Week 5 pro football survivor picks

Survive and advance is a popular sports mantra normally saved for the month of March and the madness that comes with it.

But thanks to the rapid growth of the NFL and fantasy football, games like FOX Fantasy Survivor can feed your craving for “win or go home” competition seven months early.

Thousands of football fans signed up and participated in the FOX Fantasy Survivor game last season. The hope is, with cash prizes on the line, we can eclipse that mark in 2012.

The premise is simple: pick one (1) team who you believe is going to win that week. The survivor catch remains that once you pick a team to win, you can’t pick that team again for the rest of the season.  The good news is, even if you lose, you are still eligible to win cash prizes.

To assist you with your survivor selections, the FOXSports.com’s fantasy football staff will provide you their picks for the week.

Just remember the mantra: survive and advance. In three months, you could be $2,000 richer.

Week 4 Recap

Fowler and Beall - Texans (a) about time Vegas was right and b) Jake Locker or Matt Hasselbeck? does it really matter with that lack of defense?)

Harmon - Cardinals (Kevin Kolb has reinvented himself as Arizona's starting quarterback and although it took overtime, his last second scoring drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Andre Roberts is a positive sign for the 4-0 Cards.)

Halpin - Broncos (Oakland's offense and defense is bad, mmmmkay?)

Week 5 Picks

Fowler - Bears over Jags

Chicago's defense is coming off a once-in-a-season performance against the Cowboys where they picked off Tony Romo five times and held DeMarco Murray to 24 yards. Jacksonville tried to shake up their offense by attacking a subpar Cincinnati pass defense and it blew up in their face. Blaine Gabbert only threw for 186 yards and Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for a paltry 38 yards. The Bears' can load up the box and force Gabbert to beat them with his arm. Good luck with that.

Beall - San Francisco over Buffalo

Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller are still recovering from injury and Ryan Fitzpatrick remains as erratic as ever with four touchdown, four interception games becoming the norm. Add to that, the Bills' revamped defense still struggling to keep opposing offenses off the board. Buffalo ranks 27th in total defense. 49ers are a strong play at home.

Harmon - Packers over Colts

No Greg Jennings? No problem as the Colts' defense is 24th in scoring defense at 27.7 points allowed per game. Aaron Rodgers should be able to carve up the rebuilding franchise along with Cedric Benson feasting on a rush defense that allows over 131 yards per game on the ground. Andrew Luck may put up big stats in garbage time, but for him to win, his defense needs to step up and I just don't think they have the horses.

Halpin - Giants over Browns

Super Bowl Champs versus the 25th defense in the league without Joe Haden (suspension) and a Browns' offense led by two rookies and Phil Dawson. When the kicker is your top offensive weapon, you are going to have issues winning on the road. Giants wipe Cleveland out.