Unlock More Content Like This With A
Footballguys Premium Subscription
"Footballguys is the best premium
fantasy football only site on the planet."
Matthew Berry, NBC Sports EDGE
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 (23) 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: | CAR | JAC | CLE | CHI | BAL | BUF | DAL | HOU | NE | NYG | OAK | SEA | KC | NO | ARI | GB | |||
Home Team: | TB | IND | PIT | MIN | CIN | NYJ | PHI | TEN | MIA | WAS | DEN | SF | SD | ATL | LAR | DET | |||
Favorite: | TB | IND | PIT | MIN | CIN | BUF | PHI | TEN | NE | WAS | DEN | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | |||
Point Spread: | -6.5 | -4.5 | -7.5 | -5.5 | -2.5 | -6.5 | -6.5 | -3.5 | -9.5 | -7.5 | -2.5 | -9.5 | -4.5 | -6.5 | -6.5 | -3.5 | |||
Staffer | The Picks | MNF | LW | YtD | |||||||||||||||
Phil Alexander | CAR | JAC | CLE | MIN | BAL | NYJ | PHI | HOU | NE | NYG | DEN | SEA | KC | NO | ARI | GB | 50 | 13 | 144 |
Chris Feery | CAR | JAC | CLE | CHI | CIN | NYJ | DAL | TEN | MIA | NYG | DEN | SEA | KC | NO | ARI | GB | 45 | 12 | 134 |
Alessandro Miglio | CAR | JAC | CLE | MIN | BAL | NYJ | DAL | TEN | MIA | NYG | DEN | SF | SD | NO | LAR | GB | 52 | 11 | 121 |
Aaron Rudnicki | TB | IND | CLE | CHI | BAL | NYJ | PHI | HOU | NE | NYG | DEN | SF | KC | NO | LAR | GB | 44 | 10 | 137 |
Dave Larkin | CAR | JAC | PIT | CHI | BAL | BUF | PHI | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SF | KC | NO | ARI | GB | 51 | 10 | 125 |
Andy Hicks | CAR | JAC | PIT | CHI | CIN | NYJ | PHI | HOU | MIA | NYG | OAK | SF | KC | NO | LAR | DET | 70 | 9 | 130 |
Danny Tuccitto | CAR | JAC | CLE | CHI | BAL | NYJ | PHI | TEN | MIA | WAS | DEN | SF | SD | NO | LAR | DET | 49 | 9 | 137 |
John Mamula | CAR | IND | PIT | CHI | CIN | NYJ | PHI | HOU | NE | NYG | OAK | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 47 | 9 | 129 |
Keith Roberts | CAR | IND | PIT | MIN | CIN | NYJ | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SEA | KC | NO | LAR | GB | 55 | 9 | 128 |
Jason Wood | CAR | IND | PIT | MIN | BAL | BUF | PHI | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 61 | 8 | 136 |
Justin Bonnema | CAR | IND | PIT | CHI | CIN | NYJ | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 52 | 8 | 126 |
Jeff Pasquino | TB | JAC | PIT | MIN | BAL | NYJ | DAL | TEN | NE | WAS | OAK | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | DET | 51 | 7 | 125 |
Andrew Garda | TB | IND | PIT | MIN | BAL | BUF | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SF | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 45 | 7 | 128 |
Bear Heiser | CAR | JAC | PIT | CHI | BAL | BUF | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 42 | 7 | 134 |
Devin Knotts | CAR | JAC | PIT | CHI | BAL | NYJ | DAL | HOU | NE | NYG | OAK | SF | SD | NO | LAR | DET | 46 | 7 | 135 |
Mark Wimer | TB | IND | CLE | MIN | BAL | BUF | PHI | HOU | MIA | NYG | OAK | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 77 | 7 | 122 |
Matt Bitonti | CAR | JAC | CLE | CHI | BAL | NYJ | DAL | HOU | MIA | WAS | DEN | SEA | KC | ATL | LAR | GB | 49 | 7 | 136 |
Jeff Haseley | CAR | IND | PIT | MIN | CIN | NYJ | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | OAK | SEA | KC | ATL | LAR | DET | 49 | 6 | 110 |
Justin Howe | CAR | IND | CLE | MIN | BAL | NYJ | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SEA | SD | ATL | LAR | DET | 49 | 6 | 131 |
