Week 10 of the NFL season kicks off on Thursday night with the Indianapolis Colts taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars. This game may seem like an easy game for Indianapolis on paper, but the Colts lost to the Jags earlier this season. However, there are many great games on tap this week. Which games should you be sure to tune-in to?
Houston At Chicago
This is by far the game of the week. The Houston Texans and the Chicago Bears enter play at 7-1. It will be a battle between two amazing defenses. For Houston, J.J Watt could have a field day against the weak offensive line of the Chicago Bears. Assuming that the line does hold up, the Texans secondary is going to be ready to contain Jay Cutler and the passing game.
If you think that the Texans have a dominant defense, you should check out what the Bears have been doing this season. They only need two more defensive touchdowns to tie an NFL record for most defensive touchdowns in a season. That is a scary thought considering that we are only halfway through the NFL season.
The good news for the Texans is that they have plenty of weapons on offense to keep the Bears honest. Arian Foster has scored a touchdown in 10 straight games. Owen Daniels has found the form that made him a Pro Bowl tight end several years ago. The Texans also have a quarterback in Matt Schaub that has won 10 of his last 11 games.
Overall, this game could very well be a Super Bowl preview game. Considering it is on Sunday night, most of the country will be able to tune in. Make sure that you include yourself in that audience.
Detroit At Minnesota
This is a game that features two teams going in opposite directions. Oh yea, this is also a divisional match-up in the NFC North. The Lions are currently a half-game behind the Vikings. However, the Vikings have lost two games in a row and are in danger of completely losing their momentum. The Lions have won two in a row and look like they may be finding the formula for success.
Lions running back Mikel LeShoure ran for three touchdowns against the Jaguars last week. If it wasn’t for Doug Martin and Adrian Peterson having amazing games, he might have been the most valuable fantasy running back of last week. However, I’m sure that the Lions were happy to get 18 points from their running game.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder needs to get back to playing like he did at the beginning of the season. His stat lines in recent games have been riddled with sub-200 yard passing totals as well as many turnovers. Adrian Peterson cannot do it all himself. If you are going to win in the NFL, you have to have a franchise type quarterback.
Atlanta At New Orleans
This game is intriguing for several different reasons. First of all, a New Orleans win would end the undefeated streak that the Falcons have enjoyed to start the season. Secondly, a New Orleans win would put them back into the playoff race. While the AFC has been lambasted as a weak conference, the NFC has suddenly cooled off as well.
The Saints would be 4-5 with a win over Atlanta. That would put them as little as one game behind Seattle in the NFC wildcard race. The Lions, Vikings and Cardinals would all be at either 4 or 5 wins following this week. Therefore, this game has a lot on the line.
It will be interesting to see if the Saints take some momentum from their victory against Philadelphia. It was a game where the defense finally showed up for a full four quarters. They will need that again if they want to beat Atlanta. If Drew Brees can put some yards and points on the board, New Orleans could easily win this game.
For Atlanta, they will need to play solid defense and run the ball more than they typically do. Micheal Turner needs 15 carries at least to help out on offense this Sunday. If he can get at least 3-4 yards a carry, he can kill some clock even if his stat line wouldn’t be all that impressive.
This Sunday is going to be a great week of action in the NFL. Fans of teams across the league are starting to pay attention to the standings a little more each week. A win or loss by any team this week could help determine their fate as it relates to making the playoffs. We are about to enter the most exciting time of the sports year.
This is a guest post submitted by Don Phan. Don currently writes sports content for blogs part-time and is with Fanatics Inc. full-time as a marketing associate. Fanatics is a leading retailer of licensed NFL merchandise and is a premier source for officially licensed NFL hats and sweatshirts.
