The NFL Week 5 Pick’em Sheet 2026 has 15 games, not 16. Bye weeks start here, so Carolina and Kansas City sit out and your sheet gets one row shorter. Week 5 runs from Thursday, October 8 through Monday, October 12. Print it, mark your picks, and settle up on Tuesday morning.
If your pool has been scoring out of 16 all season, this is the week to agree what happens now. Fix the rule before Thursday, not after someone loses on it.
Week 5 Pick’em Quick Facts:
- Games to pick: 15, the first short slate of the season
- On bye: Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs
- Picks deadline: Thursday, October 8 at 8:15 p.m. ET, when Buccaneers at Cowboys kicks off
- Earliest Sunday game: 9:30 a.m. ET from London, Eagles at Jaguars
- Last game: Bills at Rams, Monday, October 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN and ABC
NFL Week 5 Pick’em Sheet 2026: Every Matchup to Pick
Home teams are listed second. Times are Eastern. Fifteen games, because two teams are off.
| DATE | MATCHUP | TIME (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 8 | Buccaneers at Cowboys | 8:15 PM | Prime Video |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Eagles at Jaguars (London) | 9:30 AM | NFL Network |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Raiders at Patriots | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Browns at Jets | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Colts at Steelers | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Texans at Titans | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Bengals at Dolphins | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Vikings at Saints | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Giants at Commanders | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Broncos at Chargers | 4:05 PM | CBS |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Lions at Cardinals | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Bears at Packers | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| Sun, Oct 11 | 49ers at Seahawks | 4:25 PM | FOX |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Ravens at Falcons | 8:20 PM | NBC |
| Mon, Oct 12 | Bills at Rams | 8:15 PM | ESPN, ABC |
Need kickoff times in your own time zone? See the full NFL Week 5 schedule with printable PDFs for ET, CT, MT and PT.
Download the Free NFL Week 5 Pick’em Sheet 2026 PDF
The printable version is letter size, so it comes straight out of a home or office printer with no scaling. The same file is fillable, so anyone who would rather not print can tick their picks on a laptop or phone and send it back to the pool host.
- Print one copy per player and write the player name at the top
- Set page scaling to 100 percent or Actual Size so the grid lines stay square
- The bye teams are named on the sheet, so nobody hunts for a missing game
- Collect every sheet before Thursday night so nobody picks late
Download the NFL Week 5 Pick’em Sheet 2026 (Printable PDF)
Running the pool every week? The Week 6 Pick’em Sheet is ready as soon as this one is scored, and it is shorter again at 14 games.
How to Score a Pool Once Bye Weeks Start
This is the first week the slate shrinks, and it keeps shrinking on and off until Week 14. A raw running total still works if everyone picks every week, but it stops comparing cleanly the moment somebody joins late or misses a sheet. Decide which of these you are using and write it on the master copy.
| SCORING | HOW IT HANDLES A SHORT WEEK | BEST FOR |
|---|---|---|
| Raw total | Just fewer points available, 15 instead of 16 | Groups where everyone plays every week |
| Percentage correct | Score out of however many games that week, so weeks compare fairly | Pools with late joiners or missed weeks |
| Confidence points | Rank 15 down to 1 this week, not 16 down to 1 | Season long office pools |
| Survivor | Two fewer teams to choose from, and nobody can spend Carolina or Kansas City | Large groups that want a long chase |
For the tiebreaker, ask every player to write the total combined points in Bills at Rams on Monday night. Closest number wins. Survivor players should check the bye list before picking, because a team you were saving is simply unavailable this week and stays unavailable in whichever week it is off. Keep the full 2026 NFL schedule printable beside your master copy so you can see every bye before you plan around it.
Week 5 Games That Decide Most Pools
Fifteen games means one fewer chance to make ground, so the gaps between players close more slowly. These four are where the week is usually won or lost.
- Eagles at Jaguars, Sunday 9:30 a.m. The second London game of the season, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 2:30 p.m. local, with Jacksonville as the designated home team. It settles hours before anything else on your sheet, and an early kickoff after a transatlantic trip rarely follows form.
- Bears at Packers, Sunday 4:25 p.m. The oldest rivalry in the league, at Lambeau. Records help less here than in almost any other game on the card.
- Bills at Rams, Monday 8:15 p.m. The last game of the week, so it is the tiebreaker in most pools and carries double weight. A cross country trip for Buffalo into a Los Angeles night game.
- Buccaneers at Cowboys, Thursday 8:15 p.m. The game that locks your whole sheet, on a short week for both sides. Get this one in before anyone leaves the office on Thursday.
One practical tip. Two teams being off does not just remove a row, it removes two of the season’s most picked teams from survivor boards. If your pool runs survivor alongside pick’em, expect a cluster of players to land on the same alternative, which is exactly how a survivor field gets cut in half in one afternoon.
NFL Week 5 Pick’em Sheet 2026 FAQ
How many games do I pick in NFL Week 5 2026?
Fifteen, not sixteen. Week 5 is the first week with byes, so Carolina and Kansas City are off and only 30 teams play. The slate is one Thursday game, 13 games on Sunday and one on Monday night.
Which teams are on bye in Week 5 2026?
The Carolina Panthers and the Kansas City Chiefs. They are named on the printable sheet so nobody wastes time looking for a missing game. Byes then run on and off through Week 14.
How should a pool score a week with byes?
Either keep a raw total, which is simply out of 15 this week, or switch to percentage correct so short weeks and full weeks compare fairly. Percentage is the better choice if anyone joined late or missed a sheet. Agree the rule before Thursday rather than after a close finish.
When is the deadline to turn in Week 5 picks?
Most pools lock at the first kickoff, which is Thursday, October 8 at 8:15 p.m. ET for Buccaneers at Cowboys. Pools that lock game by game should note the London game starts at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, not 1:00 p.m.
How do you break a tie in a Week 5 pool?
The standard tiebreaker is total combined points in the last game of the week, which is Bills at Rams on Monday, October 12. Each player writes one number before kickoff and the closest guess wins. Some pools use closest without going over instead.
Can I watch every Week 5 game without cable?
Thirteen of the 15 games are on free over the air channels, FOX with six, CBS with five, NBC with one and ABC with one. Two need a subscription: the Thursday game on Prime Video and the London game on NFL Network.
Does a bye week change survivor pool strategy?
Yes. A team on bye cannot be picked that week, so two of the most popular survivor options are off the board. That pushes players onto the same handful of alternatives, and a single upset can then knock out a large part of the field at once.
The NFL Week 5 Pick’em Sheet 2026 covers the first short slate of the year, a 9:30 a.m. kickoff from London, the oldest rivalry in the league at Lambeau and a Monday night finish in Los Angeles. One page, fifteen picks, no app.
Print one copy per player, collect them all before 8:15 p.m. ET on October 8, and make everyone write a tiebreaker number. Settle your bye week scoring rule at the same time. It costs a minute now and saves an argument in December, when several players are separated by a single point.
Every matchup, kickoff time and TV channel on this sheet is checked against the official NFL Week 5 schedule.