NFL Week 5 Winning Predictions

Posted by Jordan Walterss on Monday,October 3, 2016 11:31, EDT in

Hard is it is to believe, most teams are now a quarter through their regular-season schedule for the 2016 NFL season. And what the heck is wrong with the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals? Those clubs met in the NFC title game last year but both are 1-3 right now. Here are some early winning picks on NFL odds for Week 5.

Let’s Take a Look at the NFL Week 5 Winning Predictions

Atlanta Falcons at Denver Broncos (-4.5, 47)

What will Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Julio Jones do for an encore? The Falcons surprised the Panthers on Sunday behind career games from both. Ryan passed for 503 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. Ryan’s performance is the 19th 500-yard passing game in NFL history. Jones had 12 catches for 300 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons’ 48-33 win. Jones is the sixth player in NFL history to record at least 300 receiving yards in a game. The Falcons are the first team in NFL history to have a 500-yard passer and 300-yard receiver in the same game.

Will Denver have starting QB Trevor Siemian for this game? It’s not looking good as Siemian hurt his non-throwing shoulder in Sunday’s 27-7 win at Tampa Bay. Siemian has been initially reported to have suffered an AC joint sprain in the shoulder and will have an MRI on Monday. It seems likely he misses at least one game and that could open the door for rookie Paxton Lynch to steal the job for good. Lynch played well in Siemian’s place vs. the Bucs, going 14 of 24 for 170 yards and a TD. He’s the future for this game and the future might be now. Lynch, a first-round quarterback from Memphis, didn’t play a snap in the Broncos’ first three games. I’m taking the points here.

New England Patriots at Cleveland Browns (+10.5, 46.5)

Not sure if you heard, but some guy named Tom Brady will make his season debut in this game for the Patriots off his four-game Deflategate suspension. He’s likely to have a monster chip on his shoulder. Brady’s suspension officially ended on Monday, meaning he could start practicing. The Pats won their first three games without Brady but the offense did little behind rookie Jacoby Brissett in Sunday’s 16-0 loss to Buffalo. The Patriots, who moved into Gillette Stadium in 2002, were last blanked at home 6-0 by the New York Jets in 1993 at Foxboro Stadium. New England finished 1 for 12 on third downs and managed just 277 total yards. The Patriots drove into Buffalo territory only four times, with three of those drives ending in a lost fumble by Brissett, a missed field goal, and a turnover on downs. The Patriots also get defensive end Rob Ninkovich back this week from his suspension.

Cleveland is pretty clearly the NFL’s worst team, falling to 0-4 after a 31-20 loss at Washington in Week 4. Browns running back Isaiah Crowell ran for 112 yards and a touchdown, and rookie QB Kessler was 27 of 38 for 215 yards, one touchdown and one interception. In an oddity, Duke Johnson Jr.’s fourth-quarter fumble was given by officials to Washington even though Johnson was standing on the field with the ball raised in the air, in his hand. This was to be the season debut of Browns receiver Josh Gordon off his suspension as well but he had a slip-up and has entered rehab. He won’t ever play for the Browns again or most likely anywhere this season. What a shame.

Brady will play angry here. Give the points on NFL odds even though I usually take double-digit home favorites. New England rarely loses two games in a row: the Patriots have lost two games a row only six times in the past 13 seasons.