NFL Week 10 Picks: 49ers-Cowboys, Texans-Browns & Vikings-Packers

So let's go ahead and take a look at what our predictions are for this week. Let's focus first on the Texas matchup. I don't like this graphic, personally, as a Niners fan. I don't like looking at you guys all on my squad here. Everyone's going with the Niners over the Cowboys. Vegas is going with the Niners over the Cowboys. Another popular matchup here is we have the... Deshaun Watson going against his former team in a matchup in Cleveland happening this week. Let's, of course, start with what's happening in Dallas. Alec, what is your initial thoughts going in, Niners-Cowboys? My initial thoughts, literally, was that Dallas secondary is so bad that I couldn't find myself... Choosing Dallas. I can't do it. You know, it's Kyle Shanahan. This guy knows what to do. This guy knows how to create an offensive game plan. Brock Purdy, I think, is playing at an MVP level. George Kittle looks like, I don't know if he got stem cell treatment or what. He looks good. Mike Evans, I think, is questionable to play. But the secondary of Dallas is so bad. You're indoors. I don't think Dallas necessarily, in recent memory, has a great home field advantage. There's going to be plenty of 49er fans there, as we know. So I just have a really tough time trusting that Dallas defense, and that's why I had to go with the 49ers, and I get it. It wouldn't surprise me if Dallas messed around and won, but it's going to have to be like a 45-40 win or something. I mean, the secondary, I'm not kidding, it's that bad. It's really bad. Well, here's where the pressure is on me as the Niners fan here, is I have to play devil's advocate, right? So I will break down the pathway for Dallas to get this win. I mentioned it, they've got to keep a balanced offense. They've got to get Javante going because you want to keep Dak clean. The pass rush against the Raiders was not as prolific as the Niners would have liked the previous week. And if that carries over into this game, we know Dallas has a tough offensive line, then that could present some issues. Underrated storyline here, but the Niners are going in with some injuries at the cornerback position, which if you are going to face Dallas, if you are going to face this team that has George Pickens, who is expected back, you're going to face C.D. Lamb, then you'd want to exactly have some depth at the DB position, and that's something the Niners might not necessarily have this coming week. So that is at least the pathway. That is how the door opens for them. The only problem, as you mentioned, That defense, I don't trust it. If anything, Dallas needs to get into a shootout. That's the only way they get a chance to win this game. And if the Niners' defense could just be good enough, if Bosa and Buckner could get something going, then that's all she wrote. This is game over. Okay, let's talk about what's going on in Cleveland. This is my thought process on this. I think the Browns are better than people think. I actually like Todd Munkin. I think he's got an identity there. And I think Deshaun Watson going against his old team adds a little extra spice to the mix there. I just like NFC or AFC North teams at home. I don't know why. I find AFC North teams at home. That's tough to go in there and play. I still don't trust Houston entirely. I'm not totally sold on CJ Stroud just yet. And I know there's some issues at running back for Houston and whether or not both those guys are going to start, I believe. So I had some hesitation there and I figured I'll go with the home team. Deshaun Watson, we know his history and his past, but when it comes down to playing the actual position, he has shown glimmers of what he used to be in Houston, and I'll have to ride with that. Okay, so as far as why I did actually, I guess, trust the Texans, might have been more so distrusting the Browns still. I'm not confident in them. They've come into matchups against what I would consider subpar teams, and they've won those, to their credit. They have a better record than I thought they would have at this point in the season. You mentioned the Deshaun resurgence, Yeah. Yeah, he has played well, albeit, again, against lesser competition, but he's just coming off that concussion, so I don't know if I really trust how he's going to play in his first game back. A lot of pressure on this game. And as we kind of learned over these last few years with off-the-field stuff, he can get into his head, and when he gets into his head, he tends to play bad in those situations. He doesn't tend to be one of those that can rise above it. And meanwhile, the Texans, they actually play better when they're not at home. It's a home-field disadvantage, seemingly, whenever they're in H-Town. So actually hit the road, get to Cleveland, whatever goes through their psyche, that helps them play better, I guess. And they've been getting a little bit better defensively. That defense, again, a far cry from what we expected this year. I mean, we probably all expected them to be closer to your Vikings or some of the other top competition, top defenses in the league, but they are getting slowly better. I don't know if they'll ever reach that peak of last year. Looks like we have a split on the high profile NFC North matchup between the Vikings and Green Bay. I am the lone dissenter when it comes to that game in Munich this week between the Patriots and the Lions. AFC North won, too, a 2-4 split there. The Monday night game, which I just threw in just for fun. Chargers versus the fourth Ravens quarterback this year. Alec, where do you want to start? I mean, we could start with Vikings-Packers. To me, you know, it's always a tough one because I have my own personal bias with that. But I just looked at it as I'm not scared of Green Bay, number one. They are playing well. Jordan Love, beautiful deep ball. The wide receivers are flying around. Matt LaFleur looks to have sort of righted the ship, if you will. This Vikings defense is nasty. I mean, that's a nasty defense. For a half of football, they kept Josh Allen in check. And if they would have just had competent play at quarterback. They might have won that game. So I think going into Green Bay, not scared. Kirk Cousins will be in the building once again. You're getting reunited with Justin Jefferson. Get him the ball. You've got Jordan Addison, as you said, a first-round talent. And if you need a nice safety blanket, TJ Hawkinson. So I think the Vikings' defense alone is a huge advantage here. And I don't think people even – maybe they got a glimpse of it last week on the primetime stage. It's nasty, and it's fast. And so I trust that. Well, when it came to the Lions, I love Jameer Gibbs, man. I really do. I think we're looking at a generational talent there. I think if he continues to trend the way he is right now, he's going to be up there. We might talk about him as an all-time great. It's great. There's so much unknown with New England still. That Super Bowl hangover, everybody seems to be hurt. The issues with Travion Henderson, is A.J. Brown going to play well? There's just a lot there I still don't know. When it comes to Steelers, man. Joe Burrow and those two wide receivers, man, that is tough. Yeah, that could be game-changing, man. And the Steelers' streak has to end at some point. You know what I mean? Fair. Come on. Well, let me break that down because, actually, I picked the Steelers here, and my main reason for doing such, they're coming off bye week, so they've had a couple weeks to prepare for this one. Meanwhile, the Bengals are coming back from one of those international trips, so it might be a little bit slow out the gate. So between those two, rest advantage, I feel as though I've got to give it to Pittsburgh. Even though I actually saw the last time these two teams played in Pittsburgh, and what that game came down to, Aaron Rodgers was playing out of his mind. He looked like he turned it back the clock at least 10 years. Can he do that again against the Bengals now that they've got a little bit of tape on him? Because meanwhile, as you mentioned, those two wide receivers for the Bengals, the Steelers had a lot of trouble covering them. When it comes to the Vikings... Packers, it's funny that you actually panned Carson Wentz in the A block because actually it was the main reason they won in week one because if you recall, Tyler Murray goes out with a concussion in that game. In comes Carson Wentz. He throws three touchdowns. They come all the way back on a Packers team that actually ran out to our early lead. I do think that whatever it is, the Packers do seem to have somewhat of a... Game plan against this Vikings defense. I think they can keep up. And as far as the Patriots go, because I got to talk about this as the lone person picking the Patriots this week. I'm just not ready to completely give up on them. I just think that there's still something there to this team. Obviously, they were in the Super Bowl a year ago, and that wasn't from just the schedule. They did have enough talent on their team to get by. Against this Lions defense, over the last four weeks, they have only allowed 15.5 points per game, I still don't think they're a great vaunted defense. I think Drake Maye, if he can find his deep ball, keep the interceptions to a minimum, that's their pathway to win. Just keep the ball, and we'll see if A.J. Brown is out there. And I guess, hey, we've got a minute to talk the Ravens-Chargers. What a horrible primetime game. The Chargers have to win at some point, and I'm sure, yes, you're right, Goodell probably wishes that he could flex this one out. It's a horrible matchup, just ugly, ugly, ugly. The Chargers, I don't know what happened to them. The Ravens, I don't know. That's an organization I always viewed as being one of the best in the league, but now it just seems weird and jumbled and mixed. So that's an ugly game. That might decide who wins this week. I'll tell you what, I should have put in a third choice on the pick. Bleach to the eyeballs. That could have been the third choice. I don't even want to watch the game. I don't think anybody does.