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Here are my picks for Week 5 in the NFL and why:

Tennessee over Baltimore - Tennesse has arguably the best defense in football, Baltimore's offense wishes it could play the Bengals 16 times a season.  The Titans shut down good offenses, Joe Flacco is overdue for his "Welcome to the NFL" moment, he gets it in this game.

Carolina over Kansas City - Welcome back to Earth Larry Johnson.  Denver's "Orange Hush" defense played so poorly that Magic Johnson could have gotten some yards on them.  It wont be as easy against a strong Carolina defense. And with Steve Smith assaulting opposing defenses with his speed (and not his teammates with his fists), Jake Delhomme should have a field day on the Chiefs hapless secondary. On a side note, maybe Mushin Muhammad (8 receptions, 147 yards) was on to something. Maybe Chicago is where receivers go to die.

Chicago over Detroit - The Bears will be victorious in a game of "we didn't knows".  We didn't know that the Bears would be this good.  We also didn't know the Lions would be THIS bad.  The fact that Chicago has offensive issues won't matter against the Lions and Ernie Sims' one-man show.  A one-man show may be great on Broadway, but it's bad for an NFL defense. And how long before the plug is pulled on the Jon Kitna experiment and we get to see if Drew Stanton is the QB of the future? By the way, am I the only one who is hoping Matt Forte doesn't fall under the "Curse of Drafted Chicago Bears HB's" (One good season, suck the rest of your career a la Curtis Enis, Rashaan Salaam, etc)

Atlanta over Green Bay - An injured Aaron Rodgers against an unblockable John Abraham. No good can come from that (if you're a Packers fan).  And will someone please inform Packers HB Ryan Grant that the regular season has started?

Indianapolis over Houston - Once again, we are seeing what losing your top offensive lineman can do to a quarterback (Marc Bulger looked lost at times without Orlando Pace last season). But you can never count out Peyton Manning.  On the other hand, most of the time you can count out Matt Schaub.  It's bad when your quarterback completes his most accurate passes to the other team. And since when does Andre Johnson drop passes?

San Diego over Miami - LT may be the best running back in football, but Darren Sproles is very exciting to watch.  The Chargers dominant cornerbacks will shut down the wide receivers that the Dolphins think they have (Did they HONESTLY think Ernest Wilford was any good?)

N.Y. Giants over Seattle - A fierce Giants pass rush against an accurate QB who has no one on the other end of his accurate passes.  Do you think they can convince Steve Largent to come out of retirement?

Washington over Philadelphia - When will people finally see that Washington for real? Probably as soon as they finally see that Philadelphia isn't. In a strong NFC East, they look to be the odd team out and it's not even close.

Tampa Bay over Denver - The Denver Broncos can be summed up in two sentences. Their offense scares everyone. Their defense scares no one.  And although Tampa Bay's offense lacks the true firepower for an offensive shootout, the stout Buccaneers defense won't allow it to be a shootout, as long as Ronde Barber doesn't fall down this week.

Buffalo over Arizona - When will people finally see that Buffalo is for real? Probably as soon as people finally see that Arizona should not be a "darkhorse" pick every year no matter how crappy the NFC West is.  The Bills defense is surprisingly good and Trent Edwards is about as good as a game manager there is right now.  On the other side, Kurt Warner became the first quarterback in the history of Earth to throw for almost 500 yards and have horrible game (6 turnovers). The sad reality is that he is STILL better than Matt Leinart.

Dallas over Cincinnati - The scenario: A hapless team that can't score or stop anyone against a team with a dominant offense that got heavily contained in their first loss and is looking to take it out on someone.  Doesn't look good for Cincy. And when Chad Johnson changed his name, did he also BECOME someone else? (11 catches, 186 yards, TD) And with the injury to Carson Palmer, lack of a defense, it won't be long before Roger Goddell is saying "With the first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select..."

San Francisco over New England - Here's my upset pick of the week.  San Francisco proved they can't cover the deep ball, New England proved they can't throw it unless they have ol' whats-his-face playing QB.  Frank Gore hasn't had a true breakout game this year and he has the perfect opportunity to have one here. Do you think we'll see Frank Gore line up in shotgun formation with J.T. O'Sullivan flanked out wide this week? Let's hope so!

Jacksonville over Pittsburgh - The Steelers offensive line is getting Big Ben killed and they are running out of healthy HB's.  Jacksonville is coming off of a spirited win, their QB is playing well, and they have one of the best HB duos in football.  I see this one playing out much like their playoff game.

New Orleans over Minnesota - The Saints have a quarterback who can win a game for them. The Vikings have a quarterback who won't lose a game for them. There is a huge difference.  Drew Brees and the Saints pull it out on Monday Night Football in a close one.