Trav’s 2023 Week 5 NFL Predictions

Week 4 is in the books and my crazy run has ended. The previous two weeks my record was 16-2. This week my record was 4-4 and my overall mark drops to 28-14. The winning percentage dips from 70.6% to 66.7%. My first loss came when the Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers on the Thursday night game. The second one saw the Baltimore Ravens blow out the Cleveland Browns 28-3. My picks were made before knowing that Deshaun Watson would be inactive due to a shoulder injury. The third defeat came as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went to New Orleans and dismantled the Saints. Derek Carr was supposed to miss the game, but he ended up playing with his shoulder injury. Carr should’ve sat that one out because he looked awful. The final defeat was the Monday night game where Seattle blew out the Giants.

The New York Giants were my surprise favorite to win the NFC East, but they have looked horrible this year. Buffalo made a statement with their blowout win over the Miami Dolphins. Chicago and Justin Fields looked great for three quarters and then gave up 17 points to lose to Denver. Chicago and Carolina remain the only two winless teams in the first month of the year. Dallas blew out New England 38-3 and Mac Jones was benched in the process. The Sunday Night game saw Zach Wilson outplay Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes tossed two picks, but the Chiefs still came out on top 23-20. This week I’ll be predicting another 8 games.

We kick off Week 5 with the Thursday night game between two teams coming off tough losses. The Chicago Bears head to Washington to take on the Commanders. Chicago played their best game against the Broncos on Sunday. Justin Fields threw for 335 yards, 4TDs and completed 80% of his passes in a losing effort. Chicago had a 28-0 lead, but eventually fell 31-28 to the Broncos to remain winless. Can the Bears rebound from such a heartbreaking loss? Washington fell to the Bills 37-3 a couple weeks ago but rebounded nicely on Sunday. They played a great game in Philadelphia on Sunday but fell 34-31 in OT. Sam Howell looked great, and the Commanders should’ve won that game. Washington’s defense will get after Justin Fields and that will be the difference of the game. I’m rolling with the Commanders to win. Washington Win 27-17

This is the second consecutive week in a row that the Jacksonville Jaguars will play in London. The Jaguars will battle the red-hot Buffalo Bills in a tough AFC battle. Jacksonville defeated the Atlanta Falcons in a very impressive defensive effort. The win over the Falcons ended the Jaguars two-game losing streak. The offense of the Jaguars offense has scored only 49 points in their last three games. Jacksonville will need their offense to step up big time against the Bills. Buffalo have looked great ever since their opening week loss to the Jets. The Bills offense is averaging 41 points a game over their last three games. The defense gave up a total of 33 points in that span and one of those came against Miami. The Bills are on a mission and I’m picking them to win this one. Buffalo Win 34-21

We have the Houston Texans traveling east to Atlanta to face the Falcons. These two are headed in opposite directions after the first month. The Texans lost their first two and won the next two of their matchups. The Falcons won the first two games while dropping the next pair of games. Houston and their young core looked great in their last two games. C.J. Stroud is playing great as he hasn’t thrown an interception in his first four career games. Can the Texans frustrate Desmond Ridder to making mistakes? The Falcons will need to focus on their rushing attack against the Texans. Despite his struggles, the Falcons are sticking with Desmond Ridder. In their last two games, Atlanta have put up only 13 points combined. I’m looking for the Falcons to rebound at home. Atlanta Win 20-17

The Tennessee Titans travel up to Indianapolis to battle the Colts in an AFC South matchup. The Titans are coming off their most impressive game of the season. The defense held the Bengals to only 3 points. On offense, Derrick Henry rushed for over 120 yards while rushing for one and throwing for another TD. Ryan Tannehill had a very efficient game while only making one mistake. Can the Titans win and take over the division? The Colts had their 2-game winning streak come to an end last week. Indianapolis fell behind to the Rams 23-0 before making a huge comeback. The Colts eventually lost 29-23 in OT to drop them to 2-2 like every other team in the division. This should be a good one, but I’m going with the Titans defense in this one. Tennessee Win 24-20

We head to the AFC North for this huge matchup between two physical teams. The Baltimore Ravens will head to Pittsburgh to battle the Steelers. The Ravens continue their two-game road trip against division opponents. Baltimore went to Cleveland and took down the Browns 28-3. Despite the injuries the Ravens continue to battle and sit atop of the division. Mark Andrews is starting to look like himself after catching a pair of TD passes. The Ravens will need to establish their run game against Pittsburgh. The Steelers were embarrassed last week in their blowout loss to the Texans. Kenny Pickett went down with a knee injury, but he may not miss any playing time. The Steelers have been embarrassed in both of their losses. They should play much better this week and I’m picking the Steelers. Pittsburgh Win 19-17

The Philadelphia Eagles will head out west to Los Angeles to battle the Rams. The Eagles are one of two teams in the NFL that’s undefeated. They are dealing with a lot of injuries in their secondary. Philadelphia will have to use their 2^nd rated rush offense to slow down offenses. Can the Eagles get to Matthew Stafford? Can they avoid the upset and their first loss of the season? Can the offense continue to put up points? The Rams are still looking forward to the return of Cooper Kupp. Los Angeles may have found their next star at receiver in Puka Nacua. Aaron Donald will have his hands full going against the tough Eagles offensive line. The Rams will have a chance to exploit the linebackers and weak secondary. In the end, the Eagles find another way to stay undefeated. Philadelphia Win 31-27

We have the Sunday Night game and it’s a special one. The Dallas Cowboys will head to the west coast to face the San Francisco 49ers. Dallas looked impressive during the first four weeks. They did have a hiccup a couple weeks ago when they fell to Arizona. Micah Parsons is looking like an early season favorite for defensive player of the year. Dak Prescott has only tossed one interception and the offense is top-5 in points. The Niners are arguably the best team in the NFL. The offense is top-5 in scoring as is the defense also. Christian McCaffrey is the frontrunner for league MVP after his impressive first month of the season. San Francisco beat Dallas last year in the playoffs in a close encounter. This should be another close and physical game with the Niners winning. San Francisco Win 20-17

We have the Monday Night game between a pair of legendary franchises that need a win. The Green Bay Packers will travel to Las Vegas to face the Raiders. Green Bay is coming off a loss to the Detroit Lions. Jordan Love didn’t play his best game, but the running game need to step up. They rank at the bottom four of the league, but Aaron Jones has been injured though. The defense will need to step up also. Las Vegas opened the season with a one-point win over the Broncos. They have lost their last 3 games heading into this game. Jimmy Garoppolo missed the last game due to being in concussion protocol. Josh Jacobs could be in for a big game whether Garoppolo plays or not. I’m going with the Raiders to end their 3-game losing streak. Las Vegas Win 27-20

There we are my predictions for the 2023 Week 5 NFL season. What games intrigue you the most for the 2023 Week 5 NFL weekend? What do you think about my picks? Check out my top 5 teams in both conferences below. Leave some feedback below about anything NFL related or my 2023 Week 5 NFL predictions.