There is no greater time to try to get into this competition than right now, as every week you beat me gives you another opportunity at that big cash prize at the end of the year. Let's get started right now with my Week 10 picks…

Cincinnati Bengals (+7.5) @ Indianapolis Colts – I tend to get the impression that the Bengals have had it in this season, but I also tend to get the impression that the Colts are set to fall apart at any point now. No, QB Peyton Manning isn't going to let his team go on some four game losing streak, ala the Pittsburgh Steelers of last season, but winning games consistently by more than a touchdown in this league is one of the hardest things to do. I just don't see anyone, including the great Manning, being able to sit here and pull off something like this week after week. I'm going to take the points and go with Cincinnati +7.5

Houston Texans (+1) @ Jacksonville Jaguars – They may as well call this game the "Losing Coach Gets Fired On the Spot Bowl." No, a defeat won't directly cost either Jack Del Rio or Gary Kubiak his job right away, but either coach not making the playoffs this year is probably going to be handed a pink slip in January. The loser of this one certainly isn't going to the second season. Houston needs to kick it into gear, and it finally finds itself in a position that it has been in a lot this year: It is the better team on the field. I'm taking Houston +1.

Tennessee Titans (-1.5) @ Miami Dolphins – My favorite play of the week. The Titans make a living out of getting to the quarterback on defense, and they were already proven to be incredibly frustrated by the short passing game of the Broncos. QB Chad Pennington made a career of taking three steps and getting rid of the football with precision in spite of the fact that he probably couldn't throw the ball the length of an Arena Football field. HC Tony Sparano is a smart man. This will be the week that we see the "old school" Miami Dolphins come to play, with more Wildcat forms, more creative ways to get the ball into the hands of RB Ronnie Brown and RB Ricky Williams, and the sorts. Pennington won't be asked to do much. Remember that this is a team playing for its life as well, as you have to win a home game eventually to make the postseason. I love getting Miami +1.5 as a pup at home.

Minnesota Vikings (-1.5) @ Chicago Bears – Someone please hand me my rusty fork so I can jam my eyes out… It's less painful than watching this crappy game. The NFC North is turning into a division that I have about as much desire to watch (and handicap) as the NFC West, and that's saying something. There's just no allure in this game for me. HC Brad Childress is a dead duck just waiting to get picked off. HC Lovie Smith isn't making it through the season either because Jay Freaking Cutler is his quarterback. And who knows whether I'm going to see the QB Brett Favre that threw two picks and looked god awful against the lousy Arizona Cardinals secondary or see the one that threw for over 440 yards and led the team to two TDs in the fourth quarter against the exact same team. Screw it. Minnesota -1.5

Detroit Lions (+2.5) @ Buffalo Bills – See, at least this game has some intrigue to it! The Bills might be in their last chance to win a game this year, and they keep finding ways to lose games. The Lions might also be in one of their last chances to win a game this year, and they keep finding ways to lose games. Is it just me, or does this game just stink of something like five safeties, two touchdowns on weird, sloppy plays, and a pair of missed extra points? With the Lions down 12-10 (three safeties, a TD, and a missed PAT against two safeties, a TD, and a missed PAT), I really want to see DT Ndamukong Suh come on and try to kick a game winning field goal. I win either way, and I'm certainly going to get my laughter for the day. Seriously though… Why on earth are the Bills favored against anybody? Detroit +2.5

New York Jets (-3) @ Cleveland Browns – I'm sorry, but seeing HC Rex Ryan wearing a Browns shirt and coming to the table of his press conference wearing those huge curly locks was just hilarious. The Jets know that this is a chance to prove something special, and I think there's a reason that the oddsmakers have made this NFL line so tight. They're begging you to take the Browns here after their performance last week against the New England Patriots. This New York team has this thing called a "defense," though. You know, it's a foreign concept in the greater Boston area. Just ask the Red Sox pitching down the stretch of the season! Heh… Sorry. New York -3

Carolina Panthers (+7) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – I never thought that the day would come where I would really be considering laying a touchdown with the Bucs. Let's face the facts here, though. Tampa Bay isn't a team that is going to blow you out by 20. It is going to stick around and find a way to take you down. Don't be overly shocked if the Bucs do just that against a bad Carolina team on Sunday. Goodness knows who is going to start the game (or finish it for that matter) for the Panthers at quarterback, but I'm taking Carolina +7 regardless.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Denver Broncos (+1) – Ever heard of this thing called "payback?" It's an interesting little creature that usually insists that when you're an underdog at home and have had two weeks to prepare for the team that single handedly knocked you out of the playoffs and ran up the score on you in the final game of the season in your backyard, that you tend to be just a little irked. You couldn't pay me to back KC in this one. I'm definitely going with the angry Broncos +1.

St. Louis Rams (+6) @ San Francisco 49ers – Don't get me wrong. I know that the 49ers are going to find some way to win this game, and the possibility is really there that they end up posting a blowout as well. There's just something that's rubbing me the wrong way about laying six points against the Rams right now. They're a stingy bunch, and they rarely seem to lose badly in situations like this one. I'm going to bank on QB Sam Bradford to not throw the game away, and if that's the case, St. Louis +6 is most certainly the right side.

Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals (-3) – Just when I thought it didn't get any uglier than Minnesota/Chicago… This is the dog game of all dog games this week, which is really saying something considering how bad Detroit and Buffalo are. The Cards at least show some promise right now, but rather than justify why I think Arizona is going to win this game, I think I'll just stick with the fact that it's going to be awesome to wake up on Monday morning and see a 4-5 record sitting atop a division. Arizona -3

Dallas Cowboys (+14) @ New York Giants – I definitely am going to need my antacids for this game. This is going to be an ugly one. HC Jason Garrett is the only reason that I'm strongly thinking about playing on Dallas in spite of the fact that it has a dreadful 1-7 record both SU and ATS. These last eight games are going to show us where Garrett sits in this Dallas franchise, and we figure that he at least needs to go 5-3 to save his job and give him a chance to really become the new head coach of the Cowboys. I know the Giants are on fire, and I know that they manhandled Dallas in Big D just a few weeks ago, but something is telling me that two TDs is far too many to be laying in a divisional tussle. Dallas +14

New England Patriots (+4.5) @ Pittsburgh Steelers – Remember to make your tiebreaker picks in this game!!! Taking Pittsburgh is taking the easy way out. Perception, perception, perception! The whole world has seen these Steelers play some big time ball since QB Ben Roethlisberger has come back to the lineup, and it has seen them play some tremendous defense against some great teams. The whole world also just saw the Pats lose on the road to the Cleveland Browns. Yeah… Those Cleveland Browns. There's no way that a team coached by Bill Belichick got beat that bad in a game like that without holding a little something, something back. Don't be shocked if there is a new look for New England this week, and if that's the case, I'll take the Mad Scientist and his Patriots +4.5.