What a hell of a week 5 in the NFL! The Lions lose another close one by a field goal, and Coach Campbell cries. Vikings win, and Zimmer shoves away Cousins. Eagles block kick late and beat the punchless Panthers. Dolphins cave-in to the Bucs, Brady is terrific but injures thumb. Rams come back to beat the Seahawks and Russell Wilson injures his finger. Bengals lose a close one to the Packers and Joe Burrows injured his throat. Barkley and Jones injured; Toney gets into a fight, giving the Cowboys an easy win. Overrated Urban Meyer embarrasses himself again, loses again, is still employed and going to London (not USC like we all thought). Red-faced Jon Gruden turns out to be a bigot, resigns amidst a massive email scandal, which probably was the tip of the iceberg. And those… are just the highlights (and lowlights) of week 5 in the NFL.
Here are my picks for week 6!
| Pop’s Record Pop’s record: Week 5: 11–5 / Season 47-33 Against spread (last week): 8-8 / Season 42-38 Upset of the week 2-3 |
| Bucs (4-1) at Eagles (2-3) Line: Bucs favoured by 7 Eagles are better than many thought and winning games. Many injuries on defence weaken Bucs, but Brady’s even more determined. It won’t be a cold and windy night in Philly; nah, no upset. Bucs and Brady win. Bucs win and but don’t over. Eagles lead series 9-7-0. |
| Dolphins (1-4) at Jaguars (0-5) Line: Dolphins are favoured by 3.5. Tua will be ready to play and the Dolphins ready to win with him. The Jaguars are going to lose another one, so when does Urban Meyer get fired. A lot of bars in London to hang around after the game to ease his pain. Dolphins win and cover. Series tied 5-5-0. |
| Vikings (2-3) at Panthers (3-2) Line: Panthers favored by 1.5. I am not so impressed by the Panthers lately as they gifted a game to the Eagles. The Vikings are a strange team. Coach Zimmer and Kirk Cousins got into a shoving match after a win. Panthers are trending down. Despite the peculiar dynamics surrounding the Vikings, they have been competitive and have won games. Panthers get back to winning. Panthers win but don’t cover. Vikings lead series 9-6-0. |
| Packers (4–1) at Bears ( 2-2) Line: Packers favored by 4.5 Packers kicked themselves a few times before being able to beat the Bengals. The Bears shut down the disoriented Raiders last week. This game won’t be close. Packers will dominate. Packers win and cover. Packers lead series 101-95-6. |
| Rams(4-1) at Giants (1-4) Line: Rams favored by 10.5. Which Giants will be healthy to face the near-perfect Rams Last year, Giants played the Rams pretty tough and lost; this year Rams Have has Matthew Stafford. Who will block Aaron Donald. I predict the Rams are not ready after a ten-day mini bye week and look past their lowly hobbled opponent. It will be close. Rams win and cover. Rams 28-17-0 lead series. |
| Chiefs (2-3) at WFT (2-3) Line: Chiefs favored by 6.5. The Chiefs are following the steps of many previous year Super Bowl losers and seemed to be mired in some unexpected losing. The Redskins were supposed to be better on defence, and up to now, they are not. The Chiefs will get back to their winning ways. Chiefs win and cover. Chiefs 9-1-0 lead series. |
| Colts (1-4) at Texans (1-4) Line: Colts favored by 10. Are the Texans turning out to be everyone’s get-well remedy? It looks that way. The Colts will feast on this Texan team that doesn’t have the primary resources to craft a victory. Colts wins but don’t cover. Colts lead series 30-9-0. |
| Chargers (4-1) at Ravens (4-1) Line: Ravens favored by 3.5. The Chargers are riding a high and are getting better each week. Here is where the Chargers will show that they are the class of the AFC. This is my upset of the week special; Chargers beat Ravens. Chargers beat Ravens. Ravens lead series 7-6-0. |
| Bengals (3-2) at Lions (0-5) Line: Bengals favored by 3.5. Are the Lions going to win a game finally? Maybe a snake-bitten Cincy kicker will bail them out by dionging a last-minute go-ahead field goal, and the Lions win 17-16. Not this week! Bengals win and cover. Bengals lead series 9-3-0. |
| Cardinals (5-0) at Browns (3-2) Line: favored by 2.5. End of perfection for the Cardinals. The Browns have a solid defence and dynamic offensive players to beat the Cardinals. So, carefully I am going to take the Browns to win this close game. Browns win and cover. Browns lead Series 33-15-3. |
| Raiders (3-2) at Broncos (3-2) Line: Broncos favored by 3. It’s been a tumultuous week for the Raider organization. Perhaps it’s good to be on the road. Raiders hope to be focusing on beating the Broncos but won’t. Difficult for the new coach and team to deal with this type of upheaval and crunch out a road victory. Broncos win and cover. Raiders lead series 67-54-2. |
| Cowboys (4-1) at Patriots (2-3) Line: Cowboys favored by 4. I’m hearing a lot of Cowboy super-bowl hype. The Cowboys seem to be the real deal. Dak is unstoppable, and their defence now has some playmakers. Patriots just narrowly beat the Texans and have gained a lot of confidence for their new quarterback Mac Jones. Cowboys hype wagon will be stalled for this week as the Patriots win. Patriots win and cover. Cowboys lead series 7-6-0. |
| Seahawks (2-3) at Steelers (2-3) Line: Steelers favoured by 4.5. Steelers are going to feast on this Seahawks this time. Gino Smith gets his chance to shine and does, but the Steelers will score often on the Seahawk’s porous defence. Steelers win and cover. Steelers lead series 10-9-0. |
| Bills (4-1) at Titans (3-2) Line: Bills favored by 4.5 Bills are looking like the class of the AFC. Titans are hot and cold. Bills are overpowering opponents, and Titans are the next opponents and will get overpowered. Titans win and don’t cover. Titans lead series 29-19-0. |