The NFC North is a tough division, rife with long standing rivalries like the one between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, which dates back many decades.

The Packers entered their Monday night matchup with the Bears as big 10.5 point favourites, but at the end of the day it was the Bears who were smiling after a hard-fought 27-20 victory. Both teams are 5-3 at the hal-way mark in the season, as is another team in that division, the Detroit Lions. Bringing up the rear are the Minnesota Vikings who are a pathetic 1-7 and, for all intents and purposes, are out of play-off contention.

But back to the intense rivalry between the Bears and the Packers. Chicago, the ‘Windy City’, has a population of three and a half million people. It is a bustling metropolis and the flagship of the state of Illinois. Soldier Field is the home of the fearsome Chicago Bears. Green Bay, Wisconsin, has a population of 100,000 people and much more than half of them pour into Lambeau Field on a Sunday or a Monday to watch their beloved Packers do battle in the NFL. The Packers are unique in the NFL in that they are not owned by a rich old white guy. They are owned by the community of Green Bay. They are among the smallest franchises in the NFL, but this has never stopped them from being one of the most successful teams, dating back to the 1960s when their legendary coach, Vince Lombardi, after whom the Super Bowl trophy is named, coached them to three titles.

Monday Night was a rough one for the Packers not just because they lost a key divisional game but, more so, because they lost their franchise quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, for an estimated three or four weeks through injury. He has a fractured left collar bone, the result of a sack in the first half. He was replaced in the game by Seneca Wallace who did not get off to a good start as he was intercepted by the Bears’ Julius Peppers in his first series. The loss of Rodgers may seriously impact the Packers, not only in their NFC North division, but also in their drive for the post season.

The big story that has dominated the media all week-long concerns accusations of bullying and hazing in the Miami Dolphins that forced one player, Jonathan Martin, to quit the team. The main perpetrator is Martin’s fellow offensive linesman, Richie Incognito who, it turns out, has a long history of questionable behaviour throughout his career. He is now the poster boy for the seamy underbelly of the NFL, which has always existed, but had never been so exposed.

Incognito has been suspended indefinitely pending investigations by both the League and the Dolphins into the extent of this behaviour. Most recent media reports have indicated that Miami Dolphins coaches may have even encouraged Incognito to give Martin a warm time, as a means of “toughening him up”, but we’ll have to wait until more facts come out.

The other story is the hospitalisation of two head coaches: John Fox of the Denver Broncos and Gary Kubiak of the Houston Texans. The former had a procedure done on his heart and the latter, who collapsed on the field near halftime of the team’s game against the Colts on Sunday night, had what turned out to be a mini stroke. The good news is that both these gentlemen are recovering and interim head coaches have taken over until they are well enough to return. Being a head coach in the NFL is truly a very stressful job.

The performance of the week had to have been Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles who threw for an NFL record tying seven touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders, en route to his team’s 49-20 win. Do you think that Michael Vick’s days in Philly are numbered?

The Kansas City Chiefs are a perfect 9-0 record and remain the only undefeated team in the League. In spite of this, some critics are seeing flaws in the Chiefs’ game that just may hurt them in the final push. Yes, they defeated the Buffalo Bills 23-13 and a win is a win. But they didn’t look pretty doing it. The Chiefs’ defence, still the best in the league allowing just 12.3 points per game, looked suspect in Week Nine and was penetrated for 470 yards by the Bills. They did not record even one sack and never managed to even harass the Bills third string quarterback.

On the other side of the ball, the offence did not score an offensive touchdown. Here is another troubling fact: in four of their last five games, the Chiefs have faced back-up quarterbacks and their QB Alex Smith has not managed to throw a touchdown pass. But they are 9-0 and that’s all that matters. They are now facing the toughest part of their schedule with two games against the Broncos which should be a litmus test. They will also face the Chargers and the Colts and these two should test their mettle and that of their head coach, Andy Reid.

It was a tough week as far as picks against the JustBet points spread were concerned. Just take a look at these scores: Yours truly went 6-7 as did Andrei Roper, while Peter Lindo and Andre Hutchinson went 5-8. Hopefully we all do much better next week.

There were a couple other upsets in Week Nine. The Dolphins beating the Bengals 22-20 was a heart breaker for those of us who picked the Bengals to win. And how about the Jets doing it to the Saints, 26-20? One never knows which Jets team is going to turn up. In other results the Texans lost a close one to the Colts 27-24, but this is understandable, given the Gary Kubiak incident at half time. Their concern for the head coach must have been distracting although the Colts all in all seemed like the better team. The Buccaneers, who were 15.5-point underdogs heading into their match-up with the Seahawks, put up one heck of a fight but ended up on the short end of the stick. Yes folks, the Tampa Bay Bucs remain winless at 0-8.

