Join the Footballguys Daily Update
Start your morning with our roundup of the most important stories in football - with the fantasy insight you need to make league-winning decisions. Delivered straight to your inbox, 100% free.
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 (19) 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 on 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 last week:
Road Team: | DEN | TEN | TB | NE | AZ | SF | STL | SD | HOU | ATL | DET | BAL | MIA | DAL | SEA | NYJ | |||
Home Team: | KC | CLE | NO | BUF | CHI | PIT | WASH | CIN | CAR | NYG | MIN | OAK | JAX | PHI | GB | IND | |||
Favorite: | KC | CLE | NO | NE | AZ | PIT | STL | CIN | CAR | NYG | MIN | BAL | MIA | PHI | GB | IND | |||
Point Spread: | -3.5 | -1.5 | -10.5 | -0.5 | -2.5 | -6.5 | -3.5 | -3.5 | -3.5 | -2.5 | -3.5 | -7.5 | -6.5 | -5.5 | -3.5 | -7.5 | |||
Staffer | The Picks | MNF | LW | YtD | |||||||||||||||
Jeff Haseley | KC | CLE | TB | NE | AZ | PIT | STL | CIN | CAR | NYG | DET | OAK | JAX | DAL | SEA | NYJ | 47 | 11 | 18 |
Justin Howe | DEN | TEN | TB | NE | AZ | SF | WASH | SD | CAR | NYG | MIN | OAK | JAX | DAL | SEA | NYJ | 47 | 11 | 20 |
Dave Larkin | DEN | CLE | TB | NE | CHI | PIT | STL | CIN | HOU | ATL | MIN | BAL | MIA | PHI | GB | NYJ | 51 | 10 | 18 |
John Lee | DEN | TEN | NO | BUF | AZ | PIT | WASH | CIN | CAR | ATL | DET | OAK | MIA | PHI | GB | IND | 44 | 10 | 17 |
Maurile Tremblay | DEN | TEN | TB | NE | CHI | SF | WASH | SD | HOU | ATL | DET | OAK | JAX | DAL | GB | NYJ | 56 | 10 | 17 |
Phil Alexander | DEN | CLE | TB | NE | CHI | PIT | WASH | SD | CAR | NYG | MIN | BAL | MIA | DAL | GB | IND | 43 | 10 | 18 |
Jason Wood | KC | TEN | TB | NE | AZ | SF | STL | CIN | CAR | ATL | MIN | BAL | MIA | PHI | GB | NYJ | 47 | 9 | 18 |
Justin Bonnema | DEN | CLE | TB | NE | AZ | SF | STL | SD | CAR | NYG | DET | OAK | MIA | PHI | GB | NYJ | 44 | 9 | 18 |
Mark Wimer | KC | TEN | NO | NE | AZ | PIT | STL | CIN | CAR | ATL | DET | BAL | MIA | DAL | GB | NYJ | 42 | 9 | 19 |
William Grant | DEN | TEN | NO | NE | AZ | PIT | STL | CIN | CAR | NYG | DET | BAL | MIA | DAL | GB | IND | 38 | 9 | 18 |
Alessandro Miglio | DEN | TEN | TB | NE | AZ | SF | STL | CIN | HOU | NYG | DET | OAK | MIA | PHI | GB | NYJ | 45 | 8 | 17 |
Andrew Garda | DEN | TEN | TB | NE | AZ | SF | STL | CIN | CAR | ATL | DET | BAL | MIA | PHI | SEA | NYJ | 40 | 8 | 15 |
Andy Hicks | KC | TEN | TB | BUF | AZ | PIT | STL | CIN | HOU | ATL | MIN | OAK | JAX | PHI | SEA | IND | 41 | 8 | 14 |
Bear Heiser | KC | TEN | NO | NE | CHI | SF | STL | CIN | CAR | ATL | MIN | OAK | MIA | PHI | GB | NYJ | 42 | 8 | 14 |
Steve Holloway | KC | TEN | TB | BUF | AZ | SF | STL | CIN | CAR | ATL | MIN | BAL | MIA | PHI | GB | IND | 39 | 8 | 15 |
Jeff Pasquino | KC | TEN | NO | NE | AZ | PIT | STL | CIN | CAR | ATL | DET | BAL | MIA | PHI | SEA | NYJ | 47 | 7 | 14 |
