Picking Football Games, Week 5

Apparently CBS showed the entire country the Jets-Titans overtime instead of the start of Packers-Steelers last week and people were not happy about it.  Social media was flipping out.  I had no idea about any of this until Monday, seeing as I live in New York, so I was getting the end of the Jets game no matter what.  This week, there's no worry about the Jets game running long.  They're playing the morning game in London, so the whole country gets to watch the entire game whether it wants to or not!

Thursday Night: Seattle (Loss)

Jets (1-3) vs Falcons (1-3): Atlanta-The NFL's first London game since 2019 features a Jets team that actually pulled off a pretty solid win last week and a Falcons team that somehow managed to lose to Washington on the last play of the game.  I wish the British fans had two better teams to watch, but it should at least be a competitive game.  Atlanta's less bad, so I'll go with them.  (Also, I never noticed it until now, but I'm sure it's not a coincidence they went over on a week when there's no Premier League.)

Packers (3-1) at Bengals (3-1): Green Bay-Cincinnati barely beat Jacksonville and probably should've lost to the Jaguars.  But the Bengals pulled it out, moved to 3-1 and stayed tied atop the AFC North.  The Packers present a much different challenge, though.  Green Bay hasn't played its best yet, but is also getting the job done.  And they're the superior team here, so we should see the Packers sitting at 4-1 at week's end.

Lions (0-4) at Vikings (1-3): Minnesota-Now it's down to just the Lions and Jaguars as the last two winless teams in the league.  Although, to be honest, Jacksonville is leaps and bounds better than Detroit at the moment.  This certainly isn't what Jared Goff was expecting.  The Vikings, meanwhile, are better than their record.  And even that record won't look nearly as bad after they manhandle the Lions as expected.

Broncos (3-1) at Steelers (1-3): Pittsburgh-Man, the Steelers need a win!  Badly!  They haven't just lost three straight, they haven't looked good doing it.  Meanwhile, the rest of the AFC North has been winning, and they already find themselves two games out of first after just four weeks.  Fortunately, they've got back-to-back home games before their bye, so they have a reasonable chance of getting to 3-3.  They can't lose to the Broncos, though.

Dolphins (1-3) at Buccaneers (3-1): Tampa Bay-Was there really any doubt that Brady would win in his return to New England?  And, I know what he said about it being just another game, but I don't really buy it.  The good news is the Patriots game is over and the Bucs can simply focus on the rest of the season.  Although, of course, the rest of the season starts with the team that always gave Brady problems when he was in New England.  Regardless, he should find a way to win this one and get Tampa to 4-1.

Saints (2-2) at Washington (2-2): New Orleans-New Orleans finally got to play at home...and lost to the Giants!  That was, in a word, unexpected.  Maybe they're more comfortable on the road, which would mean it's a good thing that they're in Washington this week.  Washington's 2-2, but their wins are over the Giants and Falcons, so take that record as you will.

Eagles (1-3) at Panthers (3-1): Carolina-I'm still not completely sold on Carolina, but I've got to give credit where it's due, and the Panthers certainly deserve some.  Even though they lost last week, they gave the Cowboys all they could handle.  Which is more than I can say the Eagles did when they played Dallas.  I'm not saying how you play against Dallas is any sort of benchmark for the quality of a team, but it does offer a direct comparison between these two.  And right now, Carolina's just better.

Titans (2-2) at Jaguars (0-4): Tennessee-Am I the only one who doesn't get the Tennessee Titans?  They go into Seattle, have that great comeback and beat the Seahawks, then they lose to the Jets in overtime!  Fortunately, they play in the AFC South, so that loss shouldn't hurt them too much.  But another road loss to a winless team certainly will.  Especially with all the drama that's surrounded the Jaguars and coach Urban Meyer over the past week.

Patriots (1-3) at Texans (1-3): New England-Mac Jones opened a lot of people's eyes on Sunday night.  The Patriots might've lost the game, but they'll be winners in the long run.  They'll be the Patriots again before long.  And this week, they should snap their two-game losing streak.

Bears (2-2) at Raiders (3-1): Las Vegas-Even though they lost and, frankly, got outplayed by the Chargers, there were still a lot of good things to take away from the Raiders' effort on Monday night.  Mostly, they gave us every reason to believe their 3-0 start wasn't a fluke and they'll be in it for the long run.  With that being said, considering how competitive the AFC West figures to be this season, they can't afford a home loss to the Bears.

Browns (3-1) at Chargers (3-1): Chargers-They couldn't stop talking about how good they think the Chargers are during the Monday night game last week.  While there's no denying they're good, and that their wins over the Chiefs and Raiders were impressive, it might be a little premature to anoint them the best team in the AFC.  Now they get another good team.  If they do the same thing to the Browns, I might be convinced.

Giants (1-3) at Cowboys (3-1): Dallas-It was a Week 5 home game against the Giants that Dak Prescott destroyed his ankle and the Cowboys' 2021 season.  Almost exactly a year later, Dallas hosts the Giants again and Dak isn't just the odds-on favorite for Comeback Player of the Year, he's an MVP candidate.  And the Cowboys are showing everyone what type of a team they can be when everybody's healthy.

49ers (2-2) at Cardinals (4-0): Arizona-Raise your hand if you had Arizona as the last undefeated team in football.  Anybody?  I didn't think so!  Yet, here we are, with the Cardinals sitting at 4-0 and scoring at least 30 points in all four games.  Will it last?  Probably not.  (I don't even think they're the best team in their own division.)  Will it last at least one more week?  That seems likely.

Bills (3-1) at Chiefs (2-2): Kansas City-We've got a rematch of last season's AFC Championship Game on Sunday night.  The Chiefs rebounded after their back-to-back losses by putting up 42 points against the Eagles, which still wasn't enough to get them out of last place in the AFC West!  The Bills, meanwhile, already enjoy a two-game division lead after winning three straight, two by shutout.  They won't shut out the Chiefs.  That much is for sure.  In fact, they probably won't even win.

Colts (1-3) at Ravens (3-1): Baltimore-First it was the Raiders who got a ridiculously early second Monday night game.  Now it's the Ravens.  This is Baltimore's fifth game, and it's already the third time they've been in prime time (plus a 4:30 game last week).  In the first two, they played really well in an OT loss to the Raiders and a win over the Chiefs.  This one shouldn't be as close as those two were.  The Colts should be outclassed and overmatched.

This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 10-6
Overall: 41-24