Welcome to Week 5 of the 2026 NFL season, where we kick things off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visiting the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday and cap the schedule with a banger of a Monday Night Football game featuring the Buffalo Bills at the Los Angeles Rams. So, let’s jump right into the ClutchPoints NFL Week 5 picks, predictions, and odds column.
The games in Week 4 brought us a lot of joy and pain. Even the refs were cursing players out, much like many fans want to curse NFL officials out after they have thrown a 10-plus-year high number of penalty flags through four weeks and taken a staggering 17 touchdowns off the board.
From a standings perspective, we know the Kansas City Chiefs will stay undefeated due to their bye week, but can the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings do the same? And will any of the 0-4 teams—the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, or Buccaneers—be able to finally get in the win column?
Week 5 of the NFL season starts the bye weeks for teams, so for this weekend, we say goodbye to the Chiefs and Carolina Panthers. From here on out, we get between two and six teams out on a bye every week until Week 14, save for Thanksgiving (Week 12), when all 32 teams play.
For the NFL Week 5 slate, we start with a Thursday nighter, get a 9:30 a.m. ET kick from London, followed up by eight early-window Sunday games, just three late-window showdowns, a Sunday night tilt, and a standalone Monday night affair.
The ClutchPoints NFL picks, predictions, and odds column is hanging in there overall, posting another 9-7 straight-up record and a 6-9-1 against-the-spread record last week. That brings us to 40-24 (62.5%) straight up and 28-34-2 (45.1%) ATS on the season thus far.
Previous weeks: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
So, let’s get right into the NFL Week 5 picks, predictions, and odds.
Courtesy of DraftKings, here are the NFL odds.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys (-8.5)
On paper, this looks like it should be a rout for the Cowboys. They have a high-powered offense and are at home against a winless team with a backup quarterback. That’s why over 70% of the public money is on Dallas.
All that said, backup quarterbacks have done historically well this year against the spread, and the public has been terrible at predicting prime-time games. So, while we’re not ready to call a Jalon Daniels upset, we will take the Buccaneers to cover.
Pick: Cowboys 24-20
Philadelphia Eagles at Jacksonville Jaguars (-7.5)
Things seem to be unraveling for the Eagles, as one Lane Johnson retired out of the blue and the team traded Cam Jurgens just four games into the 2026 season. Now they head to England to play London’s unofficial home team, the Jaguars.
No matter what is happening in Philly, though, the Eagles tend to play close games when they are expected to blow a team out or be blown out, so the Jags laying more than a touchdown is concerning. That’s why we’ll take the Birds to at least keep it close.
Pick: Jaguars 23-21
Cincinnati Bengals (-6.5) at Miami Dolphins
We’ve had some good luck this season picking the plucky Dolphins to keep it close, but with the Bengals coming off a loss and having the Ravens on deck, this team needs to get right against a bad team.
The key piece of this matchup is that the Bengals can score points when they are playing well and the Dolphins struggle to get the ball in the end zone. As long as Joe Burrow and company aren’t totally broken right now (Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins' statuses must be monitored), they should be able to outscore Miami in this game.
Pick: Bengals 31-13
Minnesota Vikings (-2.5) at New Orleans Saints
As good as the Vikings' defense is, this offense cannot be trusted with Kyler Murray, so taking the home dog here makes a lot of sense. After getting embarrassed on their home turf on national television, the Saints should come out firing in this spot.
This puts a lot of faith in Tyler Shough against Brian Flores’ defense, but he has been playing pretty well this season and seems ripe to pull off an upset in front of his home fans. Plus, how long do we think the Vikings can actually stay undefeated?
Pick: Saints 17-16
Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots (-3.5)
The Raiders have been good this season, but are they one of the best teams in the league? If so, they’ll cover here, and maybe even pull off the upset. If not, and the Silver & Black are just a solid team with a decent shot of the playoffs, this could be a tough game for them.
The ClutchPoints NFL picks, predictions, and odds column is going to go with the latter. The Raiders are a good team, but one not quite ready to compete with the Chiefs and Patriots of the world.
Pick: Patriots 27-20
Cleveland Browns at New York Jets (-2.5)
Something seems fishy here, because as improved as the Jets are, they are nowhere near the complete team that the Browns are with Deshaun Watson playing decent quarterback right now. Maybe Vegas is begging us to take the Browns here because they are a lot smarter than us (which is true), but we’ll take that bait.
The Browns have more talent on both sides of the ball and a better head coach on the sidelines. Maybe we’re drinking the Kool-Aid too much after watching Thursday Night football last week, but, come to think of it, that gives them the rest advantage, too!
