NFL Picks Week 5: Why Colts and Vikings Finally Get in the Win Column

This is it.

This is the week the Miami Dolphins get the big leg up in the Suck for Luck Sweepstakes.

The ‘Fins are 0-4 and on a bye week, while these 0-4 teams have some of the most favorable matchups they’ll see all year:

Minnesota Vikings vs. Arizona Cardinals

The Vikings have much more talent then what their record shows.

It’s pretty incredible that a team with an All-Pro running back (Adrian Peterson), an All-Pro defensive end (Jared Allen) and an All-Pro defensive tackle (Kevin Williams) can go a month without winning a single game.

It’s been the lousy play-calling of rookie head coach Leslie Frazier that has been the big issue, not QB Donovan McNabb.

Sure, McNabb isn’t playing well, but it’s not his fault AP is ignored in the fourth quarter. This is the week where the Vikings run the ball early and often against a soft Arizona defense that has some major issues when it comes to tackling.

McNabb will be able to handle the 26th- ranked pass rush by getting the ball to Percy Harvin on the outside of the hash marks with some room to make a play.

Cards QB Kevin Kolb has a tendency to throw off his back foot when facing pressure and will be seeing plenty of it, led by Allen.

I expect the Vikings to jump out to a 10-point lead in the first half and actually run the ball in the second half to eat clock and keep Larry Fitzgerald off the field.

Prediction: Vikings 24 Cardinals 21

Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas City Chiefs

The Colts are so close to breaking through in the win column and simply need a bad opponent to get there.

Enter the Chiefs.

KC has no hope this season and is playing for a coach in Todd Haley that has buzzards circling over him.

The No. 1-ranked running game from a year ago, without Jamaal Charles, that ranking has plummeted to 14^th. It has exposed QB Matt Cassel for what he is: a mediocre passer that needs a top-notch running game to get the defenses honest.

I expect Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeny to keep bringing the heat the way they have been recently, and turnovers will follow.

With the support of a strong defense, expect QB Curtis Painter to play the game-manager role well against a Chiefs team that is giving up 126 points this season—by far the most in the NFL.

Prediction: Colts 25 Chiefs 20