With six teams on bye in Week 9, the NFC takes center stage with three monster matchups that rate as must-see TV in Week 10.
The NFL’s playoff picture is starting to take shape, and it is an all-out brawl in the NFC. The conference has been far superior this season, with multiple strong teams currently on the outside looking in if the playoffs were to begin today.
There are still eight more weeks of football, however, and those weeks offer plenty of opportunities for teams to separate themselves with big wins. That is a huge victory for viewers, who are rewarded with marquee matchups featuring big stakes, which is certainly the case for all three of our must-see contests in Week 10.
Carolina Panthers (5-3) at Green Bay Packers (7-2)
This is the first of three major games with playoff implications in the NFC. The Carolina Panthers are right in the thick of things thanks to the super human effort of running back Christian McCaffrey, who has recorded at least 150 yards from scrimmage in six of the team’s first eight games.
This is also an important contest for the Packers, who are coming off a bad loss at the Chargers when they had a chance to pick up a game on the entire NFC North, which all lost on Sunday. Green Bay needs to right the ship ahead of a tricky stretch run, so expect a top effort from both teams.
Minnesota Vikings (6-3) at Dallas Cowboys (5-3)
This week’s Sunday Night Football affair is another key one as the Minnesota Vikings head down to Jerry World to take on the Dallas Cowboys. The Vikings are coming off a tough loss in Kansas City, but they do have a revitalized Kirk Cousins anchoring the passing attack while Dalvin Cook has been one of the league’s best running backs.
The Cowboys came off their bye and survived a pesky Giants’ team to improve to 5-3, keeping them a half game up on the Philadelphia Eagles, who are entering their bye week. If Dallas drops this game, they will be in a tie with the Eagles with seven weeks to go, so this win would be critical for them to maintain their NFC East lead.
Seattle Seahawks (7-2) at San Francisco 49ers (8-0)
It’s been a while since the Monday Night Football matchup has made the best games of the week, but the NFL lucked out with this massive tilt between the Seahawks and the 49ers. San Francisco held on to beat the Cardinals in Arizona last week, sealing their status as the league’s last unbeaten team after New England fell to Baltimore in Week 9.
Seattle is more than up for the challenge, however, thanks to the MVP-caliber performance they have been getting from Russell Wilson. Over the Seahawks’ first nine games, Wilson has a ridiculous 22:1 touchdown to interception ratio, and his strong effort will give Seattle a chance to close the gap on San Francisco.