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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 preseason 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.
Staff Member | Record | Wk01 | Wk02 | Wk03 | Wk04 | Wk05 | Wk06 | Wk07 | Wk08 | Wk09 | Wk10 | Wk11 | Wk12 | Wk13 | Wk14 | Wk15 | Wk16 | Wk17 |
Andy Hicks | 14-0 | SEA | NE | GB | CIN | MIN | TEN | KC | DAL | SD | BAL | PIT | BUF | DEN | DET | ATL | ||
Matt Bitonti | 14-0 | KC | BAL | MIA | CIN | PIT | NE | GB | NYJ | DAL | AZ | NYG | BUF | OAK | DET | ATL | ||
William Grant | 13-1 | SEA | CAR | MIA | WASH | GB | BUF | DEN | NE | KC | AZ | NYG | TEN | NO | DET | ATL | ||
Clayton Gray | 13-1 | SEA | DEN | MIA | CIN | MIN | NE | ATL | NYJ | DAL | BAL | NYG | TEN | OAK | DET | BUF | ||
Mark Wimer | 13-1 | KC | BAL | MIA | MIN | NE | PIT | CIN | NYJ | DAL | AZ | OAK | NYG | DEN | ATL | SEA | ||
Bear Heiser | 12-2 | GB | CAR | SEA | CIN | PIT | BUF | ATL | NYJ | DAL | AZ | KC | NYG | NE | DET | OAK | ||
Aaron Rudnicki | 12-2 | HOU | CAR | MIA | AZ | GB | BUF | CIN | DEN | KC | AZ | DET | NO | NE | INDY | ATL | ||
Jeff Pasquino | 12-2 | HOU | CAR | MIA | AZ | NE | BUF | CIN | MIN | KC | BAL | OAK | NYG | DEN | DET | ATL | ||
Andrew Garda | 12-2 | PHI | BAL | NYG | HOU | OAK | BUF | DEN | MIN | KC | AZ | PIT | TEN | SEA | DET | GB | ||
James Brimacombe | 12-2 | INDY | CAR | MIA | WASH | NE | BUF | CIN | MIN | DAL | AZ | PIT | NO | GB | ATL | SEA | ||
John Mamula | 11-3 | SEA | CAR | MIA | HOU | NE | PIT | CIN | MIN | GB | AZ | OAK | NYG | DEN | ATL | KC | ||
Alex Miglio | 11-3 | SEA | CAR | MIA | DET | GB | AZ | ATL | MIN | DAL | BAL | NE | BUF | DEN | CIN | HOU | ||
Chris Kuczynski | 11-3 | KC | BAL | MIA | DET | PHI | AZ | CIN | OAK | DAL | GB | PIT | NYG | DEN | MIN | ATL | ||
Jeff Haseley | 11-3 | KC | SEA | DAL | CIN | MIN | AZ | DEN | NE | GB | BAL | NYG | BUF | NO | DET | ATL | ||
Justin Howe | 11-3 | BAL | DET | MIA | HOU | PHI | BUF | NE | MIN | KC | AZ | NYG | NO | DAL | CIN | SEA | ||
Ari Ingel | 10-4 | SEA | TEN | AZ | CIN | NE | DET | GB | MIN | SD | BAL | KC | NO | DEN | INDY | TB | ||
Jason Wood | 10-4 | HOU | NYJ | TB | AZ | NE | CAR | OAK | MIN | NO | AZ | NYG | BUF | DEN | TEN | WASH | ||
Justin Bonnema | 10-4 | HOU | JAX | MIA | CIN | MIN | BUF | TB | DET | DAL | BAL | KC | NYG | ATL | INDY | SEA | ||
Devin Knotts | 10-4 | HOU | DET | MIA | CAR | NE | GB | CIN | NYJ | ATL | BAL | PIT | NO | DEN | INDY | BUF | ||
Dave Larkin | 9-5 | HOU | CAR | SEA | NE | PIT | GB | BUF | MIN | NO | AZ | KC | DAL | OAK | DET | BAL | ||
Chris Feery | 9-5 | SEA | OAK | CAR | AZ | NE | PIT | DEN | DAL | KC | NYG | DET | BUF | GB | INDY | BAL |
DISCUSSION
Of the twenty-one staffers in the pool this year, we still have two perfect seasons going with Andy Hicks and Matt Bitonti atop the standings. Three more (Will Grant, Clayton Gray and Mark Wimer) have just one loss on the year, while five more (including myself) have stumbled just twice this season. Overall I would say that this is a pretty good showing. Last week only one team in our staff picks lost, but the Colts losing to the Texans gave the staff five more blemishes overall. That brings the group total losses to 54 on the year, which is about 2-3 per staffer.
Picks get harder and harder as the season wears on, so let's look at this week's selections. Those who were able to save the Falcons for this week (7 of 21 picks) are happy that they did so, as Atlanta is a huge favorite over the 49ers on Sunday. Seattle came in second with four picks as the Seahawks host the hapless Rams on Thursday Night Football. Buffalo hosts the winless Browns, and two of our staff chose them this week, while the only other team chosen more than once in Week 15 was Baltimore (hosting the Eagles), again by two staff members. Unique selections for Week 15 were Green Bay (at Chicago), Houston (vs. Jacksonville), Kansas City (vs. Tennessee), Oakland (at San Diego), Washington (vs. Carolina) and Tampa Bay (at Dallas). The picks of the Buccaneers and the Chiefs look aggressive, but let's see how it plays out.
Please note a few things: We will be doing these picks every week, win or lose, to keep it entertaining all season long. Normally a Survivor / Eliminator pool would end once all but one player lost once, but to provide our subscribers with more perspectives, everyone will pick every week even if they lose. That said, we will still try and honor the spirit of an Eliminator / Survivor Pool, trying to win every week and not re-use any teams during the year.
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: I find it a bit remarkable that I can still stick with the script of my preseason plan all the way out here in December, and that is exactly what I intend to do. Atlanta is a huge favorite and this is the perfect spot to use them. Of course, if I was unable to pick the Falcons this week, I would tend to stick with a team facing the Browns or a big favorite, so Buffalo and Seattle would be on my short list. Then again, this is why we plan.
The Pick: Falcons
Good luck this weekend!
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.