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After a series of snoozefests on Thursday Night Football, Week 10 in the NFL kicks off with an exhilarating matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers. Big Ben and Co. will try to avoid a strong Carolina front seven and dice up a weaker secondary with Antonio Brown and Juju Smith-Schuster, while Cam Newton will try to expose the Pittsburgh linebackers with the talented play of Christian McCaffrey and Greg Olsen.
Divisional battles highlight the early Sunday slate. The Bills and Jets will fight for worst team in the AFC East, the Colts and Jaguars will duke it out at the bottom of the AFC South and the Lions will try to dethrone the Bears from the top of the NFC North.
Elsewhere, the red-hot Saints will look to expose a weakened Cincinnati defense, and the ever-strong New England Patriots will face a number of their former pals in Mike Vrabel, Dion Lewis and Malcolm Butler — all now with the Tennessee Titans.
The Redskins — now depleted with injuries — will play a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team with plenty of explosive weapons on the perimeter. Desean Jackson will also get a shot to burn his former team. The .500 Atlanta Falcons, despite all their injury woes, will get a shot at a winning record when they take on the mess that is the Cleveland Browns.
In the late afternoon slate, the Los Angeles Chargers will look to decimate the empty defense of Jon Gruden’s Oakland Raiders. The silver-and-black will have their heads spinning against one of the more well-rounded offenses in the league. The Rams will try to move on from their first loss of the season against division-rival Seattle, and Aaron Rodgers will try to get the Packers back to a .500 record against a hot-and-cold Miami team.
Sunday Night football will feature the Philadelphia Eagles fresh off a bye week against a desperate Dallas Cowboys team that currently sits at 3-5. With the NFC East wide open, the winning team will pull within reach of the battered Washington Redskins. This week closes out on a low note, as the 1-7 New York Giants take on Nick Mullens and the 2-7 San Fransisco 49ers.
Let’s check out this week’s picks from your Stampede Blue staff.
Brett Mock: 75-43 / Andrew Aziz: 74-44 / Chris Shepherd: 73-45 / Stephen Reed: 73-45 / Jared Malott: 71-47 / Chris Blystone: 69-49 / Elliot Denton: 68-50 / Zachary Hicks: 46-41 / Blake Pace: 30-11
Thursday 8:20 pm ET
Panthers @ Steelers (8) | Contrarian: Jared Malott
Sunday 1:00 pm ET
Redskins (5) @ Buccaneers | Contrarians: Andrew Aziz, Chris Blystone, Malott, Blake Pace
Bills @ Jets (7) | Contrarians: Stephen Reed, Pace
Jaguars @ Colts
Lions @ Bears (8) | Contrarian: Reed
Saints @ Bengals
Patriots @ Titans
Falcons @ Browns
Sunday 4:05 pm ET
Chargers @ Raiders
Sunday 4:25 pm ET
Seahawks @ Rams (8) | Contrarian: Zachary Hicks
Dolphins @ Packers
Sunday 8:20 pm ET
Cowboys @ Eagles
Monday 8:15 pm ET
Giants @ 49ers (7) | Contrarians: Brett Mock, Pace