We’re coming off a 10-5 Week 4 performance that leaves us at 61% for the season, 67% over the past three weeks.
NOTE: Published originally on Tuesday, October 6. All games on Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.
Tampa Bay 26, Chicago 17 (Thursday night): The Buccaneers hit the road on a short week, but they have more than enough firepower to handle the Bears. Tampa Bay had to rally late to subdue the Chargers last week, but they shouldn’t fall behind in the Windy City. Last week, the Bears showed how mediocre they are despite their 3-0 start.
Baltimore 40, Cincinnati 17: The Bengals are coming off their first win of the Joe Burrow era, a home victory over Jacksonville. Now Cincinnati steps up in class in a road game in Baltimore. To continue on the road to a conference championship and Super Bowl, the Ravens need to tighten up defensively and get a more consistent pass rush. Practice makes perfect this week v. the Bengals.
Pittsburgh 31, Philadelphia 10: The Battle of Keystone (the state, not the beer) isn’t going to be nearly as compelling as neutral fans would like it to be–given the Eagles’ injury and depth problems. Besides, the Steelers are at home, where they shouldn’t have problems.
Indianapolis 27, Cleveland 20: This is strictly a hunch play. I still don’t believe Cleveland is as good as what it has shown so far. Meanwhile, Colts’ quarterback Philip Rivers hasn’t deteriorated nearly as much as some observers said he would. I’m not sure he has deteriorated at all. Indianapolis gets the road win.
Los Angeles Rams 34, Washington 19: Washington is home for a second straight week against another team that should wear it down. The Rams are a tougher team from a rugged division. ‘Nuff said.
Kansas City 33, Las Vegas 19: The Raiders are heading for a bye week after what looks to be a fruitless trip to play the defending Super Bowl champs. Once upon a time, this game was one of the league’s most bitter and violent NFL archrivalries. Not today. Kansas City is the league’s best team. Las Vegas? Well….
Houston 23, Jacksonville 15: I expected Houston to take a step back this year and finish 7-9, but I didn’t expect an 0-4 start and coach/general manager Bill O’Brien’s early departure. But if there’s good news in the Lone Star State, it’s that the Jaguars are coming to town. If Houston loses this one, it could be the very definition of “rock bottom.”
Arizona 30, New York Jets 10: Jets quarterback Sam Darnold showed a bit of toughness last week–getting injured against the Broncos and, then, coming back to nearly give Gang Green its first win. Now at 0-4, another ‘L’ awaits Sunday.
Buffalo 29, Tennessee 17: Finally, the Bills get revenge for that long-ago “Music City Miracle.” I know it’s a road game for Buffalo, but the Bills aren’t just doing it with defense these days. Plus, the Titans’ have troubles with COVID-19, and that’s sure to be disruptive. No miracle this time.
Carolina 30, Atlanta 26: Teddy Bridgewater and the Panthers have shown a lot of fight against pretty good opposition to date. This week, they hit the road to play the Falcons, a team that’s working on a short week and is suffering from defensive woes. That spells ‘P-a-n-t-h-e-r-s W-i-n.”
Dallas 38, New York Giants 30: The shockingly bad Cowboys’ defense is a prominent storyline of NFL 2020. This week they’re at home to face a Giants’ team that’s prone to surrendering points. Daniel Jones has turned into a turnover machine. Dallas prevails. (Woe is the word for NY area fans: the Jets and Giants are a combined 0-8.)
New England 27, Denver 16: The Broncos got their first win last week against the Jets. Now, they fly east to play New England. While the Patriots aren’t what they used to be, they’re playing a Denver team that’s struggling. (A sign that the Patriots are still getting leaguewide respect is that Sunday’s game was flexed into the late-afternoon TV window.)
San Francisco 24, Miami 17: I expect Jimmy Garoppolo to return at quarterback for San Francisco. That said, kudos to the 49ers backup signal-callers who kept the ship afloat–albeit against inferior competition. For Jimmy’s benefit, the soft portion of the ‘Nines’ schedule continues this week against the Dolphins.
Seattle 23, Minnesota 17 (Sunday night): Pre-season, this looked like a red-pencil game. September performances say it’s not. While the Seahawks are as good as we thought they’d be, Minnesota is definitely not. Yes, the Vikings beat Houston last week, but the Seahawks are better equipped to win right now.
New Orleans 33, Los Angeles Chargers 23 (Monday night): Things aren’t going the way the Saints expected. NO lost two of its first three games and had to come-from-behind last Sunday to beat Detroit. But even despite Justin Herbert’s rapid rise as the Chargers’ quarterback, he’ll face Drew Brees this week on the road. Those are two reasons I’ll go with the Saints.
