Week 5 NFL Betting Picks: Team and Game Totals

Oct 08, 2021
Week 5 NFL Betting Picks: Team and Game Totals

Handicapping NFL sides and totals is not a perfect science, though it does get easier to navigate as the season moves along. The more we can contextualize in-season data and adjust it for the situation and opponent, the better. I feel more confident using in-season data to make decisions, but I try not to overreact since the sample of data is so small. For now, we have to use what we have. I update this sheet every Wednesday afternoon, capturing the situation-neutral stats I believe matter more than most.

Whenever possible, but especially early in the season, lean into situation-adjusted stats over raw counting stats. Utilize metrics like success rate and explosive play rates over total yards and points against. Our scheduled-adjust fantasy points allowed (aFPA) metric here at 4for4 is a perfect example of this. It's not a relevant metric in the context of my analysis here, but the point is, it tells a more useful truth than its more commonly used counterparts.

In this space, I'll continue to focus on what I think is the biggest inefficiency in the market—individual team totals. I know leaning under is optimal, but you'll find some overs here. I'm sorry.

Let's move forward and take a look at Week 5's plays.

*Betting lines accurate at the time of publication.

Week 5 NFL Totals Bets

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