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Well Customized New England Patriots Jerseys , Week 10 is already off to a disastrous start for me.On Thursday night, as I settled in to watch the Steelers and the Panthers, I ignored every instinct in my body that was urging me to take Pittsburgh. In my head, I knew the Steelers were going to win, and I knew they were going to cover as 3.5-point favorites. It wasn’t overly complicated. They are clicking on all cylinders right now, about as well as any NFL team can, and they were playing at home in primetime.And just for the record, the Steelers usually thrive when they are playing in primetime.And yet, my desire to watch a thrilling game between two Super Bowl contenders from each conference got in the way of my better judgement. That’s why I took the Panthers +3.5, and that’s why I paid the painful price.Pittsburgh 52, Carolina 21. Whoops.Considering I’m not very good at making NFL predictions, and am currently treading water just a couple games above the .500 mark this season, I really need to listen to my head instead of my heart more often. One of these days, I might finally learn my lesson.But then again, it is me we’re talking about, and I overthink everything when it comes to football. So that probably won’t happen. Whatever though. At least this Sunday, the Patriots will be reuniting with Malcolm Butler on the football field for a couple of hours when they play the Titans in Nashville. It might not be a friendly reunion, but let’s face it: Butler will be a Boston sports legend for the rest of time, all because of one simple, but very timely, interception in Super Bowl XLIX.Things didn’t end for Butler in New England the way they should have, and as a Patriots fan www.authenticsnewenglandpatriots.com , it’s hard not to feel for the guy. He’s responsible for the single greatest moment of my sports fandom, and I will owe that to him forever. It’s just too bad this game isn’t happening in Foxboro, because if it was, Butler would get an ovation louder than a rock concert when he entered the stadium.Thanks for the memories, Malcolm. See you on Sunday.(Home teams in caps, and all lines courtesy of OddsShark.com)CHIEFS (-16.5) over CardinalsTaking a team that is favored by 17 points is physically painful. But the Cardinals are one of the worst teams in the league, they have a rookie quarterback who is still trying to adjust to the NFL, and Kansas City’s offense is borderline unstoppable.The Chiefs haven’t scored less than 30 points since Week 4. In addition, it’s supposed to be a tad chilly in Kansas City and the Cardinals are an indoor team from the desert. There’s no good reason to get behind Arizona in this game, other than that massive point spread.Falcons (-6) over BROWNSSince the Browns finally fired Hue Jackson about a year too late, I was on the verge of picking them to pull off some kind of HUE-IS-FINALLY-GONE miracle against the Falcons this week, but I just couldn’t do it. Part of that whole “listening to my head” thing.JETS (-7) over BillsThe Jets without Sam Darnold are playng the Bills without Josh Allen. Is anybody actually going to watch this? Even Jets and Bills fans have to at least be considering passing up on football this week. If you’re going to gamble on this game, don’t take the Nathan Peterman team, unless you’re betting on which team will turn the ball over at least five times.BEARS (-6.5) over LionsKhalil Mack has missed the last two games for Chicago. But if he’s cleared to play, it’s going to be a long afternoon for Matt Stafford, who has been getting sacked a lot lately (what else is new?)This is just me, but 6.5 points seems like a lot for a Bears team that has struggled against the NFC North this year. But the Lions have seemingly run into a wall lately, and that Chicago defense is pretty resembling of a wall. Jaguars (+3) over COLTSSheesh, you know the Jaguars have hit rock bottom when they are now considered underdogs against the Colts. That defense — supposed to be the best in the league — has been a huge letdown this year (I would know, I have them in fantasy). But for some odd reason, I picked the Jags to go to Super Bowl LIII, so I kind of need them to get this thing turned around sooner rather than later.Patriots (-6.5) over TITANSSorry we have to do this to you New England Patriots T-Shirt , Malcolm, but the Pats are pretty hot at the moment. October, November, and most of December is usually when they are at their best.Saints (-5.5) over BENGALSSpeaking of hot teams, nobody is hotter than the Saints right now. They just handed the Rams their first loss of the season. New Orleans pretty much has all of the momentum in the galaxy. Good luck, Cincy. See you next time.Redskins (+3) over BUCCANEERSThe Redskins will break your heart faster than your first high school girlfriend, but I don’t trust the Tampa Bay defense. Offensively, it’s hard to tell if Ryan Fitzpatrick will throw four touchdown passes or four interceptions. But Alex Smith and Adrian Peterson should be able to do some damage against the Bucs defense. This is a tough one to pick, but I just have to roll with Smith.Chargers (-10) over RAIDERSAt 6-2, the Chargers look like a very good team right now. Picking them to cover as 10-point favorites against a horrendous Oakland team seems like a pretty reasonable decision.I’m just looking forward to the first week of January, however, when Philip Rivers fails to get the Chargers past the wild card round. That will be fun.PACKERS (-10) over DolphinsEven though the Dolphins are 5-4 and are facing a pretty average Packers team, you can’t count on a team from warm, sunny Miami to play well in a place like Green Bay, Wisconsin in mid-November. It’s supposed to be around 30 degrees in Green Bay this Sunday. Do you think anybody from south Florida would be comfortable in that environment?This is one of the oldest rules in the book: warm weather teams