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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.
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 PICK SUMMARY
Here are the picks for this week, along with the results and standings so far:
Staff Member | Record | Wk01 | Wk02 | Wk03 | Wk04 | Wk05 | Wk06 | Wk07 | Wk08 | Wk09 | Wk10 | Wk11 | Wk12 | Wk13 | Wk14 | Wk15 | Wk16 | Wk17 |
Andrew Garda | 3-1 | MIA | AZ | CIN | BUF | BAL | ||||||||||||
Dan Hindery | 3-1 | NE | BAL | HOU | SEA | KC | ||||||||||||
Aaron Rudnicki | 3-1 | GB | NO | SEA | SD | NYG | ||||||||||||
Alex Miglio | 3-1 | GB | NO | SEA | INDY | ATL | ||||||||||||
James Brimacombe | 3-1 | GB | INDY | NE | INDY | DEN | ||||||||||||
Jason Wood | 3-1 | GB | NO | INDY | SD | NYG | ||||||||||||
Jeff Haseley | 3-1 | GB | NO | SEA | SD | ATL | ||||||||||||
Ari Ingel | 3-1 | JAX | BAL | SEA | INDY | KC | ||||||||||||
John Lee | 3-1 | NYJ | NO | CAR | INDY | BAL | ||||||||||||
Justin Howe | 3-1 | CIN | BAL | CAR | SD | KC | ||||||||||||
Andy Hicks | 3-1 | DEN | INDY | NE | SEA | KC | ||||||||||||
Chris Feery | 3-1 | DEN | NO | INDY | SEA | NYG | ||||||||||||
Dave Larkin | 3-1 | DAL | NO | NE | ATL | GB | ||||||||||||
Jeff Pasquino | 3-1 | DAL | INDY | NE | GB | ATL | ||||||||||||
Steve Buzzard | 3-1 | DAL | MIA | NE | SEA | GB | ||||||||||||
William Grant | 3-1 | DAL | MIA | SEA | DEN | BAL | ||||||||||||
Justin Bonnema | 3-1 | NYJ | MIA | NYG | INDY | BAL | ||||||||||||
Maurile Tremblay | 3-1 | SEA | NE | CAR | CIN | AZ | ||||||||||||
Clayton Gray | 2-2 | GB | NO | NE | AZ | ATL | ||||||||||||
Mark Wimer | 2-2 | GB | TEN | NE | OAK | NYG | ||||||||||||
Steve Holloway | 2-2 | MIA | INDY | SEA | BUF | ATL | ||||||||||||
Matt Bitonti | 2-2 | NYJ | MIA | SEA | OAK | GB | ||||||||||||
Bear Heiser | 2-2 | MIN | BAL | SEA | SD | GB |
DISCUSSION
Our one undefeated staffer (Andrew Garda) tripped up with his pick of Buffalo last week, but I cannot fault him for that choice. The Bills were favored at home against a non-conference team, and that is usually a good recipe for a survivor pick. It just did not go in his favor last week, as was the caase for four more staffors who also suffered a loss. The Raiders loss in Chicago cost two staff members a win, but that was a risky pick especially with Jay Cutler coming back. Arizona was the only other miscue for Week 4, and that can be pointed at the "don't pick a divisional game" rule. It is always good to look back and see what could have been done differently.
This week we have a good distribution of picks once again. Seven different teams are chosen, with four of them (Atlanta with five, Baltimore, Green Bay and the Giant with four) selected at least four times. The Ravens are at home but face a divisional challenger (Cleveland) that put up a great fight against San Diego, so I have that as a risky pick. Green Bay is a big favorite at home against St. Louis as are the Giants at home against San Francisco. Atlanta hosts Washington as another touchdown favorite, so all three of these look pretty safe. Kansas City comes in next with four picks as the Chiefs host the Bears. Chicago could put up a fight here, as both teams are pretty desperate at 1-3. Two single selections round out Week 5 with a pick of Denver (at Oakland) and Arizona (at Detroit). Tough calls here with two road games and the Broncos get two strikes from me (on the road, divisional game). Nothing feels safe this week, so it could get very interesting when we check the results on Tuesday.
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: Not an easy week to pick, but I decided to take Atlanta at home against Washington. I did not consider the Falcons in my preseason writeup, but I am riding the hot hand in Devonta Freeman against Washington on the road that barely squeaked out a home win in the final minute last week.
Will Grant: Another week where I am looking to steal a victory. Baltimore has struggled this season, and it's going to be really had to pick them with any confidence later in the year. However, this week they are at home against the Browns after playing on Thursday night last week and coming off a big win against the Steelers. Confident, rested, at home, against the Browns. Seems like the perfect time to pick them for a win.
Good luck this weekend!
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.