NFL Lines 2014, Week 5 Recap

Another winning week, as I went 8-6-1 (my first push of the year!), and 2-0-1 with my best bets. To date, my overall record is now 39-36-1, and my best bets are 5-0-1.

This week, I think we learned a couple of things. One, several teams are simply broken. We already  knew this about certain teams (Oakland, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville), but this past week revealed a number of others. For instance, the Steelers are broken. Despite winning on the road against Jacksonville, the way they struggled to do so and the beating they took at the hands of Baltimore, and the last-minute loss against the Bucs shows that this is a team in disarray. It’s no coincidence they lead the league in penalties. That is one undisciplined team.

The Bears are another broken team. It seemed unlikely that their offense would do them in at any point this year, but Jay Cutler’s turnovers against the Panthers showed that they aren’t a strong enough team to absorb those mistakes.

The Vikings without Teddy Bridgewater, Cordarrelle Paterson, and Adrian Peterson are a broken team. The Jets are a broken team. Atlanta is a broken team. And perhaps most surprising of all, New Orleans is a broken team.