With the completion of nine weeks, the league has officially passed the halfway point of this year’s season. From play-off contention to individual awards, little has been finalized and some teams still appear to have decent opportunities. beginning a surge that extends into the postseason.. And if Thursday night’s tension between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens is any indication, there will be plenty of eye-popping showdowns in the final two months of the season.

With all that in mind, here are some bold predictions for NFL Week 10 games from a few of USA TODAY Sports’ writers and editors:

Christian McCaffrey will score 2 TDs…and produce more receiving yards than rushing yards

Christian McCaffrey makes his long-awaited debut for the 49ers in 2024 with a bang in Tampa Bay. While Jordan Mason has proven to be a more than capable backup to keep the running game intact (685 yards, 5.3 per carry), it’s out of the backfield that the NFL’s latest Offensive Player of the Year will remind us just how lethal a multi-tasking weapon he is. The 49ers sorely missed CMC’s impact in the passing game; This was needed even more due to injuries hitting San Francisco’s receiving corps. As McCaffrey recovers from his Achilles debacle, Brock Purdy’s numbers in the passing game also improve, as the ace running back not only runs routes and opens the door for a flashy wide receiver, but also opens windows for other targets. I expect CMC to hit two paychecks with fresh legs on Sunday and get 100 yards from scrimmage on the turf field in Tampa – with more than half of the output coming in the passing game.

— Jarret Bell