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Over the past few years, we have given the subscribers of Footballguys.com the Staff Confidence Pool Challenge, where numerous staffers try and pick the winners each week with a confidence ranking, and Jeff Pasquino’s “For The Win” column where Jeff attempts to pick each and every NFL game against the Las Vegas spread. Both of these have been very popular features, so this year Footballguys is proud to bring you the combination of the two. The Footballguys.com Staff Against the Spread Pool Challenge. Multiple staff members (22) will pick the winner of each NFL game against the Las Vegas line. As a tie-breaker, the person who is closest to the total points scored in the last Monday Night game will be the winner. Winners will be announced from week to week and the best overall record will be crowned Against the Spread Champion. Picks and ranks are due on Wednesday, so any late-breaking news may not be reflected in the choices.
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
Here are the results from this week.
| Road Team: | BUF | BAL | CIN | ATL | DEN | IND | TB | LAR | WAS | ARI | KC | OAK | DET | |||
| Home Team: | NYJ | TEN | JAC | CAR | PHI | HOU | NO | NYG | SEA | SF | DAL | MIA | GB | |||
| Favorite: | BUF | TEN | JAC | CAR | PHI | HOU | NO | LAR | SEA | ARI | KC | OAK | DET | |||
| Point Spread: | -3.5 | -3.5 | -4.5 | -1.5 | -7.5 | -12.5 | -7.5 | -3.5 | -7.5 | -2.5 | -1.5 | -2.5 | -2.5 | MNF | Last | Year to |
| Staffer | Last Week's Picks | Tot Pts | Week | Date | ||||||||||||
| Chris Feery | BUF | TEN | JAC | CAR | PHI | IND | NO | NYG | WAS | ARI | KC | OAK | DET | 45 | 9 | 66 |
| Matt Bitonti | BUF | BAL | JAC | ATL | PHI | IND | NO | LAR | SEA | ARI | KC | OAK | DET | 52 | 9 | 78 |
| Aaron Rudnicki | NYJ | TEN | CIN | ATL | PHI | IND | TB | LAR | WAS | SF | DAL | OAK | DET | 42 | 8 | 68 |
| Andrew Garda | BUF | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | HOU | NO | LAR | WAS | ARI | KC | OAK | DET | 45 | 8 | 65 |
| Andy Hicks | NYJ | TEN | JAC | CAR | DEN | HOU | NO | LAR | WAS | ARI | DAL | MIA | GB | 47 | 8 | 64 |
| Jason Wood | BUF | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | IND | NO | LAR | WAS | SF | KC | OAK | DET | 42 | 8 | 68 |
| Justin Bonnema | BUF | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | IND | NO | NYG | SEA | ARI | DAL | OAK | DET | 48 | 8 | 68 |
| Justin Howe | NYJ | TEN | CIN | CAR | PHI | IND | NO | NYG | SEA | SF | DAL | OAK | DET | 44 | 8 | 61 |
| Mark Wimer | NYJ | BAL | JAC | ATL | PHI | HOU | TB | LAR | WAS | ARI | KC | OAK | GB | 63 | 8 | 69 |
| Phil Alexander | NYJ | TEN | CIN | CAR | PHI | IND | TB | LAR | SEA | ARI | DAL | OAK | GB | 47 | 8 | 70 |
| Alessandro Miglio | NYJ | TEN | JAC | CAR | DEN | IND | TB | LAR | WAS | SF | DAL | MIA | GB | 48 | 7 | 62 |
| Bear Heiser | BUF | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | HOU | NO | LAR | WAS | SF | KC | OAK | DET | 48 | 7 | 70 |
| John Mamula | BUF | TEN | JAC | CAR | PHI | HOU | TB | LAR | SEA | ARI | DAL | OAK | GB | 42 | 7 | 67 |
| Keith Roberts | BUF | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | HOU | NO | LAR | WAS | SF | KC | OAK | DET | 44 | 7 | 66 |
| Jeff Pasquino | BUF | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | HOU | NO | LAR | SEA | ARI | KC | OAK | GB | 43 | 6 | 65 |
| Danny Tuccitto | NYJ | BAL | JAC | ATL | DEN | HOU | NO | NYG | WAS | SF | DAL | MIA | GB | 49 | 6 | 73 |
| Dave Larkin | NYJ | TEN | CIN | CAR | DEN | IND | NO | NYG | SEA | SF | DAL | MIA | GB | 43 | 6 | 61 |
| Devin Knotts | NYJ | TEN | JAC | ATL | DEN | IND | TB | LAR | SEA | SF | KC | OAK | GB | 44 | 6 | 67 |
| James Brimacombe | NYJ | TEN | CIN | ATL | DEN | IND | TB | NYG | WAS | ARI | KC | OAK | GB | 44 | 5 | 70 |
| Jeff Haseley | NYJ | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | IND | NO | NYG | SEA | ARI | KC | MIA | GB | 44 | 5 | 70 |
| Stephen Holloway | BUF | TEN | JAC | ATL | PHI | HOU | NO | LAR | SEA | SF | DAL | MIA | GB | 46 | 5 | 62 |
| William Grant | BUF | TEN | JAC | CAR | DEN | HOU | NO | NYG | WAS | ARI | KC | OAK | GB | 47 | 5 | 65 |
For the first time in a while, the Monday Night Football tiebreaker came into play as both Chris Feery and Matt Bitonti had nine wins after Detroit finished off Green Bay. Chris' number of 45 was just two point off of the 30-17 final, so he took down Week 9. The staff overall did well, getting over 50% of the picks right (154-119 for Week 9), raising the combined staff record to 1,475-1297 (53.2% correct). That is simply remarkable for the group, especially when considering that all picks are made prior to Thursday. We are now more than halfway through the year (132 of 256 games played), so let's take a look at what Week 10 looks like.
