We are proud to bring you the return of the Footballguys.com Staff Confidence Pool Challenge. 20 Staff members will pick the winner of each NFL game, and rank each choice from most confident (16 points) to least (1 point). 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 Confidence pool Champion. Picks and ranks are due on Wednesday, so any late-breaking news may not be reflected in the choices. Also please note that no point spread is taken into account with these picks – it is a straight up pick of which NFL team will win this week. See the other confidence pools for picks against the spread (ATS) or Survivor / Eliminator style.
WEEK 2 RESULTS
When the Eagles completed their comeback win on Monday Night, it also gave Jason Wood the win in this week’s confidence pool. Despite losing his top team San Francisco, Wood managed his confidence points well and survived hard losses by Seattle, New Orleans and Tampa Bay. Wood correctly picked the winner of 10 of the 16 games this week. 2012 overall winner Clayton Gray would have won if the Colts had beaten the Eagles. He finished second with 11 correct picks, even with the loss on Monday night.
Staffer | PIT | DET | ATL | NE | DAL | JAX | ARI | MIA | NO | STL | SEA | KC | NYJ | HOU | CHI | PHI | TOT |
BAL | CAR | CIN | MIN | TEN | WAS | NYG | BUF | CLE | TB | SD | DEN | GB | OAK | SF | IND | Pts | |
Wood | BAL | DET | CIN | NE | DAL | WAS | ARI | MIA | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 91 |
2 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 1 | ||
Gray | BAL | CAR | ATL | NE | DAL | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SD | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 87 |
11 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 3 | 12 | 6 | ||
Hindery | BAL | CAR | CIN | NE | DAL | WAS | ARI | MIA | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 85 |
2 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 4 | ||
Haseley | BAL | CAR | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 83 |
5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 7 | ||
Hicks | BAL | CAR | CIN | MIN | TEN | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | OAK | SF | IND | 82 |
5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
Larkin | PIT | CAR | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | OAK | SF | PHI | 82 |
16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Cummings | BAL | DET | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | ARI | MIA | NO | STL | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 75 |
5 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 9 | ||
Buzzard | BAL | CAR | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | ARI | MIA | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 74 |
2 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 5 | ||
Rudnicki | PIT | DET | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | NYG | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 70 |
8 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 1 | ||
Bitonti | PIT | CAR | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | NYG | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 69 |
5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 1 | ||
Pasquino | BAL | DET | CIN | NE | TEN | JAX | ARI | MIA | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 68 |
4 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 15 | 2 | ||
Miglio | PIT | CAR | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 66 |
7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 1 | ||
Grant | PIT | DET | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 65 |
6 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 5 | ||
Holloway | PIT | DET | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | OAK | SF | IND | 62 |
4 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 6 | ||
Brimacombe | PIT | DET | CIN | NE | TEN | WAS | NYG | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 60 |
16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Tremblay | PIT | DET | CIN | MIN | TEN | JAX | ARI | MIA | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 60 |
7 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 1 | ||
Garda | PIT | DET | CIN | NE | TEN | JAX | ARI | MIA | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 57 |
4 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 7 | ||
Heiser | PIT | DET | ATL | NE | TEN | JAX | ARI | MIA | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | IND | 55 |
5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 7 | ||
Lee | BAL | DET | ATL | MIN | TEN | WAS | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | OAK | SF | IND | 51 |
3 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 5 | ||
Wimer | PIT | DET | ATL | MIN | TEN | JAX | ARI | BUF | NO | TB | SEA | DEN | GB | HOU | SF | PHI | 45 |
10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 1 | ||
Away | PIT | DET | ATL | NE | DAL | JAX | ARI | MIA | NO | STL | SEA | KC | NYJ | HOU | CHI | PHI | |
Total Pts | 88 | 92 | 20 | 153 | 12 | 18 | 144 | 33 | 239 | 2 | 224 | 0 | 0 | 117 | 0 | 24 | |
Home | BAL | CAR | CIN | MIN | TEN | WAS | NYG | BUF | CLE | TB | SD | DEN | GB | OAK | SF | IND | |
Total Pts | 39 | 48 | 138 | 23 | 146 | 109 | 15 | 58 | 0 | 170 | 1 | 287 | 255 | 7 | 209 | 49 |
New Orleans, Seattle, and San Francisco really hammered the field this week. All three of them were weighted with over 200 confidence points and their losses really hurt. Tennessee was a pretty heavy favorite and their loss to the Cowboys hurt a lot of staffers as well. After winning Week 1, Heiser had just five correct picks this week. He managed his risk a bit better than others though, and he managed to avoid finishing at the bottom of the field. Wimer took the hardest hit and despite his six correct picks, he finished five points behind Lee.
OVERALL RANKINGS
Last week’s winner Heiser posted just 55 points this week and plummeted down the overall leaderboard after just two weeks. Hindery posted his second strong week in a row, and moved up to first place, just 7 points ahead of Larkin. Wood’s big win this week moved him up into a tie for second, and he is no in striking distance of the top spot. Gray moved up 9 spots with his performance this week too.
