Week 5 in the NFL is upon us. Are we ready? Of course we are, it’s Friday and time to lock in our final predictions for the weekend. Fresh off the heels of the Pats beating up on the Colts, we’re ready to take on the rest of the card. Lots of key games on tap this Sunday. Some must win games for teams like the Steelers and Eagles. They both face starting off the first half of the season with poor records. Doesn’t this happen every year? Where the teams who made it to the conference championship games struggle out of the gate? Let’s jump right into this week’s NFL Week 5 predictions against the spread to give you some winners for your leagues at Wannamakeabet.com or if you’re playing for real money.
Ravens – 3 @ Cleveland – Baltimore has a history of laying an egg after an impressive win. This week looks to be no different. They face a much better pass rush and secondary from Cleveland that Pittsburgh has. Same goes on the other side of the ball. Cleveland’s offense won’t have much room or success against this D. And you know what that means. The kicking game. This favors Baltimore and sadly feels like another close loss for the Browns. 19-17 final. Browns cover and lose again.
Carolina – 6 over Giants – Try and lock this line in before it moves to 7. Panthers rested off the bye. Giants offensive line sucks. Eli sucks. The defense has been playing better but that only keeps them in it for a while. Similar to the Saint game. They’ll hang around but eventually the levee breaks and Carolina wins by at least 7.
Bengals – 6 over Miami – The Bengals really struggle on defense and that’s not good against this talented Miami offense. The public will be high on Cincy after the win at Atlanta and the Dolphins getting blown out by New England. This sets up perfectly for a Miami cover this week. Add in the fact that Mixon is a bit banged up and an outright upset could be in the cards. Either way, take the 6 and enjoy.
Viking + 3 at Eagles – Strange to find both of these teams really needing this win on Sunday, but that is in fact the case. The Viking offense looks terrific against the Rams and we should see more of the same this week. Meanwhile, the Eagles need to get Alshon Jeffrey going or they could have serious problems. Speaking of problems, the Eagles defense is horrible, and that will be the difference in this game as the Vikings get a much needed road win to get their season back on track.
Rams – 7.5 at Seattle – The commish is not a fan of the Seahawks. This much is documented. And this week sets up for yet another really tough time for Seattle as they try and slow down the offensive machine that puts up 35 a game for the Rams. It’s the historical dominance at home versus the league’s best offense and we think the latter wins big. Like 35-14 big.
Saints – 6.5 over Redskins – This week’s Monday Night affair has the Saints at home. Drew Brees will take over as the all time pass yards leader and the all time pass leader will surely have a good game. But the Redskins are coming off a bye and almost won this same game last year. The Saint defense is not good, so Alex Smith will get his points. The game will be a lot closer than people think and the heavy pile on for Survivor pools on the Saints won’t help. This one comes down to the wire and the Saints get the win but as always, they make it interesting. 34-31 final.
Jackson Chambers is a Wannamakeabet.com Senior Staff Writer