NFL picks 2018, Week 12: Experts like the Eagles and Panthers to get much-needed wins

It’s weird week, but a good one. Thanksgiving games somehow fall into the void of Thursday games we don’t automatically hate. They do still make short weeks for the six teams playing, and it’s pretty well established that the quality of play for teams on a short week is less than ideal.

But let’s be real, football’s just a distraction on Thursday. The real action is at the table and in the fridge ... and in the cupboard and wherever it is your family keeps the pies. Mmmm, delicious pies.

Hopefully you followed our advice for the Thanksgiving games. Everyone on our panel, except for the coin flip, picked the Saints and Cowboys to win. There was a little more of a split with the Lions and Bears, but the Bears drew most of the picks.

This week’s games don’t look all that great. Monday’s Rams-Chiefs game is a tough act to follow.

The Eagles are getting the majority of votes here. I don’t know. The Giants looked like they finally knew what they were doing last week. This is also the Giants we’re talking about; results can change dramatically week to week. Philly is just fighting not to be the first team since Jon Gruden’s 2003 Buccaneers to post a losing record a year after winning the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks at Panthers might be the best game this week. Neither of these teams are exactly hot stuff right now, but they do feel more evenly matched than most of the games this week. Most of the folks here are taking the Panthers to win.

Jacksonville should have an easy rebound into the win column with a date against the Bills. On the other hand, things seem to spiral out of control fast for the Jags. Plus, winning might not be in their best interest. A high draft pick could mean the chance to get a quarterback to replace the one who’s currently standing between them and greatness.

The Packers and Vikings sounded like a much better game three months ago than it does today. Minnesota is slightly less underwhelming. However, Kirk Cousins is 4-12 in primetime games. He’s got a chance to get a fifth win under the bright lights this week, as long as Mike McCarthy is standing on the other side of the field.

I keep waiting for the Houston Texans to turn back into a pumpkin, but that seems unlikely this week if Marcus Mariota doesn’t play.

OK, let’s get to the picks. Our guest this week is Bud Elliott. Bud is SB Nation’s National Recruiting Analyst & Editor, so his picks should be five stars (get it?).

The computer picks come to us via OddsShark. The coin is a quarter from 2007 that gets flipped every Tuesday morning, heads for the home team. Panelists are allowed to make changes for up to two of their picks by Friday to account for injuries, etc.