NFL Predictions Week 5: Final Odds Projections and Fantasy Stars to Watch

The Week 5 edition of Thursday Night Football featured more of the same, as the Green Bay Packers continued the streak of routs, defeating the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 42-10. The game's outcome led to many happy bettors and fantasy owners, although others were left scratching their heads.

While the Packers easily covered the spread, and Eddie Lacy was a great fantasy play, quarterback Christian Ponder couldn't keep the Vikings in the game out of the gate, and, as a result, players like Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings became terrible fantasy plays. So, what can we expect for the remainder of the week?

Taking the latest Vegas odds into consideration, let's take a look at the week's remaining games, predict their outcomes and list a fantasy player to keep a keen eye on for each.

Matchup	Odds	Prediction	Fantasy Star
Baltimore at Indianapolis	IND, -3.5	IND, 31-27	Andrew Luck
Tampa Bay at New Orleans	NO, -11	NO, 31-20	Jimmy Graham
Pittsburgh at Jacksonville	PITT, -7	PITT, 35-13	Ben Roethlisberger
Atlanta at New York Giants	NYG, -4	NYG, 30-24	Victor Cruz
Chicago at Carolina	CAR, -3	CHI, 27-23	Alshon Jeffery
St. Louis at Philadelphia	PHI, -7	PHI, 26-20	Jeremy Maclin
Houston at Dallas	DAL, -6	DAL, 24-16	DeMarco Murray
Cleveland at Tennessee	EVEN	CLE, 23-20	Jordan Cameron
Buffalo at Detroit	DET, -7	DET, 18-10	Golden Tate
Arizona at Denver	DEN, -7.5	DEN, 28-20	Emmanuel Sanders
New York Jets at San Diego	SD, -7	SD, 27-20	Philip Rivers
Kansas City at San Francisco	SF, -6	SF, 23-22	Frank Gore
Cincinnati at New England	CIN, -2	CIN, 27-20	Giovani Bernard
Seattle at Washington	SEA, -7.5	SEA, 34-16	Percy Harvin

Game odds courtesy of OddsShark.com and current as of October 3.

Fantasy Analysis

Victor Cruz

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

After a rocky start to the season, Eli Manning is starting to heat up, and the New York Giants offense has come alive.

Manning and Cruz hit their stride in Week 3 against the Houston Texans and continued that trend one week later against the Washington Redskins. The end result was two consecutive 100-plus-yard receiving games from Cruz.

According to Numbers Never Lie, Cruz is as big of a deep threat as ever this season:

Expect that to continue on Sunday, when the Giants face the Atlanta Falcons' 30th-ranked pass defense. Atlanta is allowing an average of 276.3 yards through the air this season, a trend that gives Cruz a very favorable matchup.

Golden Tate

MIKE MCCARN/Associated Press

Tate's appearance on this list may seem shocking; however, considering the condition of Calvin Johnson, we should expect a big game from the fifth-year wide receiver.

According to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com, head coach Jim Caldwell hinted at the possibility of Johnson missing Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills due to a lingering ankle injury:

"

That possibility always exists. Just kind of depends on how one progresses during the course of the week. There are some times that they move forward enough that they won't have any significant setbacks and other times you don't feel that way. You have to wait until the end of the week and react accordingly.

"

Whether Johnson misses time or not, expect Tate to see an increased role in the team's passing game. He'll instantly become Matthew Stafford's No. 1 target in Johnson's absence, and if Detroit's star wideout is active, he won't be 100 percent. Tate will benefit in either scenario against Buffalo's 25th-ranked pass defense.

Philip Rivers

DENIS POROY/Associated Press

Rivers may have one of the most favorable matchups for a quarterback in Week 5.

The New York Jets have a deceptive league ranking against the pass. The team currently sits 11th and is allowing an average of just 228.0 yards per game. However, take a look at opposing quarterback stats from the team's last three games:

Player	Week	Yds	TD	INT
Aaron Rodgers	2	346	3	0
Jay Cutler	3	225	2	0
Matthew Stafford	4	293	2	0

Those are pretty favorable fantasy numbers, and while those are also three very good quarterbacks, Rivers has been right on par with them so far this season.

The Chargers don't have much of a running game to speak of, and the Jets are stout in the trenches. That will lead to San Diego's offense leaning heavily on Rivers' arm. With Antonio Gates, Eddie Royal and Keenan Allen in the fold, a decimated Jets secondary will have a tough time keeping up.