Staffer | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 | Total |
Hindery | 95 | 85 | 180 | |||||||||||||||
Larkin | 91 | 82 | 173 | |||||||||||||||
Wood | 82 | 91 | 173 | |||||||||||||||
Gray | 80 | 87 | 167 | |||||||||||||||
Haseley | 81 | 83 | 164 | |||||||||||||||
Buzzard | 87 | 74 | 161 | |||||||||||||||
Grant | 94 | 65 | 159 | |||||||||||||||
Hicks | 77 | 82 | 159 | |||||||||||||||
Miglio | 91 | 66 | 157 | |||||||||||||||
Bitonti | 87 | 69 | 156 | |||||||||||||||
Rudnicki | 86 | 70 | 156 | |||||||||||||||
Heiser | 98 | 55 | 153 | |||||||||||||||
Pasquino | 85 | 68 | 153 | |||||||||||||||
Cummings | 75 | 75 | 150 | |||||||||||||||
Holloway | 78 | 62 | 140 | |||||||||||||||
Lee | 87 | 51 | 138 | |||||||||||||||
Brimacombe | 76 | 60 | 136 | |||||||||||||||
Garda | 73 | 57 | 130 | |||||||||||||||
Tremblay | 68 | 60 | 128 | |||||||||||||||
Wimer | 78 | 45 | 123 |
Wimer’s tough week pushed him to the bottom of the overall leaderboard. Garda and Lee also took a pretty hard hit since neither posted more than 60 points this week.
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week.
Staffer | TB | TEN | IND | SD | WAS | OAK | HOU | MIN | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | KC | PIT | CHI | MNF |
ATL | CIN | JAX | BUF | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | CLE | STL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | TOTAL | |
Rudnicki | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 45 |
14 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | ||
Miglio | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 48 |
13 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 1 | ||
Garda | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 60 |
15 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | ||
Hicks | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | CLE | STL | ARI | SEA | KC | CAR | NYJ | 49 |
13 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 9 | ||
Heiser | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | GB | CLE | DAL | ARI | DEN | MIA | CAR | CHI | 56 |
3 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | ||
Gray | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | CLE | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 47 |
14 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 1 | ||
Hindery | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | KC | CAR | CHI | 49 |
10 | 12 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 5 | ||
Larkin | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | STL | SF | SEA | KC | CAR | NYJ | 47 |
11 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 4 | ||
Cummings | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | KC | CAR | CHI | 34 |
15 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||
Brimacombe | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | CLE | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | PIT | CHI | 43 |
16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Wood | TB | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 49 |
2 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 3 | ||
Haseley | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | BAL | STL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 47 |
6 | 14 | 12 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 1 | ||
Pasquino | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | KC | CAR | CHI | 47 |
10 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 5 | ||
Lee | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 46 |
14 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 7 | ||
Wimer | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | CLE | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 38 |
12 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Bitonti | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 45 |
14 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 | ||
Tremblay | TB | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | PIT | NYJ | 39 |
8 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 9 | ||
Holloway | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 41 |
13 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 6 | ||
Buzzard | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 42 |
12 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 5 | ||
Grant | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 42 |
14 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 7 | ||
Away | TB | TEN | IND | SD | WAS | OAK | HOU | MIN | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | KC | PIT | CHI | |
Total Pts | 10 | 0 | 256 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 124 | 0 | 55 | 95 | 109 | 73 | 13 | 18 | 4 | 36 | |
Home | ATL | CIN | JAX | BUF | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | CLE | STL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | |
Total Pts | 219 | 256 | 0 | 57 | 224 | 305 | 21 | 256 | 62 | 29 | 5 | 32 | 100 | 116 | 140 | 44 |
HEAVY FAVORITES
There are several teams that everyone in the field chose to come out on top this week. Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, New England and New Orleans were all picked to in their matchups this week. The Falcons were heavily weighted to win by everyone except Tremblay and Wood in tonight’s contest. Tremblay also joined Brimacombe in being the only two staffers to back Pittsburgh over Carolina on Sunday night. St. Louis had three staffers pick them to win against Dallas, but with only 5 total confidence points.
DUAL SUPPORT
Monday Night’s contest between Chicago and the Jets is almost too close to call. With only 80 confidence points, it’s the least confident game of the week with a pretty even distribution. San Diego against Buffalo and Detroit against Green Bay were weighted pretty evenly. Both games had than less than 120 total confidence points for each game, and none of the teams were heavily favored to win. Approach with caution.
ODDS AND ENDS
Next week starts the NFL bye weeks, so this is the last week for 136 possible points for awhile. Big moves are obviously harder to make with fewer maximum points so the leaderboard should settle down for a bit after this weekend.
Good luck this weekend!