HH's Hump Day NFL Pick'em - Week 5

Welcome everybody to Week 5 of the Hump Day NFL Pick'em, with special prizes brought to you each week by our friends at NRG!

There wasn't much to say following the Redskins' loss to the Giants on Thursday night.  The only positive was that we knew Sunday would be a fun, relaxing day filled with the Redzone Channel and Nationals baseball.  The Nationals and Jordan Zimmermann delivered a no-hitter and a thrilling win.  Could we here at the Hump Day offices deliver a winning record for once?  In fact, we could! We had our best week of the year with an 8-5 record, which gave us a total of eight points.  Would any contestant get anywhere close to our fantastic performance?  Here were the results:

Congrats to lesagecr!!!!!!  Please email me your address and we will get your prize right out to you.  (Actually, I'll just swing it by your place since I know where you live.  In case you weren't aware, lesagecr is popular podcast The District's own Chris LeSage, everybody!)

So with our excellent week, we improved our overall record to 25-35-1.  Riding high on our recent success and feeling fat and happy, we move forward to Week 5.

Before that, however, we would like to point out that the Hump Day Pick'em will be making some changes.  As of today (and as the demand for this contest has steadily increased since last year), we will start taking twenty contestants each week and grow with our audience.  Also, to make things even more interesting and include some who have not been given a chance to compete based on their schedule, starting next week we will begin moving around the release time of the contest each Wednesday to keep you on your toes.  All of this is in response to the feedback we've received from our awesome fans, and we thank you all for voicing your opinions.  Now, with these changes firmly in place, let's get started.

Here we go!

For those of you who are new to our game, I state the rules:

This is a weekly contest in which I will make my game picks each Wednesday and invite you, the loyal Hogs Haven readers, to make your own picks in the comments section.

I will incorporate the spread as determined by Las Vegas the Tuesday before the games and you can earn 1 point for each correct choice.  I will add up the points at the end of each week, and the winner will earn a fabulous prize, courtesy of NRG, that will then be mailed to them.  If there are multiple contestants tied for the lead, there will be a drawing to determine the overall winner.  There will only be twenty contestants, so the first twenty responses will get in.

Each week the prize will change, and this year (unlike last year), a prize will be given out every single week since you are now only competing against each other and not me.  Simple right??

Here are my picks for this week:

Minnesota Vikings (+9.5) at Green Bay Packers: Teddy Bridgewater is coming, Green Bay.  And he's bringing his throwin' gloves with him.  Pick: Vikings (+9.5)

Chicago Bears (+3) at Carolina Panthers: Both teams are coming off disappointing losses last week.  Both teams also have super awesome quarterbacks who are their own number one fans.  One has the blessing of Mike Ditka.  Pick: Bears (+3)

Cleveland Browns (+1) at Tennessee Titans: The Cleveland and Nashville CBS affiliates have elected to broadcast a Walker, Texas Ranger marathon in the place of this game.  Spoiler Alert: The hour two episode is the one where Walker meets his long lost daughter who has his eyes, karate skills and appetite for justice.  Pick: Titans (-1)

St. Louis Rams (+7) at Philadelphia Eagles: The 2014 season's streak of good luck continues for the Rams, as they get to play the Eagles in Philadelphia coming off their one and only loss of the year thus far.  Pick: Eagles (-7)

Atlanta Falcons (+4) at New York Giants: Eli was feeling so cocky after the game in Washington last week that he arrived early for the Manning family lunch on Saturday, ate Peyton's favorite chocolate glazed donut before he even got there and then sat in Peyton's chair the whole time.  Pick: Giants (-4)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+10.5) at New Orleans Saints: Nothing cleanses the palate of a terrible loss to the Cowboys like a house call from the Bucs.  Pick: Saints (-10.5)

Houston Texans (+4) at Dallas Cowboys: J.J. Watt, meet Tony Romo.  Tony, get up.  Tony?  Pick: Texans (+4)

Buffalo Bills (+7.5) at Detroit Lions: You know it's been a bad season when purposefully turning your offense over to Kyle Orton seems like the best option.  Pick: Lions (-7.5)

Baltimore Ravens (+3.5) at Indianapolis Colts: Who will win the battle between Baltimore's old team and Baltimore's new team?  I really don't care as long Steve Smith (Sr.) keeps hooking me up in fantasy points.  Pick: Colts (-3.5)

Pittsburgh Steelers (-6.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars: The 6.5 spread is more of a commentary on the Steelers, really.  (P.S. Blake Bortles rules!) Pick: Jaguars (+6.5)

Arizona Cardinals (+7.5) at Denver Broncos: Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Peyton is still reeling from the loss of his chocolate donut and favorite seat.  Pick: Broncos (-7.5)

Kansas City Chiefs (+6.5) at San Francisco 49ers: Maybe it's the Andy Reid dance moves.  Maybe it's the shaming of Tom Brady on national TV.  But, after watching the Chiefs of Monday night, let's just say we have a new Hump Day Team of Destiny. (It's the dance moves) Pick: Chiefs (+6.5)

New York Jets (+6.5) at San Diego Chargers: We admit it.  We have east coast bias.  But that ends today San Diego Super Chargers.  That ends today!  Pick: Chargers (-6.5)

Cincinnati Bengals (-1) at New England Patriots: Coming off their drubbing on Monday Night Football, the Patriots are actually getting points at home.  Our crack staff of statisticians looked back and determined that has not happened in, like, a really long time.  Pick: Patriots (+1)

Seattle Seahawks (-7.5) at Washington Redskins: Hey, how ‘bout those Nationals!?!?  Pick: Seahawks (-7.5)

So there are my Week 5 picks. The winner this week will have this fabulous prize to look forward to, courtesy of NRG:

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That's right - above is a series of question marks written in bold font, indicating a Redskins mystery bag filled with things you don't even know how much you need!

I will announce this week's winner next Wednesday on the next Hump Day post.

Good luck!!