Each week, we’ll give you 10 things to keep an eye on during the upcoming games. From one-on-one matchups to players on the mend, we’ll talk about 10 things that could have an impact on your favorite team, or your fantasy team.

1. Can Lovie Smith get revenge? Of course Lovie Smith will never use the word revenge, and he certainly has bigger issues than facing his former team, but you know there has to be something inside Smith that wants to get one over on the team that fired him after a 10-win season. The good news for Smith is that the Buccaneers looked like a team that knew what they were doing on defense for the first time all season in last week’s win over Washington. How much of that was a result of playing Robert Griffin III remains to be seen, but between the Bucs performance last week, and the Bears performance all season, it’s unlikely we’ll see an embarrassing blowout in Lovie’s return to Chicago. Considering the match-up advantages that the Bucs receivers will enjoy Sunday, and just how inept Chicago has looked on both sides of the ball this season, the Buccaneers have a legitimate shot to give Smith the revenge you know he’d enjoy, even if he’d never admit it.

2. The Detroit Lions defensive line vs. the New England Patriots offensive line: If the Detroit Lions are going to be the first team to beat the Patriots since Week 4, this is the match-up they’ll have to exploit. The play of the Patriots offensive line was so bad earlier this season that some even questioned if Tom Brady was nearing the end of the road. While the Pats offensive line has turned it around dramatically, they’ve yet to face a force on the inside like Ndamukong Suh. Suh and emerging defensive end Ziggy Ansah will need to get to Tom Brady early and often if Detroit is going to pull the upset. The Patriots are unlikely to go to their newly found power running game, as the Lions have given up less than 70 rushing yards per game this season. There will be plenty of talk about Darrelle Revis and Calvin Johnson lining up across from each other Sunday, but the match-up that will determine the game will be the Patriots offensive line against the Lions front seven.

3. Take notes, Teddy: We joked in our power rankings article this week that the game plan for Teddy Bridgewater Sunday should just be to take notes of Aaron Rodgers. Sure, Bridgewater might be a little busy on the sidelines Sunday to be watching what his counterpart is doing while Green Bay has the football, but maybe he should find some time. Unlike Rodgers, who sat behind Brett Favre for years in Green Bay, Bridgewater won’t have the benefit of watching one of the all-time greats from the sideline while he gets ready for his shot. Instead, Bridgewater’s shot came right away, and it’s come with some of the growing pains Rodgers didn’t suffer through when he got his. Very few quarterbacks get the opportunity to learn on the sidelines the way Rodgers did these days, but a look at Rodgers success makes one wonder if more of them should.

4. Ryan Mallett’s second act: Bill O’Brien said he hoped the reaction to Ryan Mallet’s first start would be questions about why he waited so long to make the move. Despite a huge improvement over last year’s team which finished the season losing 14 straight, the Houston Texans were really hard to believe in with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. We don’t know if Mallett has what it takes to make us believe in Houston, but not knowing if a guy is ready to lead your team into the playoffs is a hell of a lot better than being absolutely certain that he isn’t. Mallett’s first NFL start went pretty well as he took on former Patriots’ teammate Brian Hoyer and the Cleveland Browns while going 20-30 with 211 yards and two touchdowns and one interception in a 23-7 victory for the Texans. If Houston wants to make the playoffs this year, a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday would go a long way. The Texans have the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars in the two weeks following Sunday’s matchup with the Bengals, so it’s likely Mallett could start his career 4-0 if Houston can beat the Bengals Sunday.

5. The Arizona Cardinals try to stretch NFC West lead over Seattle Seahawks: Drew Stanton was pretty good in last week’s win over the Lions, throwing for 306 yards and a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions. More impressive than Stanton’s play though, was the fact that Bruce Arians didn’t change a thing. Arians was every bit as aggressive with Stanton under center as he was with Carson Palmer, and it’s that confidence in Stanton that will help the team the Cardinals continue to succeed with him under center. The results weren’t as encouraging for the Seahawks as the once vaunted Seattle defense gave up almost 200 yards on the ground against the Chiefs, including 159 yards and two touchdowns to Jamaal Charles. The inability to stop a player like Charles, who the team knew would be an integral part of the Chiefs attack, has to be concerning for Seattle. With a trip to San Francisco coming a week later, this week’s game against the division leading Cardinals is critical for the Seahawks. If the Seattle were to lose the next two, the team would be 6-6 and the chances would be better that they would miss the playoffs instead of having a chance to defend their crown.

