NFL Picks Week 5: Road Teams Guaranteed to Steal Victories Away from Home

Excelling in a hostile environment is often what separates the good teams and the great teams in the NFL. Most are able to play well at home, but very few are generally capable of maintaining a high level of play on the road.

A handful of road teams are favored this week, which can often be a dangerous assumption. Home underdogs tend to play with a chip on their shoulder, and the energy of the crowd is sometimes enough to carry them to victory.

At the same time, talent usually wins out in the NFL. Here is a look at every game on the Week 5 slate, including those in which the road team will be talented enough to overcome adversity.

*Point spreads courtesy of OddsShark.com.

Date	Away	Home	Spread	Pick Straight Up	Pick ATS
Oct. 2	Minnesota Vikings	Green Bay Packers	GB (-10)	GB	GB
Oct. 5	Chicago Bears	Carolina Panthers	CAR (-3)	CHI	CHI
Oct. 5	Cleveland Browns	Tennessee Titans	TEN (-2.5)	CLE	CLE
Oct. 5	St. Louis Rams	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI (-7.5)	PHI	PHI
Oct. 5	Atlanta Falcons	New York Giants	NYG (-4)	NYG	NYG
Oct. 5	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	New Orleans Saints	NO (-11)	NO	NO
Oct. 5	Houston Texans	Dallas Cowboys	DAL (-6)	DAL	HOU
Oct. 5	Buffalo Bills	Detroit Lions	DET (-7.5)	DET	DET
Oct. 5	Baltimore Ravens	Indianapolis Colts	IND (-3.5)	IND	IND
Oct. 5	Pittsburgh Steelers	Jacksonville Jaguars	PIT (-7)	PIT	JAC
Oct. 5	Arizona Cardinals	Denver Broncos	DEN (-8)	DEN	DEN
Oct. 5	Kansas City Chiefs	San Francisco 49ers	SF (-6.5)	SF	KC
Oct. 5	New York Jets	San Diego Chargers	SD (-7)	SD	SD
Oct. 5	Cincinnati Bengals	New England Patriots	CIN (-1.5)	CIN	CIN
Oct. 6	Seattle Seahawks	Washington Redskins	SEA (-7.5)	SEA	SEA

Road Teams Guaranteed to Win

Seattle Seahawks at Washington Redskins

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

With a Week 4 bye in the rear-view mirror, the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are preparing to take on the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. Washington was destroyed in a Week 4 Thursday night game against the New York Giants, and the Seahawks are likely the last team it wants to see.

Aside from a hiccup against the San Diego Chargers, Seattle has been excellent this season. It dominated the Green Bay Packers to open the season, and beat the defending AFC champion Denver Broncos in Week 3 as well. Based on the way the Redskins played in Week 4, it is easy to see why the Seahawks are favored by more than a touchdown.

Perhaps the biggest concern for the Redskins is quarterback Kirk Cousins. The 26-year-old Michigan State product was excellent in a Week 3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he then proceeded to throw four interceptions against the G-Men.

According to ESPN Numbers Never Lie on Twitter, Cousins was one of the week's worst passers:

He must now face a Seahawks defense that boasts arguably the best secondary in the league. Cornerback Richard Sherman, safety Earl Thomas and Co. are nicknamed the Legion of Boom for a reason. They make life miserable for opposing receivers and rarely give up big plays.

Part of the secondary's success has to do with Seattle's ability to rush the passer. The Giants were able to disrupt Cousins in the pocket by controlling the running game, and Seahawks defensive tackle Kevin Williams hopes to do the same thing on Monday night, per Stephen Cohen of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"I think New York did a good job," Williams said. "They got (Washington) behind the eight-ball and they had to throw it, and that took them out of their run game, so it kind of made them one-sided. That's hopefully what we can get done: get a lead and then make it a passing game where we rush the passer."

Also, Washington's defense was picked apart by Giants quarterback Eli Manning last week, which has to leave Seahawks signal-caller Russell Wilson licking his chops. All of that plus the benefit of a Week 4 bye should allow the Seahawks to win this one going away.

Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots

The New England Patriots are 2-2, which is good enough to be tied atop the AFC East, but they look nothing like a first-place team right now. After getting throttled by the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football in Week 4, the Pats must now regroup as they host the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincinnati is quite possibly the most complete team in the NFL as it excels on both sides of the ball. The Bengals have enough offensive firepower with quarterback Andy Dalton, running back Giovani Bernard and wide receiver A.J. Green among others, but the true key to this game will be their defense.

The Bengals have allowed just two touchdown passes and nabbed six interceptions through three games. They also have held opposing signal-callers to a quarterback rating of 56.9. That is awful news for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is playing the worst football of his NFL career.

Even Brady himself has admitted that New England's offense is currently incapable of being among the league's best, according to NFL on ESPN:

Some of that has to do with the suspect supporting cast around Brady. The offensive line has been especially problematic since All-Pro guard Logan Mankins was dealt to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With that said, Brady has been his own worst enemy to some degree based on this stat courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info:

Everyone keeps assuming that Brady will bounce back, and perhaps he will. That return to form won't come against the Bengals, though. Cincinnati has been dominant against the pass, which means Brady is in line for another long night.

With the Pats defense starting to struggle as well, there is no reason why Cincinnati shouldn't prevail in Foxboro.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Jacksonville Jaguars

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

When the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Jacksonville to take on the winless Jaguars this week, it will be looking to avoid embarrassment for the second consecutive week. The Steelers had the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where they wanted them last week only to fall in the closing seconds. Pittsburgh can't afford a similar result in Week 5.

The Steelers are very much in the playoff hunt at 2-2, but losing to two of the NFL's worst teams in succession would likely destroy the team's confidence. Perhaps last week's loss was a wake-up call for Pittsburgh, which will prevent it from taking the Jags too lightly.

On the surface, it is tough to find too many positives in Jacksonville right now. Rookie quarterback Blake Bortles certainly has promise, but he doesn't have much help. His receiving corps will be especially thin in Week 5 as both Cecil Shorts III and Marqise Lee have been ruled out, according to Mark Long of The Associated Press:

The Jaguars also have an abysmal rushing offense that averages less than 70 yards per game, which puts all of the pressure on Bortles' shoulders.

Truth be told, Bortles probably won't get much help from his defense either. Jacksonville has the league's worst defense in almost every major category, including total yards (451.2) and points allowed per game (38). 

There has been plenty of finger-pointing in Pittsburgh after a disheartening loss to the Bucs, but the offense has been very good statistically, per Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger throwing to Antonio Brown and running back Le'Veon Bell doing work on the ground, Pittsburgh should move the ball with relative ease.

This could easily be a closer game than expected since things often defy logic in the NFL, but the Steelers will find a way to win this game outright even if they can't cover the seven-point spread.

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