5 NFL teams on upset alert in Week 10 by Cody Williams 1h ago 
Nov 8, 2015; Charlotte, NCGreen Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) is pressured by Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis (58) in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Bob Donnan-USA TODAY SportsThese 5 NFL teams need to be put on upset alert in Week 10The Green Bay Packers were heavily in the conversation of who the best team in the NFL is just a couple of weeks ago. Despite all of their flaws, they were absolutely rolling through the 2015 season and seemed like they were destined for another Aaron Rodgers led run of success. Of course, the last two weeks of action have drastically altered that perception.With consecutive losses against the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers, the Packers come into Week 10 looking more like a pretender than the contender that we all thought them to be. They can’t seem to find a consistent rushing attack between Eddie Lacy and James Starks, the absence of Jordy Nelson is becoming increasingly detrimental, and the Packers defense has just been getting busted wide open on a consistent basis on this point.The Packers have now dropped to the point where they are merely tied in terms of overall record for the lead in the NFC North. Coming off of two losses against most teams in the league, you would think that Green Bay would be a prime candidate to be put on upset alert coming into Week 10. Fortunately for the Pack, that’s not something they have to worry about this week.Green Bay will be in Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon to take on the lowly Detroit Lions. Nothing about what you’ve seen from the Packers over the past couple of weeks has done anything to inspire any kind of confidence in this team. However, there’s no better team to build confidence against than the Lions, who have been a proverbial doormat in the NFL through their first eight games of the season. Even with Detroit coming off of their bye, I don’t think there’s anyone with a functioning brain that would say that Green Bay is in danger of being upset.However, Week 10 happens to be a week with some pretty huge matchups around the league. We’re officially over halfway done with the 2015 season, but teams are still jockeying for playoff positioning and battling to get back in contention for a postseason berth. Subsequently, the potential for craziness and unexpected results is still going to be there this week.This is also a week when some of the league’s elite teams have sneakily tricky matchups on their schedule and some of those teams make it on this list. These are the five NFL teams that need to be on upset alert for Week 10 of the 2015 NFL season.
5. Denver BroncosJust about every metric in the book says that the Denver Broncos should hold their ground at home on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs simply because they are the far superior professional football team. While I don’t think there’s any argument to be made regarding the fact that Denver is an overall better team in the 2015 season, I do think that this matchup could be tricky for the Broncos.For starters, the first matchup between these two teams on Thursday Night Football all the way back in Week 2 was a closely contested affair. In fact, you could argue that the Chiefs should have won the game eight weeks ago. After all, they took the lead with less than three minutes left in the game and the Broncos needed a huge drive in a short amount of time from Peyton Manning and then a miracle fumble recovery for a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff to get the win. Had the Chiefs not essentially shot themselves in the foot, they had the win in their hands.More importantly, there’s no way you can like the way that the Broncos looked last week. One week after looking rejuvenated, Manning was back to lobbing ducks to his receivers and, to make matters worse for Denver, they couldn’t move the ball on the ground against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league. In addition, Andrew Luck torched the Broncos’ vaunted defense and Frank Gore was able to move the ball on the ground as well. While Alex Smith is far from the quarterback Luck is, I think Kansas City could pull off a big upset in Denver this week.
4. Tampa Bay BuccaneersConsidering that this team is sitting at 3-5 and has been wildly inconsistent throughout their first eight games of the season, I admit that it’s odd to have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a team who could be upset. However, that’s the position they’re in for a home game where they will welcome a 2-6 Dallas Cowboys team who has lost their last six games and who still will be without Tony Romo come Sunday. Considering the dire straights that the Cowboys have been in recently, any win for Dallas would be pulling off an upset, especially a road victory.However, Dallas did show a ton of fight—and, dare I say, promise—last week in their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the crushing overtime defeat, Matt Cassel looked the most competent that he has since taking over as the starter for the Cowboys and Dez Bryant looked back to his normal, dominant self. Moreover, they seem to have found something that works with Darren McFadden as the featured back in the offense.Again, I realize that this is a matchup between two bad teams and that it’s not the craziest upset in the world. However, I think Dallas is showing signs of progress and that you can’t comfortably rely on the Bucs at this point in the season. I believe the Cowboys can come on the road in Week 10 and upset Tampa Bay to end what has been a brutal stretch for them over the last several weeks.
3. St. Louis RamsThe St. Louis Rams are coming off of a tough loss last week and are going to be in the business of picking up a much-needed win to try to keep hopes of making it into the postseason alive. On the surface, their Week 10 matchup with the Chicago Bears gives them a prime opportunity to do just that. In fact, the Rams stack up quite well against the Bears and, on paper, should have success against Chicago.For one, the Rams front seven should be able to absolutely terrorize Jay Cutler in this game. The Bears offensive line has been porous at best this season and the Rams defense has been getting after quarterbacks on a consistent basis this season. Moreover, the prospect of giving Todd Gurley the ball to work against a Bears run defense that ranks just 24th in the NFL in terms of rushing yards allowed per game is enticing for the prospects of St. Louis wins.Partially based on a gut feeling and partially based on the Bears’ performance on Monday Night Football in Week 9 (albeit against a terrible defense), I just think that Chicago is going to shock the Rams on Sunday afternoon. For all of the Bears’ faults, Adam Gase has had this offense clicking, despite all of the adversity that they’ve faced in terms of injuries on that side of the ball. Even though the Rams defense creates problems for the Bears on papers, I trust Gase to get his offense ready to attack in a way that will find them success. This would be a relatively huge upset given public perception of both teams, but I think Chicago stuns St. Louis this week.
2. Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are obviously in an unwanted position heading into Week 10 as they will again be without Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback and will once again turn to Landry Jones for answers. Even against a self-destructing Cleveland Browns team with a pretty terrible and heavily banged-up defense, I can’t get past the loss of Big Ben, among several other things, for the Steelers.In Jones’ one start with Roethlisberger out with a previous injury, the Steelers fell to the Chiefs and Jones’ struggles were a big part of that. The big play aspect of the passing attack that makes Pittsburgh so dangerous seemed to disappear with Jones at the helm and he threw two interceptions to further hurt his cause in that game. Throw in the fact that the Steelers are still without Le’Veon Bell and that DeAngelo Williams is at least not at 100 percent for this game and the Steelers’ situation looks even more severe.The Browns aren’t coming into this game at full-strength either as Johnny Manziel will again be starting at quarterback for them. With two backup quarterbacks pitted against one another in this matchup, I think it’s safe to say that we can expect a pretty ugly, low-scoring game at Heinz Field on Sunday afternoon. It’s not a foregone conclusion, but the injuries to the Steelers and at least the potential of Manziel means you have to put Pittsburgh on upset alert as 5.5-point favorites and the team with the far superior record in this matchup.
1. New England PatriotsBefore you start yelling at the computer because of this, let me start by saying that I still believe that the New England Patriots are the best professional football team in the world right now and I don’t think it’s particularly close. With that out-of-the-way, I also know that the New York Giants have been the kryptonite for the Patriots and years past and, with how the Giants offense has looked in recent weeks, I think that there’s the possibility that New York plays that role against New England yet again.Because of how dominant that their offense has been this season, many people may not have noticed the fact that the Patriots haven’t been particularly great on the defensive side of the ball. They’re not a train wreck by any means, but they’ve been just the 16th best defense in terms of passing yards allowed per game this season. Against a Giants team where Eli Manning, who has traditionally had big games against the Pats, has been in the zone lately, that’s not a promising notion for New England.The Giants defense is obviously going to have problems stopping the Patriots because, well, they are still the Patriots. However, having Jason Pierre-Paul back has beefed up their pass-rush and they could potentially hurry Tom Brady in this game. Even with that, this game has the makings of one that’s going to turn into a shootout. In that type of game, the history of the Giants playing spoiler for the Pats is just an unavoidable thought. Subsequently, I have New York handing the Patriots their first loss of the year.link
