2012 NFL Week 5 Predictions and Picks

It’s time for my 2012 NFL week 5 predictions and picks. As usual, the NFL week starts on Thursday with a surprisingly great matchup. Who would have anticipated that St. Louis hosting Arizona would be a pivotal early season game? In fact, the two teams have combined to win 7 of their first 8 contests heading into the NFL week 5 tilt.

So who will win? The Rams have been awfully tough at home and are coming off of a great win over Seattle. The Cardinals looked suspect before rallying to beat upset minded Miami this past week. So what are my predictions and picks for this week 5 battle? I’ll take the Rams at home to win 27-20. St. Louis should improve to 4-1 and I think Steven Jackson finally gets on track if available. If not, Sam Bradford will find Danny Amendola for the game winning score.

Let’s move to the 2012 NFL week 5 Sunday schedule. Miami travels to Cincinnati to face the Bengals. The Dolphins have to be low after seeing an early lead vanish in Arizona for a loss. The Bengals have looked like a playoff calibre team so far. My gut says the Bengals have way too much fire power. Cincy takes this one home 30-21. Andy Dalton finds A.J. Green for yet another touchdown.

Green Bay is at Indianapolis to face the Colts. The Packers avoided a loss against New Orleans but I don’t think this one will be super close. The Packers finally get their offense completely rolling in a 38-17 win on the road. Andrew Luck is picked off 3 times in the loss. Aaron Rodgers fires 4 more touchdown passes on the road in the Packer win.

Baltimore heads to Kansas City to face the up and mostly down Chiefs. The Ravens will find plenty of running room for Ray Rice as he rolls up 146 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 24-13 win.

Atlanta goes to Washington to face Robert Griffin III. Can the Falcons stay undefeated through 5 weeks of the schedule? My guess is that Atlanta finds a way to get it done going away. Matt Ryan finds Roddy White for the game winning score in overtime, 30-24.

Cleveland will travel to New York to play the Giants. The Browns didn’t look half bad at Baltimore but I think this one will have a completely different feel and look. Browns get blasted 33-16. Eli Manning tosses 3 touchdown passes in the win.

My 2012 NFL week 5 predictions and picks continue with Philadelphia at Pittsburgh. The Steelers are quite unpredictable this season but the Eagles also like to cough up the ball. Could we be looking at 2 teams who just can’t score touchdowns in week 5? I think this one has defensive struggle written all over it. Steelers get a field goal late and win 16-13.

Seattle visits Carolina. The Panthers are coming off a heart breaking loss to Atlanta. I think the Cam Newton show takes over after some tough losses in the past few weeks. Newton throws 3 touchdown passes and runs for another in a 31-17 win.

Chicago hits the road for a date in Jacksonville. Can the Bears slow down Maurice Jones-Drew? I think Chicago goes in for the kill on the road and wins 23-16. It won’t be pretty but Jay Cutler hits Brandon Marshall for the game winning score in the 4th quarter.

Tennessee plays at Minnesota in what could be an interesting contest. Did anyone expect the Vikings to be this competitive? The Titans certainly weren’t at Houston last week. My NFL week 5 picks for this one say the Vikings win 24-20. Adrian Peterson gets 143 yards and 2 scores.

Denver and Peyton Manning travel to New England in what could be the biggest and most interesting matchup of the week. The only problem is that Tom Brady will torch the Denver defense for 365 yards and 4 scores. Pats win it 36-22.

Buffalo tries to score on the mighty San Francisco defense. After shutting out the Jets last week, the 49’ers look primed to win at home against the Bills. Frank Gore gets busy with 3 touchdown runs and San Fran wins big 31-14.

The Sunday night game features New Orleans hosting San Diego. The Saints are winless after four games and it doesn’t look as if that will change this week. Ryan Matthews gets back to full speed and runs for 132 yards and 2 scores in a 33-28 Chargers win.

Monday night features the Jets hosting the Houston Texans. It doesn’t look as if the Jets are ready to roll with the Texans. I think this will be a lot closer than most might anticipate. In fact, I’ll say the Jets pull off the upset with a 26-23 win in my final NFL week 5 pick of the week.

That’s it for my 2012 NFL week 5 predictions and picks. I’ll be back again next week with more analysis and predictions for week 6. Until then, have a wonderful week of football everybody!