It’s time for the 2012 NFL week 5 predictions and picks. As usual, Thursday’s NFL day begins with a surprising big matchup. Who would have guessed that St. Louis Arizona would be the host of the upcoming game season? In fact, the two teams have combined to win 7 of their first 8 games in the NFL claiming an eight-of-5 tilt.
So who will win? The Rams have been tough at home and coming off a big win in Seattle. The Cardinals looked suspicious before rushing to upset Miami this past week. So what are my predictions and 5 war picks this week? I’ll take the Rams home to win 27-20. St. Louis should improve to 4-1 and I think Steven Jackson is finally on track if he’s available. If not, Sam Bradford will find Danny Amendola for the game winning score.
Let’s move on to Sunday’s 2012 NFL Week 5 schedule. Miami travels to Cincinnati to face the Bengals. The Dolphins are humbled after seeing an early lead fade away in a loss to Arizona. The Bengals just looked like a playoff quality team. My gut says the Bengals have too much firepower. Cincy takes this one home 30-21. Andy Dal finds A.J. Green had yet another touchdown.
Green Bay is at Indianapolis to face the chickens. The Packers avoided a loss against New Orleans, but I don’t think this one will be a super ending. In the end, the Packers completely turned their offense around in a 38-17 road win. Andrew Luck was picked off 3 times in the loss. Aaron Rodgers fires 4 more touchdown passes en route to a Packer win.
Baltimore heads to Kansas City to face up and most tall heads down. The Ravens found plenty of running back Ray Rice as he rolled for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 24-13 win.
Atlanta goes to Munich to face Robert Griffin III. Can the Falcons stay undefeated through the 5 week schedule? My guess is that Atlanta found a way to make it go away. Matt Ryan found Roddy White for the game winning score in overtime, 30-24.
Cleveland will travel to New York for the Giants. The Browns didn’t look half bad in Baltimore but I think this one has a completely different feel and look. Need to get thin 33-16. Eli Manning throws 3 touchdown passes in the win.
My 2012 NFL Week 5 predictions and picks continue with Philadelphia at Pittsburgh. The Steelers are very loose this season, but even the Eagles want to cough up the ball. Could we be looking at 2 teams that just can’t score 5 touchdowns in week 1? I think this one has defense written all over the world. The Steelers make a field goal wide and win 16-13.
Seattle visits Carolina. The Panthers are coming off a heartbreaking upset of Atlanta. Cam Newton takes over the show after some tough losses in the past few weeks. Newton throws 3 touchdown passes and runs for another in a 31-17 win.
Chicago arrived on the way to Jacksonville. Will the Maurice Jones-Drew Bears slow down? I think Chicago goes in for the kill on the road and wins 23-16. It won’t be pretty but Jay Cutler hit Brandon Marshall for the game winning score in the fourth quarter.
Tennessee plays at Minnesota in what could be an interesting matchup. Does anyone expect the Vikings to be competitive? The Titans certainly weren’t in Houston last week. My NFL week 5 reads for this one say the Vikings will win 24-20. Adrian Peterson gets 143 yards and 2 scores.
Denver and Peyton Manning travel to New England in what could be the biggest and most interesting matchup of the week. The only problem is that Tom Brady will hold Denver’s defense for 365 yards and 4 scores. Pats win it 36-22.
Buffalo is trying to weaken San Francisco strong. After shutting out the Lakers last week, the 49ers look ready to win at home against the Bills. Frank Gore gets busy with 3 touchdown runs and San Fran wins big 31-14.
Sunday night’s game features New Orleans hosting San Diego. The Saints are behind the Wines in four games and it doesn’t look like that will change this week. Ryan Matthews is back to full speed and running for 132 yards and 2 scores in a 33-28 Shields win.
Monday night marks the Jets hosting the Houston Texans. It’s not as if they’re ready to roll with the Texans. I think this is going to be a lot closer than what I think is going to happen. In fact, I’d say the Jets pull off the upset with a 26-23 tie in the final NFL Week 5 sweepstakes.
That’s it for my 2012 NFL week 5 predictions and reads. I’ll be back again next week with analysis and predictions for week 6. So far all the weeks of football have been amazing!