6. The St. Louis Rams look for second straight upset over AFC West opponent: There’s good news for the San Diego Chargers. Considering the play of each lately, the Rams are probably not looked at as huge underdogs when they travel to San Diego to take on the Chargers Sunday. That’s good news, because it seems that for some reason, Jeff Fisher’s club seems to play better in games you’re sure they have no chance to win. Despite being just 4-6 and wildly inconsistent this season, the Rams last three victories come over the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. It sounds like a joke, but the Rams have to be the best bad football team ever. How a team could look as poor as the Rams have in some of their early season losses, and to look as good as they did against Denver a week ago is beyond confusing. Some think Fisher could be coaching for his job, but it’s unlikely the Rams give up on him this quickly despite the team’s inconsistent play. One thing is for sure, this team needs to find a quarterback moving forward if they want to find some consistency. The Rams should be motivated to pull off their second straight upset of an AFC West opponent Sunday, because with the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins next on their schedule, the Rams could find themselves above .500 heading into their home game with the Cardinals in Week 15.

7. The Miami Dolphins defensive line vs. the Denver Broncos offensive line: How did the St. Louis Rams hold the Broncos to just seven points a week ago? With a defense that only allowed 28 rushing yards and a vicious pass rush that rattled Peyton Manning, causing him to throw two interceptions to just one touchdown. The Rams only sacked Manning twice, but they were around him all day, and did enough to rattle the quarterback who had no run game at all to lean on. You’d think a team that throws the ball as much as Manning and the Broncos would be fine without balance, but any team struggles when they’re forced to be completely one dimensional and don’t even have the threat of a run. The Dolphins could create the same kind of problems for Manning and his banged up Broncos offensive line. Like Tom Brady and the Patriots learned earlier this season, even the best quarterbacks struggle when their offensive line underperforms. As we saw in the Super Bowl, if Ryan Clady is out it effects the entire offensive line. The team will likely be without Clady and could also be without Emmanuel Sanders and Julius Thomas who both left last Sunday’s loss to St. Louis as well. Those will be tough losses to deal with against a Miami team that matches up well against Denver. The Dolphins, like the Rams are one of the best teams against the run, but unlike the Rams, the Dolphins are second in the league against the pass, and the defense has been ferocious. If the Broncos are going to avoid a second straight loss Sunday, they’re going to have to find a way to stop Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon from getting to Manning.

8. Is Tony Romo’s back, really back? Anyone who’s dealt with back problems knows that they aren’t the kind of problems that just go away. Tony Romo has been a shining example of that as his back hasn’t been 100 percent all season. The new injury that caused Romo to miss the Cowboys Week 9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals couldn’t keep him off the flight to London or out of the Cowboys victory over the Jaguars across the pond, but it’s unlikely that he spent the bye week pain free. Romo performed well in Jacksonville, but he was seen walking gingerly after a couple of hits during the game. If Romo’s back flares up on him again, it could very well be the difference between if Dallas has a strong playoff run inside them or not. The good news for Romo and the Cowboys is that they have the New York Giants on Sunday. The Giants pass rush hasn’t been as poor as it was in 2013, but they’re not striking fear into opposing quarterbacks anymore either. The Cowboys offensive line should be able to protect Romo well Sunday, and they’ll need to if they want to keep their quarterback in one piece for the rest of the season.

9. The length of Robert Griffin’s leash: The Washington Redskins have to give Robert Griffin III every chance to figure it out. That’s what happens when you spend the ridiculous ransom Washington paid to draft RG3. You have to wonder how different it might be if the GM who drafted Griffin wasn’t still in the mix in Washington. Regardless of his price tag and the fact that Bruce Allen is still calling the shots at the top for the Redskins, eventually Jay Gruden is going to want to get a guy in there that he’s confident in. Despite everyone saying all the right things, it’s getting harder and harder to have confidence in Griffin. The puzzling thing is that Griffin looked like a quarterback who could develop into a great pocket passer if needed during his amazing rookie year. It seemed Griffin had everything his rookie year. He’s incredibly smart, and there was no reason to believe that he’d do anything but continue to improve, but since his first big injury in the NFL, he’s never been the same. He’s smart and athletic enough to believe he might still one day develop into a solid NFL quarterback, but after another poor performance Sunday, it’s difficult to imagine him ever getting back to the special player we saw his rookie season.

10. Baltimore Ravens look to hand New Orleans Saints third straight home loss: The Saints don’t lose at home. Well, they didn’t anyways. That was until Week 10 when the Saints lost at home for the first time after winning 11 straight at the Superdome. While they were about to embark on a very tough part of their schedule, the team was finally back to .500 at 4-4 and it was looking at three straight home games next on their schedule which had to induce confidence for a team that hadn’t lost at home since 2012. Unfortunately for the Saints, that confidence would be short lived, and after a 27-24 overtime loss to the 49ers was followed by a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans is back in desperation mode as the 4-6 Saints get set to host the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. The Ravens are coming off of their bye week and some disappointing play themselves as of late, so Monday Night’s game should be a very interesting game between a pair of teams fighting for their playoff lives.