Dan Hindery | KC | TEN | TB | NE | AZ | SF | STL | CIN | CAR | ATL | DET | BAL | MIA | PHI | GB | IND | 49 | 7 | 14 |
Matt Bitonti | KC | TEN | NO | NE | CHI | PIT | WASH | CIN | CAR | NYG | DET | BAL | MIA | PHI | GB | NYJ | 49 | 7 | 13 |
Aaron Rudnicki | DEN | TEN | TB | NE | AZ | SF | STL | SD | HOU | NYG | DET | OAK | MIA | PHI | SEA | NYJ | 45 | 6 | 14 |
Chris Feery | KC | CLE | NO | NE | AZ | SF | STL | SD | HOU | NYG | MIN | BAL | MIA | DAL | GB | IND | 51 | 6 | 14 |
Clayton Gray | KC | CLE | NO | BUF | AZ | SF | STL | CIN | HOU | NYG | DET | OAK | MIA | PHI | GB | NYJ | 41 | 6 | 13 |
Danny Tuccitto | DEN | TEN | NO | NE | CHI | PIT | STL | CIN | HOU | ATL | DET | BAL | MIA | PHI | SEA | NYJ | 49 | 6 | 15 |
James Brimacombe | DEN | CLE | NO | NE | CHI | PIT | WASH | SD | HOU | ATL | DET | BAL | MIA | PHI | SEA | IND | 52 | 6 | 14 |
For the first time that I can remember, we had a total tie at the top with Jeff Haseley and Justin Howe both getting 11 of 16 games right and both selecting 47 total points for Monday Night Football (the total was 27, but that did not factor in). Four other staff members got 10 right, four more had nine and five more finished at a respectable 8-8. Unfortunately, eight staff members fell below 50% for the week, only getting six or seven games right - showing that this really is much harder than it looks. Just look at the picks for Miami, St. Louis and Philadelphia last week as proof. Overall, the group was barely above 50% last week (189-179, 51.4%) and are just under .500 on the young year (367-369, 49.9%).
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week:
Road Team: | WASH | CIN | SD | OAK | ATL | TB | PHI | PIT | NO | INDY | JAX | SF | CHI | BUF | DEN | KC | |
Home Team: | NYG | BAL | MIN | CLE | DAL | HOU | NYJ | STL | CAR | TEN | NE | AZ | SEA | MIA | DET | GB | |
Favorite: | NYG | BAL | MIN | CLE | ATL | HOU | NYJ | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | SEA | MIA | DEN | GB | |
Point Spread: | -3.5 | -2.5 | -2.5 | -3.5 | -1.5 | -6.5 | -2.5 | -1.5 | -3.5 | -4.5 | -13.5 | -6.5 | -14.5 | -2.5 | -3.5 | -6.5 | |
Staffer | The Picks | MNF | |||||||||||||||
Jeff Pasquino | NYG | BAL | MIN | OAK | ATL | HOU | PHI | PIT | NO | INDY | JAX | AZ | SEA | MIA | DEN | GB | 47 |
Aaron Rudnicki | WASH | CIN | SD | OAK | ATL | TB | PHI | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | CHI | BUF | DET | KC | 46 |
Alessandro Miglio | NYG | BAL | MIN | CLE | ATL | TB | PHI | PIT | CAR | TEN | JAX | AZ | CHI | MIA | DEN | KC | 51 |
Andrew Garda | NYG | CIN | MIN | CLE | ATL | HOU | NYJ | STL | CAR | INDY | JAX | AZ | CHI | MIA | DEN | GB | 60 |
Andy Hicks | NYG | CIN | MIN | OAK | DAL | TB | PHI | PIT | CAR | INDY | JAX | AZ | SEA | BUF | DEN | GB | 41 |
Bear Heiser | WASH | CIN | SD | CLE | ATL | HOU | PHI | PIT | NO | TEN | JAX | AZ | SEA | BUF | DEN | GB | 44 |
Chris Feery | WASH | CIN | SD | OAK | DAL | TB | NYJ | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | CHI | BUF | DEN | KC | 45 |
