2008 Week 5 NFL Predictions

Gambling911.com has a few 2008 Week 5 NFL predictions for our readers.

Some stats to consider that do not favor Indianapolis: The Colts are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss. They are also 2-9 ATS in their last 11 vs. AFC South.

Past history tells us that a healthy Colts team can beat and cover the spread against Houston. This is NOT a healthy Colts squad. Houston is likely to be especially hungry for a win (make that "desperate") against a team they can conceivably win due to the Colts injuries. We are calling this one a "sucker bet" and asking why the odds makers haven't moved this line up in favor of Indianapolis. Expect Houston to cover by +3 ½.

The Sagarin ratings would have San Diego, at best, a 3 point favorite in Miami. The idea that you can still get Miami at +6 1/2 courtesy of BetOnline.com is enticing.

The Chargers are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight up and ATS win. They are also 6-1 ATS in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a losing home record. San Diego is also 41-17-3 ATS in their last 61 games on grass and 37-16-4 ATS in their last 57 vs. AFC. Those are impressive stats to be sure.

The Dolphins are 9-19 ATS in their last 28 games following a straight up win, which is not entirely bad considering how awful Miami has been in recent times. They are also 1-8 ATS in their last 9 games following a SU win of more than 14 points.

Looking back to last year, the Chargers only won two games on the road in a decisive fashion, and one of those teams was Kansas City (that's not saying much). San Diego last week beat Oakland on the road, but that is only half the story. The Chargers has to rally from a rather large point deficit to finally win 28-18 against a team that quite frankly isn't very good. It's a gamble for us to offer an opinion on the Miami Dolphins here, but we can't hold back here either. This one is just too good to pass up. We may learn Miami is still that same bad team from last year... but our bet is on the Dolphins covering.

Until last week, the highest number of points scored this season was a whopping 14. They have only been able to beat one good team on the road since the start of last season - San Diego by a score of 30-16. What is it about Kansas City and those Week 4 upsets anyway????

Carolina previously beat Kansas City by 11 points back in 2004.

The Chiefs are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS win, 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games on grass and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games after scoring more than 30 points in their previous game. This is a Chiefs team that only last week snapped a 12-game losing streak.

The Panthers, meanwhile, are 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous game.

The fact that the Panthers don't seem to miss a beat when a starting offensive lineman goes down-let alone two in the same game-is a reflection of the familiarity Jeremy Bridges and Geoff Hangartner have with the offense.

Jake Delhomme turned in a near-perfect performance, completing 20 of 29 passes for 294 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions (124.8 QB rating). Delhomme got plenty of help from Muhsin Muhammad, who had eight catches for 147 yards, and Steve Smith, who added six catches for 96 yards. Both caught touchdown passes. Delhomme was not sacked, despite the fact the Panthers lost both starting tackles to injury during the game.

We just don't see Kansas City being able to play that well again verses a good Carolina team on the road and the Panthers should be able to cover the -9 ½ in our opinion.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Denver Broncos betting odds opened at Denver -3 across the board and this line hasn't moved one bit since.

Gambling911.com believes that Tampa Bay should actually be a 1 point favorite here.

There is little head-to-head matchup history between these two teams.

Both clubs are 3-1 and we are not putting too much emphasis on Denver's loss in Kansas City this past weekend. Things happen. The Broncos scored more than 30 points in their previous games.

The Broncos are 5-13 ATS in their last 18 games following a ATS loss and they are 3-10 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.

Denver (3-1) gave up 28.0 points and 421.7 yards per game in its first three contests, but averaged 38.0 points and 432.0 yards to go undefeated in that stretch. The Broncos, though, couldn't extend that streak last Sunday, when their offense totaled 446 yards but failed to bail out the defense in a 33-19 road loss to lowly Kansas City.

We are going to be playing with fire a little bit here and predict that Tampa covers this +3 point line in Denver especially when you consider that their two home games this season were won by only 2 and 1 points, respectively.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher