2026 NFL Season ~ Week Ten
Emmie and Canasta with Bob… offering up the Golden Choices
Two weeks ago, I pointed at the New England Patriots. They were setting up for a week eight road game in Miami against the Dolphins. They entered with a 4-3 record. Now, let’s throw out that they always struggle in Miami over the past three or so decades. Not always lose, just always struggle. I said they had to win the game because from that time on, the schedule would be a nightmare. They won.
It was close. The spread paid off for Miami. But New England won. (And then, last week, they got pasted by Green Bay.)
I didn’t start this essay to talk about New England. Instead, I want to point at Dallas.
See, I don’t think New England is the best team in their division. I think Buffalo is. I don’t think New England is a given playoff entrant. Good enough to be on the cusp, but not with certainty.
Buffalo will likely be joined by Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Denver. All better than New England right now. Someone is winning the AFC North. Which leaves likely Pittsburgh or Cincinnati fighting for a wild card slot. Neither is clearly better than New England, but both are two games ahead of them in the race.
Kansas City or Denver gets a division entry and then another wild card slot. Which means New England is suddenly in a madcap, swirling, funny race with Cleveland, Las Vegas, and possibly Houston (likely not, but possibly) for that last AFC spot in the postseason. (It’s funny because I still don’t believe Cleveland will reach 9 wins. And it’s funny because as I was typing this, Kirk Cousins was preparing to head to the airport to join the Vikings. Houston is really New England’s only threat for the last wild card spot.)
Is New England a playoff team? Yeah. Out of that group, yeah. But they have a hell of a few weeks to survive to get there, and the results against Green Bay were not encouraging.
Which brings me to Dallas.
As the Eagles faded from relevance or any kind, folks rushed to anoint the Cowboys as the likely division winner. The Cowboys had the Cardinals visiting. The Cowboys faced the everything-must-go, this roster will be completely different in week ten, Colts lined up for week nine. They absolutely choked against the Cardinals and almost lost to the Colts.
The New York Giants – you know, the Giants in the NFC East lead, the only club in the division with a winning record after eight games – were supposed to crumble and quickly get passed by the steamrolling Cowboys. In reality, they beat the Texans on the road and took care of the Eagles. Yup, they went 2-0 in the past two and increased their lead in the division.
Folks, the Cowboys lost ground to the Giants while facing the Cardinals and Colts.
Wow.
Good teams may not always look good. They do almost always win every game they should (especially when they need to).
Jacksonville pounded Baltimore last week. Cincinnati beat up Atlanta. Even Chicago, arguably awful with four interceptions from Caleb Williams and five turnovers total, figured out how to defeat Tampa Bay.
Dallas is not a good team.
Oh, yeah, by the way. Funny thing. The 49ers are headed to Texas to play the Cowboys this week.
On the battle with Emmie and Canasta, I delivered a strong week to take the overall lead. The dogs did ok, hovering in the range of even and separated by a single pick. No doubt that Canasta has officially joined the race again, and the NFL is about to see all of the teams cross the midway mark of the 2026 season.
WASHINGTON AT NEW YORK (GIANTS) (-2.5)
There isn’t much to examine here that makes sense. So just look at the only thing that really matters, which is the last few weeks. The Giants are 3-1-1 over the past five. Commanders are 1-3-1.
More precisely, the Giants need to win this week. They have a good lead in the division, and the Eagles are floundering into 2027, the Commanders are still unsure that the season has actually started, and the Cowboys are completely ignoring what is happening on the field because the offense is scoring points. But if they aren’t careful, the Cowboys aren’t that far behind in the division, and their remaining schedule includes the Jaguars, 49ers, Seahawks, and Lions.
Bob: New York
Emmie: Washington
Canasta: Washington
NEW ENGLAND AT DETROIT (-3)
There’s a part of me that wants to take the Patriots. A big part. Then the Lions went out and scored more than anyone else has against the Vikings last week.
The Lions are too talented to take the flyer this week. And that’s especially true with them looking up in the standings to an immensely talented Bears squad, with a Vikings club that should be in the rearview mirror fresh off a decent attempt to ease their quarterback concerns. This will not be a trap game.
Bob: Detroit
Emmie: Detroit
Canasta: New England
KANSAS CITY (-3) AT ATLANTA
Not sure if it will matter immediately, but the Chiefs added a receiver. My guess, however, is that even if he gets some targets in this game, the real returns will begin to show in December.
Won’t matter. The Chiefs should hang a win from this one.
Bob: Kansas City
Emmie: Kansas City
Canasta: Atlanta
HOUSTON (-4.5) AT CLEVELAND
Better quarterback. Significantly better offense. Houston may be in good shape here.
With two straight losses, I think the wheels are coming off of Cleveland’s season. Knock know, reality is at the door.
Bob: Houston
Emmie: Cleveland
Canasta: Cleveland
MINNESOTA AT GREEN BAY (-3.5)
This game is going to be very interesting. I’m going to make a case that you should take the Vikings.
Cousins will likely be the starter. And even if he’s brutal, he’ll still be better than anything else we’ve seen for the club this year. He may not be a top five quarterback, and frankly isn’t even top ten. But he’s headed back to Minnesota, where they have a stifling defense in place. He doesn’t need to be top ten. He needs to be slightly better than average, consistent, and not turn the ball over. He can handle that even without a full week of preparation.
