Bills vs. Jaguars pick prediction, plus other NFL Week 5 Sunday game picks

NFL football on Sunday is an American institution for many of us. That of course includes the mighty faithful Bills Mafia. This weekend, many Buffalo Bills fans are traveling across the pond to support their beloved Bills, who take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

We’re essentially through the first quarter of action in the 2023 NFL season. At this point, most teams have begun to show their true potential and/or shortcomings. As fans, we’ve begun to get a feel for how the rest of the season might shake out. Or have we? Everyone knows anything can happen week to week, and teams that struggle early sometimes find success at the right time to make a playoff push.

But before any of that can be considered, there’s a whole lot of Week 5 action to take care of. There’s still time to join in on the fun this weekend with DraftKings Sportsbook!

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Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Buffalo Bills (London), 9:30 a.m. EDT (NFL Network)

Both teams are coming off of wins in Week 4. But the Bills seem to be in a different realm than any other team in the NFL right now. It appears to me like they have the best defense and the best offense in the league. When quarterback Josh Allen takes what the defense gives him, he’s unstoppable.

The Bills continue to roll and dominate the Jags.

Houston Texans at Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)

Houston is going to surprise a lot of people this year. They’re better than most of us thought. They still aren’t good, but they aren’t fighting the Cardinals for the first overall pick like we once thought. And overall, I think they have a better team than the Falcons. They also have the better young QB.

I’m taking the Texans here in a slight upset.

Carolina Panthers at Detroit Lions, 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)

Detroit is my favorite team outside of Buffalo. I don’t know if it’s because the teams have so many connections going all the way back to Ralph Wilson Jr., to the Bills using their stadium whenever the weather stinks in the winter. Whatever it is, I like them and they’re fun to root for. They get back stud wide receiver Jameson Williams to add to an offense that has already found its way. The Panthers won’t be able to keep up.

Lions win.

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m. EDT (CBS)

Anthony Richardson has turned me into a believer. He’s growing quickly as an NFL QB and looks more confident each week that he plays. The Titans on the other hand are a mess. They don’t have a good quarterback on their roster and Derrick Henry can’t consistently give them huge games like he once did. Last week was great for him, 122 yards on 22 carries. But the week prior he was held to 20 yards on 11 attempts. I think that will look more like what we see from him this weekend.

The Colts win and give their rookie QB some more confidence.

New York Giants at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m. EDT (FOX)

Are the Giants really this awful? Did head coach Brian Daboll fool us last year? For three out of four games, the Giants haven’t been able to score 14 points. And when you’re going down to South Florida, that just won’t cut it. The Miami Dolphins were embarrassed by the Buffalo Bills last week and will be looking to take their frustrations out on the next team. The Giants are the victims.

Miami wins this one by at least 10 points.

New Orleans Saints at New England Patriots, 1 p.m. EDT (CBS)

I know the Saints are hoping quarterback Derek Carr can play at full health this weekend. Without him the offense just doesn’t look the same at all. Jameis Winston came in late last week and threw an interception immediately. The Patriots are beat up on defense after losing linebacker Matthew Judon and rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez to potentially season-ending injuries, but head coach Bill Belichick will still take advantage of the Saints and quarterback Mac Jones will bounce back after an abysmal performance last week against the Cowboys.

Yes, Patriots win.

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. EDT (CBS)

I just want to acknowledge how amazing quarterback Lamar Jackson is. Every year it seems like the Ravens lose their starting running back, two wide receivers and their best defender. And history repeats itself as often as we use that saying. Lamar Jackson somehow has the Ravens 3-1 while playing without a lot of key players on both sides. The Steelers on the other hand have been underwhelming through four games. They were absolutely destroyed by the Texans and I don’t think they will have made the necessary adjustments in a week. Free agency and the draft are still months out — and they need a lot of help.

The Ravens will win this one comfortably.

Cincinnati Bengals at Arizona Cardinals, 4:05 p.m. EDT (FOX)

Hot take alert! Well, I’m not sure it’s much of a hot take seeing how quarterback Joe Burrow looks this year. He’s hurt and he looks every bit of it. At some point, I question whether or not he’s actually helping the team or if his playing is hurting the Bengals’ chances at the moment. No doubt he’s an amazing talent, but not like this. The Cardinals have already shown that they are a tough team with a strong run game.

Give me the Cards with the upset in the Valley.

Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Rams, 4:05 p.m. EDT (FOX)

This game is going to be rough for the Rams. No way around it. There will be more Eagles fans than Rams fans in the stands. More importantly, there will be more Eagles points than Rams points. The Eagles have been winning games while still trying to figure out how they want to play this season. One of these weeks they’ll put it all together like they did last season and I happen to think this Sunday is the day that it happens.

Philly continues to roll and the Rams still regret trading all their draft picks away.

New York Jets at Denver Broncos, 4:25 p.m. EDT (CBS)

Is it just me who might actually feel bad for quarterback Zach Wilson? He played arguably the best game of his career against the Chiefs only to lose it late. Regardless of why you think they lost that game, there’s a part of me that was rooting for him at the end. This week the task isn’t as difficult. The Broncos can be good, and in theory should be good. But for some reason they just can’t figure it out. They’re one of the very few teams in history to give up 70 points in a game. The Jets won’t score that, but they won’t have to. This is one of the best defenses in the league.

The Jets will win this one and confuse Broncos fans even more.

Kansas City Chiefs at Minnesota Vikings, 4:25 p.m. EDT (CBS)

It seems like everyone wants to blame quarterback Kirk Cousins for the Vikings’ struggles. But they are averaging 22.5 points per game and Cousins averages more than 300 yards per game in the air. At some point the defense needs to take accountability for not being able to stop other teams. This week will be more of the same. Mahomes and the Chiefs don’t look as dominant as they typically do, but they’re winning games.

Chiefs will beat the Vikings here, but the Vikings will find a way to make the fourth quarter interesting and beat the spread.

Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers, 8:20 p.m. EDT (NBC)

This should be a very entertaining game if the Cowboys show up. Every season we talk about how good the Cowboys should be and how they should be in the Super Bowl conversation, and every year they let us down. Already this year Dallas has suffered some tough injuries but should still be able to win a lot of games this season. I just don’t think this will be one of them. The 49ers might just be the best team in football.

I don’t see the Niners losing at home all year, including against the Cowboys this weekend.

Bye week: Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.