don’t do well in cold weather environments, and Green Bay is about as cold as it gets.Seahawks (+9.5) over RAMSAfter that brutal defeat in New Orleans last week, are the Rams vulnerable right now? Whether they are or not, they are 4-4-1 against the spread this year. Nine times out of 10, they are a good bet to win the game straight up, but not always to cover the spread. Their defense got torched by the Saints last week. Can we count on them to play well enough to allow the Rams to win by double-digits? I’m not so sure.EAGLES (-7) over CowboysThe Cowboys are never going anywhere as long as Jason Garrett is their head coach. It’s too bad Jerry Jones will never actually move on from Garrett because he has too much of a man crush on him. It’s not difficult to see that Garrett is a serviceable football coach, but not a good one. Then again, Jerry is about as clueless as anyone New England Patriots Hats , so there aren’t really any surprises here.49ERS (-3) over GiantsAny time you have the chance to watch a pair of teams that have a combined three wins through nine weeks play each other on Monday Night Football, you absolutely HAVE to do it.Last week: 8-5This week: 0-1Season: 66-64-5 It’s not that Patrick Mahomes blinked.He was just beaten at his own game by Tom Brady.The Patriots quarterback showed his ability to throw the deep ball 鈥?and some timely running 鈥?to lead the Patriots to a 43-40 win over the Chiefs.Brady’s 4-yard touchdown run (which was assisted by Chiefs rookie outside linebacker Breeland Speaks letting him go, perhaps to avoid a penalty) was the capper on a night of impressive offense by both quarterbacks.Or, it would have been a capper if Mahomes didn’t immediately answer with a 75-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 40, prior to Brady connecting with Rob Gronkowski for a 39-yard connection late to set up the game-winning field goal. It was that kind of night, with the two quarterbacks trading haymakers.Brady finished 24-of-35 for 340 yards and a touchdown, an impressive 9.8 yards per pass attempt.Mahomes threw two interceptions in the first half (matching his total for the first five games of the season), but led his team back impressively from the early problems.They still settled for too many field goals, but their flurry of big plays late made this one of the most entertaining games of the season.Mahomes finished with 352 yards (and a 9.9 yards per attempt average) and four touchdowns to go with the mistakes, but made it clear that even though he lost his first game of the season, he’s leading a team that will likely see the Patriots again in the playoffs.Here are five more things we learned during Sunday Night Football:1. The Patriots have made do with a fleet of replaceable-part niche backs in the past.They may have something approaching a bell cow in rookie Sony Michel.The first-rounder (their second one, chosen 31st overall) finished with 24 carries for 106 yards, continuing a run of solid play.He was inactive in the opener and had just 84 rushing yards combined in his first two games. But with his 112-yard outburst against the Dolphins and another 98 against the Colts last week, he’s showing indications he’s different from their usual assembly line backs.He was part of a dynamic tandem at Georgia with Nick Chubb (who was taken four picks after him, by the Browns in the second round), but with each passing week, he looks like he can be a traditional every-down back, as long as he stays healthy.2. Nothing against Dustin Colquitt and Ryan Allen, but no one missed them for the longest time tonight.Amazingly, there wasn’t a single punt until the 3:50 mark of the fourth quarter, as two offenses traded shots (and occasional turnovers).Offense is up league-wide, so high scoring is becoming more common. But it’s still refreshing to see teams play an open style New England Patriots Hoodie , after years of football being choked to death by cynical coaches who were afraid to let their teams make mistakes. Or excitement.3. Chiefs safety Eric Berry hasn’t played this year, and his absence is evident against the Patriots.Not having him on the field with a “heel” injury (after last year’s Achilles tear) has compromised their ability to cover any tight end, or the middle of the field in general.But they’re also down numbers in the middle of the secondary, with Daniel Sorensen on injured reserve. With聽Eric Murray also inactive, they were without their top three safeties, with Jordan Lucas making his first start next to Ron Parker.Lucas was acquired in a trade with the Dolphins just before final cuts, and Parker was brought back after the Falcons cut him this summer. They performed well enough, but it’s far from a sustainable situation.4. Losing a talented returner such as De'Anthony Thomas to a practice injury was a bad break for the Chiefs. Thomas suffered a broken leg when a teammate stepped on him in practice Thursday, in the same leg he broke last year.But under special teams coordinator Dave Toub, the Chiefs filled in more than acceptably.Tremon Smith‘s 97-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter set the Chiefs up for a go-ahead score.This sixth-rounder from Central Arkansas showed the kind of speed that makes the Chiefs the team most likely to field an Olympic relay team. Smith ran a 4.38-second 40 at his pro day workout, putting him in good company.5. Say what you want about Gronkowski. At least he’s house-broken.The subtly hilarious moment of the first half was when Brady yelled at his All-Pro tight end to get out of his three-point stance at the line of scrimmage, and the NBC mics picked it up.“Gronk, stand up,” Brady yelled. Gronkowski immediately stood up, as one does when Brady barks orders.Gronk wasn’t playing as much fetch as he’s used to until late in the game, but I’d bet that if Brady told him to roll over, Gronkowski would have, and waited patiently for the belly rub and the treat.