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With the early portion of the season in the rear view, teams are beginning to develop into contenders, pretenders and bottom feeders. All year, the Baltimore Beatdown crew is competing to see who can choose the most matchups correctly. The strength of the crowd is clear, as Beatdown readers have moved up to second in the standings. Vote for all the Week 5 games in the polls at the bottom of this article.
Current standings:
- Kyle A., Kyle B., Sage and Vas
- Frank, Jake and readers
- Logan
- Zach
- Dustin
An analysis of the Baltimore Beatdown staff picks
Consensus winners
- Patriots defeat the Colts (NE -10.0)
- Titans beat the Bills (TEN -3.5)
- Bengals secure a victory against the Dolphins (CIN -6.5)
After decimating the 3-0 Dolphins last week, New England is back on track in predictable Patriots fashion. While Andrew Luck has exceeded expectations, Indianapolis is still a step behind. After defeating the Vikings in Week 3, Buffalo returned to their mediocrity, getting shut out 22-0 by the Packers in Week 4. Tennessee is on a three game win streak after defeating the Eagles in overtime. Those who doubted Miami’s hot start were validated by their definitive loss to New England. Meanwhile, Cincinnati has put up over 30 points in three of their four games.
‘Lone wolf’ picks
- Zach predicts the Redskins will beat the Saints on Monday Night Football (NO -6.5)
- Dustin thinks the Raiders will get their second win of the season against the Chargers (LAC -5.0)
- Logan believes the Seahawks will spoil the Rams undefeated campaign (LAR -7.0)
With Washington fresh off their bye week and a big time win over Green Bay in Week 3, they have a chance to hand the Saints their second loss of the season. The Chargers will look to improve to 2-1 in the battle for California against an Oakland team that barely slipped past the Browns for their first victory in 2018. The Seahawks needed a late field goal to beat an Arizona team that is on the fast track to securing the number on overall pick in the 2019 draft. It is hard to envision their offensive line affording Russell Wilson the protection he will need to win a shoot out against Jared Goff and company.
New and improved Browns?
On paper, Cleveland is 1-2-1, but psychologically the Browns are miles away from their 2017 squad. Cleveland has forced overtime in two of their four games and trailed by just three points in both of their losses. Cleveland’s progress is reflected in the point spread for Sunday’s game. In Week 2 of 2017, the Ravens were 7.5 point favorites, defeating the Browns 24-10 at home. In Week 15, Baltimore was favored by 6.5 points on the road, this time winning 27-10. With Baltimore favored at -3.0 for Sunday, the margin is much slimmer compared to last season, and two Baltimore Beatdown contributors predict the Browns to derail the Ravens winning streak.
All writers’ picks can be found in the table below.
NFL Week 5 Picks
| Games | Kyle A. | Kyle B. | Sage | Vas | Frank | Jake | Logan | Zach | Dustin | BB Readers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Kyle A. | Kyle B. | Sage | Vas | Frank | Jake | Logan | Zach | Dustin | BB Readers |
| Colts at Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Patriots | Vote |
| Titans at Bills | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Titans | Vote |
| Falcons at Steelers | Falcons | Falcons | Falcons | Steelers | Falcons | Falcons | Steelers | Falcons | Steelers | Vote |
| Broncos at Jets | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos | Broncos | Jets | Broncos | Jets | Broncos | Broncos | Vote |
| Jaguars at Chiefs | Jaguars | Jaguars | Chiefs | Jaguars | Chiefs | Chiefs | Jaguars | Jaguars | Jaguars | Vote |
| Packers at Lions | Lions | Lions | Packers | Packers | Packers | Lions | Packers | Lions | Packers | Vote |
| Ravens at Browns | Ravens | Ravens | Ravens | Ravens | Ravens | Ravens | Browns | Browns | Ravens | Vote |
| Giants at Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Panthers | Giants | Panthers | Giants | Vote |
| Dolphins at Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Bengals | Vote |
| Raiders at Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Raiders | Vote |
| Cardinals at 49ers | Cardinals | 49ers | 49ers | 49ers | Cardinals | 49ers | 49ers | Cardinals | Cardinals | Vote |
| Vikings at Eagles | Eagles | Vikings | Vikings | Eagles | Eagles | Eagles | Vikings | Eagles | Vikings | Vote |
| Rams at Seahawks | Rams | Rams | Rams | Rams | Rams | Rams | Seahawks | Rams | Rams | Vote |
| Cowboys at Texans | Texans | Texans | Cowboys | Texans | Texans | Texans | Cowboys | Texans | Texans | Vote |
| Redskins at Saints | Saints | Saints | Saints | Saints | Saints | Saints | Saints | Redskins | Saints | Vote |
| Week 4 Record | 10-5 | 10-5 | 13-2 | 10-5 | 10-5 | 10-5 | 10-5 | 9-6 | 8-7 | 10-5 |
| Season Record | 36-25 | 36-25 | 36-25 | 36-25 | 35-26 | 35-26 | 34-27 | 31-30 | 30-31 | 35-26 |
Vote for the winner for every Week 5 game in the polls below!