Sorry for the long hiatus, folks. As you can see from my last entry, my week 2 picks were anything but locks. Certainly, this NFL season has brought its fair share of surprises and upsets. The buzzword here is 'parity' - which would account for uneven records from the 0-4 New Orleans Saints to the 4-0 Arizona Cardinals. Nothing is a sure bet in the NFL, week in and week out. With that being said, I'm looking at this week to improve upon my 8-8 record from my previous predictions. Surely I can't do worse than .500 this week, right? .... Right?? Well, here are my week 5 NFL picks starting with tomorrow night's game - dissect away. WEEK 5: THURSDAY NIGHT: ARIZONA CARDINALS @ ST LOUIS RAMS The Pick: Maybe I'm getting too cute with this one, but I like the Rams at home against Arizona. The Cardinals are off to a 4-0 start but will face a much improved 2012 Rams team. If the Rams can contain the WR combo of Roberts and Fitzgerald, they will be in line for a W. On a short week and on the road, I'm not buying the Cardinals hype just yet. SUNDAY EARLY GAMES (NOON CT): BALTIMORE RAVENS @ KANSAS CITY CHIEFS The Pick: Although Arrowhead is one of the tougher venues to play in, I don't foresee the Ravens being challenged by the hapless Chiefs. I'll try not to overthink this one - Ravens on the road by at least a touchdown. CLEVELAND BROWNS @ NEW YORK GIANTS The Pick: When in doubt, say NO to the Browns. At 0-4, they might be the league's worst team. The Giants are not perfect, but they fell just short of upsetting Philadelphia on the road last week. Putting it lightly, the Browns are not equal to the Eagles. G-men roll at home. MIAMI DOLPHINS @ CINCINNATI BENGALS The Pick: I'll take the Bengals at home here, although the Dolphins are probably better than I give them credit for. I'd expect both teams to put up 21+ points. Expect another monster game from A.J. Green as the Bengals will look to air it out vs. Miami. GREEN BAY PACKERS @ INDIANAPOLIS COLTS The Pick: This could be a 'trap' game for the Pack against a sneaky good Colts team. Indy will surely be motivated to play for their HC Chuck Pagano, who announced his battle with Leukemia this past week. Even with emotions riding high, the Packers are the better team... yuck. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES @ PITTSBURGH STEELERS The Pick: I went back and forth on this matchup before settling on the Steelers. The Eagles and Michael Vick are flying high but are prone to turnovers and sloppy football. Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, and Rashard Mendenhall all return to action this week and Pittsburgh is coming off their bye week. The Steelers will get the better of Philly in this one. ATLANTA FALCONS @ WASHINGTON REDSKINS The Pick: Once again, I'm picking a road team to take care of business. Atlanta is one of three undefeated teams and looks like the class of the NFC at the moment. Rookie phenom RGIII seems like the real deal and he will get his numbers again this week. Unfortunately for 'Skins fans, their defense has holes everywhere - I'm predicting huge games for the trio of Ryan, White, and Jones. Hot-lanta continues their impressive start. SUNDAY LATE GAMES (3 - 3:25PM CT) + PRIMETIME (SNF, MNF) SEATTLE SEAHAWKS @ CAROLINA PANTHERS The Pick: The Panthers win this one, but it won't be pretty. I'd expect Cam Newton to repeat on his success from week 4. Seattle is a deceptively good team, but they are much more vulnerable away from the friendly confines of the 12th man. CHICAGO BEARS @ JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS The Pick: Maybe it's the fantasy football side of me, but I think the Bears D/ST will actually outscore the Jaguars offense on Sunday. With three touchdowns over their last two games, the Bears defensive unit is a force to be reckoned with. Pretty safe to say that QB Blaine Gabbert won't strike fear in the likes of Urlacher, Peppers, and Tillman. BUFFALO BILLS @ SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS The Pick: The Bills are a mess on defense and are counting on two RB's recovering from injury (Jackson and Spiller) to carry the load against the best run D in the NFL. Uhh.. not happening. 49ers blow out the Bills at home. DENVER BRONCOS @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS The Pick: Nothing compares to watching Peyton and Tom Brady face off at QB against one another. With that said, this game will come down to their supporting casts. I do think Denver has the stronger defense, but I like the Patriots for the simple fact that they are at home. Expect a shoot-out. This game will be a pleasure to watch. TENNESSEE TITANS @ MINNESOTA VIKINGS The Pick: Even if I weren't heavily biased towards picking the Vikings, I think I still would. At 3-1, the Vikes are the surprise team of the NFL so far. The Titans can't stop anything on defense and have a number of problems on offense as well. Skol Vikings! Minnesota moves to 4-1. SAN DIEGO CHARGERS @ NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (SNF) The Pick: I honestly think the Saints might be the best 0-4 team ever. Don't count out QB Drew Brees, as he looks to set the all-time record for consecutive games with a throwing TD (48). The Chargers will gouge the shoddy Saints defense, but this is a must-win for New Orleans at home. Expect some ridiculous offensive statistics in this game. HOUSTON TEXANS @ NEW YORK JETS (MNF) The Pick: Things don't get any easier for Rex Ryan and co. coming off a 34-0 dismantling from the 49ers in week 4. With Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes now lost for the season, the Jets are far from 100%. They face (arguably) the best team in the NFL in the Texans. Houston is the rare team that can beat you with their offense and defense. The boo birds will come out as the Texans crush the Jets at the Meadowlands and in primetime. Well, there you have it. Thanks for reading along. Again, here are this weeks picks:
Rams, Ravens, Giants, Bengals, Packers, Steelers, Falcons, Panthers, Bears, 49ers, Patriots, Vikings, Saints, Texans As always, I encourage you to make your own predictions and compare them to mine. After all, it wasn't too difficult to best my 8-8 record from week 2. Hope you enjoyed this week's predictions - stay posted for more articles in the coming weeks!
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AuthorHey, I'm Ted Sorensen and this is my sports & personal blog. Leave some comments and let me know what you think! Archives
June 2016
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