Who would have thought? The unbeaten and unbeatable Packers had a tiny speed bump on the way to a perfect season - a mediocre team that had just fired its coach. And, at the other extreme, the hapless (and Manning-less) Colts, with no prospects of victory this season, only had to lose one more to clinch the "Suck for Luck" title.
On Topsy-Turvy Day, the unthinkable happened. The unbeatable Packers were beatable, and the worst team in the league knocked off a team that was playing with a playoff berth on the line.
You know what? I was sitting at my desk during the afternoon, after the morning services at my church and before the final presentation of our Christmas musical. I had the bootleg stream going of NFL RedZone, so I got to see a good chunk of each game. Neither one looked like an upset. Chiefs outplayed the Packers, and the Colts definitely outplayed the Titans.
Last week, I offered you an opportunity to not only enter your week #15 picks early (catch the "gimme" Thursday night game and get in the Cowboys game before you forgot), but I also offered you a chance to "pre-post week #16 picks.
Some of you did take me up on that. So, in the spirit of Christmas giving, and knowing that many of you still have travel in the days ahead, I am offering you a chance to pick both weeks #16 and #17 this week.
Obviously, with the train wreck of upsets this week (Colts and Chiefs, but also Redskins, Eagles, and night games), there are no 10-for-10s this week. And, there is no change at the very top of the leaderboard, although the top ten got shuffled a bit.
Here's this week's full report...
We did lose a few people this week, as only sixty-eight made picks on time. Here is the weekly participation table:
Participation | |||
Week | Submitted | Skipped | Total |
1 | 81 | 0 | 81 |
2 | 86 | 26 | 112 |
3 | 96 | 30 | 126 |
4 | 86 | 43 | 129 |
5 | 76 | 53 | 129 |
6 | 80 | 53 | 133 |
7 | 74 | 61 | 135 |
8 | 77 | 62 | 139 |
9 | 80 | 66 | 146 |
10 | 79 | 73 | 152 |
11 | 75 | 80 | 155 |
12 | 76 | 80 | 156 |
13 | 73 | 84 | 157 |
14 | 76 | 82 | 158 |
15 | 68 | 90 | 158 |
For the third week in a row, there are no 10-for-10s. We started out great, as a bunch of got unanimously picked the Falcons against the Jaguars. Then, a bunch more of us unanimously picked the Cowboys.
Those games were fine, and there was talk in the comments about a bunch of 10-for-10s. But, then came the early game carnage. By the time the early games were over, nearly everyone had missed at least two (mostly the Packers loss and the Colts win). Congrats to Panzer84, the only one to pick the Colts. No one picked the Chiefs.
Pile on the Houston loss, and the other losses where most of us either picked against an NFC East rival, or picked fearsome AFC teams to win on the road at night three time zones away.
Our consensus was probably the worst it has been this year. We only picked eight winners, but six were solid (five were unanimous). We had five bad losses and three not-so-bad losses. Here are our composite scores for the week:
Week #14 Results (Home in CAPS) | |||
Win | Winners (we're great) | Lose | |
68 | Dallas | TAMPA BAY | 0 |
66 | New Orleans | MINNESOTA | 0 |
62 | Cincinnati | ST. LOUIS | 0 |
48 | ATLANTA | Jacksonville | 0 |
46 | ARIZONA | Cleveland | 0 |
40 | New England | DENVER | 3 |
18 | Detroit | OAKLAND | 9 |
Win | Losers (we're bleep) | Lose | |
0 | KANSAS CITY | Green Bay | 64 |
1 | INDIANAPOLIS | Tennessee | 56 |
5 | Carolina | HOUSTON | 41 |
9 | Washington | NEW YORK GIANTS | 27 |
7 | SAN DIEGO | Baltimore | 24 |
4 | PHILADELPHIA | New York Jets | 19 |
7 | SAN FRANCISCO | Pittsburgh | 14 |
Win | Pretty Even (we're indifferent) | Lose | |
10 | Seattle | CHICAGO | 13 |
The only perfect score this week was Rat-Pack. He submitted Thursday-Saturday picks and got both right. Sadly, he never got back with the other eight picks; so, his perfect record was 2-0. The best records for the week were the 8-for-10s posted on Sunday by liquidblake and slowmotion80, and matched on Monday by qbfannn and Travlr.
Congrats again to Jebediah Flibberbrush for continuing to maintain his slim overall lead, even though he had a tough week. His picks were all safe, but he missed four to allow the other leaders to close the gap. His safe picks (that were losses): Packers and Titans on the road; and, Giants and Texans at home; all, against weak opponents). He is still one ahead, but he has a new runnerup - illcowboy is back knocking at the door.
