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NFL picks 2015, Week 5: Experts have Bengals getting to 5-0

The SB Nation panel sees Cincy getting past Seattle, but isn't as sure about Denver staying undefeated after a trip to Oakland.

Before the season started, there wouldn't have been too many people picking the Bengals over the Seahawks in Week 5, even in Cincinnati. But here we are — the Bengals are undefeated, the Seahawks are a blown call away from being 1-3 and six of SB Nation's experts are going with Cincy to become the first AFC North team to start 5-0 since the division was formed in 2002.

But don't sleep on Seattle. Lost in the batted ball debacle is the fact that with Kam Chancellor back in the secondary, the Legion of Boom held Megatron and Detroit's passing attack to just 203 yards and zero touchdowns on Monday night. As good as Andy Dalton has been this season, none of the four defenses he's faced rank in the top 20 in yards allowed per passing attempt.

The Bengals aren't the only club our experts see staying undefeated. They unanimously have Atlanta over Washington, Green Bay over St. Louis and New England over Dallas, while seven of the eight have Arizona topping Detroit.

Denver and Oakland is a bit more interesting, however. Half of the crew is picking the Raiders, who lost to the awful Bears last week, to pull off the home upset and hand the Broncos their first loss of 2015. Peyton Manning's struggles should give Oakland's offense a chance to keep pace, but you have to wonder how effective Derek Carr, who labored in Chicago, will be against a Denver defense that leads the league in passing yards allowed per game, passing touchdowns allowed and sacks.

Here are the full picks for Week 5.

Week 5 Ryan Van Bibber Stephen White Joel Thorman David Fucillo Danny Kelly Matt Ufford PFT Commenter OddsShark
IND vs HOU HOU HOU IND IND IND HOU IND HOU
CHI vs KC KC CHI KC KC KC KC KC KC
SEA vs CIN CIN CIN SEA CIN CIN CIN SEA CIN
WAS vs ATL ATL ATL ATL ATL ATL ATL ATL ATL
JAX vs TB TB TB JAX TB TB JAX JAX TB
NO vs PHI PHI PHI PHI PHI PHI PHI NO PHI
CLE vs BAL BAL BAL BAL BAL BAL CLE BAL BAL
STL vs GB GB GB GB GB GB GB GB GB
BUF vs TEN BUF BUF TEN BUF BUF TEN TEN BUF
ARZ vs DET ARZ ARZ ARZ ARZ ARZ ARZ DET ARZ
NE vs DAL NE NE NE NE NE NE NE NE
DEN vs OAK OAK DEN DEN OAK DEN OAK DEN OAK
SF vs NYG NYG NYG NYG NYG NYG NYG NYG NYG
PIT vs SD SD PIT SD SD SD SD SD SD

Our panel consists of: David Fucillo, SB Nation's fantasy guru; Danny Kelly, SB Nation NFL contributor; PFT Commenter, SB Nation's hot takes expert; Joel Thorman, SB Nation NFL blogs manager; Matt Ufford, editorial producer; Ryan Van Bibber, SB Nation's NFL editor; and Stephen White, retired NFL defensive end and SB Nation NFL contributor.

Our panel's record from Week 4 and for the entire season so far:

Ryan Van Bibber Stephen White Joel Thorman David Fucillo Danny Kelly Matt Ufford PFT Commenter OddsShark
Last week 10-5 11-4 5-10 10-5 11-4 10-5 9-6 11-4
To date 35-28 38-25 34-29 39-24 38-25 38-25 36-27 37-26

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