The COVID-19 pandemic is slowly working more and more havoc on the 2020 NFL regular season, as cases continue to flood the Tennessee Titans locker room, and the New York Jets had their first positive test result, putting their Sunday game against Arizona in danger just as the Cardinals were preparing to fly in from three time zones to the west. Even so, there’s plenty of action coming up in Week 5. Can the Dallas Cowboys win their second game of the season, with the woeful New York Giants coming to town? Can the Seattle Seahawks continue their unbeaten string to start the season and get to 5-0?
Check out our top NFL betting picks for this weekend’s action.
NFL News: Top Games to Bet in Week 5
Seattle (-7) at Minnesota
Yes, the Minnesota Vikings pulled off a win in Week 4, taking down the woeful Houston Texans, 31-23. Deshaun Watson threw for 300 yards against the Viking defense — and that’s without DeAndre Hopkins. Imagine what Russell Wilson will be able to do given the MVP numbers he’s put up so far. The Vikings did get a solid game out of Dalvin Cook, who rumbled for 130 yards, and Adam Thielen had 114 receiving yards. However, the Seattle defense is tougher against the run, and Kirk Cousins doesn’t do very well (compared to other NFL quarterbacks) against pressure in the pocket.
Seattle went to Miami and pulled off a respectable road win, by the same 31-23 score. Wilson threw for 360 yards, and Chris Carson ran for 80 yards (although Carson remains questionable for Sunday). Miami doesn’t have the stoutest defense, but Minnesota has been giving up all sorts of points lately. I look for the Vikings’ offensive output to get down closer to the 11 points they managed against Indianapolis in Week 2, so I like
Xbet Pick for the Game
Seattle to win and cover.
Carolina (+2.5) at Atlanta
So, a 2-2 Carolina team is an underdog going to visit an 0-4 Atlanta team that has already made NFL history by blowing more than one 15-point, fourth-quarter lead twice in a season. In fact, they did it two weeks in a row, against Dallas in Week 2 and Chicago in Week 3. This is a strange line, as the Panthers have shown steady improvement under new head coach Matt Rhule, and Teddy Bridgewater is itching to show people that he can win. The fact that he still faces doubters after leading Minnesota to an NFC North title and leading the Saints to a 5-0 record in relief of Drew Brees last year leads to distorted lines like this.
And how about those Falcons? They have all kinds of talent on offense (even with Julio Jones running around on a balky hamstring). They have a head coach in Dan Quinn who put together a genius defensive scheme in Seattle…but hasn’t managed to put together a shutdown defense in Atlanta. They’ve never really recovered from that meltdown in the Super Bowl, so their mental status also remains extremely fragile. I’m going with the team trending up here, especially as an underdog.
Xbet Pick for the Game
Panthers to cover.
Arizona (-8) at N.Y. Jets
The Jets took on a third-string quarterback at home last week and still lost to the Denver Broncos, 37-28. The Arizona Cardinals looked terrific in Weeks 1 and 2 before looking pedestrian in Weeks 3 and 4. Kyler Murray is in his second season as an NFL quarterback, so some bumps and bruises were expected. The Jets simply lack talent on both sides of the ball, and they also seem to lack leadership, as their defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, is better at motivating his teams to play dirty than he is at putting together actual schemes.
Xbet Pick for the Game
Cardinals to win and cover.
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