Welcome back for another round of picks! Week 5 of Thursday Night Football kicks off later tonight, with the Houston Texans hosting the Indianapolis Colts in an intriguing AFC South matchup. The Colts are hoping to have quarterback Andrew Luck back after he missed Week 4 with a shoulder injury. Luck is listed as questionable, but is expected to play.
I'll be posting my picks against the spread on Saturday, but for today, I have posted my straight up picks down below, as well as my ATS pick for TNF. You can view the NN pick 'em contest results over here. I put together a 10-5 week, which brings me to 39-24 for the season.
The San Francisco 49ers travel to face the New York Giants in Week 5. At this point, I'm picking against the 49ers until they prove they can actually win a game. They are a 7-point underdog against the Giants, and I'm tempted to take the Giants to cover. I'm likely not going to touch either team in this game, because I really have no idea how it will shake out. Part of me still thinks the 49ers can get things together for a respectable showing against the Giants. But then another part of me expects another bad loss. I really have no idea what to do at this point, and so I just do nothing.
For Thursday Night Football, the Texans are a slim favorite against the Colts. The line opened as a pick 'em given Andrew Luck's shoulder status. The line has moved to Texans -1, and we still are not sure if Luck will play. If Luck plays, I take the Colts to cover. If Luck does not play, I take the Texans to cover. I think Luck plays, so I'm going with the Colts at +1. I imagine the line changes once Luck's status is sorted out shortly before game time.
Here are my Week 5 picks for our pick 'em contest.
Colts @ Texans: Colts
Washington @ Falcons: Falcons
Seahawks @ Bengals: Bengals
Rams @ Packers: Packers
Bills @ Titans: Bills
Bears @ Chiefs: Chiefs
Saints @ Eagles: Eagles
Jaguars @ Buccaneers: Bucs
Browns @ Ravens: Ravens
Cardinals @ Lions: Cardinals
Patriots @ Cowboys: Patriots
Broncos @ Raiders: Raiders
49ers @ Giants: Giants
Steelers @ Chargers: Chargers