ESPN's NFL gambling expert is heating up - here are his picks for Week 5

Sal Iacono is a writer for "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and better known among sports fans as "Cousin Sal" on Bill Simmons' podcasts. He is also making a name for himself as ESPN's newest NFL gambling expert.

Iacono didn't lose a pick on his weekly "SportsCenter" segment with Neil Everett during the final six weeks of the 2014 regular season and went 19-2-3 over the last eight weeks. As Simmons would say, good job by you, Cuz!

Well, Cuz is back this season and off to a good start, going 2-1 each of the last two weeks and he is 3-1 this season on his "Best Bet." So let's take a look at who Cousin Sal likes in Week 5 along with his thoughts on each pick:

Pick 1:

• New Orleans Saints +5.5 (@ Philadelphia Eagles) - "I think these teams are very even and that might be giving Philly the benefit of the doubt. Chip Kelly's Eagles don't deserve to give 5.5 [points] to anyone, let alone the Saints, who need to keep pace with the 4-0 teams in their division. We're taking the Saints."

Pick 2:

• Arizona Cardinals -3 (@ Detroit Lions) - "Jump on the Arizona bandwagon with me because there is all the sudden plenty of room. Everyone fled, all the fairweathers, and they shouldn't because Arizona is still a top three or four team in the NFL, and they are going against a demoralized Lions team. The coaches, the fans, the players, still talking about the batted ball ... Arizona, 10-1 against the spread in their last 11 on the road against home teams with a losing record. They're too tough for Detroit, too tough. Detroit's season is over. Arizona, minus-3."

Here is Sal's "Best Bet." He was 12-3-1 with this pick in 2014 and 3-1 this season"

• Green Bay Packers -9 (vs St. Louis Rams) - "Did you see Todd Gurley last week? He put on a show. But all the NFL experts are automatically sending him to Canton, Ohio. But, let me ask you this. How effective is Todd Gurley going to be when the Rams are down three touchdowns in the second quarter? How effective? [Neil Everett mumbles] Not at all! That's the answer. Not at all. The Rams are coming off a hangover game. They had a big upset last week. Now they play Aaron Rodgers who hasn't thrown an interception at home since Curly Lambeau was conceived during a tour of the Land O' Lakes butter facility in northern Wisconsin. You can look it up, it happened in the late-1800s. Anyway, I'm taking Green Bay big. I'll even give you a score, 37-13, lay the nine points."

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