10 Best Football Games in Week 10!

Ahhh...yes, week 10, 10 more games to fill your appetite for football this weekend.  The NFL starts its Thursday game package this week with a very enticing intraconference game between the Ravens and the Falcons, but college football is looking fairly paltry this weekend, with a few notable exceptions.
But, first, allow me to get to the biggest story of the week, and my opinion on it. That story would be the firing of Wade Phillips as head coach in Dallas.  First, it had to be done, as the Cowboys are the second worst team in the NFL right now, just ahead of the winless Buffalo Bills.  The Cowboys failed to live up to their lofty expectations of being possibly the first team ever to host a Super Bowl in their own stadium.  But, that did not happen, and now Jerry Jones' hand was kind of forced into giving the head coaching job to offensive coordinator  Jason Garrett.  Garrett was one of the hottest head coaching prospects in the game a few years ago, and the Cowboys then panicked and gave Garrett head coaching money for a coordinator (around  three million.)  Garrett's offense is in the bottom quarter of the league in nearly every offensive statistic, and Garrett was probably going to get the head coaching job anyway after the season was done, regardless of what the Cowboys did this season.  Garrett needs to prove his worth throughout the upcoming seven weeks, and if he does make some type of movement, then the Cowboys will probably retain him.  If the Cowboys do not improve, then the Cowboys will bring in another head coach with a lot of cache, and hope he turns it around in Dallas.  Personally, I hope that does not happen.

College


No. 23 South Carolina at No. 22 Florida
As noted above, the college landscape does not look too good, with the exception of this game, which will determine who gets to face Auburn in the SEC title game.  Steve Spurrier would love nothing more than to go into his old stomping grounds and get this win, as it would be the first time South Carolina ever got into the SEC title game.  South Carolina has been scuffling as of late, but they have been facing some good teams, this one is good too, but not as good as the other teams they have been facing.  Lattimore and Garcia lead the Gamecocks to Atlanta.

Pick: South Carolina 34, Florida 30

Penn State at No. 9 Ohio State

Penn State has been holding their heads high the past two weeks, as Mike McGloin has been leading the Penn State offense to some fairly gaudy numbers over Michigan and Northwestern.  But, will that trend continue in Columbus?  That would be an emphatic no, as Ohio State is still the class of the Big Ten.

Pick: Ohio State 45, Penn State 14

No. 19 Mississippi State at No. 12 Alabama

This is a good SEC West game when looking at the rankings, but let's not kid ourselves here, Alabama is still an incredibly talented football team who just barely lost to LSU a week ago, and got knocked out by the potential SEC Esat champion South Carolina.  Mississippi State is a nice story, and will continue to improve under the tutelage of Dan Mullen, but they are not going to come close here.

Pick: Alabama 38, Miss. St. 20

No. 10 Oklahoma State at Texas

Look at how far the two biggest football teams in Texas have fallen this year.  Dallas Cowboys were in the playoffs last year, and won a game, and now are 1-8.  The Texas Longhorns were in the national title game last year and are on the verge of not making a bowl game, as crazy as that may be.  Texas still has a ton of talent, but they have not been able to work as a team thus far this season.  I don't think pull it together versus an up and coming Oklahoma State team, with an incredibly good wide receiver in Justin Blackmon to throw it to

Pick:  Oklahoma State 31, Texas 17

Georgia at No. 2 Auburn

With all of the allegations surrounding Cam Newton and the Auburn program, this very well could be a game which the Tigers could lose.  Especially since star receiver A.J. Green is back for the Bulldogs, as Georgia has won four of their past five, and the one loss came in overtime, to Florida.  Then again, those four wins also came against teams with a combined record of 17-29, not too pretty.  Expect Auburn to come into this game wanting to focus and keep Newton ahead in the Heisman race.

Pick: Auburn 41, Georgia 20

NFL


Baltimore at Atlanta

Well, this is the premier game of the weekend in the NFL, which consists of two teams with the best record in the league going at it.  Baltimore has a high octane offense with its contingent of receivers and Ray Rice.  Then, there is Matt Ryan, who is nearly unstoppable at home, as he has lost once at home, in 2008 to the Broncos.  Plus, Atlanta's losses have come against two very good teams, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.  Take the Falcons, only because they are at home, if this was in Baltimore, go easily with the Ravens.

Pick: Atlanta 23, Baltimore 20

Tennessee at Miami

Miami is the toughest team to figure out in the NFL, they will play amazing on the road, but at home, not play nearly as well.  I have no idea what to make of this team, and now they have benched Chad Henne in favor of Chad Pennington, who has not started a game since September of last season.  I am not expecting much out of the move, but it should be interesting to see if the Dolphins will run the ball more.  Tennessee, on the other hand is coming off a bye week, which they picked up Randy Moss, who should help the Titans passing game greatly, especially with Kenny Britt being out for at least one more game with a hamstring injury.  Stick with the new look Titans.

Pick:  Tennessee 34, Miami 28

Houston at Jacksonville

This game is intriguing, as both teams are only one game back of the AFC South lead, surprisingly enough.  But, as is usually the case, I'll go with the team which is home, and coming off of a bye, and that team here is the Jaguars.

Pick:  Jacksonville 26, Houston 21

New England at Pittsburgh

This is probably the second most intriguing game on the docket, as this also features two 6-2 teams vying for the top spot in the AFC.  Pittsburgh has been on a roll since Ben Roethlisberger got back a few weeks ago, only losing one game, and that was to the defending Super Bowl champions.  Pittsburgh seems to be running on all cylinders, with their defense continuing to shut down running games, and the passing and running games continuing to perform well.  New England on the other hand, has been just as good, and this game is looking to be like a tight one to the final minute.

Pick:  Pittsburgh 27, New England 22

Philadelphia at Washington

Donovan McNabb was benched two weeks ago in favor of Rex Grossman, which is quite possibly one of the dumbest moves ever by Mike Shanahan.  Donovan will come back and perform very well again in his second game against his former team come Monday night.  But, I don't think it will be enough to derail the Eagles, who must be brimming with confidence after their defeat of the Colts, and with Mike Vick back under center, his mobility should allow the Eagles to continue to move downfield and score at will.  Plus, it seems as if these two teams are headed in opposite directions at the moment, Eagles up, Washington down.

Pick:  Philadelphia 34, Washington 23

Enjoy the football weekend, and allow us to remember our soldiers this Veterans Day, who have given their lives, so we can remain free to do whatever we please, including worship Jesus!