NFL 2022 Week 5 Prequel
Thursday, October 6, 2022, 8pm
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos (-3) — Neither team is playing particularly good football. Russell Wilson has yet to gel with his offense. The Broncos were gashed on the ground last week. Matt Ryan leads an offense plagued by turnovers. Go with the home field. Broncos cover
Sunday, October 9, 2022, 9:30am
New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (-8) in London — Does anyone really take the 3-1 Giants seriously? Aaron Rodgers out-dueled Tom Brady and defeated a pair of defensive minds in Bill Belichick and Todd Bowles. Rodgers will not fear Daniel Jones, who fumbles too often. The Packers have not been that impressive on offense, but their defense has been. The Packers have the experience. Packers cover
1pm
Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills (-14) — Kenny Pickett is making his first NFL start. The Steelers defense melted down at home against the Jets. The Bills have a very good defense and showed a ton of resiliency in overcoming a 17 point deficit to win at Baltimore. A garbage touchdown could beat the high spread. Bills win but fail to cover
Los Angeles Chargers (-3) at Cleveland Browns — The Chargers are perpetual underachievers. Justin Herbert is playing injured. The Browns scare nobody but Nick Chubb can run the ball. The Chargers have the better weapons at quarterback and wide receiver. Chargers cover
Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars (-7) — The Texans might be the worst team in football. The Jaguars are vastly improved. Trevor Lawrence was awful last week, losing four fumbles and an interception. However, that was against perhaps the league’s best team, not its worst. Look for them to rebound since the Texans are talent poor. Jaguars cover
Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings (-7) — The Bears are nothing special. Justin Fields is not playing particularly well. The Vikings have the better quarterback in Kirk Cousins, a good runner in Dalvin Cook, a top receiver in Adam Thielen, and the confines of home field. Vikings cover
Detroit Lions at New England Patriots (-3) —The Lions have the most points in the league but are 1-3 because their defense is a sieve, The Patriots started their backup quarterback last week and were playing their third string quarterback before halftime. Jared Goff was outfoxed by Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl in 2019. Go with the home field and the Evil Hoodie provided Raimondre Stevenson runs well. Patriots cover
Seattle Seahawks at New Orleans Saints (-5 1/2) —The Seahawks gave up 45 points last week and still won. Yet the Saints have a much better defense that Detroit. With Jameis Winston injured, the Saints offense has been less than stellar. Geno Smith has played better than in years past, but the Saints defense has rendered better quarterbacks than smith immobile. The disparity between the teams is not that great. Saints win but fail to cover
Mimi Dolphins (-3) at New York Jets — The Jets overcame a 10 point fourth quarter deficit in a gutsy win at Pittsburgh. Zach Wilson is back. Tua Tagovailoa is still injured. The Dolphins still have a very good defense and the Jets have a long way to go. Dolphins cover
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-8 1/2) — The Falcons have been competitive the last couple of weeks. The Buccaneers have lost two straight, but to much better teams than the Falcons. Trust Tom Brady over Marcus Mariota although Mariota is not playing badly. Given the struggles of the Buccaneers on offense, a garbage touchdown by the Falcons to beat the spread is possible. Buccaneers win but fail to cover
Tennessee Titans (-2.5) at Washington Commanders — The Titans have rebounded from their tough start to the season while the Commanders are not playing well on offense or defense. Ryan Tannehill has not been a liability and Derrick Henry is running with punishing authority. Titans cover
4pm
San Francisco 49ers (-6.5) at Carolina Panthers — — The 49ers continued their regular season domination over the Rams at home. A hangover letdown after a big emotional win seems less likely given how terrible Carolina looked at home last week. Jimmy Garoppolo is back and in a groove. Deebo Samuel is a pinball wizard. The Panthers defense is not terrible. At home, give the Panthers a chance to do just enough to lose respectably. 49ers win but fail to cover
Philadelphia Eagles (-5) at Arizona Cardinals — The Eagles are the only unbeaten team in the league. They showed grit in overcoming a 14-0 deficit to an improving Jacksonville team last week. The Cardinals had a fairly easy road win at Carolina after falling behind 10-0. Kyler Murray has talent but Kevin Siriani is coaching better than Kliff Kingsbury. Jalen Hurts is coming into his own. The spread is high for a road team against a team that shows flashes of brilliance. Eagles win but failure to cover
Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams (-4 1/2) — Cooper Rush has been playing quite well in place of the injured Dak Prescott. The Rams looked listless at San Francisco. Yet at home, the Rams are the more talented team. The Cowboys have star players on both sides of the ball but still have not gelled together as a team. Matthew Stafford has plenty of weapons on offense. Sean McVay calls plays as well as anyone in the business. Rams cover
8pm
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens (-3) —The Ravens would be 4-0 but have twice at home blown leads of 17 points or more. The Bengals got off to a bad start to the season but appear to have rebounded. Nevertheless, Lamar Jackson is playing as well as ever. Meanwhile, Joe Burrow still gets sacked too often. John Harbaugh has not forgotten how to coach. Trust Jackson to run wild all over the Cincinnati defense. Ravens cover
Monday, October 10, 8pm
Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs (-7) — Two years ago the Raiders went into Kansas City in Week 5 and beat the Chiefs. Derek Carr went blow for blow with Patrick Mahomes. Yet last year the Chiefs blasted the Raiders twice. Walrus Andy Reid is a wizard play-caller. Josh McDaniels will never win this game with West Coast Offense dinking and dunking. The only chance the Raiders have is to have bell cow Josh Jacobs be a battering ram. Long punishing ground and pound drives would keep Mahomes on the sideline. realistically, the Chiefs are better coached and at home. Chiefs cover