With nine weeks completed, the competition has officially reached the halfway point of this year’s campaign. From the playoff chase to the individual awards, very little has been settled, with several teams still having ample opportunity to begin a climb that could lead all the way to the postseason. And if Thursday night’s thriller between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens is any indication, the final two months of the season should offer several scintillating showdowns.

With all that in mind, here are bold predictions for NFL Week 10 games from several 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 in Tampa Bay with a bang. While Jordan Mason proved to be a more than capable fill-in at keeping the running game intact (685 yards, 5.3 per carry), the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year will remind us just how deadly a multitasking weapon he is. he’s out of the backfield. The 49ers sorely missed CMC’s impact in the passing game – which was even more necessary due to the injuries affecting San Francisco’s receiver corps. Just as McCaffrey is improving from his Achilles setback, so too are Brock Purdy’s numbers in the passing game, while his running back ace not only runs routes and a polished wide receiver, but also opens windows for other targets. I expect CMC to strike twice with its fresh legs on Sunday and crack 100 yards from scrimmage on the grass field in Tampa – with more than half of the output coming in the passing game.

—Jarrett Bell