NFL picks 2018, Week 5: Can the Steelers and Vikings get season-saving wins?

What’s the toughest game to pick this week? It has to be the Minnesota Vikings at the Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams seem to be less than the sum of their parts right now. Our panel has a distinct lean for the Ealges, but there is no consensus.

The Eagles are coming off a loss the Titans, and they’re two weeks removed from a loss to the Buccaneers. But that first loss was with Nick Foles at quarterback in a game that did not take place in January. Carson Wentz is back, but he doesn’t quite look like his old self ... he will at some point. It’s Philadelphia’s defense that I’d be more concerned about right now.

As for the Vikings, they haven’t won a game since Week 1. Their offense did at least seem to break out of its funk, scoring 31 points last week in a loss to the Rams. However, they’ll need to score at least 40 with the way that secondary is playing. This is too good of a team to drop three in a row, which has me thinking that they are capable of snapping out of it this week.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Steelers. They’re a one-win team steeped in controversy and disharmony. And the defense really isn’t all that good. They need a win this week in the worst way. But to do that, they’ll have to beat an equally desperate Falcons team that seems to have cornered the market on disappointing losses.

Interesting to see the Lions getting a few picks against the Packers this week. Matt Patricia’s squad has the dubious honor of being the dullest team in the NFL right now. They did beat the Patriots two week ago, so there’s always going to be a little flicker of hope, for awhile anyway.

It’s a unanimous decision in favor of the Bengals, and rightly so. They’ve been scoring points in bunches. The Dolphins came back to earth against the Patriots last week. However, was that just a function of the Foxborogh voodoo magic?

One of the undefeated teams, the Rams, should stay that way this week. No Earl Thomas in Seattle makes it that much harder for the Seahawks to stop Jared Goff and the Rams’ passing attack, which was already pretty tough to stop.

The other undefeated team, the Chiefs, have a tougher test with the Jaguars defense in town for a visit. Home field might be the deciding factor here. Patrick Mahomes gritting it out against a tough Broncos defense bodes well for the Chiefs this week, but it’s a game that still has our panel somewhat divided on picking a winner.

I see a few picks for Dallas this week. I went with the Texans. Not because I’m impressed with Bill O’Brien’s play-not-to-lose philosophy of coaching. No, I picked them because J.J. Watt has quietly turned back into a pass rushing monster. That’s not a good thing for Dallas’ moribund offense.

Thursday night update: Nobody on our panel picked the Colts to beat the Patriots on Thursday night, except for the coin, proving that coins are truly our most optimistic form of currency. And it looks like the panel was right. The Patriots won an easy one, 38-24.

Okay, same rules as last week. The OddsShark computer picks can be found here. For the coin, I use a 2007 U.S. quarter, featuring the great state of Oregon on the back of it in the form of a trout. Our guest picker this week if David Fucillo, SB Nation’s gambling guru and the head honcho over at Niners Nation.