Welcome back for more Week 5 football. The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their week on Thursday, losing 33-21 to the Arizona Cardinals. I thought the Cardinals would cover, but I anticipated we would see the UNDER (43.5). Through one quarter, the UNDER seemed an easy win. Instead, after going into the half tied at 7, things exploded in the second half.
For the third straight season, I am back for the LVH SuperContest. SB Nation's partners over at Odds Shark are sponsoring my entry again. The contest requires selecting 5 games each week and picking them against the spread. This year's contest is expected to have over 1,800 participants, which is a new record for the SuperContest. SB Nation is represented by myself and Matt Ufford, and there are folks from all over the blogosphere involved. Everybody picks their own five games and there will be a running leaderboard HERE. You can follow my standings under the name "Fooch.”
I put together a second straight 2-3 performance, and my season of picks remains ugly. My first four weeks featured 1-4, 1-4, 2-3, and 2-3 (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4). Am I trending in the right direction? I doubt it, but fingers crossed! I’m near the bottom at 6-14, while first place is 17-3. Not good!
Here are my SuperContest picks for Week 5. Fade at your leisure:
VIKINGS (-6.5) over Texans
RAVENS (-4) over Washington
Lions (+3) over Eagles
RAMS (-2) over Bills
PACKERS (-7.5) over Giants
I went with four favorites and one underdog, which also happened to match four home teams and one road team. I’m still not at a point where I’m just picking names from a hat. I am focusing a bit more on going against the public. Of those four games, more wagers are against my pick of the Lions, Rams, and Packers.
I could see Baltimore and Washington being pretty evenly matched, but Washington is missing several members of its secondary. As for the Vikings, I’m a little hesitant about that number, but getting the hook under seven works for me.
Here are all my picks for Week 5:
49ERS vs. Cardinals (-3.5): Cardinals - Won
VIKINGS vs. Texans (+6.5): Vikings
DOLPHINS vs. Titans (+3.5): Titans
BROWNS vs. Patriots (-10.5): Patriots
STEELERS vs. Jets (+7): Jets
RAVENS vs. Washington (+4): Ravens
LIONS vs. Eagles (-3): Lions
COLTS vs. Bears (+4.5): Bears
BRONCOS vs. Falcons (+5.5): Broncos
RAMS vs. Bills (+2): Rams
RAIDERS vs. Chargers (+3.5): Raiders
COWBOYS vs. Bengals (-1): Bengals
PACKERS vs. Giants (+7.5): Packers
PANTHERS vs. Buccaneers (+6.5): Buccaneers