My 2022 NFL Picks (Week 5)

It's a good thing I don't have Amazon Prime and I refuse to get it just to watch Thursday Night Football (and the Yankee games that YES insists on making their fans pay extra to watch).  Because that Colts-Broncos game must've been brutal!  A game that goes to overtime with the only scoring coming on seven field goals.  Thrilling stuff!

Thursday Night: Denver (Loss)

Giants (3-1) vs Packers (3-1): Green Bay-Green Bay becomes the 32nd and final team to play in London.  Although, if you think about it, it makes sense that the Packers have never played there before.  Every home game they play is sold out, so they wouldn't want to give one up, and their fans travel, so their opponents would always want to make sure that game was played in their stadium.  But, now that teams don't have a choice about going to London, the Brits will be exposed to Aaron Rodgers for the first time.  Hopefully this game is as good as Vikings-Saints was.  Either way, I see the NFC North moving to 2-0 across the pond this season.

Steelers (1-3) at Bills (3-1): Buffalo-So, it turns out it wasn't just Chicago.  Mitchell Trubisky might just be a bad quarterback.  So the Steelers made the drastic move and benched him.  Which they had to do if they have any chance of saving their season.  Unfortunately, it doesn't matter who their quarterback is against the Bills.  Make it four straight losses for Pittsburgh.

Chargers (2-2) at Browns (2-2): Chargers-Is this gonna be another one of those seasons where completely different Chargers teams show up every week?  So, which Chargers will it be?  The ones that lost (badly) at home to Jacksonville?  Or the ones that went to Houston last week and put 34 points on the board (albeit against the Texans' defense)?  I'll go with the latter, mainly because I just can't bring myself to pick the Cleveland Browns in any game.

Bears (2-2) at Vikings (3-1): Minnesota-As I've said numerous times, it doesn't matter who the coach or the quarterback is.  The Bears, as a team, simply aren't that good.  The Vikings, meanwhile, are.  It is odd, though, that they'll have played all five of their division home games by Week 5.  I'm also a little concerned about jetlag, coming back from London without a bye week in between.  Not enough to pick Chicago, but concerned that it'll make the game closer than it should be.

Lions (1-3) at Patriots (1-3): New England-When was the last time New England was in sole possession of last place?  I'm not talking about being in last place because they started 0-1 either!  All is not lost for the Patriots, though.  The Packers needed overtime to beat them at Lambeau last week, and their schedule is about to become a lot easier.  Starting with this week's win over the Lions.

Seahawks (2-2) at Saints (1-3): New Orleans-That was crazy in London!  A 61-yarder to tie the game, then losing because he missed a 62-yarder from pretty much the same exact spot.  The Saints actually looked really good in that game, too.  And Andy Dalton looked great!  Not the Cincinnati Andy Dalton, but certainly good enough for the Saints to feel comfortable not rushing Jamies Winston back.

Dolphins (3-1) at Jets (2-2): Miami-Tua won't play.  Just like he shouldn't have against Cincinnati, but did anyway until he got concussed again!  The good news is that, since they played on Thursday night last week, the Dolphins have had 10 days to figure out a game plan without him.  After the Jets won in Pittsburgh last week, teams know not to take them lightly.  But I still think the Dolphins go into MetLife and win.

Falcons (2-2) at Buccaneers (2-2): Tampa Bay-Tom Brady's had a rough week.  The Bucs have lost two straight, and now we find out that he and Giselle are getting divorced!  Tampa Bay is also somehow tied with Atlanta for first place even though the Falcons aren't good.  That should change this week, as Tampa will once again assert itself as the best team in the NFC South.

Titans (2-2) at Commanders (1-3): Washington-Call me crazy, but I like the Commanders in this one.  I can't put a reason on why.  I just think they'll win.  Maybe it's because they're playing the Titans, who don't exactly exude confidence.  Yes, they've won two in a row, but it would be hard to say either of those efforts was particularly inspiring.  It's not like Washington has been too inspiring, either.  I still think they'll win, though.

Texans (0-3-1) at Jaguars (2-2): Jacksonville-With the Raiders getting their first win last week, Houston is now the only winless team in the league.  But the Texans had that tie in Week 1, so we already know they won't be challenging the 0-16 Lions and Browns.  The Jaguars, meanwhile, are tied for first place with the Titans.  Bet you didn't see that one coming!  After this week, we'll be staring at a 3-2 Jacksonville team.

49ers (2-2) at Panthers (1-3): San Francisco-The 49ers' regular season dominance of the Rams continues!  Now they head to Charlotte looking for their first road win of the season.  It's not exactly like they've played a who's who of the NFL on the road either!  Chicago and Denver.  And that Broncos game was a thrilling 11-10 barnburner!  They'll probably beat the Panthers, but it likely won't be pretty.

Cowboys (3-1) at Rams (2-2): Dallas-I understand that they front-loaded the good teams' schedules with other good teams so that they could have good TV matchups in the beginning of the season, but the Rams' schedule so far has been ridiculous!  Bills, Falcons, Cardinals, 49ers, Cowboys.  That's four playoff teams in the first five weeks.  Yes, two of them are conference game, and, yes, they won the Super Bowl last year.  But still, that's brutal.  It'll get better for them after this week, but they'll be 2-3 by then.

Eagles (4-0) at Cardinals (2-2): Arizona-Well, that Philadelphia vs. Cardinals doubleheader won't happen after all!  And this looks like the one that'll have the '72 Dolphins cracking the champagne.  Are the Eagles the best team in the NFC, maybe even the entire NFL?  Probably.  But winning in Arizona is not an easy task.  They'll be reminded of that this week.

Bengals (2-2) at Ravens (2-2): Cincinnati-Is it too early to say this is a big one in the AFC North?  The Ravens and Bengals are tied for first place with the Browns, and they figure to be the two at the top of the division in January, too.  Cincinnati has finally started looking like last year's Bengals after that 0-2 start, while the Ravens finally get to test themselves against a team that's not in the AFC East!  I like the momentum the Bengals have right now.  Enough to pick them on the road.

Raiders (1-3) at Chiefs (3-1): Kansas City-We all know that the Chiefs are good, but they made a big statement last week.  It wasn't just that they went into Tampa and won.  It's how they won.  They hung 41 points on a defense that many people think is the best in the league!  Which goes to show that really, the only team that's beating the Chiefs is themselves.  Certainly not the Raiders.

This Week: 0-1
Last Week: 11-5
Overall: 35-29-1