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NFL Week 5 best bets: Sunday night picks

Every Friday during the season, ESPN betting analysts Doug Kezirian (0-5 last week, 4-8 overall), Joe Fortenbaugh (2-3, 8-16), Anita Marks (1-6, 11-16), Preston Johnson (0-1, 6-9), Mike Clay (2-0, 8-3) and Tyler Fulghum (3-3, 4-7), sports betting deputy editor David Bearman (1-2, 8-4), Seth Walder (0-4, 9-9) of ESPN analytics and Aaron Schatz (2-3, 12-11-1) of Football Outsiders will tell us what they like from Sunday's NFL slate.

Note: Lines courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill as of Thursday.


8:20 p.m. ET game

Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks (-7, 57.5)

Fortenbaugh: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em -- that's what I've come to realize betting against Seattle week in and week out. So if the Seahawks flop in this spot, you have me to blame. An astounding 22 of Seattle's past 26 games have been decided by one score. What's even funkier is that the Seahawks have won 17 of those 22 games. The Minnesota defense currently ranks 26th in the NFL in scoring (31.3 PPG allowed), as this unit has fallen off dramatically from last season. And don't forget, quarterback Kirk Cousins is just 6-15-1 ATS in prime-time games during his career.