NFL Picks Week 5: Atlanta Falcons and 3 Week 4 Winners Who Will Fall

Several teams that had underperformed early in the season managed to scratch out victories in Week 4. Unfortunately for some, the winning trend isn’t going to continue.

This trio of Week 4 winners will find themselves on the wrong side of this week’s matchups:

Atlanta Falcons (vs. Green Bay)

After narrowly escaping with a win over lowly Seattle, it’s hard to like the Falcons’ chances against the best team in the NFC. Even at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta will be hard-pressed to keep up with Aaron Rodgers’ high-powered offense.

The mercurial Matt Ryan may put up some big numbers—Green Bay is second-to-last in the league in passing yards allowed—but it’s unlikely to be enough. Atlanta’s own pass defense is ranked a mere 24th in the league, and that’s not going to cut it against a QB who has thrown 12 TDs in four games.

San Francisco 49ers (vs. Tampa Bay)

San Francisco has been better than anticipated in the win column, but the Alex Smith-led offense has lived down to expectations. The Niners are 29th in the league in passing (and 22nd in rushing) with Smith at the helm.

Tampa Bay’s pass defense got burned for a couple of big plays on Monday night, but the deep ball isn’t exactly Smith’s specialty. Tampa’s D should keep San Francisco in line while LeGarrette Blount and the ground game take care of business on offense.

Chicago Bears (at Detroit)

Despite finding enough offense to outduel Cam Newton and the Panthers, the Bears haven’t exactly been a scoring machine this season. The rising Lions pass rush will have a field day with Jay Cutler, who has already taken 15 sacks (second only to Sam Bradford).

Add in that the game is in Detroit, and the Bears’ struggling secondary has to contend with red-hot Matthew Stafford, and Chicago’s prospects look bleak. If Cutler plays well the game could be a legitimate shootout, but more likely Detroit will turn it into a blowout before too much time has come off the clock.