Week 4 of the 2026 NFL Season is officially in the books. With Week 5 now already on the horizon, this is when things really begin to heat up, as the first month of the season can often be misleading for certain teams, as they are still only now coming into their identity.
The teams that are 2-2, for example, could really go either way. You do get a sense that the winless and undefeated teams will remain in their respective tiers, but even for the 3-1 team, anything can happen.
As Week 5 approaches, we've rolled out our weekly picks and score predictions for the next slate of games, and we also have a couple of bye weeks, too! Let's dive into our weekly picks here. Both Kansas City and Carolina are on the bye this week.
Updated NFL picks and score predictions for every Week 5 game
Thursday, October 8th
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 PM ET
Tampa Bay and Dallas square off on Thursday Night Football to get Week 5 started. The Buccaneers will still be without Baker Mayfield, as he has a dislocated thumb, and if Mayfield was in for this one, this would be one of the closest games of the week.
The Cowboys can't seem to figure anything out on defense, but they are set to face a rookie quarterback in Jalon Daniels, so this could be as obvious a get-right game as any for the Cowboys. Dallas' offense is also absolutely lethal at home, so I do anticipate this game being a high-output showing from Dak Prescott and his crew, and some points for Daniels and the Bucs offense, as the Dallas defense is going to remain a talking point until they prove that they are better than a year ago. Cowboys win.
Prediction: Cowboys win 33-17
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