Pick: Browns 24-16
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5)
This is one of the toughest NFL Week 5 predictions because either of these teams could show up and win big or get blown out on any given Sunday. It seems like the Colts and Steelers are destined to fight it out for the last AFC Wild Card spot this season.
For this matchup, we’ll lean on the fact that Daniel Jones has struggled in Pittsburgh, as have the Colts in general. This game is, obviously, outdoors, and there is a chance of rain, too, which makes the ClutchPoints NFL picks, predictions, and odds column lean Steelers.
Pick: Steelers 23-17
Houston Texans (-7.5) at Tennessee Titans
We understand that one of these teams came into the season with decent Super Bowl odds and the other had solid odds for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. However, they are both 0-4 heading into Week 5, so do the Texans really deserve to be a touchdown-plus favorite?
There is a solid chance that, at some point this season, the Texans break out and start rolling teams. Last year, they started 0-3 and ended up 12-5. This season does seem different, though, and so until they prove they’ve actually turned things around, we’ll bet on them like they are an 0-4 team.
Pick: Texans 15-12
New York Giants at Washington Commanders (-3.5)
This is another spread that is a little confusing to the ClutchPoints NFL picks, predictions, and odds column. Sure, Jameis Winston is who he is, and that means he’s equally likely to throw four picks as four TDs, but John Harbaugh knows that and seems to be managing that well.
Even if Jayden Daniels comes back, the Giants' defense is playing well, and rookie Arvell Reese is becoming a problem. That’s why we like the G-Men to travel down to the nation’s capital and get the W outright.
Pick: Giants 23-21
Chicago Bears (-1.5) at Green Bay Packers
This game opened at Bears -3 and has been bet down to Bears -1.5, which works just fine for us here at the ClutchPoints NFL picks, predictions, and odds column. We do not trust the Packers at all and think Ben Johnson can get the job done, no matter who is at quarterback.
One of the most interesting facts about this NFC North showdown is that the Packers have closed less than a 3-point favorite at home against the Bears just twice in the past 34 years (2005, 2006), and Chicago won and covered in both those matchups.
Pick: Bears 19-16
Denver Broncos (-3.5) at Los Angeles Chargers
Is this the week that the Chargers finally get it together and grab their first win? It would make sense, since Bo Nix has been much better at home in his career than on the road. Plus, LA’s talent has to come through at some point, right?
Article Continues BelowJustin Herbert and company are in the same boat as the 0-4 Texans here, in that we will trust our eyes and brain, not our heart, when dealing with the Chargers. The numbers say they are one of the worst teams in the league, and we’ll stand on that until we see otherwise.
Pick: Broncos 27-19
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (-3)
This could be the best game on Sunday, as the reigning Super Bowl champs take on an NFC West rival in the undefeated 49ers. It’s hard to see this not being a close, exciting game. The 49ers are on a roll right now, and a 4-0 team coming into Week 5 as an underdog usually works out pretty well for the undefeated team.
Still, the Seahawks are one of the few teams in the league capable of making big stops on defense and putting gup 30-plus points, which is likely what they’ll have to do in order to beat the 49ers. They did it last week to the Rams, though, so we think they can do it again.
Pick: Seahawks 35-31
Detroit Lions (-4.5) at Arizona Cardinals
The Lions’ defensive woes are well-documented, especially in the secondary. And the Cardinals have allowed over 30 points in three consecutive games. This sounds like a shootout to the ClutchPoints NFL picks, predictions, and odds column!
Over/Under aside, the Lions are the better team in here, and on a fast track indoors, they should put up a lot of points. Because of the Lions' D, there is a good chance Jacoby Brissett keeps pace for a good chunk of the game, but the visitors should win by at least a touchdown.
Pick: Lions 38-28
Baltimore Ravens at Atlanta Falcons (-3)
The two factors at play here are, do we believe in the Falcons' new-look offense with Michael Penix Jr. at the helm? Is Lamar Jackson playing in this game? The ClutchPoints NFL picks, predictions, and odds column says yes (conditionally) to the first question and no to the second.
With one team looking so good since its QB came back and one potentially missing its star signal-caller, we’ll take the team with a healthy passer, at home, only giving a field goal.
Pick: Falcons 26-20
Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5)
Last season, the Bills were riding high before losing to the Patriots at home and then getting crushed by the Falcons on Monday Night Football the very next week. Sound familiar? The Bills’ secondary flaws were exposed in Week 4, and no one puts defensive issues on display better than Sean McVay.
Yes, the Rams have their issues, too, but the Bills are floundering right now, and a trip to the Left Coast is not going to help. Until they clean things up on offense (looking at you, Josh Allen!) and get better at the back end of their defense, Buffalo will be in a bit of trouble.
Pick: Rams 35-30