NFL Week 5 Vegas contest picks: Top Survivor, spread selections from Las Vegas contest expert

Week 5 in the NFL got off to a wild start on Thursday night in Los Angeles. With injuries up and down the roster, on the road, and getting anywhere from 7.5 to as many as 9 points, the San Francisco 49ers pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the young season, topping their division rival Rams by a 26-23 score in overtime.

The final result sent shockwaves through Survivor contests across the country. Of the 80 remaining entries in SuperContest Survivor, 26 were eliminated with the Rams loss (32.5%). It is speculated that 20-30% of Circa Survivor entries were eliminated on Thursday night as well. Those numbers will be revealed on Saturday evening. 12,404 entries remained heading into Thursday Night Football. There is a good chance less than 9,000 will be left heading into the weekend.

Yes, our team (www.FootballContestShow.com) did indeed consider taking the Rams with our two remaining Circa Survivor entries. Thank goodness we did not.

The carnage was not exclusive to Survivor play, as the top five consensus picks in both the Westgate SuperContest and Circa Sports Million continue to fail miserably. After four weeks, the most popular selections are now 9-30-1 (30%) combined. We keep saying, in one's own personal wagering, just blindly fading these consensus picks every week has been quite a lucrative strategy.

With 20 possible points available, our squad is a game under .500 with nine points –- but because of how poorly the majority is doing, we sit well above average in both contests. We went 3-2 last week and are trusting that is a sign of things to come. On the Survivor side, we are down from three entries to two with the Chargers losing outright to the NY Giants. Our doubling up on the Broncos got home easily in a stomping of the Bengals last Monday night.

Speaking of the Bengals, the Detroit Lions are the biggest favorite on the board this week against Cincinnati. Detroit is on the road at Cincinnati and is laying double digits. In Circa Survivor, however, many will opt to save the Lions for the holidays as these exist as separate weeks and the Lions play on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Colts, Cardinals, and Bills figure to be the other popular Survivor choices.

The Colts could also be a very popular play in the SuperContest, as the number here is 6.5 over the Raiders, and the current market is currently dealing Colts -7. The Chargers are 2.5-point favorites in both the Circa Sports Million and the SuperContest, with the current number having climbed to L.A. -3. This too could end up being a very popular pick.

So which team should you back in Week 5 for Survivor? And which teams have strong value on the spread?... Join SportsLine right now to see who you should back in Week 5, all from Las Vegas contest expert Brady Kannon!