Clayton Gray | NYG | CIN | MIN | OAK | ATL | HOU | NYJ | PIT | CAR | TEN | NE | AZ | SEA | BUF | DET | GB | 51 |
Dan Hindery | WASH | CIN | MIN | OAK | ATL | HOU | PHI | STL | CAR | INDY | JAX | SF | CHI | MIA | DEN | KC | 43 |
Danny Tuccitto | WASH | BAL | MIN | OAK | ATL | TB | NYJ | PIT | CAR | TEN | NE | AZ | SEA | BUF | DEN | GB | 49 |
Dave Larkin | WASH | BAL | MIN | CLE | ATL | TB | NYJ | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | CHI | MIA | DET | GB | 48 |
James Brimacombe | NYG | BAL | MIN | CLE | ATL | TB | PHI | PIT | CAR | INDY | JAX | SF | SEA | MIA | DEN | KC | 52 |
Jason Wood | WASH | BAL | MIN | OAK | ATL | HOU | PHI | PIT | CAR | INDY | JAX | AZ | CHI | MIA | DEN | KC | 49 |
Jeff Haseley | NYG | BAL | SD | CLE | DAL | HOU | PHI | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | SF | SEA | BUF | DET | GB | 49 |
John Lee | WASH | BAL | MIN | CLE | DAL | HOU | NYJ | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | CHI | BUF | DET | KC | 50 |
Justin Bonnema | NYG | CIN | SD | CLE | ATL | TB | NYJ | PIT | NO | INDY | NE | AZ | SEA | BUF | DEN | GB | 52 |
Justin Howe | WASH | BAL | MIN | OAK | DAL | TB | NYJ | STL | CAR | TEN | JAX | SF | CHI | BUF | DET | KC | 48 |
Mark Wimer | NYG | CIN | SD | CLE | DAL | TB | NYJ | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | CHI | MIA | DEN | GB | 41 |
Matt Bitonti | NYG | CIN | MIN | CLE | ATL | TB | PHI | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | SEA | BUF | DEN | GB | 46 |
Maurile Tremblay | WASH | CIN | SD | OAK | DAL | TB | NYJ | PIT | CAR | TEN | JAX | SF | CHI | BUF | DET | KC | 44 |
Phil Alexander | WASH | BAL | MIN | CLE | ATL | HOU | NYJ | STL | CAR | INDY | JAX | AZ | SEA | MIA | DEN | GB | 56 |
Steve Holloway | WASH | BAL | MIN | OAK | DAL | TB | NYJ | PIT | CAR | INDY | JAX | AZ | CHI | BUF | DEN | GB | 52 |
William Grant | NYG | CIN | SD | OAK | DAL | TB | NYJ | PIT | CAR | INDY | NE | AZ | SEA | BUF | DEN | GB | 51 |
CONSENSUS WINNERS
With two weeks now behind us, you would think that there would be some sort of better understanding of who are the dominant teams – but you would never know it from looking at the 23 sets of picks this week. No team was picked unanimously, and the closest were Carolina (20 of 23), Pittsburgh (19) and Arizona (18). I guess everyone is banking on no Drew Brees this week (but I am not). Las Vegas would love these sets of picks with five games nearly dead even (Washington / New York Giants, Cincinnati / Baltimore, Oakland / Cleveland, Jacksonville / New England and Chicago / Seattle) as the choices were split almost exactly in half for both contests. It should be very interesting to see how it plays out.
ODDS AND ENDS
It's still quite early in the season, 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 that it might seem.
Good luck this weekend!
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.