Over the past few years, we have given the subscribers of Footballguys.com some help in playing office pools, one of the most popular methods to follow the NFL aside from fantasy football leagues. For the past few seasons, the staff members have done 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 adding a combination of the two called the “Against the Spread” Challenge and also the Eliminator Challenge, where staffers have to pick a team to win each week. Just one? That sounds easy, but here is the catch – you can only pick the team you choose in a given week once all season long. Many contests and pools out there get pretty big, so an Eliminator (or Survivor) Pool can go 16 or 17 weeks.
Note that the links above are for 2012 articles. Please see the Week 17 2013 Page at Footballguys.com for the 2013 Week 17 updates.
Jeff Pasquino has provided some insight into this kind of contest with two pre-season articles, first one that describes this kind of contest along with some advice on how to pick a team each week:
The second article is rather interesting, which describes Jeff’s pre-season plan to get all the way through 17 weeks. Will it work? We are about to find out.
This pool will run all season long, but to keep participation up, the pool will crown the staffer with the best W-L record for the season (which means that everyone in the pool will continue to make picks every week).
THIS WEEK'S PICKS SUMMARY
Here are the picks for this week, along with the results so far:
Staffer | Record | Wk01 | Wk02 | Wk03 | Wk04 | Wk05 | Wk06 | Wk07 | Wk08 | Wk09 | Wk10 | Wk11 | Wk12 | Wk13 | Wk14 | Wk15 | Wk16 | Wk17 |
Matt Bitonti | 13-3 | INDY | OAK | SEA | NO | ATL | DEN | GB | SF | DAL | TEN | NYG | CAR | NE | BAL | ATL | CIN | PHI |
James Brimacombe | 13-3 | NE | GB | SEA | IND | ATL | SF | SD | KC | DAL | TEN | PHI | NO | CAR | BAL | DET | STL | PIT |
Steve Holloway | 13-3 | INDY | NE | MIN | TEN | ATL | SEA | GB | KC | DAL | NYG | CHI | CAR | SF | DEN | PHI | CIN | NO |
Andy Hicks | 12-4 | TB | GB | SEA | IND | ATL | DEN | KC | SF | DAL | TEN | AZ | NO | NE | BAL | ATL | CIN | PIT |
Aaron Rudnicki | 12-4 | INDY | ATL | SEA | NO | STL | DEN | GB | SF | DAL | TEN | HOU | DET | CLE | NE | KC | SD | PIT |
Maurile Tremblay | 12-4 | TB | PHI | SEA | IND | DEN | SF | GB | NO | DAL | TEN | AZ | CAR | NE | BAL | KC | DET | MIA |
Will Grant | 12-4 | INDY | NE | MIN | NO | STL | SF | KC | GB | DAL | TEN | SEA | CAR | BUF | BAL | PHI | DEN | MIA |
Heath Cummings | 12-4 | NE | CIN | SEA | IND | STL | SF | NYG | NO | DAL | TEN | HOU | DET | CAR | DEN | PHI | SD | MIA |
Jeff Haseley | 11-5 | INDY | PHI | NO | TEN | STL | CIN | MIA | CAR | DAL | NYG | HOU | BAL | NE | AZ | DEN | SEA | DEN |
Adam Harstad | 11-5 | TB | CIN | SEA | IND | STL | DEN | SD | SF | DAL | TEN | AZ | HOU | CLE | BAL | CAR | DET | NO |
Mark Wimer | 11-5 | NE | PHI | SEA | AZ | STL | DAL | KC | SF | GB | TEN | NYJ | DET | CAR | DEN | IND | DET | PIT |
Greg Russell | 11-5 | INDY | NE | SEA | DEN | STL | SF | GB | KC | NO | TEN | DET | HOU | CAR | BAL | PHI | CIN | NYG |
Jeff Pasquino | 11-5 | INDY | PHI | SEA | DEN | ATL | CHI | GB | SF | DAL | TEN | HOU | DET | NE | KC | CAR | CIN | NO |
Ryan Hester | 9-7 | PIT | PHI | DEN | NO | STL | SEA | MIA | SF | DAL | TEN | NYG | HOU | CLE | NE | CAR | DET | SD |
Jason Wood | 9-7 | TB | NO | MIN | CIN | ATL | SF | MIA | SEA | TEN | IND | AZ | PIT | NE | DAL | KC | SD | IND |
DISCUSSION
Another crazy week last week in Week 16. Five incorrect picks this week, four of which the result of the New York Giants’ overtime upset win over Detroit. That outcome, plus the surprising loss by the Seahawks at home against Arizona, creates a big logjam in the standings as we head into the final week for this contest. Three staff members sit atop the table at 13-3 (Matt Bitonti, James Brimacombe, and Steve Holloway) and they have the inside track to win this contest – or at least a share of the title. Five others sit at 12-4, one game back of the lead. The picks will be challenging this week with an early deadline of Tuesday (to get this posted before Christmas), so it will be very interesting to see the choices for the final regular season contest.
With entries in, the group’s picks are all over the place this week once again. The group had some degree of consensus with three teams receiving multiple picks – Pittsburgh (4), New Orleans (3) and Miami (3) represent 10 of the 16 picks this week. Cleary, the goal here was to take favored teams that need a win to head into the playoffs. Other teams selected this week as unique picks were the Eagles, Broncos, Giants, Chargers and Colts. The Philadelphia pick by Matt Bitonti is interesting as he is one of the three staff members atop the standings. That means that the final standings will not be determined until the final contest of the regular season closes on Sunday night, adding to the drama.
Speaking of the final standings, here is how I see the possibilities for the league championship for the staff:
- Matt Bitonti wins at least a share of the title if the Eagles win.
- James Brimacombe wins at least a share of the title if the Steelers win.
- Steve Holloway wins at least a share of the title if the Saints win.
- If all three of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New Orleans, the three staffers listed above finish tied. Obviously, if two of three win, those two split the title.
The interesting part would be if all three teams lose. Then one (or more) of the five staffers with four losses would move up to share the league championship. That can only happen if Miami wins and Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New Orleans lose, and that outcome would make a six-way tie for first. Maurile Tremblay, Will Grant and Heath Cummings would then split the title with the three staff members currently with only three losses on the season.
It was a fun year, and we look forward to doing this once again in 2014. Thanks for reading and following along!
COMMENTARY
Each week, contestants are invited to submit any comments that they might have about their picks. If they submit them early enough, we post them with the article. If not, the comments will be within the section below.
Jeff Pasquino – This week I chose New Orleans, and I certainly was not alone in that selection. I will borrow from my other article, “For the Win”, to add some details as to why I chose the Saints this week:
NEW ORLEANS (-12) vs. TAMPA BAY
The Saints are a much better team at home, and New Orleans needs this one to secure a playoff spot. They have an outside shot at the division if Carolina loses to Atlanta along with a Saints win, but that seems unlikely. Tampa Bay’s season has been up and down, but right now they are mostly down after two consecutive losses. Look for New Orleans to put up 30+ points on the Buccaneers and win something like 34-17.. PICK: Saints
Good luck this weekend!