Week 5 NFL Picks:
2025 Edition

Shoutout to the top performers of Week 4! Though the three of us performed much better than in Week 3, we had fewer total people hit double digits against the spread. tru21* won the week with 11 correct picks. Evan tied them but went way too high on the tiebreaker prediction.

This year we are hosting our pick'em contest on Sleeper, and just because you missed the first three weeks doesn't mean you can't still join and try to catch the pack.

Let's get to our concensus misses and lone wolf picks from Week 5.

*If you want to be shouted out by name, be sure to let us know who you are!

Big Misses

This week featured five games where the three of us were in agreement and went down with the ship together. Those games were:

San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams (-3.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Rams and laid the points. With Brock Purdy, Jauan Jennings, and George Kittle all out, we didn't think there was any chance of this game being close. How wrong we were; not only was the game close, the 49ers won outright in overtime.

Pool results: 21% took SF

New York Giants at New Orleans Saints (-1.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Giants in a near-moneyline pick. After a hot start for Jaxson Dart and Theo Johnson, everything fell apart for the Giants as the Saints scored 23 unanswered points over the final 38 minutes of the contest.

Pool results: 16% took NO

Denver Broncos at Philadelphia Eagles (-3.5) - All three Sportsballers laid the points on the Eagles at home. Philly held a 17-3 lead entering the final quarter and blew it, giving up 18 points in the final frame.

Pool results: 19% took DEN

Washington Commanders at Los Angeles Chargers (-3.5) - All three Sportsballers took the Chargers and laid the points. Los Angeles let us down in a big way this week. Following Thursday night's embarrassing performance by the Rams at home, the Chargers were equally embarrassing on the same field Sunday afternoon, losing 27-10 and barely possessing the ball in the final quarter.

Pool results: 34% took WAS

Kansas City Chiefs (-3.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars - All three Sportsballers took the Chiefs and laid the points on the road team. In a wild contest that included three quarterback touchdown rushes and a 99-yard pick-6 off Patrick Mahomes, the Jags won the game outright.

Pool results: 21% took JAC

Lone Wolf

We also had a few games where one of us went off the beaten path. Here are those games and whether our lone wolf got the kill or unexpectedly found himself as the prey:

Minnesota Vikings (-4.5) at Cleveland Browns - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to get this game wrong due to him not putting a pick in for the Sunday morning London contest.

Pool results: 35% took CLE

Miami Dolphins (-1.5) at Carolina Panthers - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the point and a half and select the Panthers on their home turf. Despite a strong day from Miami's offense, Carolina hung in there thanks to a 200-yard rushing day by Rico Dowdle to win by three points.

Pool results: 36% took CAR

Las Vegas Raiders at Indianapolis Colts (-6.5) - Cory was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points, a touchdown and half an extra point's worth. The Raiders were pathetic, though, giving up three touchdowns to Jonathan Taylor and losing by 34 points.

Pool results: 81% took IND

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks (-3.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to lay the points on the Seahawks at home. It was a track meet of a game, and when Seattle scored the first two touchdowns of the fourth quarter to take a 7-point lead, it looked like Eric might sneak out with the dub, but the Bucs enjoyed more late-game magic to move to 4-1 on the year.

Pool results: 84% took TB

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills (-8.5) - Eric was the lone member of the Sportsballers to take the points. Cory and Evan weren't scared of the massive spread on Sunday Night Football, but they should have been. Not only did the Bills fail to cover, they lost outright in the last SNF game to be hosted in Highmark Stadium.

Pool results: 24% took NE

Standings

P.S. Don’t forget to catch the latest episode of our podcast! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter/X so you never miss an announcement about when our next show will air. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell icon to be alerted when we go live. And catch every episode you miss live on your favorite podcast app; we’re on Apple and Spotify!