ESPN senior writer Mike Sando asks league insiders to pick winners in selected games each week. Three evaluators joined the panel for Week 5. This week's selected games: Patriots-Buccaneers, Panthers-Lions, Seahawks-Rams, Packers-Cowboys and Chiefs-Texans.
New England Patriots at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Thursday: 8:25 p.m. ET, CBS | Point spread: NE by 6
Road teams were 5-13 on Thursday nights last season. That has flipped to 3-1 this season, counting Kansas City's opening-week victory at New England, when there was not a short week of preparation as a potential factor. Two of the three insiders expect the Patriots to make road teams 4-1 on Thursday nights this season.