A few games to keep an eye on in Week 10: Packers vs Eagles, Bears vs Lions, 49ers vs Panthers (which should be a great matchup), Chargers vs Broncos and Saints vs Cowboys

Well that’s it for me folks. As usual, enjoy the games, and place your bets early and often with JustBet, Jamaica’s number one sports betting game. And by the way, JustBet now has half-time betting available on NFL games, so now you can bet on which team will cover the point spread both at half-time or at full-time. Yet another way to make some money from sports betting with JustBet. Remember to give us a listen on HITZ 92FM at 6:05pm every Friday, during the NFL Gameday Forecast. And finally, “Just win baby, just win”.

To find a JustBet location near you, visit: www.supremeventures.com/justbetlocations. To find out more about JustBet, and how to bet on the NFL and other sports, visit www.supremeventures.com/justbet, www.facebook.com/justbet, www.twitter.com/justbet_ja , or call 1-888-429-5785 (toll-free).

NFL WEEK 10 SCHEDULE & JUSTBET HANDICAPS

(*JustBet Handicaps for each game in bracket, Under/Over for each game listed)

Thursday, Nov 9

MIN VIKINGS (+ 2.5) v WAS REDSKINS, U/O 48.5

Sunday, Nov 10

ATL FALCONS (+ 6.5) v SEA SEAHAWKS, U/O 44.5

GB PACKERS v PHI EAGLES (+ 1.5), U/O 52.5

IND COL_S v STL RAMS (+ 10.5), U/O 42.5

BAL RAVENS (+ 0.5) v CIN BENGALS, U/O 43.5

NY GIANTS v OAK RAIDERS (+ 6.5), U/O 43.5

PIT STEELERS v BUF BILLS (+ 4.5), U/O 43.5

CHI BEARS (+ 2.5) v DET LIONS, U/O 52.5

TEN TITANS v JAC JAGUARS (+ 13.5), U/O 41.5

SF 49ERS v CAR PANTHERS (+ 6.5), U/O 41.5

ARI CARDINALS v HOU TEXANS (+ 1.5), U/O 40.5

SD CHARGERS (+ 6.5) v DEN BRONCOS, U/O 56.5

NO SAINTS v DAL COWBOYS (+ 6.5), U/O 53.5

Monday, Nov 11

TB BUCCANEERS (+ 2.5) v MIA DOLPHINS, U/O 40.5

Teams on a bye: Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, New York Jets

EXPERTS’ PICKS AGAINST THE SPREAD

Tony Scott’s Week 10 Picks 

VIKINGS v REDSKINS

FALCONS v SEAHAWKS

PACKERS v EAGLES

COL_S v RAMS

RAVENS v BENGALS

GIANTS v RAIDERS

STEELERS v BILLS

BEARS v LIONS

TITANS v JAGUARS

49ERS v PANTHERS

CARDINALS v TEXANS

CHARGERS v BRONCOS

SAINTS v COWBOYS

BUCCANEERS v DOLPHINS

Last week’s record: 6-7

Season record: 73-60

Peter Lindo’s Week 10 Picks

VIKINGS v REDSKINS

FALCONS v SEAHAWKS

PACKERS v EAGLES

COL_S v RAMS

RAVENS v BENGALS

GIANTS v RAIDERS

STEELERS v BILLS

BEARS v LIONS

TITANS v JAGUARS

49ERS v PANTHERS

CARDINALS v TEXANS

CHARGERS v BRONCOS

SAINTS v COWBOYS

BUCCANEERS v DOLPHINS

Last week’s record: 5-8

Season record: 67-66

Andre Hutchinson’s Week 10 Picks 

VIKINGS v REDSKINS

FALCONS v SEAHAWKS

PACKERS v EAGLES

COL_S v RAMS

RAVENS v BENGALS

GIANTS v RAIDERS

STEELERS v BILLS

BEARS v LIONS

TITANS v JAGUARS

49ERS v PANTHERS

CARDINALS v TEXANS

CHARGERS v BRONCOS

SAINTS v COWBOYS

BUCCANEERS v DOLPHINS

Last week’s record: 5-8

Season record: 61-72

Andrei Roper’s Week 10 Picks

VIKINGS v REDSKINS

FALCONS v SEAHAWKS

PACKERS v EAGLES

COL_S v RAMS

RAVENS v BENGALS

GIANTS v RAIDERS

STEELERS v BILLS

BEARS v LIONS

TITANS v JAGUARS

49ERS v PANTHERS

CARDINALS v TEXANS

CHARGERS v BRONCOS

SAINTS v COWBOYS

BUCCANEERS v DOLPHINS

Last week’s record: 6-7

Season record: 58-75