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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.
RESULTS From last week
Jeff Haseley went into the Monday Night game, rooting for the Jets even though he picked the Bears to win the game. Because Jeff only wagered 1 confidence point on Chicago, when they beat the Jets, it allowed Heath Cummings to sneak into the weekly winning spot by 1 point. Cummings posted the top score for the season so far with an impressive 121 points, and only missed two games this week. Haseley was just one point and one game behind him, and he would have won this week if he had not put 11 points on the Panthers on Sunday night. Nice job to both of them.
| Staffer | TB | TEN | IND | SD | WAS | OAK | HOU | MIN | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | KC | PIT | CHI | TOT |
| ATL | CIN | JAX | BUF | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | CLE | STL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | Pts | |
| Cummings | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | KC | CAR | CHI | 121 |
| 15 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Haseley | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | BAL | STL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 120 |
| 6 | 14 | 12 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 1 | ||
| Hindery | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | KC | CAR | CHI | 115 |
| 10 | 12 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 5 | ||
| Brimacombe | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | CLE | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | PIT | CHI | 111 |
| 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Larkin | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | STL | SF | SEA | KC | CAR | NYJ | 110 |
| 11 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 4 | ||
| Gray | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | CLE | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 108 |
| 14 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Lee | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 108 |
| 14 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 7 | ||
| Holloway | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 107 |
| 13 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 6 | ||
| Bitonti | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 104 |
| 14 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 | ||
| Miglio | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 102 |
| 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 | 102 |
| 15 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Pasquino | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | KC | CAR | CHI | 100 |
| 10 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 5 | ||
| Heiser | ATL | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | GB | CLE | DAL | ARI | DEN | MIA | CAR | CHI | 99 |
| 3 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | ||
| Hicks | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | CLE | STL | ARI | SEA | KC | CAR | NYJ | 98 |
| 13 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 9 | ||
| Rudnicki | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | CHI | 97 |
| 14 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | ||
| Buzzard | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 95 |
| 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 | 95 |
| 14 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 7 | ||
| Wood | TB | CIN | IND | SD | PHI | NE | NYG | NO | GB | BAL | DAL | SF | DEN | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 94 |
| 2 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 3 | ||
| Wimer | ATL | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | GB | CLE | DAL | SF | SEA | MIA | CAR | NYJ | 91 |
| 12 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Tremblay | TB | CIN | IND | BUF | PHI | NE | HOU | NO | DET | BAL | DAL | ARI | SEA | MIA | PIT | NYJ | 77 |
| 8 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 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 |
Last week’s contest started off with a bang. Aside from the Houston loss to the Giants, the team with the most confidence points won all of the early weekend contests. But San Francisco started hammering the field with tough losses and four of the last five games of the weekend were won by the underdog, including the Bears on Monday Night. The Panthers and the Dolphins took down 256 points between the two of them. Tremblay was hurt the worst, losing 16 points on Miami. That, combined with the 26 points on Houston and Buffalo, landed Tremblay at the bottom of this week’s contest.
OVERALL RANKINGS
Hindery extended his overall lead to 11 points, despite three weeks without having the top weekly score. Haseley powered into second place overall with his 120 point performance and Larkin slid back into third. Wood won last week with 91 points, but his 94 points this week caused him to drop three slots to #6.
| Staffer | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 | Total |
| Hindery | 95 | 85 | 115 | 295 | ||||||||||||||
| Haseley | 81 | 83 | 120 | 284 | ||||||||||||||
| Larkin | 91 | 82 | 110 | 283 | ||||||||||||||
| Gray | 80 | 87 | 108 | 275 | ||||||||||||||
| Cummings | 75 | 75 | 121 | 271 | ||||||||||||||
| Wood | 82 | 91 | 94 | 267 | ||||||||||||||
| Bitonti | 87 | 69 | 104 | 260 | ||||||||||||||
| Miglio | 91 | 66 | 102 | 259 | ||||||||||||||
| Hicks | 77 | 82 | 98 | 257 | ||||||||||||||
| Buzzard | 87 | 74 | 95 | 256 | ||||||||||||||
| Grant | 94 | 65 | 95 | 254 | ||||||||||||||
| Rudnicki | 86 | 70 | 97 | 253 | ||||||||||||||
| Pasquino | 85 | 68 | 100 | 253 | ||||||||||||||
| Heiser | 98 | 55 | 99 | 252 | ||||||||||||||
| Holloway | 78 | 62 | 107 | 247 | ||||||||||||||
| Brimacombe | 76 | 60 | 111 | 247 | ||||||||||||||
| Lee | 87 | 51 | 108 | 246 | ||||||||||||||
| Garda | 73 | 57 | 102 | 232 | ||||||||||||||
| Wimer | 78 | 45 | 91 | 214 | ||||||||||||||
| Tremblay | 68 | 60 | 77 | 205 |
Wimer’s 91 points might not have been great for the week, but it was good enough to lift him out of last place on the overall board. Tremblay’s big bets on the Texans and Dolphins cost him and he finds himself at the bottom of the overall leaderboard as well.
