NFL Picks Week 5: Games To Bet the House On

Bye weeks are finally upon us and nobody is happy about that.

There are three fewer opportunities to get in on the action this week and a good portion of fantasy teams won't have starters to choose from either.

The bye weeks do not make many friends. Except for fans of losing teams, of course.

Fans of losing teams love the bye week because they can't lose. Dolphins and Rams fans, you get the opportunity to simply enjoy football without putting your foot through your TV this week.

Unless of course you lose a play or run into trouble in your fantasy league.

But all that aside, there are only 13 games this week to choose from in Week 5.

There aren't many plays that stand out either.

A few teams (Seahawks, Bucs, Cardinals and Raiders) have lengthy trips in front of them, and there are four division games on tap as well.

These factors, especially the divisional matchups, play a huge role in the spreads for the week.

Taking all that into consideration, here are five bets you can saddle up and bet the house on.

Giants -9.5 vs. Seahawks

The New York Giants are the New York Giants again.

They have found their offensive identity, and although they're still battling injuries, they have found a way to minimize those losses.

Their defensive line continues to cause problems for opposing quarterbacks and their secondary is taking advantage.

The Seahawks' biggest weakness just happens to be protecting the quarterback.

Tarvaris "3rd-and-Long" Jackson hasn't seen anything like this pass rush yet this season, and he'll be lucky to survive the game.

Seattle is also traveling east for an early game and that never bodes well for young, inexperienced teams.

Nine-and-a-half points is a lot of points to lay, but the Giants stomped out the Seahawks in Seattle last year by 34 points; expect much of the same at Met Life Stadium on Sunday.

Patriots vs. Jets over 49.5

These two teams hate each other and this is bound to be an ugly game.

That said, three of the last four meetings have gone over between these two teams including the two played at Foxborough.

While the Jets are struggling to find an offensive identity, the Patriots are not.

Expect Brady to throw the ball around as much as possible, but also mix things up with their ground game from time to time.

The Jets aren't playing good enough football to dictate what New England will do this time around, so they'll likely have to adapt and throw the football more than they want to.

Unless the Jets hop in a time machine and go back to the postseason from a year ago, there is little chance they'll completely stop the Patriots attack.

These two teams have also combined to hit the over six of eight times so far this year.

Chargers -4 at Broncos

The Chargers, for whatever reason, always have trouble with inferior division opponents.

The Broncos are a terrible football team though. Downright terrible. 

Quarterback issues aside (and yes, there are quarterback issues when three-fourths of the stadium is chanting for the No. 3 quarterback), they can't do much right on either side of the ball.

San Diego has had trouble covering the spread all year long, but the Broncos have been just as bad.

Unless the Broncos discover how to run the football (they average 86 yards per game) they'll have a ton of trouble throwing the ball around on the Chargers.

Expect San Diego to hit stride and put this game away early.

Falcons vs. Packers over 53.5

The last time Aaron Rodgers lost a football game it was in the Georgia Dome.

He hasn't forgotten that (he actually avenged it in the postseason last year on his way to a Super Bowl title) and has a chance to deal a serious blow to the Falcons' playoff hopes in this game.

Atlanta has struggled early this season and doesn't look like the team that went 13-3 a year ago.

The two teams have combined to hit the over six out of eight tries this season and we shouldn't expect that to stop.

The Packers, who average close to 40 points per game, also give up 24 on the year.

These two teams should have little trouble hitting 54.

Lions -5.5 vs. Bears

If this game were at Soldier Field it might be a different story, but the undefeated Lions are the play at home.

They have yet to lose against the spread all season (3-0-1) while the Bears are only 1-3.

Chicago has been underdogs three out of their four games and only won one of those opportunities (and it was a home game).

Detroit's wins have not been pretty, but they have been effective.

The Bears have given up a lot of yards in the air so far this year and the Lions will look to make the most out of their rare national spotlight appearance on Monday Night Football.

The Bears are also 2-6 in October games against the spread while the Lions are 6-2 in each of their last eight attempts.