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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: | WASH | NYJ | TEN | BAL | NE | DET | PIT | JAX | PHI | NO | SD | STL | OAK | TB | SEA | MIN | ||||
Home Team: | DAL | BUF | INDY | CIN | MIA | CHI | CLE | HOU | NYG | ATL | DEN | SF | KC | CAR | AZ | GB | ||||
Favorite: | DAL | NYJ | INDY | CIN | NE | CHI | PIT | HOU | NYG | ATL | DEN | STL | KC | CAR | AZ | GB | ||||
Point Spread: | -3.5 | -3.5 | -6.5 | -7.5 | -9.5 | -1.5 | -10.5 | -6.5 | -3.5 | -4.5 | -7.5 | -3.5 | -6.5 | -10.5 | -4.5 | -3.5 | ||||
Staffer | The Picks | MNF | LW | YtD | Win% | |||||||||||||||
James Brimacombe | WASH | BUF | TEN | CIN | MIA | DET | PIT | JAX | NYG | ATL | DEN | SF | OAK | CAR | SEA | MIN | 51 | 12 | 127 | 49.6% |
Jeff Haseley | WASH | BUF | TEN | BAL | MIA | DET | CLE | JAX | PHI | ATL | SD | SF | OAK | TB | SEA | MIN | 45 | 11 | 122 | 47.6% |
Chris Feery | DAL | NYJ | TEN | CIN | NE | CHI | PIT | HOU | PHI | NO | SD | STL | OAK | CAR | AZ | MIN | 42 | 10 | 129 | 50.3% |
Dave Larkin | WASH | BUF | TEN | CIN | NE | DET | PIT | JAX | NYG | NO | DEN | STL | OAK | TB | SEA | MIN | 37 | 10 | 136 | 53.1% |
Maurile Tremblay | DAL | BUF | TEN | CIN | NE | CHI | PIT | HOU | NYG | NO | SD | SF | OAK | TB | SEA | GB | 42 | 10 | 134 | 52.3% |
Aaron Rudnicki | DAL | BUF | TEN | BAL | MIA | DET | PIT | HOU | NYG | ATL | DEN | STL | OAK | TB | SEA | MIN | 42 | 9 | 127 | 49.6% |
Bear Heiser | WASH | NYJ | TEN | CIN | NE | DET | PIT | JAX | NYG | NO | SD | STL | KC | CAR | AZ | MIN | 48 | 9 | 130 | 50.7% |
Danny Tuccitto | WASH | BUF | INDY | BAL | NE | CHI | CLE | HOU | PHI | NO | SD | SF | KC | TB | SEA | MIN | 49 | 9 | 132 | 51.5% |
John Lee | DAL | NYJ | TEN | CIN | NE | DET | PIT | HOU | PHI | NO | DEN | SF | OAK | TB | AZ | GB | 47 | 9 | 136 | 53.1% |
Justin Bonnema | WASH | NYJ | TEN | CIN | MIA | DET | PIT | JAX | NYG | ATL | SD | SF | OAK | TB | AZ | GB | 52 | 9 | 137 | 53.5% |
Jeff Pasquino | WASH | NYJ | INDY | CIN | NE | DET | PIT | HOU | NYG | ATL | DEN | STL | KC | CAR | SEA | MIN | 51 | 8 | 129 | 50.3% |
Andy Hicks | WASH | NYJ | TEN | BAL | NE | DET | PIT | HOU | PHI | NO | DEN | STL | KC | TB | AZ | MIN | 39 | 8 | 133 | 51.9% |
Dan Hindery | DAL | BUF | TEN | BAL | NE | CHI | PIT | HOU | PHI | NO | DEN | STL | KC | TB | SEA | MIN | 40 | 8 | 124 | 48.4% |
Justin Howe | WASH | NYJ | TEN | BAL | MIA | DET | CLE | HOU | PHI | NO | DEN | STL | KC | TB | SEA | GB | 46 | 8 | 142 | 55.4% |
Matt Bitonti | WASH | NYJ | INDY | BAL | NE | DET | PIT | HOU | PHI | NO | DEN | STL | KC | CAR | AZ | MIN | 45 | 8 | 128 | 50.0% |
Steve Holloway | WASH | BUF | TEN | BAL | MIA | DET | CLE | JAX | PHI | ATL | DEN | STL | KC | CAR | AZ | MIN | 47 | 8 | 117 | 45.7% |
William Grant | WASH | NYJ | INDY | CIN | NE | CHI | PIT | JAX | PHI | NO | DEN | STL | KC | CAR | SEA | MIN | 45 | 8 | 131 | 51.1% |
