There are only two premier matchups the 10th week of the season this week and both will be shown to most of the country.
Minnesota will be at Detroit in a Fox early game with major NFC North playoff implications. The 6-3 Packers lost to the Vikings 39-22 in the opener but the Packers have won five of the last six games including a 45-27 rout of the Patriots last week and are favored by three points. By contrast, the Vikings started out 6-0 but have lost their last two to the Lions and Bills. After Carson Wentz struggled replacing Kyler Murray last week, the Vikings traded for veteran Kirk Cousins, who will make his second stint with the team and start against the Packers. The Bears lead the division with a 7-2 mark and have a bye. The Lions are 6-2 and favored by 2.5 points over the Patriots in Madrid with a 9:30 am east coast start. If the Lions and Vikings both win, there will be a three-way tie for first place and the Packers would fall to 6-4. A Packer win would put them in a tie with the Vikings so this is a pivotal game for both teams.
The other premier game will be on Sunday night with Pittsburgh going to Cincinnati. They are tied for first place in the NFC North at 6-2. The Steelers won the first game at home 30-27 but the Bengals are favored by 3.5 points in the rematch. The Bengals have scored over 30 points four games in a row.
The rest of the schedule isn’t compelling.
CBS has five single games with the Chiefs at Atlanta getting the most coverage but the 6-2 Chiefs are 3.5-point favorites over the 3-6 Falcons. The 7-1 Bills are favored by 8.5 points over the 2-7 Jets and little is at stake when the 2-7 Colts host the 1-7 Dolphins. The Colts are favored by 3.5 points. In the two CBS late games, 5-4 Seattle is favored by 6.5 points over the 4-5 Raiders with rookie Fernando Mendoza making his first start for the Raiders because they traded Cousins and the 5-4 Rams are favored by 4.5 points over the 3-6 Cardinals. Rookie Carson Beck will make his first start for the Cardinals because they traded Jacoby Brissett to the Ravens and Gardner Minshew was injured last week and went on IR.
Besides Minnesota-Green Bay, FOX has three other early games with 3-5 Houston favored by 4.5 points over the 5-4 Browns, the 6-2 Jaguars favored by 10.5 points over the 1-7 Titans and Carolina is going to New Orleans with both teams at 3-5 and believe it or not, they are tied for first place in the NFC South.
The FOX doubleheader game has the 7-1 49ers favored by 4.5 points over the 4-5 Cowboys, who are still alive in the NFC East after the 5-3-1 Giants lost to the 3-5-1 Commanders 24-21 Thursday night. The 49ers-Cowboys was once a great rivalry and will be shown nationally but the game this year has lost much of its luster because the Cowboys are struggling.
In the Monday night game, the winless Chargers are a 4.5 underdog against the 4-5 Ravens. The NFL can’t flex Monday night games so they have no other alternative.
Besides the Bears, Denver, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay have byes.