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week.
| Road Team: | SEA | NO | PIT | CLE | LAC | GB | NYJ | MIN | CIN | HOU | NYG | DAL | NE | MIA | |
| Home Team: | ARI | BUF | IND | DET | JAC | CHI | TB | WAS | TEN | LAR | SF | ATL | DEN | CAR | |
| Favorite: | SEA | NO | PIT | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | MIN | TEN | LAR | SF | ATL | NE | CAR | |
| Point Spread: | -5.5 | -2.5 | -10.5 | -11.5 | -4.5 | -4.5 | -2.5 | -1.5 | -5.5 | -11.5 | -0.5 | -2.5 | -7.5 | -9.5 | MNF |
| Staffer | The Picks | Tot Pts | |||||||||||||
| Jeff Pasquino | SEA | NO | PIT | DET | JAC | CHI | TB | MIN | TEN | LAR | SF | DAL | NE | CAR | 44 |
| Aaron Rudnicki | SEA | NO | PIT | DET | LAC | GB | NYJ | MIN | TEN | LAR | NYG | ATL | NE | MIA | 45 |
| Alessandro Miglio | ARI | NO | IND | CLE | JAC | CHI | TB | WAS | CIN | HOU | SF | ATL | NE | MIA | 44 |
| Andrew Garda | SEA | NO | PIT | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | MIN | TEN | LAR | SF | DAL | NE | CAR | 45 |
| Andy Hicks | ARI | BUF | IND | CLE | JAC | CHI | TB | WAS | CIN | LAR | SF | ATL | DEN | MIA | 41 |
| Bear Heiser | SEA | NO | PIT | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | WAS | TEN | LAR | SF | DAL | NE | CAR | 38 |
| Chris Feery | ARI | BUF | PIT | DET | JAC | GB | NYJ | WAS | CIN | HOU | NYG | ATL | DEN | MIA | 41 |
| Danny Tuccitto | ARI | BUF | IND | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | WAS | CIN | LAR | SF | DAL | DEN | MIA | 49 |
| Dave Larkin | SEA | BUF | IND | DET | LAC | GB | TB | WAS | CIN | HOU | NYG | DAL | NE | MIA | 44 |
| Devin Knotts | SEA | BUF | IND | CLE | JAC | GB | NYJ | MIN | CIN | HOU | SF | ATL | DEN | CAR | 44 |
| James Brimacombe | SEA | NO | PIT | DET | LAC | GB | TB | MIN | CIN | HOU | NYG | ATL | DEN | MIA | 43 |
| Jason Wood | SEA | NO | IND | CLE | JAC | GB | NYJ | MIN | TEN | HOU | SF | DAL | NE | MIA | 42 |
| Jeff Haseley | ARI | BUF | IND | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | WAS | TEN | LAR | NYG | ATL | NE | CAR | 42 |
| John Mamula | SEA | NO | PIT | CLE | JAC | CHI | NYJ | MIN | CIN | LAR | NYG | DAL | NE | MIA | 41 |
| Justin Bonnema | SEA | NO | IND | CLE | LAC | GB | TB | WAS | TEN | LAR | NYG | DAL | NE | MIA | 48 |
| Keith Roberts | SEA | BUF | PIT | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | WAS | TEN | LAR | NYG | ATL | NE | CAR | 49 |
| Mark Wimer | ARI | BUF | PIT | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | MIN | TEN | LAR | SF | ATL | NE | CAR | 44 |
| Matt Bitonti | SEA | NO | IND | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | WAS | CIN | LAR | SF | DAL | NE | MIA | 46 |
| Phil Alexander | ARI | BUF | IND | DET | LAC | GB | NYJ | WAS | CIN | LAR | NYG | ATL | NE | MIA | 45 |
| William Grant | SEA | NO | PIT | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | MIN | TEN | LAR | NYG | ATL | NE | CAR | 44 |
| Stephen Holloway | SEA | NO | IND | DET | JAC | CHI | NYJ | WAS | TEN | LAR | NYG | DAL | NE | CAR | 37 |
| Justin Howe | ARI | BUF | IND | CLE | JAC | CHI | NYJ | WAS | CIN | LAR | NYG | ATL | DEN | MIA | 40 |
CONSENSUS WINNERS
All but two set of picks are in this morning, and this is going to be a tricky week. Nearly all of the picks are split down the middle, with only two teams (Jacksonville, New England) garnering 15 of 20 votes. Detroit and the Rams are big favorites, but those big point spreads reduced the picks on those two teams to 14, matching the number of selections for the Jets against Tampa Bay, who will be starting Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. Three games were split down the middle (Pittsburgh-Colts, Tennessee-Cincinnati and San Francisco-Giants), with the rest of the games getting just minor majorities, mostly towards the favorites. Only two underdogs were picked more than the favorites, as Miami (12) and Washington (11) barely achieved that margin. Home teams were also popular this week, as just five road teams (New England, Seattle, Miami, New Orleans and the Jets) were voted to the top. Once again, Week 10 has all the makings of yet another very interesting week in the NFL and for the staff picks.
ODDS AND ENDS
We have reached the midpoint of the season - just over half of the games have been played - and the picks are due by Wednesday night. Most of the staff would agree that picking this weekend's games on Wednesday night is very difficult because you don't have much information about injuries and practice. If your league allows you to pick the later games separate from the rest, take advantage of it and make your Sunday and Monday picks as close to the weekend as possible.
A reminder that these picks are against the Las Vegas lines – so getting above 50% is respectable, above 53% gets you into the “profitable zone” (accounting for the Las Vegas house odds of taking 10% of every losing wager) – and anything above 60% is outstanding. That may sound easy enough, but it is much, much harder than it might seem.
Good luck this weekend!
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com
