Week 5 NFL Predictions

By Jacob Sanders

It’s Week 5. Let me tell you something. Outside of the LA Rams, we know absolutely nothing. Week 4 was absolutely insane. Yes, even with more top teams like KC and Baltimore having statement games, that doesn’t matter. KC isn’t a team built for sustained success and Baltimore has never been a team to dominate all the time. Hell, even New Orleans, Tennesee, and Sacksonville have their problems as well. The Bears look great but do you trust Trubisky to play well all the time? Count me out on that. It’s amazing watching the League transform week to week and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

Sanders went 9-6 last putting him to 31-30-2.

Indianapolis Colts vs New England Patriots

Patriots beat the Colts 38-24. Not surprising. What’s also not surprising? Tom Brady made history to be the 3rd quarterback to reach 500 TDs in his career. Wow. Just wow.

New York Giants vs Carolina Panthers

The bigger questions aren’t necessarily about the Giants but more about the Panthers. This Panthers offense might be really good. But everytime it ever seems like the Panthers are going to be great, they tend to lose (outside of their 15-1 season). It doesn’t mean I’m going to pick against them. Newton and McCaffrey have been dynamite for this offense and have been rolling together. For the Giants to beat them, they have to get ahead early and lean on Saquon Barkley to salt away the game. Not impossible. Also not probable. When you have a quarterback who can still play and a running back that is special, it’s a wasted season with their offensive line.

Giants 17 Panthers 24

Miami Dolphins vs Cincinnati Bengals

So. The Dolphins laid an egg last week. Reminds me of those teams that start 2-0 or 3-0, then they truly reveal who they are and are not as good as you think. The Dolphins have a valid winning formula. They’re also valid to losing games they should at least be competitive in. With Cincy at home, the Bengals have the ability to spoil the Dolphins just like the Pats did last week. Also, have you seen how gritty this Bengals team is? Just go back to last week’s Cincy vs ATL game. Great matchup. Great game. Dolphins don’t have that kind of fireworks.

Dolphins 17 Bengals 28

Baltimore Ravens vs Cleveland Browns

Trust me when I say this was nearly my upset of the week. The Browns, even at 1-2-1, are not a joke. They’ve played like a tough team for 4 weeks now and, with Baker Mayfield, are pretty legitimate. But the Browns have some holes that can be exploited by the Ravens. Also, the Ravens are a team that is extremely balanced and built for tough road wins. Look no further than the win last Sunday night. Flacco is looking to have a career year and no one individual is outshining the other on offense outside of John Brown. It’s quite possible this game could be a shootout based upon how the Cleveland offense has looked with Baker Mayfield and Antonio Callaway. The Baltimore secondary determines this one in a tight game.

Ravens 23 Browns 17

Green Bay Packers vs Detroit Lions

It’s been nice to see Matt Stafford bounceback in the last 2 weeks from an awful start to the season. That being said, Stafford hasn’t really been Stafford-esque persay. It definitely seemed like Stafford would continue looking like the best player on the offense but hasn’t necessarily been that this year so far. Also. WHERE. IN. THE. **** is Kerryon Johnson. You have one of your best RBs in the last 7 years of your franchise and you’re not playing him on more than an average of 38% of your snaps? That’s called getting in your own way. Speaking of which, the Packers defense didn’t get any bad penalty calls last week! Woot. The Packers put up a shutout against the Bills, a team that is clearly a couple years from a winning record. That’s great and all, but I don’t have the heaviest confidence in Green Bay right now. I do like the defensive effort anyway. It’s hard to put up a shutout in today’s NFL. Another defensive effort like that will be needed if Green Bay wants to beat Detroit.

Packers 20 Lions 16

UPSET OF THE WEEK!!!!

Jacksonville Jaguars vs Kansas City Chiefs

Alright, I had to give a spicy one for the upset of the week. The Chiefs pulled out a gritty win on Monday Night. However, I do believe Denver gave away the winning formula to the rest of the league. Slow. Down. The. Chiefs. Offense. That’s what this team is. Offense. Their defense gives up way too much for the Chiefs to not have to average over 30 points a game to win. The defense for the Jags? Yeah. They give up nothing. They are No. 1 in every single category. Something has to give this weekend and I do believe it’s the Jags defense that will hold strong.

Jaguars 21 Chiefs 20

Denver Broncos vs New York Jets

Well. At some point, the Jets HAVE to win another game, right? Well, as the internet meme goes, this ain’t it. While I’ve seen a few pundits say this is the perfect game for the Jets to steal a win because the Broncos look awful on the road, I’m gonna say no. The Broncos, even sitting at 2-2, look much better than their product has been so far. Maybe it’s just a little blind faith, but without some Patrick Mahomes magic, this team is 3-1. The Jets are 1-3 and have a static offense that doesn’t create many sparks. Darnold must improve at some point if the Jets want to churn out anymore wins this season. The Monday Night Detroit game feels like it was months ago.

