Four Division rivals clash in Week 5

Recliners square off against WTNE, Beaters face Invaiders in the headliners this week

RB Quinshon Judkins had his first big game last week. Beaters owner Matt Pringle is hopes for more of the same.

The first of the bye weeks is upon us as the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are all idle this week. So, if you roster QBs Caleb Williams or Jordan Love, RBs Bijan Robinson, D’Andre Swift or Josh Jacobs, WRs Drake London, Rome Odunze or the Green Bay defense, all of them are off the table this week. The byes continue for eight of the next nine weeks.

Four division rivals will collide in Week 5 – headlined by the Hermosa Recliners taking on WTNE. The Spread Beaters will take on the Invaiders, and over in the other division the Band Aids will take on the Packers while the Gerbils battle the Tirades. The only out-of-division game will be the Rangers and Who Dey and that yawner might end up being a battle for the first pick in the 2026 season.

For planning purposes, we will assume that Matt Pringle will find some way to dispatch of the Invaiders and remain undefeated and alone atop the Silent Division. That makes the Recliners and WTNE duel that much more interesting. One of these two teams will move to 4-1 and other will still be relevant at 3-2 as the other division continues to stay at .500.

International Games Continue

The San Francisco 49ers (yay, Niners!) and Los Angeles Rams kick off the Week 5 schedule Thursday night. The Minnesota Vikings extend their overseas stay for one more week and take on the Cleveland Browns in London with kickoff at 6:30 a.m. Sunday. The Patriots and Bills play the Sunday night game and the Chiefs and Jaguars finish the slate Monday night.

Game of the Week

Recliners (3-1) vs. WTNE (3-1), Recliners are 7-point dogs: All of the betting lines are tipping towards WTNE with positional advantages at QB (Justin Herbert), both RBs (Saquon Barkley and Quinshon Judkins), WR2 (Garrett Woods) and flex (RB Alvin Kamara). The Recliners get sucker punched with Bijan Robinson on bye this week and Chris will turn to Chuba Hubbard, J.K. Dobbins and Zach Charbonet to stem the tide of points Jordan is expected to post this weekend. Chris will hope for a huge Thursday for Puka Nacua against the 49ers (yay, 9ers!) and an increased workload for WR Jaylen Waddle with Tyreek Hill out for the season. Without Bijan, Swami says take WTNE by 5.

Best of the Rest

Gerbils (3-1) vs. Tirades (2-2), Gerbils are 8-point dogs: With byes removing Rome Odunze and Jaylen Warren from the Gerbils lineup, the positional advantages all lean Ron’s way. The Tirades get the nod at QB (Danny Dimes), both RBs (Jonathan Taylor and Breece Hall, WR2 (Quentin Johnston), TE (Juwan Johnson) and flex (WR Emeka Egbuka of Tampa Bay). The Indianapolis duo at QB and RB also get the added bonus of going up against the Las Vegas Raiders at home. The lone bright spots for Chuck are his RB1 (Jahmyr Gibbs) and Lions defense both get the tempting matchup against the Cincinnati defense on the road. The festering turd of the Raiders defense on the road far out-sucks the Bengals defense at home. Swami says take the Tirades and 5.

Spread Beaters (4-1) vs. Invaiders (2-2), Beaters are 2-point dogs: There is a new saying going around “Swamiville” that “the Invaiders only explode on weeks divisible by 3.” This ain’t one of those weeks. The other two weeks, they underperform by staggering measures. We don’t give a darn what the pinheads at ESPN say about this line, this is a Spread Beater win free and clear. As of this writing Wednesday evening, Matt still has not figured out what he will do at tight end. SF’s George Kittle is expected to miss one more week before coming off injured reserve, and his backup (Tucker Kraft) is on bye this week. The positional battles lean Matt’s way in most of the fights that matter. The Beaters get the edge at RB2 with rookie Omirion Hampton, both WRs (Amon-Ra St. Brown and Nico Collings (questionable) and flex (WR Keenan Allen). The Invaiders get a slight edge at QB (Justin Fields) and RB1 (Kyren Williams), tight end (Brenton Strange), defense (the Minnesota Vikings) and kicker (Matt Prater). Swami says don’t bite on the lure. Take the Beaters and 4.

Band Aids (1-3) vs. Packers (2-2), Band Aids are 7-point dogs: The line at ESPN has this as the Band Aids being a 17-point dog, but Bob may not have realized his free agent from last week (Trey Benson) just landed on IR. Benson is currently in the flex position and we guess Bob Dog will go with RB David Montgomery (projected for 10 points on the road against the Bengals). The Packers have most of the other advantages. Jeff gets the nod at both RBs (Christian McCaffrey and James Cook), WR2 (George Pickens). Bob looks to have the QB advantage with Jared Goff on the road while the Ravens decide if injured Lamar Jackson will sit out this week. If Jeff counters with Drake Maye, he will have a 1-point advantage on Goff. Swami says take the Pack and 2.

Dog of the Week

Rangers (0-4) vs. Who Dey (0-4), Who Dey are 15-point dogs: Woof. This is another confusing line at ESPN. It currently sits at 30 points in favor of the Rangers. Matty’s Who Dey loses his QB (Jordan Love) to the bye and may be forced to pony up Trevor Lawrence (projected for 15, bringing it down to a 15-point spread). Matty also has Bucky Irving (questionable and projected for zero points) in his starting lineup. Backup options are bleak. There is RJ Harvey (projected for 5 points at Philly) or Braelon Allen (listed as doubtful and projected for zero points). Don’t be surprised if Matty goes waiver-wire diving before Sunday to find more punch at RB. It may not matter. Swami says look for the Rangers to get their first win and Who Dey to fall to 0-5.