NFL Week 5 Picks

The Cowboys might be on their bye week and preparing for their Week 6 showdow in Foxboro against Tom Brady and the Patriots, but that doesn't mean the staff at SB Nation Dallas is taking a break from the NFL -- even with the Rangers in the ALCS. As always, the staff here make our fearless weekly picks, with this week being highlighted by the Pats/Jets, Pack/Falcons and Lions/Bears. 

Philadelphia (1-3) at Buffalo (3-1) - Who knew that the Bills would be 3-1 and the Eagles would be 1-3? Not even Chan Gailey or Jim Kelly knew. If the Eagles lose this game, on the heels of the Phillies losing to the Cardinals, things could get pretty ugly in Philadelphia for Andy Reid, Mike Vick et al. 

• Christopher Fittz: Eagles
• Robbie Griffin: Eagles
• K.D. Drummond: Bills - I looked up poetic justice. It showed Eagles trolls next to their '2010 Cowboys' jokes.
• Maurice London: Eagles - As much as I love the dysfunction that's going on in Philly, they're desperate.
• Liam Ponting: Eagles - I don't think the Eagles are this bad and last week should start a slight tumble back to reality for Buffalo.
• Brett Perryman: Eagles - The media would love a Bills win here, as would I. The Eagles are in crisis mode and will play their tails off.
• JP Starkey: Eagles - A win over an overrated Bills team will give the Eagles all the fake confidence in the world to fail in the coming weeks.

Kansas City (1-3) at Indianapolis (0-4) - On paper headed into this year, this game looked like it could have been pretty interesting as both the Chiefs and the Colts made the playoffs last year. That was coming into the year. Now with the Chiefs in disarray and Peyton Manning still hurt, this game is maybe the worst matchup of the week.

• Fittz: Colts
• Griffin: Colts
• Drummond: Chiefs - Cassel or Painter? Innocent dogs are kicked everywhere.
• London: Colts - I didn't watch but people tell me Painter looked good last week. I see he went 13-30. Whatever.
• Ponting: Chiefs - I have no faith in Curtis Painter.
• Perryman: Colts - Winless team gets their first W #1
• Starkey: Colts - Just picking Indy because I want Pierre Garcon to do well, thank you fantasy football.

Arizona (1-3) at Minnesota (0-4) - Donovan McNabb might be on a pretty short leash from here on out, as the Vikings are an ugly 0-4 to start the season. Kevin Kolb isn't off to the best start in Arizona himself, leading the Cardinals to just one win in his first four games as a starter in the desert.

• Fittz: Cardinals
• Griffin: Vikings
• Drummond: Cardinals - Beanie Wells outrushes All Day Peterson, who's nickname takes it's smoke break in the 2nd half, again.
• London: Vikings - 4 games in and Arizona wants to run Kolb out of town. Good times.
• Ponting: Vikings - Vikings finally win one against a mediocre Cards team.
• Perryman: Vikings - Winless team gets their first W #2
• Starkey: Cardinals - The McNabb era ends in Minnesota after this loss.

Seattle (1-3) at New York (3-1) - Despite all the injuries, the New York football Giants are 3-1, and should move to 4-1 as Pete Carroll's Seahawks head into New Jersey. 

• Fittz: Giants
• Griffin: Giants
• Drummond: Giants - Someone needs to call the FBI to figure out how this decidedly average team is going to be 4-1
• London: Giants - I keep saying the Giants are awful- and they are- but they keep winning.
• Ponting: Giants - Seahawks on the road? Against an east coast team? No chance.
  
• Perryman: Giants - Baseball season is over in early October in New York again, but the G-men are in first place for a couple more weeks.
• Starkey: Giants - Yawn.

Tennessee (3-1) at Pittsburgh (2-2) - Matt Hasselbeck has done an excellent job so far for the Titans, leading them to a quick 3-1 start. Ben Roethlisberger looks like he'll play despite all his physical (and you could argue mental, as well) ailments. 

• Fittz: Steelers
• Griffin: Steelers
• Drummond: Steelers - Refuse to bury this team.
• London: Titans - The Matt Hasselbeck revival continues.
• Ponting: Steelers - The Steelers are banged up and haven't been impressive, but I'll give them the edge at home.
• Perryman: Steelers - "I think as awesome as my wedding was, it was probably a bad thing for some of these guys because the coaches and people got to see how big some of them got." Big Ben, you're the best.
• Starkey: Titans - CJ2K breaks out, Steelers go into panic mode.

New Orleans (3-1) at Carolina (1-3) - Cam Newton has turned out to be a bad ass so far, but don't get carried away He's still thrown five picks to go along with his five touchdown passes, and he'll have to have a pretty damn good game on Sunday to keep up with Drew Brees and the Saints.

• Fittz: Saints
• Griffin: Saints
• Drummond: Saints - Drew Breeeeeeessss. Shootout.
• London: Saints - This game should be fun.
• Ponting: Saints - This one could be a shootout.
• Perryman: Saints - At least you Panthers did find yourself a QB. Now, for a defense...
• Starkey: Saints - I'm not sure this game is going to be that close, but then again I'm not totally on the Newton wagon. 

Cincinnati (2-2) at Jacksonville (1-3) - Andy Dalton vs. Blaine Gabbert. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm for this game.

• Fittz: Jaguars
• Griffin: Bengals
• Drummond: Bengals - Fully expect game tape from this contest to make a cameo on Showtime's Homeland series as a terrorist torture tool.
• London: Bengals - This game should be the opposite of fun.
• Ponting: Bengals - Gabbert will continue to struggle.
• Perryman: Jaguars - If this game were a food, it would taste like cooked broccoli that's been left out for two weeks.
• Starkey: Jaguars - Just going with the home team, though if all of 74 people are in the stands for this game, does that even matter?

Oakland (2-2) at Houston (3-1) - This is one of the more interesting matchups of the week, and it'll be emotionally heavy for the Raiders too, with Al Davis' death on Saturday. Houston will be looking to move to 4-1 without Andre Johnson, while the Raiders look to recover from a home loss to the Patriots.

• Fittz: Raiders
• Griffin: Texans
• Drummond: Raiders - Winne the Pooh, aka Wade Phillips, spills honey on Al Davis' track suit and WWIII breaks out.
• London: Raiders - I like Oakland and I think the Andre Johnson injury closes the gap just enough for them to sneak this road win.
• Ponting: Texans - Raiders are just too one-dimensional to win at Houston. With Arian Foster back against the Raiders' terrible run defense...I'll take the Texans.
• Perryman: Texans - You think of the Raiders as kind of a workmanlike, physical team this year, but they're scoring and allowing 28 ppg.
• Starkey: Raiders - Oakland can find a way to shut down the Texans without Johnson.

Tampa Bay (3-1) at San Francisco (3-1) - Are these the two least inspiring 3-1 teams ever? Quite possibly, though at least the Bucs are fun to watch with Blount and Freeman. San Francisco's lone loss this year came against the Cowboys in overtime, so it's scarily possible that the Niners could have been 4-0 headed into this game.

• Fittz: Bucs
• Griffin: 49ers
• Drummond: 49ers - Oh-vur-ray-ted! clap..clap..clap-clap-clap
• London: 49ers - Both of these teams are somehow 3-1. The NFL is weird.
• Ponting: 49ers - Josh Freeman desperately needs to step his game up.
• Perryman: Bucs - The 49ers are 3-1? Amazing.
• Starkey: Bucs - They're just better than San Francisco.

San Diego (3-1) at Denver (1-3) - Are the Broncos going to have any of their quarterbacks on their roster for next year? Will Phillip Rivers ever be likeable? Will a Norv Turner team not choke when it counts? I'm asking questions, Stan!

• Fittz: Chargers
• Griffin: Chargers
• Drummond: Chargers - Can we get an Anakin Skywalker prosthetic for Antonio Gates leg? #FFHating
• London: Chargers - We'll probably get a Tebow sighting this week. From the bench as usual.
• Ponting: Chargers - Denver's not very good.
• Perryman: Chargers - Sensing that the holidays are approaching, Philip Rivers seeks out some Denver orphans to taunt after the game.
• Starkey: Chargers - Not even Tim Tebow can pray his way to victory here.

New York (2-2) at New England (3-1) - The Jets are winless on the road, the Patriots haven't lost at home in the regular season since the beginning of time, maybe even before that. No, but really, this might be the best game of the week, with the Jets needing a win and the Patriots looking to really separate themselves from the Jets. 

• Fittz: Patriots
• Griffin: Patriots
• Drummond: Patriots - How much joy do you think Belichick will take in burying Rex Ryan? Spontaneous combustion levels?
• London: Patriots - The Jets' descent into irrelevancy continues.
• Ponting: Patriots - Sanchez should have more success this week, but NE is still the better team.
• Perryman: Patriots - We'll get to hear Rex Ryan yammer on about how the Jets are really the better team despite the result, wait until the playoffs, etc., etc.
• Starkey: Patriots - Brady's march towards a third MVP continues as he shreds New York's defense.

Green Bay (4-0) at Atlanta (2-2) - The Pack look to move to 5-0, but the Falcons probably need this game much more. Being under .500 after Week 5 isn't a pleasant feeling, and the Falcons really need a good effort this week -- they've looked pretty lame so far this year.

• Fittz: Packers
• Griffin: Packers
• Drummond: Falcons - Because I don't want to see the Pack win 15 games this year.
• London: Packers - This will probably be a repeat of the Packers week one win. I'm excited.
• Ponting: Packers - Atlanta needs to win this one to keep up with the Saints, but GB is too tough of a test at the moment.
• Perryman: Packers - Almost went with the homestanders, but are the Falcons even particularly good?
• Starkey: Falcons - I think Green Bay is the better team, but Atlanta is borderline desperate, and underperforming.

Chicago (2-2) at Detroit (4-0) - An excellent Monday night game in Detroit. When was the last time anybody said that? This game will kick off a crazy sports week in Detroit, as the Tigers will be hosting Games 3, 4 and 5 of the ALCS on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

• Fittz: Bears
• Griffin: Lions
• Drummond: Bears - F Jim Schwartz.
• London: Lions - The Lions debut will debut Nick Fairley on Monday. They're scary good.
• Ponting: Lions - Momentum squarely with the home team here.
  
• Perryman: Lions - Jim Schwartz is really going to enjoy talking after the game about how crappy Roy Williams is.
• Starkey: Lions - It's fun to see the Lions do well.