NFL Week 5 open thread

Everything balances.  Notre Dame wins two in a row, yesterday edging Pitt 23-17; I take my first losing week at 2-4, putting my season record to a still-respectable 15-10.  The Steelers have their bye week today, which gives them an extra week to get Big Ben Roethlisberger ready for his season debut after finishing his four-game suspension.  Charlie Batch should get a big round of applause for keeping the Steelers in the hunt.

Let’s see if I can’t get back on the beam with this week’s picks:

• Vikings at Jets – Jazz Shaw usually gets annoyed when I pick the Jets to win, claiming it as some sort of a jinx, so this time I’ll go with the Vikes.  They both have two good defenses, but the Vikes finally have a deep threat with the return of Randy Moss.  I assume he won’t poison the locker room environment this quickly, so his presence in the passing game will force the Jets to keep less than eight men in the box, which should open up Adrian Peterson’s running game.  Vikes over Jets, 23-17.
• Rams at Lions – The Lions aren’t as bad as their 0-4 record suggests, as they have been competitive in every game … but the Rams may be a little better than their 2-2 record, too.  Sam Bradford has 6 TDs already and Stephen Jackson has almost 300 yards on 73 carries, and it looks like St. Louis has a team rather than a doormat.  The Lions are slightly favored at home, but I’ll pick the Rams, 24-20.
• Chiefs at Colts – Who would have expected the Chiefs to be the last undefeated team in the NFL?  They have come out of the gate hot, but they’re playing a veteran team on the road, and this will be the end of the unbeaten streak.  The Colts play tough at home even if they’re 1-2 on the road, and Peyton Manning is as sharp as ever with 11 TDs already.  Colts over the Chiefs, 31-21.
• Chargers at Raiders – We keep looking for signs of life from San Diego, which was supposed to be a powerhouse but have just a .500 record a quarter way through the season.  The Raiders’ only win came at home (they also lost a home game), so the Chargers can’t exactly take them for granted, but this really is a character-revealing game for the Chargers.  If they can’t beat the Raiders in an intradivisional game, they will struggle to stay a .500 team.  San Diego knows this better than anyone else, which is why they’ll respond with a big game today, 35-17.
• Eagles at 49ers – If Michael Vick was healthy, the Eagles would be able to easily handle the struggling 49ers. Without Vick, they are a team with a decent offense and a seriously undersized defense, and on the road at 2-2.  Mike Singletary should get his first win of the season today as the Eagles tread water and wait to see when Vick comes back, 27-14.
• Broncos at Ravens – I’d love to see the Broncos beat the Ravens, but they’re not a solid bet on the road, and the Ravens still play tough football at home.  I’ll pick the Ravens in a low-scoring game, 14-10, and hope that I get this one wrong.

Update: Also, Pepsi has its Refresh Everything “Good Idea” contest, in which people vote for the best ideas to see which get funding at the end of October. Winning one of the $50,000 grants would put us in excellent shape to continue our ministry to marriages. People can vote for TCME at the Refresh Everything page or right here in this widget, and can cast one vote each day from each computer to which voters have access:

We joke a lot about politics and voting, but in this case, the Chicago Way applies — vote early, vote often, and vote every day! If you don’t want to register for the contest, simply text “103165” to Pepsi (73774) from your cell phone every day.