NFL picks 2019, Week 10: All 3 primetime games are actually good — and hard to call for our experts

Home teams reigned supreme last week.

The only team unable to defend its “home” turf on Sunday in Week 9 was the Jacksonville Jaguars, although that’s a technicality as they were they playing in London. After that early morning win for the Texans, there were 11 consecutive games that saw the road team leave with a loss.

For most of us picking the games, it ended up being a difficult week.

The Steelers beating the Colts, the Chargers blowing out the Packers, and the Ravens handing the Patriots their first loss of the year were all pretty unexpected results. Everybody on our panel missed at least five games with the exception of guest picker Lester Wiltfong from our Bears blog, Windy City Gridiron. He got every pick right except the Chargers’ upset.

It looks like Week 10 will be another tough slate to predict, especially in primetime.

The Los Angeles Chargers expected to be a Super Bowl contender in 2019, but they haven’t looked the part most weeks. Losses to the Lions, Steelers, and Titans early in the season made the Chargers look like one of the cellar dwellers of the NFL. They’ve started to turn things around lately, including a 26-11 domination of the Packers last week.

If that sounds familiar it’s because two years ago, the Chargers started 3-6 before winning six of their last seven games of the season. Perhaps Los Angeles is flipping that switch again and preparing for a good second half of 2019. Or maybe, the upstart Raiders — who have seen excellent play from Derek Carr, as of late — will continue their surge.

Either way, it should be a competitive game, and that’s all we ask for after some primetime duds this season.

In fact, that Thursday Night Football matchup is the first of three night games in Week 10 that all look pretty good on paper. They also have our panel fairly split on all three.

On Sunday Night Football, the Cowboys will host the Vikings in a duel between possible playoff contenders. Dallas has a win over the Eagles, but its other four wins came against the Giants (twice), Dolphins, and Washington. The Cowboys also figured out a way to be the only team to lose to the Jets.

The Vikings’ wins aren’t too impressive either, though. They beat the Falcons, Raiders, Giants, Eagles, Lions, and Washington. Like the Cowboys, the only win for Minnesota against a team with a winning record was the Eagles. Sunday night is a chance for one team to really emerge in the NFC.

Then the week ends with a marquee NFC West contest. The Seahawks somehow manage to make every game a dogfight (even the ones that should be easy), but they are still 7-2 thanks to MVP-caliber play from Russell Wilson. They’ve also dominated their rivalry with the 49ers over the last five years. Traveling to San Francisco to try to hand the 49ers — the NFL’s last unbeaten team — their first loss of 2019 is a tall order, though.

Jack is a very good boy who has lived all of his 9 years with Chris Blystone and family in a house that supports the Colts. His younger days are behind him, and while he is technically a Golden Retriever, he is more red than gold, and has never really been interested in retrieving.

His home’s close proximity to the local high school and that school’s tendency to shoot off fireworks after scoring touchdowns means Jack is not a fan of the Friday night lights. Instead, he prefers to get his football intake in a more leisurely fashion; on Sunday afternoons from the comfort of a soft bed.

To make his picks, Jack was presented with two sheets featuring opposing teams listed opposite one another. Treats were placed on each, and he made his selection accordingly. Jack believes pretty firmly in homefield advantage, even going as far as to pick the Bengals over the Ravens, which he was told was ridiculous. He wasn’t afraid to break from that philosophy when he had a strong feeling, and picked the Seahawks to steal one on the road against the 49ers to hand them their first loss.

Our guest picker has a lot to live up to after Wiltfong almost ran the table last week. But Kevin Nogle, the manager at our (not winless!) Dolphins blog, The Phinsider is up for the task.

Here are all our picks for Week 10 with the caveat that they aren’t locked in until Friday, just in case injury news changes someone’s mind: