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The first of the NFL Network Thursday night games for this season is played tonight, so the weekly predictions will be posted today instead of Friday this week. Last week’s 13 games produced an 8-5 right/wrong record, pushing the season mark to 75 correct and 54 wrong. Here are the week 10 picks:

Baltimore at Atlanta – this battle of the birds is the Thursday night game. It’s an important contest for both teams, as they try to hold onto leads in their respective divisions. The Ravens are a more experienced team, and are a little better defensively, so I’ll pick them to win this one on the road.

Detroit at Buffalo – Lions QB Matthew Stafford may be sidelined this week, but even if he is I’m going to resist the temptation to pick Buffalo to win its’ first game here. The Bills are consistently doing whatever it takes to lose each week, something the Lions were doing just a couple of years ago. Detroit was impressive in dropping a close game to the Jets last week and will win this game.

Minnesota at Chicago –   the Vikings barely kept their season alive at home last week, while the Bears won coming off a bye to propel themselves back into the division race. Chicago wins at home, and puts some distance in the division between themselves and the Vikes, setting up a two team race with Green Bay for NFC North supremacy in the 2nd half of the season.

New York Jets at Cleveland – the Browns have become giant-killers this year, but I like the Jets in this spot. They can match Cleveland’s intensity at home on defense, will be able to run the ball, and Mark Sanchez will outduel rookie Colt McCoy to pull out a Jet victory.

 Cincinnati at Indianapolis – bad spot for the Bengals, catching Peyton Manning and the Colts in Indy and coming off a loss to the Eagles. Cinci has been a bunch of paper tigers all year, and they’ll get schooled by Manning & Co. in this one.

Houston at Jacksonville – on paper the Texans should be heavily favored in this matchup, but Jaguars’ coach Jack Del Rio always has his team motivated and playing well in these important division games. Still, I’ll go with Houston in a very tight game.

Tennessee at Miami – two hard-hitting clubs with great running games  battling in a game that will help the winner’s playoff chances immensely. They may not get much of a contribution from newcomer Randy Moss, but I still like the Titans to pull out a hard-fought victory.

Carolina at Tampa Bay – the Bucs may not be able to run with the NFC’s big dogs yet but they’ll dominate this matchup. Tampa Bay at home, putting another nail in John Fox’s coffin as Panther coach.

Kansas City at Denver – the Chiefs were edged by Oakland in last week’s key division game, but will rebound and beat a weak Bronco team on the road this week.

Seattle at Arizona – a very hard game to pick – being played by 2 of the NFL’s Jeckyl and Hyde teams. I’ll go with the Cardinals at home based on  sound football strategy – the coin came up heads.

Dallas at New York Giants – the Cowboys should get somewhat of a bounce from the coaching change of Wade Phillips to Jason Garrett, but they’ll eventually be pounded into submission by a better Giants’ team that has totally recovered from the Cowboy-like  total tailspin they had at the end of last season.

St. Louis at San Francisco – the Niners’ season has gone pretty much just like the Cowboys’, but they won’t pack it in like the Cowboys have, not on Mike Singletary’s watch. San Francisco wins at home.

New England at Pittsburgh – this is a great matchup between two of the NFL’s best organizations. Normally the Patriots are the type of team that would rebound strongly from a thrashing like the one they took from the Browns last week, but the Steelers are too good of an opponent. Instead, they’ll use the films of what the Browns did to pin a 2nd straight loss on New England.

Philadelphia at Washington – Donovan McNabb beat his old team in their first matchup earlier this year, but the shine is fading from his star, while in Philadelphia Michael Vick’s stock is rising. The Eagles are clearly the better team at this point and will win on the road under the Monday night spotlight.