What they're saying: Picking Eagles-Texans

Here's the weekly roundup of who people are picking in Thursday night's Eagles-Texans matchup, along with some other links sprinkled in.

And if you missed it earlier, I posted Mike Check.

I'll be chatting live from the Linc tonight during the action so join me around 8:20.

SI.com's Peter King has the Eagles in a 33-26 victory:

At the risk of being taken off the Reid Family Christmas Card List, let me harp on the exposure to injury Michael Vick is getting right now. In the past two games, he's thrown 82 passes, been sacked seven times and run the ball 20 times. That is 109 exposures to being hit. This is his third game in 11 days. Philly's got two games left versus DeMarcus Ware, one against the Giants (who tormented Vick in Week 11) and one against the possibly dangerous Vikes. Too much heat for Vick, IMHO.

SI.com's Don Banks has the Eagles ninth in his power rankings:

The NFC East is clearly not the division it used to be. For five years in a row, and 10 of the past 12 seasons, the East has sent at least two teams to the playoffs. But the streak looks in jeopardy this year, with both the Eagles and Giants looking to find some consistency as the final month of the season dawns.

Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com goes with the Eagles in a 31-23 victory:

The beleaguered Houston Texans defense notched its first shutout since 2004 last weekend vs. Tennessee, which begs the age-old question: If you pitch a shutout against someone named Rusty Smith, does it make a noise? One thing is for certain — Michael Vick is not Smith. Houston won the time-of-possession battle Sunday, controlling the ball for about 40 minutes to the Titans' 20. Even with Andre Johnson in the Houston lineup, I can't see the Texans doing the same thing to the Eagles on a cold, Philly winter night. Give me the Birds at home.

All five FoxSports.com experts pick the Eagles.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com likes the Eagles in a close one, 27-24:

The Eagles are coming off a tough loss on the road at Chicago, while the Texans shut out the Titans. Tennessee played with a rookie quarterback making his first start. The Eagles have Mike Vick. Big difference. But the Eagles had problems in the back end against Chicago with both injuries and bad plays. I think that will enable the Texans to hang around. This might be an entertaining one.

All five CBSSports.com experts go with the Birds.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the Eagles in a 35-20 victory:

With or without Andre Johnson, the Texans don't have the weapons on defense to deal with the Eagles' offensive firepower. Philly realizes that the margin for error is small in the NFC, with seven quality teams jockeying for five playoff spots other than the one that will go to the best of the four sub-.500 teams in the NFC West. Look for Mike Vick to have the kind of night that will rekindle MVP talk.

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk goes with the Birds, 34-27:

The Eagles are a balanced team, but the Bears reminded folks that you can run on them. Look for a heavy dose of Arian Foster, who quietly leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage by 240 yards. Foster can keep this game interesting, but the Texans secondary will keep Houston from winning. DeSean Jackson should be all smiles after this one.

All eight ESPN.com experts pick the Eagles.

All three Yahoo Sports experts and 94 percent of Yahoo users go with the Eagles.

The Eagles are now 8-point favorites, and 74 percent of the money is on them to cover, according to BetUS.com.

You can follow Moving the Chains on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here.