Broncos 17 Jets 10

Atlanta Falcons vs Pittsburgh Steelers

You have no idea how long I’ve been sitting on this one. When you look at the offensive production from both teams, it’s almost impossible to believe they each only have 1 win a piece. Then you look at their defense, and see truly why each team only has 1 win a piece. So. What does that mean exactly? A classic Western shootout is in store for us. At least that what I think. So who wins the shootout? Well, if I had to guess, I would say Atlanta. I feel that the Falcons have more weapons at their disposal than the Steelers. Jones, Sanu, and Ridley just create a dangerous receiving trio that the Steelers secondary will struggle with mightily.

Falcons 35 Pittsburgh 31

Oakland Raiders vs Los Angeles Chargers

Ever liked watching a Chargers defense when Bosa isn’t playing? Yeah me neither. It’s not fun to watch. More to the point, I feel that this season, more so than any other, puts a magnifying glass on Rivers career. Rivers has been having a great season so far. AND YET! The defense and special teams are doing poorly. Yet again, Rivers is held back by his own team to make the Chargers relevant in the playoff picture. Against the Raiders though, he can lift the Chargers to a winning record heading into Week 6. The Raiders have been a tough team to beat this season leading the score at the end of every first half. In a rather classic fashion though, they’ve been blowing their leads. Maybe I’ve been milking it too much, but I’m going to continue saying it anyway as long as the Raiders keep losing: If only they had a defense or even a star playmaker, who could close out the game for them…...remember kiddos “It’s tough to find a good pass rusher.”- Jon Gruden just weeks after trading away one of this generation’s best pass rusher.

Raiders 17 Chargers 21

Minnesota Vikings vs Philadelphia Eagles

Both of these teams are from last year’s NFC championship game. Neither has a winning record. Wow. I may have some bias towards the Vikings at this team just has talent up, down, and across the kitchen cabinets. But...what are they doing with it? In fact,  WHAT IS MIKE ZIMMER’S DEFENSE DOING?!?!?! I could go on and on about why this Vikings team should be 3-1 and not 1-2-1. Enough about them. What about those defending SB champions? They aren’t as hot either. Just lost to a tough Titans team in overtime. Not sure what that says, but what I can tell you is that the return of Carson Wentz has certainly helped the Eagles. Has he been on MVP level? Not at all. But no one expected that after him missing so much time. The Eagles offense will only get better as the season goes in. As for the Vikings, it seems like Cousins needs to play out of his mind everygame for them to win. Does that happen this week? Not guaranteed.

Vikings 21 Eagles 28

Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers

The Cardinals, at 0-4, have a lot of hope. Your own writer right here got to witness Josh Rosen’s first start at StateFarm Stadium (awful name btw) and was thoroughly impressed by Josh Rosen. What was I not impressed by? The rest of the Cardinals offense outside of David Johnson. That includes coaching. Poor coaching threw away Josh Rosen’s first potential win. Yikes. Don’t let his stats fool you, Rosen threw a few dimes that were dropped. He’s good enough to beat a 49ers roster that looked rather scrappy against the Chargers last week. In fact, the 49ers didn’t look that bad without Jimmy G in general. However, count me out on trusting Beathard to consistently move the ball. Cardinals score their first win.

Cardinals 17 49ers 14

Los Angeles Rams vs Seattle Seahawks

Okay. Until the Rams ACTUALLY lose, I’m not picking against them. That and Seattle struggled to beat an 0-4 team. You think they’re going to beat a 4-0 team? Nah. And that’s what I got for you. It’s not even solid analysis but it doesn’t have to be when the Rams are firing on all cylinders and Seattle just lost their best defensive player (probably permanently) to a broken leg in last Sunday’s game. By the way, Earl Thomas’s message to the Seahawks sideline last week was totally understandable. No one should be mad at that.

Rams 31 Seahawks 17

Dallas Cowboys vs Houston Texans

Turns out, the Dallas offense doesn’t look that bad when you give Elliot the ball 20+ times. No one is surprised by that. What’s really surprising is how Dak Prescott has not developed as much as he should have by now. The 3rd year quarterback appears lost sometimes on the field and it doesn’t help that his wide receivers aren’t getting the separation they need to. As for the Texans, Watson is progressing along very well and steadily improving every game even if quietly doing so. Speaking of quietly, you know who the best defensive player has been so far in the NFL? Sure you could argue Mack. But, you could also argue it’s been J.J. Watt. Don’t believe? Look at their numbers, they’re neck and neck. The difference is the Bears are winning and the Texans have not been.

Cowboys 20 Texans 23

Washington Redskins vs New Orleans Saints

As has been per usual outside of last year, I expect another Saints gamet o be high scoring. On a Monday night, I expect Drew Brees to play lights out and dare Alex Smith to go toe-to-toe with him. While it’s not improbable, it’s hard to imagine either defense doing much to stop the offenses of Alex Smith and Drew Brees. So who do you pick? The better quarterback and better offense. Fun fact, if Drew Brees throws for 4 TDs on Monday, he’ll be the 4th quarter back in NFL history to reach 500 TDs thrown. Brady just did it on Thursday against the Colts.

Redskins 24 Saints 35