NFL Picks Week 5: New Orleans Saints and 3 Teams Primed To Roll

Every week in the NFL, a team dominates its much-weaker rival, and in Week 5, this should be no different. Three games this week give ample opportunity to the favored team to not just win, but win big.

The New Orleans Saints take on the Carolina Panthers in what is clearly the most lopsided matchup of the week. In examining the two teams' statistics and rosters, the Saints have the advantage in nearly every category and position.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton cannot hold a candle to the Saints' Drew Brees, despite his impressive arm and considerable running skills, mainly due to Newton lacking the quality of targets that Brees has available.

The only place the Saints may struggle on Sunday is in the run game as backs Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles have yet to get into a clear rhythm.

But the Panthers have the worst run defense in the league through four weeks, giving the New Orleans running game a chance to break out this week. The Saints will build and maintain a large early lead over the Panthers, and never look back.

The same can be said for the San Diego Chargers, except they've a solid running game behind rushers Mike Tolbert and Ryan Matthews that only seems to improve each week.

Against the Denver Broncos this week, the Chargers will likely dominate on all sides of the ball, giving Denver little chance to reach their second win of the season over best-in-the-West San Diego.

In what appears at first glance to be a much closer, the Detroit Lions host division-rival Chicago Bears on Monday night.

But that first glance is deceiving; this isn't the Lions to which we have grown accustomed in the past decade, and while this year's Bears squad isn't much different than the one that went to the NFC Championship game last season, they lack the luck that made 2010 a good year for an otherwise uninspiring team.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, suffering yet again from the lack of proper offensive line protection, will find himself battered by the Lions defensive line, while the Bears' once-vaunted defense sits currently at 23rd in the league. They're next-to-last in covering No. 1 wide receivers, which bodes well for a big day for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford's most reliable target, Calvin Johnson.

Detroit's defense is in the top 10 against running backs, meaning that the Bears' only real offensive weapon, Matt Forte, is in for a low-yardage outing. For these reasons, Chicago will fall and the margin won't be slim.