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 |
* * *
SB Nation presents: The NFL teams that are hurting our brains the most