William Grant | CAR | IND | PIT | MIN | BAL | BUF | DAL | HOU | NE | WAS | OAK | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 61 | 6 | 115 |
Chris Kuczynski | CAR | IND | PIT | CHI | BAL | BUF | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | OAK | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 44 | 5 | 122 |
Clayton Gray | TB | IND | PIT | CHI | BAL | BUF | DAL | HOU | MIA | NYG | DEN | SEA | KC | ATL | ARI | GB | 54 | 5 | 124 |
James Brimacombe | CAR | IND | CLE | MIN | BAL | NYJ | DAL | HOU | MIA | WAS | OAK | SEA | KC | ATL | LAR | DET | 51 | 5 | 135 |
This week had just one staff member (Phil Alexander) atop the standings, as he went 13-3 on the week. Two other staffers (Chris Feery and Alex Miglio) were just off the pace as Chris went 12-4 and Alex went 11-5 in Week 17, while two more (Aaron Rudnicki and Dave Larkin) were a few steps back with a 10-6 record. The staff overall just missed having a winning record once again (183-185 for the week, 49.7%) which helped push the staff towards a solid and respectable record for the year (2,964-2,924, overall, or 50.3% success rate). While this total record did not beat the Las Vegas standard for success (52.3% to overcome the house odds), the staff's record was rather remarkable when factoring in that the picks are due on Wednesday night, making it even more challenging.
As far as the overall standings, it all came down to Week 17. Here are the final standings for 2016:
Rank | Staffer | Season Totals | |
Correct Picks | Winning % | ||
1 | Phil Alexander | 144 | 56.3% |
2 | Aaron Rudnicki | 137 | 53.5% |
3 | Danny Tuccitto | 137 | 53.5% |
4 | Jason Wood | 136 | 53.1% |
5 | Matt Bitonti | 136 | 53.1% |
6 | Devin Knotts | 135 | 52.7% |
7 | James Brimacombe | 135 | 52.7% |
8 | Chris Feery | 134 | 52.3% |
9 | Bear Heiser | 134 | 52.3% |
10 | Justin Howe | 131 | 51.2% |
11 | Andy Hicks | 130 | 50.8% |
12 | John Mamula | 129 | 50.4% |
13 | Keith Roberts | 128 | 50.0% |
14 | Andrew Garda | 128 | 50.0% |
15 | Justin Bonnema | 126 | 49.2% |
16 | Dave Larkin | 125 | 48.8% |
17 | Jeff Pasquino | 125 | 48.8% |
18 | Clayton Gray | 124 | 48.4% |
19 | Mark Wimer | 122 | 47.7% |
20 | Chris Kuczynski | 122 | 47.7% |
21 | Alessandro Miglio | 121 | 47.3% |
22 | William Grant | 115 | 44.9% |
23 | Jeff Haseley | 110 | 43.0% |
Phil's strong finish pushed him way ahead in the group standings, as he finished at 144-112 on the year, a fantastic 56.3% win rate. That equates to going 9-7 every single week, which is strong by any measure. Nine of the 23 staff members that participated this season had a record that would have been successful against Las Vegas (over 52.3% winning percentage), and second through ninth place were separated by just three games. Five more staffers were 50% or better on the year, so 14 of the 23 staff had a winning or breakeven pick rate for 2016. Even with all that success, the group barely hit 50% overall (50.3%) which just goes to show you how tough it is to beat the sportsbooks, especially if you play every game.
Congratulations once again to our weekly and season-long winners on the staff. I hope you enjoyed this contest and that it helped you in some way in 2016. Happy New Year and we will see you again next season!
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.