Frankly, kidding aside, it is easier said than done. Cousins did not exactly take the world by storm in Atlanta. But he did in Las Vegas. And his familiarity with what Minnesota can do on offense makes him quite possibly the best option that was available. I’m, just saying there’s room for doubters to make a case here for Green Bay.
Green Bay is good. After a sluggish start, what they did to New England was very impressive to see. But I’m looking at this game as desperation to right the ship against a team with swagger. The Vikings need the win, and defense travels. Plus, we might actually be in line for a Justin Jefferson sighting. The Packers, a team that I’m not sure deserves the confidence they have just yet, are still last in their division.
Bob: Minnesota
Emmie: Minnesota
Canasta: Green Bay
MIAMI AT INDIANAPOLIS (-3.5)
In five of their eight games, the Dolphins have ended a game with 13 points or less.
I may not be high on Indianapolis overall, but they still have the players to top that.
Bob: Indianapolis
Emmie: Indianapolis
Canasta: Miami
CAROLINA AT NEW ORLEANS (-2.5)
Someone is going to win the NFC South. Really. Someone is.
It’s just that right now the top two teams are both 3-5, both surrendering about 27 points per game, and both looking interesting and horrible.
Ugh. How are the Saints favored? (I’d probably ask the same about the Panthers if they were favored.)
Bob: Carolina
Emmie: Carolina
Canasta: Carolina
BUFFALO (-8) AT NEW YORK (JETS)
Let’s see what we have here. Inarguably, one of the top four teams in the NFL right now. And they’re facing a team that beat Tennessee, beat Cleveland, and count as one of their losses a home game against Miami.
I’m not hearing a question.
Bob: Buffalo
Emmie: Buffalo
Canasta: New York
JACKSONVILLE (-10.5) AT TENNESSEE
Hmm… the team that loaded up in trades to make an all-in playoff drive? Or… one of the teams that traded away the fabric of their defense?
It’s not hard.
Jacksonville – like Buffalo – seems keenly aware of their history this season. Just heading to each game, steady play, and moving on. And the Jaguars have been punishing almost every team in their way, leaving no late-game heroics on the table for opponents to seize upon. And to that, they brought in defensive pieces that could prove to be difference-makers.
If asked today, I see the AFC coming down to Buffalo and Jacksonville.
Bob: Jacksonville
Emmie: Jacksonville
Canasta: Jacksonville
LOS ANGELES (RAMS) (-9.5) AT ARIZONA
I mean, talking about quarterbacks, here we find the Cardinals. They’re playing at home, and given trades and injuries and more, there’s a very good possibility the marketing team for the organization will be patrolling pregame tailgate parties to see if anyone can throw a football through a two-foot hole in a board from twenty feet away for a chance to start for the Cardinals in the second half.
Bob: Los Angeles
Emmie: Arizona
Canasta: Arizona
SEATTLE (-6.5) AT LAS VEGAS
Personally, I’d love to see Emmie and Canasta get this one right. And, technically, they did make their selections before they heard about Cousins leaving. Maybe they should get a do-over since no one has kicked off yet.
Bob: Seattle
Emmie: Las Vegas
Canasta: Las Vegas
SAN FRANCISCO (-4) AT DALLAS
Keenan Allen is joining the 49ers. Does it matter this week? No. What matters this week is what I said above.
Good teams – San Francisco – have been doing what they need to do. Not pretty. Sometimes doesn’t cover the spread. May still leave questions as injuries hit. But they win.
Bad teams – Dallas – do stupid things and lose games while claiming they don’t want to make excuses, even though there aren’t any to be seen except poor play.
I don’t see San Francisco as a juggernaut this year. If they were favored by a touchdown or more, even with the numbers for the year in bold and on display, I’d be tempted to say Dallas could blow them out if things worked out well, and definitely could cover at home. Turns out, the spread isn’t that high.
Bob: San Francisco
Emmie: San Francisco
Canasta: San Francisco
PITTSBURGH AT CINCINNATI (-3.5)
I know. You want to point at the Steelers playing well on defense and perhaps at an offense that does what it needs to do.
Stop. Because the defense is doing ok. But that offense will not outlast quality opponents. (Even if they defeated the Bengals in week three.)
The Bengals offense has been rolling in recent weeks, averaging about 36 points per game in the last four contests.
Bob: Cincinnati
Emmie: Pittsburgh
Canasta: Cincinnati
LOS ANGELES (CHARGERS) AT BALTIMORE (-4.5)
Listen, I’m not going to question a team too deeply for not making trades. Especially when those trades might involve losing young and talented players. But…
Ok, consider Khalil Mack. This is not a player with five to eight years left in the league. He’s going season-to-season, if we’re being honest. The Chargers are currently 0-8, with a supposedly high-octane offense led by what their head coach seems to believe is the greatest quarterback in the history of the game, and are being outscored 121-219 on the year. For those that like math, those numbers average out to a per-game score of losing 15 to 27. Pull the trigger, trade Mack, and take a look over your roster to see if there are some other picks to be had from folks that won’t be on your roster in 2027 or 2028. Do something.
This game is a case of the right opponent at the right time. Derrick Henry has not even been an average running back without Lamar Jackson on the field. Jacoby Brissett has some talent, but he’s riding on a reputation he’s never really earned, so don’t mistake him for a threat here.
Bob: Los Angeles
Emmie: Baltimore
Canasta: Baltimore
WEEK SEVEN RESULTS
Bob: 11-4
Emmie: 7-8
Canasta: 8-7
OVERALL
Bob: 69-62-5
Emmie: 67-64-5
Canasta: 62-69-5