Week 4 of the NFL season produced a bizarre Sunday as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stomped the Los Angeles Rams, the Cleveland Browns handled the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs don’t seem as close to a 2019-2020 NFL Super Bowl odds appearance as we thought after they were lucky to escape with a win at Detroit.
Each of those underdogs covered and two won outright. NJ online sports betting sites were up and down all week.
What’s in store for Week 5 NFL picks? We’ve got our best bets of the week below:
Chicago Bears at Oakland Raiders
Date: Sunday, October 6th
The Bears and Raiders will play in the first London game of the season and I’m not expecting this to be a close game. The Raiders did well to win last week but I don’t view this as a very good team.
The Raiders won last week with just 189 passing yards from Derek Carr. His yards-per-attempt has tumbled by the week as he was at 10.0 in Week 1 when the Raiders offense was looking great but he’s reverted back to his old self in recent weeks with 5.2, 7.1 and 6.1 averages. That’s going to be easy pickings for a Bears defense that won’t have to worry about being beaten deep.
The other concern here is that the Raiders defense will now be without another starter in Vontaze Burfict. This is a team that was already desperately thin at linebacker and will now be without a player who is fourth on the team in tackles. They’re giving up 104.5 rushing yards per game and that number should go up.
Of course, the Bears are without Mitchell Trubisky for this game but he’s been so bad this year that Chase Daniel is probably an upgrade for these Week 5 NFL picks. This should be an easy win for them: run the ball, play defense and avoid mistakes. If they do that, they win and cover.
NJ Betting Pick: Bears -4.5
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Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys
Odds: Cowboys -3.5 at FanDuel Sportsbook
Date: Sunday, October 6th
The Packers-Cowboys showdown is a matchup of two of the top teams in the NFC. Both are at 3-1 and have played well, for the most part. However, there’s a big difference between the teams defensively and I think that will be a huge factor.
The Packers run defense has been gashed in three straight weeks as they gave up 176 rushing yards to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, 149 to the Denver Broncos in Week 3 and 198 to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2.
The Cowboys clearly had some issues on offense on Sunday Night Football in New Orleans last week but that’s partially because they couldn’t get anywhere with their ground game. This is a team that thrives on running the ball and throwing off of play-action passes.
Those will work for them this week and that will be a key difference.
For the Packers, they have some injury concerns to be thinking about too. Star wideout Davante Adams (toe), cornerback Kevin King (groin), running back Jamaal Williams (concussion) and tackle Bryan Bulaga all missed practice on Monday.
If any or all are out this week, it makes the Cowboys job that much easier on Sunday. NFL betting odds in NJ are pretty similar throughout all the top sites.
NJ Betting Pick: Cowboys -3.5
Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers
Odds: Chargers -6.5 at 888sport
Date: Sunday, October 6th
The Broncos definitely don’t look like they’re in a great place right now as they’re 0-4 and have just lost star linebacker Bradley Chubb (ACL) for the season. That’s terrible news for a team that has the second-fewest sacks this season.
However, this Broncos team has been competitive this season and has lost four close games with each contest basically going down to the wire. Two losses were on last-second field goals. In short, this team isn’t as bad as their record would say.
This week, they’re going to visit the Los Angeles Chargers, who are banged up beyond belief. They’ve already been playing out without starting safety Derwin James, tight end Hunter Henry and tackle Russell Okung.
Last week, they played without No. 2 wideout Mike Williams, backup running back Justin Jackson, cornerback Casey Hayward, kicker Michael Badgley, tight end Virgil Green and linebacker Denzel Perryman. They even lost star passrusher Melvin Ingram in-game and he’ll be out for a few weeks.
Maybe some of these guys get back but this is a team that’s nowhere near 100%.
I expect the Broncos to be very competitive in this game and I would even be surprised if they won it outright. The Chargers are so shorthanded right now that there’s no way it makes sense to lay a touchdown with them.
NJ Betting Pick: Broncos +6.5
Other Things To Watch This Week
No. 7 Auburn at No. 10 Florida – The Auburn Tigers have been impressive as they’re fresh off a 56-23 stomping of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Now they’ll get a tough test on the road against No. 10 Florida.
The Gators haven’t really been challenged this season, which is why they’re a 2.5-point home dog in this spot.
No. 25 Michigan State at No. 4 Ohio State – Can Sparty slow Ohio State? It doesn’t seem like anyone can these days. The Spartans aren’t getting much respect in this game as they’re a 20-point underdog.
They barely just beat Indiana and lost to Arizona State a couple of weeks ago, so that explains why they’re not expected to win here.
UFC 243 – This week’s UFC card will be a dandy as middleweights Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya will headline the card in Australia. Adesanya is one of the most electric fighters in the sport as he’s a perfect 17-0 so far.
He’s either won the Performance of the Night or Fight of the Night award in each of his last four bouts, so Saturday’s affair should again be entertaining.
See you same time next week when we start off the week with our Best Bets Of The Week!