Clayton Gray | WASH | NYJ | INDY | CIN | MIA | CHI | CLE | HOU | NYG | ATL | SD | STL | KC | CAR | AZ | MIN | 53 | 7 | 127 | 49.6% |
Jason Wood | DAL | NYJ | TEN | BAL | MIA | DET | PIT | JAX | PHI | NO | DEN | STL | KC | TB | AZ | MIN | 46 | 7 | 137 | 53.5% |
Phil Alexander | DAL | BUF | TEN | BAL | NE | DET | CLE | HOU | PHI | NO | DEN | SF | KC | TB | AZ | GB | 37 | 7 | 140 | 54.6% |
Andrew Garda | WASH | NYJ | INDY | CIN | NE | DET | CLE | HOU | NYG | NO | DEN | STL | KC | TB | AZ | GB | 50 | 6 | 126 | 49.2% |
Mark Wimer | DAL | NYJ | INDY | BAL | NE | DET | PIT | HOU | NYG | NO | DEN | STL | KC | CAR | AZ | MIN | 51 | 6 | 123 | 48.0% |
Alessandro Miglio | WASH | BUF | TEN | BAL | MIA | CHI | CLE | JAX | NYG | ATL | DEN | STL | KC | TB | AZ | GB | 49 | 4 | 131 | 51.1% |
James Brimacombe won his first weekly title in Week 17 as he nailed 12 out of 16 games on the final Sunday of the regular season. James barely edged Jeff Haseley (11 correct) in this final set of games. The entire staff fared pretty well for a challenging final week, as the group finished 14 games above .500 (191-177, 51.9%). The good results kept the staff above 50% correct picks for the year at 2,998-2,890 (50.9%), which is not quite enough for the entire staff to be beating Las Vegas. Here's hoping that the winning ways continue for the final week of the season.
As far as the overall standings, it all came down to Week 17. Here are the final standings for 2015:
Staff Member | Year to Date | Year to Date |
Total | Win % | |
Justin Howe | 142 | 55.5% |
Phil Alexander | 140 | 54.7% |
Justin Bonnema | 137 | 53.5% |
Jason Wood | 137 | 53.5% |
Dave Larkin | 136 | 53.1% |
John Lee | 136 | 53.1% |
Maurile Tremblay | 134 | 52.3% |
Andy Hicks | 133 | 52.0% |
Danny Tuccitto | 132 | 51.6% |
William Grant | 131 | 51.2% |
Alessandro Miglio | 131 | 51.2% |
Bear Heiser | 130 | 50.8% |
Chris Feery | 129 | 50.4% |
Jeff Pasquino | 129 | 50.4% |
Matt Bitonti | 128 | 50.0% |
James Brimacombe | 127 | 49.6% |
Aaron Rudnicki | 127 | 49.6% |
Clayton Gray | 127 | 49.6% |
Andrew Garda | 126 | 49.2% |
Dan Hindery | 124 | 48.4% |
Mark Wimer | 123 | 48.0% |
Jeff Haseley | 122 | 47.7% |
Steve Holloway | 117 | 45.7% |
Justin Howe's 8-8 record was just enough to secure the season-long title for the Against the Spread pool for the staff this year. Justin finished the year at 142-114, an impressive 55.5% winning percentage. Phil Alexander finished two games behind Justin, while Justin Bonnema and Jason Wood tied for third with 137 correct choices this year. Dave Larkin (136), John Lee (136) and Maurile Tremblay (134) round out the Top 7, which also happens to be the number of staff members who were good enough to beat Las Vegas (52.3% or better) - but only by a slim margin. That 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 2015. Happy New Year and we will see you again next season!
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.