bay continues to disappoint and is on a five-game skid. Winston left Sunday’s loss in New Orleans with a shoulder injury so monitor his status this week.

Point spread: TBA (due to Winston)
Pick ATS: TBA

Minnesota Vikings at Washington Redskins

NFC North-leading Minnesota comes off its bye. The Redskins won a thriller 17-14 in Seattle. Kirk Cousins led the winning 70-yard touchdown drive in just 35 seconds late in the fourth quarter. Rob Kelley won it on a 1-yard TD run with 59 seconds to go. Washington was outgained by nearly 200 yards.

Point spread: Vikings -2
Pick ATS: Washington

Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars

The Chargers are off their bye week. Jacksonville is tied with Tennessee atop the AFC South and beat Cincinnati 23-7 on Sunday. Star cornerback Jalen Ramsey was ejected for fighting with the Bengals’ A.J. Green, but Ramsey is less likely to be suspended. Jags star rookie running back Leonard Fournette was inactive for violating a team rule. It’s the fifth straight season these teams will play. The Bolts won the previous four, including a 38-14 blowout in San Diego last year.

Point spread: Jaguars -4
Pick ATS: Jacksonville

Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams

This looked to be one of the most interesting matchups of the week and symbolized what a difference a year can make. These were two of the worst offenses in the league a season ago, but the emergence of Watson and Rams second-year QB Jared Goff has the clubs among the 2017 scoring leaders. Watson was off to a record-setting start but tore his ACL without contact in practice last Thursday. The Texans had scored at least 33 points in five straight games under Watson but managed only 14 behind Tom Savage in Sunday’s home loss to the Colts. The Rams crushed the Giants 51-17 behind four Goff TD passes and already have scored more points than they did in all of 2016.

Point spread: Rams -11.5
Pick ATS: Houston

Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons

The Cowboys and Falcons were the NFC’s top two seeds in last year’s playoffs, and had Dallas not lost a thriller Green Bay in the divisional round would have hosted Atlanta in the conference title game. Alas, neither might make the postseason this winter. The Falcons have dropped four of five following a 20-17 defeat at Carolina.  Superstar receiver Julio Jones dropped a sure TD pass in the fourth quarter. Dallas won its third in a row Sunday, 28-17 over Kansas City. Ezekiel Elliott won a court decision that temporarily stopped his six-game suspension and he rushed for 93 yards and a score. It’s possible that suspension could be reinstated this week. That would greatly affect Dallas’ playoff chances.

Point spread: Falcons -3
Pick ATS: Dallas (if Elliott plays, Atlanta if not)

New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers

About the only positive thing I can say about this matchup of teams that have combined for one victory (New York) is that you can bet on it! The seat of Giants coach Ben McAdoo got much hotter on Sunday as his team came out of the bye week and was blasted 51-17 at home by the Rams. It was the most points allowed at home by New York since 1964. The 49ers remained the NFC’s only winless team following a 20-10 loss to Arizona. New trade addition Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t see the field but might here. Or the team might wait until after its Week 11 bye to play him under center.

Point spread: 49ers -1
Pick ATS: New York

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos

The Pats are off their bye and no longer have quite the security blanket for Tom Brady after shockingly trading backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo to San Francisco. Former 49er Brian Hoyer is in that role now. The Broncos dropped their fourth straight Sunday, 51-23, in Philadelphia. They turned to Brock Osweiler at QB and that was an abject failure. You could see another change there this week. New England won in Denver late last season, 16-3.

Point spread: Patriots -7.5
Pick ATS: Denver

Miami Dolphins at Carolina Panthers, Monday

Carolina won a second straight Sunday, 20-17, behind a ground game that had 201 yards and two scores. It was the Panthers’ first game since surprisingly trading No. 1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin to Buffalo. Miami lost a second straight Sunday night, 27-24, in its first game since trading former Pro Bowl running back Jay Ajayi to Philadelphia. Jay Cutler had his best game of the season, but the Dolphins defense didn’t cooperate.

Point spread: Panthers -8
Pick ATS: Miami