NFL Picks Week 5: Quick Picks for All Week 5 Games

With the first quarter of the season already behind us, we now look ahead to what remains of the first half, where the preliminary playoff picture begins to take shape.

With six teams on the bye, we have three fewer games this week. Here, I will give you my brief take on each one, with my predictions for which teams will exit with another notch in the win column.

TENNESSEE TITANS at Pittsburgh Steelers

This game features a team on an unlikely rise and a team surprisingly struggling. The defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers have looked like anything but in their 2-2 season, defeating two poor teams while falling to two on the top of their games.

Injuries and a poor run defense will hurt the Steelers the most this Sunday, and the Titans will emerge victorious.

Seattle Seahawks at NEW YORK GIANTS

While the Seahawks look better every week, it won't be enough to defeat the Giants in New York this week.

Look for the Giants to have a great deal of success on the ground while also putting pressure on Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson.

CINCINNATI BENGALS at Jacksonville Jaguars

The Bengals pulled out an impressive Week 4 victory over the Buffalo Bills that snapped their three-game undefeated streak.

The Jaguars will prove to be less of a challenge than the Bills, but the result will be the same—a Bengals victory.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS at Carolina Panthers

Poor Cam Newton. The rookie Panthers quarterback has been the one shining beacon of light on an otherwise messy team.

The Saints are better than Carolina in every conceivable way, and while this is nothing new (the Saints being the most dominant team in the NFL behind the Green Bay Packers), it means yet another loss for 2010's worst squad.

OAKLAND RAIDERS at Houston Texans

A few more mistakes, and the Texans might not have escaped with a win over the Steelers last week, while the Raiders' stock continues to rise, even after dropping their Week 4 contest against the New England Patriots.

The Texans will be without star receiver Andre Johnson, making the team more one-dimensional than they've been in some time. The Raiders will capitalize and will pull out a hard-fought win.

Philadelphia Eagles at BUFFALO BILLS

The Eagles' historic collapse will continue against the Bills, while the Bills will prove their loss last week to the Bengals was nothing more than a fluke.

If you'd have told me in August that Buffalo would emerge as a for-real contender while Philadelphia would fail to impress, I would have been shocked.

Now, I'm a believer in the Bills. The Eagles' defense won't be able to stop the Bills' offensive attack, while the Michael Vick-led offense will struggle to keep up.

Kansas City Chiefs at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Winless no more, the Kansas City Chiefs will be the first to fall to the Colts this year. Both teams are terrible, and it's hard to justify picking either squad.

I'm honestly going with Indianapolis because they're the home team. Also, defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis will have a major impact in the outcome swinging in the Colts' favor.

ARIZONA CARDINALS at Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings can't finish games, and that's no lie.

Three of their four losses came after holding first-half leads, and in the third, which saw them fall to the Chiefs, they managed to lead the game in just the first quarter.

That kind of regression, especially against a team as bad as the Chiefs, means they have no chance against a middle-of-the-road Cardinals squad.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

This is a great matchup between two similar teams, but because Tampa will be traveling westward after a short week, I am giving the win to the Niners.

Tampa will have to take to the air—not their strong suit thus far—to win this game, but I see San Francisco controlling the pace early and relying on the run. They'll get the win, but it will be both close and low-scoring.

New York Jets at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Blinded by the hype, the Jets seem to have lost their identity as a run-first, bruising-defense team, and their 2-2 record reflects that.

They were brutalized by the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 4 contest that featured the worst quarterback play—by both teams—we've seen all year.

They're struggling to rush the quarterback, and though they've a talented secondary, Tom Brady simply has too many weapons for Revis Island to claim another resident.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS at Denver Broncos

Like the Saints-Jaguars game above, the Broncos are simply outmatched by a wholly superior Chargers team. While strange things can happen when divisional rivalries are concerned, Kyle Orton's 2011 Broncos are a far cry from the Jay Cutler-led squad that gave San Diego fits in years past.

The Chargers will dominate early and thrash the Broncos thoroughly, guaranteeing even more cries for Orton's benching, warranted or not.

GREEN BAY PACKERS at Atlanta Falcons

Again, the Sunday night game does not disappoint, with the better-than-bad Falcons hosting the seemingly unstoppable Green Bay Packers.

The team will continue to look invincible at the end of this contest, with the Falcons' best likely not enough when faced with the more talented Packers.    

Chicago Bears at DETROIT LIONS

Only two teams are undefeated through four weeks of the season—the Packers and the Detroit Lions.

The team with major buzz heading into 2011 has so far lived up to expectations, dispatching teams with the combination of hard-hitting defense and electrifying offense.

The Bears barely have any offense to speak of, and the fact that they cannot protect quarterback Jay Cutler means yet another game where he's on the ground more than he's tossing completions.