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week.
| Staffer | NYG | TEN | CAR | BUF | GB | TB | MIA | DET | JAX | ATL | PHI | NO | NE | MNF |
| WAS | IND | BAL | HOU | CHI | PIT | OAK | NYJ | SD | MIN | SF | DAL | KC | TOTAL | |
| Rudnicki | WAS | IND | BAL | BUF | GB | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | SF | NO | NE | 44 |
| 10 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 8 | ||
| Miglio | WAS | IND | BAL | HOU | GB | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | SF | NO | NE | 44 |
| 5 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 8 | ||
| Garda | NYG | IND | CAR | HOU | CHI | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | SF | NO | NE | 60 |
| 6 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 10 | ||
| Hicks | WAS | IND | CAR | HOU | GB | PIT | OAK | NYJ | SD | ATL | SF | DAL | KC | 43 |
| 12 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Heiser | WAS | IND | CAR | BUF | CHI | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | NE | 48 |
| 3 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Gray | WAS | IND | BAL | HOU | GB | PIT | OAK | NYJ | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | NE | 51 |
| 8 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 5 | ||
| Hindery | NYG | IND | BAL | HOU | CHI | PIT | MIA | NYJ | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | NE | 42 |
| 2 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 8 | ||
| Larkin | WAS | IND | BAL | HOU | GB | PIT | MIA | NYJ | SD | MIN | SF | NO | KC | 38 |
| 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Cummings | NYG | IND | BAL | HOU | CHI | PIT | OAK | DET | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | KC | 41 |
| 7 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 1 | ||
| Brimacombe | WAS | IND | CAR | BUF | GB | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | KC | 42 |
| 9 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 6 | ||
| Wood | WAS | IND | CAR | HOU | GB | PIT | MIA | NYJ | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | KC | 39 |
| 13 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 3 | ||
| Haseley | WAS | IND | BAL | BUF | CHI | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | MIN | SF | NO | NE | 47 |
| 10 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Pasquino | WAS | IND | BAL | BUF | CHI | PIT | OAK | DET | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | KC | 47 |
| 3 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 7 | ||
| Lee | WAS | IND | BAL | BUF | CHI | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | SF | NO | NE | 44 |
| 2 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 1 | ||
| Wimer | n/a | |||||||||||||
| n/a | ||||||||||||||
| Bitonti | NYG | IND | BAL | HOU | GB | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | SF | DAL | NE | 45 |
| 1 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 5 | ||
| Tremblay | WAS | IND | CAR | BUF | GB | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | NE | 43 |
| 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Holloway | WAS | IND | CAR | HOU | CHI | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | PHI | NO | NE | 41 |
| 5 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Buzzard | WAS | IND | BAL | HOU | GB | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | SF | NO | NE | 40 |
| 9 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Grant | WAS | IND | BAL | HOU | CHI | PIT | MIA | DET | SD | ATL | SF | NO | NE | 37 |
| 2 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Away | NYG | TEN | CAR | BUF | GB | TB | MIA | DET | JAX | ATL | PHI | NO | NE | |
| Total Pts | 16 | 0 | 31 | 32 | 45 | 0 | 96 | 85 | 0 | 148 | 34 | 109 | 71 | |
| Home | WAS | IND | BAL | HOU | CHI | PIT | OAK | NYJ | SD | MIN | SF | DAL | KC | |
| Total Pts | 114 | 208 | 80 | 78 | 32 | 210 | 9 | 19 | 231 | 5 | 41 | 11 | 24 |
HEAVY FAVORITES
No surprise that San Diego was a unanimous this week since Vegas has them as nearly a two touchdown favorite. Pittsburgh and Indianapolis also landed votes from the entire field to come out on top this week. Washington, Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans were all heavy favorites this week as well.
DUAL SUPPORT
Staffers were the least confidence in the Green Bay – Chicago game this week. Division rivals always play tough and both the Bears and Packers have a lot of question marks after three weeks. Philadelphia and San Francisco could be a shoot-out on Sunday afternoon, but neither is a clear favorite with the staffers this week.
ODDS AND ENDS
With six teams off this week, a perfect score will only land you 91 points this week. That’s going to make it much harder to move up or down in the overall leaderboard. It also means that your top rated games really need to be correct, or you will have almost no chance of winning. Based on this week’s contest, it looks like San Diego, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis should be very high on your weekly contest.
Note: Wimer didn't get his picks in before the deadline, but they will be included in the results next week.
Good luck this weekend!
