Voltar
It’s Week 10! We have reached the midpoint of the season, which means it’s time to dish out grades for every AFC and NFC team to this point. Our staff also made updated Super Bowl picks in our staff roundtable, which covered first-half surprises and intriguing second-half storylines, as well. But let’s get down to the business of Week 10.
Our writers and editors are coming off a stellar slate of picks in Week 9 which saw everyone predict at least 11 games correctly. No one did better—or has done better this season—than Albert Breer, who finished a perfect 15–0 on his predictions last week. Breer has now taken the lead in predictions on the season with an 88-47-1 record, surpassing Matt Verderame by two games. Overall, Week 9 was not a good week for upset picks, as just one underdog—the Packers—defeated their opponent.
This week’s slate of games will mark the debut of many new faces in new places after the trade deadline wrapped up on Tuesday. New Jaguars safety Jessie Bates III and defensive tackles Davon Godchaux and Jordan Davis will face the Titans in a divisional matchup in their first game for Jacksonville. New Bills safety Amani Hooker will similarly take part in a divisional game against the Jets in his first game with Buffalo. The Lions’ new safety, Andre Cisco, will play his first game for Detroit in Munich as they take on the Patriots. Both teams have winning records, but seven of our eight writers and editors see the Lions winning after the Patriots’ tough outing last week against Green Bay.
This week will also mark the debut of several quarterbacks. Rookies Fernando Mendoza and Carson Beck will make their first career starts, with Mendoza set to face the Seahawks and Beck taking on the Rams. None of our staff pickers see Beck winning his first start, while only one of our panelists sees Mendoza upsetting the defending champions. Second-year quarterback Kyle McCord will also make his first start for the Dolphins in their game against the Colts. Though McCord is also inexperienced, five of our staff members see Miami winning after Indianapolis traded Keenan Allen to the 49ers and Josh Downs to the Chiefs. Veteran Jacoby Brissett will also make his first start as a Raven on Monday night. Though the Chargers are winless, three of our writers and editors are picking Los Angeles to finally get their first win of the year.
The biggest quarterback debut, of course, will be Kirk Cousins making his return to the Vikings, though Minnesota has yet to announce if he will start. Even with Cousins back, only one of our pickers sees the Vikings beating the Packers. The other big divisional matchups include the Saints and Panthers fighting for first in the NFC South, and the Steelers and Bengals facing off for the lead in the AFC North. Both the Steelers and Bengals are 6–2, and Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati earlier this season, but all of our staff members are picking the Bengals to win this game.
Here’s who we have making picks this season:
Albert Breer, senior writer
Eva Geitheim, news writer
Mitch Goldich, senior editor
Mike Kadlick, senior news writer
Gilberto Manzano, staff writer
Conor Orr, senior writer
John Pluym, managing editor
Matt Verderame, staff writer
All picks are straight up. Visit SI Betting for picks against the spread and much more gambling content.