Here is the leaderboard, with the top scores this week the overall top scores:
Leaderboard | |||
Week #14 | Score | Overall | Score |
liquidblake | 8 | Jebediah Flibberbrush | 112 |
qbfannn | 8 | illcowboy | 111 |
slowmotion80 | 8 | Hookem Up | 110 |
Travlr | 8 | mdlusk | 109 |
@Tonekupone | 7 | ChiaCrack | 108 |
Alpha | 7 | qbfannn | 108 |
Ben24626 | 7 | Travlr | 108 |
BigBad Joe | 7 | ziggy 19 | 107 |
demarcus94 | 7 | wittenfan | 106 |
Hookem Up | 7 | Alpha | 105 |
illcowboy | 7 | Benthere | 105 |
meisternance | 7 | BigBad Joe | 105 |
Nord15 | 7 | JLMax09 | 105 |
One.Cool.Customer | 7 | Specific | 105 |
Panzer84 | 7 | tattooed cowboy | 105 |
tattooed cowboy | 7 | One.Cool.Customer | 104 |
ziggy 19 | 7 | Panzer84 | 104 |
1Bullseye | 6 | scotscowboyfan | 104 |
Aaron Burtram | 6 | Allan Uy | 103 |
Allan Uy | 6 | GordBerl | 103 |
Benthere | 6 | Pnut Gallery | 103 |
CDMac24 | 6 | 1Bullseye | 102 |
ChiaCrack | 6 | hookerhome | 102 |
Cowboys_Attack | 6 | BishopWest | 101 |
D_Carter | 6 | jstaubach | 101 |
DarkKnight88 | 6 | meisternance | 101 |
Englishneil | 6 | Jason Pai | 100 |
GordBerl | 6 | Jeremiah_24 | 100 |
Hatchetman337 | 6 | lxblssng | 100 |
HLCJ69 | 6 | Rat-Pack | 100 |
hookerhome | 6 | Antonio S | 99 |
I am Ironman!!! | 6 | D_Carter | 99 |
jazzbo251 | 6 | Nord15 | 99 |
Jebediah Flibberbrush | 6 | demarcus94 | 98 |
Jeremiah_24 | 6 | kitten mittens | 98 |
JLMax09 | 6 | Portland's Cowboy fan | 98 |
j-man | 6 | WA_Cowboy | 98 |
KD Drummond | 6 | Englishneil | 97 |
LiveNDieBlue | 6 | jazzbo251 | 97 |
lxblssng | 6 | Tuna Helper | 97 |
mdlusk | 6 | Grady90 | 96 |
Portland's Cowboy fan | 6 | 88Deztined46 | 95 |
scotscowboyfan | 6 | Cowboys_Attack | 95 |
Specific | 6 | neon greon | 95 |
StarloverinWNC | 6 | TARHEEL PAUL | 95 |
strobman | 6 | I am Ironman!!! | 94 |
thehogster65 | 6 | jakezze01 | 93 |
WA_Cowboy | 6 | cproctor6 | 92 |
Antonio S | 5 | liquidblake | 91 |
cproctor6 | 5 | KD Drummond | 90 |
Grady90 | 5 | StarloverinWNC | 90 |
Jason Pai | 5 | @Tonekupone | 87 |
Jessy S | 5 | Enja | 87 |
jstaubach | 5 | Jessy S | 86 |
kitten mittens | 5 | starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 | 86 |
nikeorlipstick | 5 | DarkKnight88 | 85 |
Pnut Gallery | 5 | Hatchetman337 | 80 |
TARHEEL PAUL | 5 | dbunny8it | 79 |
ThatRodneyGuy | 5 | reron79 | 78 |
Timmy G | 5 | 2 tied with | 70 |
I have something new for you this week. Many have asked for average scores, so those who joined 10-for-10 during the season can compare their scores against those who have played every week. So, I added that into my spreadsheet, and the following table has all of the active players sorted by average weekly score.
For tabulation purposes, I excluded these people from the "active" section of the spreadsheet: those who have not participated for the past three consecutive weeks (or more) AND those who have played six weeks or fewer. So, if you have joined recently, and only played two or three weeks, you're included. If you played the first ten weeks and then left the country in November, you're included. But, if you dabbled for a couple of weeks early in the season and dropped out, you're not included.
Congratulations to Aaron Burtram and to the other two who have averages higher than our overall leader. I'm sure that each is thinking, "Man, if I had joined this contest at the beginning of the season...".
Here's that new table:
Average per week | |||
Name | Total | Weeks | Average |
Aaron Burtram | 55 | 7 | 7.8571 |
bcg08 | 46 | 6 | 7.6667 |
HLCJ69 | 45 | 6 | 7.5000 |
Jebediah Flibberbrush | 112 | 15 | 7.4667 |
illcowboy | 111 | 15 | 7.4000 |
Hookem Up | 110 | 15 | 7.3333 |
strobman | 44 | 6 | 7.3333 |
mdlusk | 109 | 15 | 7.2667 |
ChiaCrack | 108 | 15 | 7.2000 |
qbfannn | 108 | 15 | 7.2000 |
Travlr | 108 | 15 | 7.2000 |
Jason Pai | 100 | 14 | 7.1429 |
Jeremiah_24 | 100 | 14 | 7.1429 |
LilZtretch | 50 | 7 | 7.1429 |
ziggy 19 | 107 | 15 | 7.1333 |
reron79 | 78 | 11 | 7.0909 |
cproctor6 | 92 | 13 | 7.0769 |
D_Carter | 99 | 14 | 7.0714 |
Nord15 | 99 | 14 | 7.0714 |
wittenfan | 106 | 15 | 7.0667 |
Alpha | 105 | 15 | 7.0000 |
Benthere | 105 | 15 | 7.0000 |
BigBad Joe | 105 | 15 | 7.0000 |
JLMax09 | 105 | 15 | 7.0000 |
Specific | 105 | 15 | 7.0000 |
tattooed cowboy | 105 | 15 | 7.0000 |
demarcus94 | 98 | 14 | 7.0000 |
kitten mittens | 98 | 14 | 7.0000 |
Portland's Cowboy fan | 98 | 14 | 7.0000 |
WA_Cowboy | 98 | 14 | 7.0000 |
LiveNDieBlue | 70 | 10 | 7.0000 |
NJcowboysFAN | 56 | 8 | 7.0000 |
IMHO | 49 | 7 | 7.0000 |
nikeorlipstick | 49 | 7 | 7.0000 |
Rome One | 21 | 3 | 7.0000 |
j-man | 14 | 2 | 7.0000 |
One.Cool.Customer | 104 | 15 | 6.9333 |
Panzer84 | 104 | 15 | 6.9333 |
scotscowboyfan | 104 | 15 | 6.9333 |
Englishneil | 97 | 14 | 6.9286 |
jazzbo251 | 97 | 14 | 6.9286 |
Tuna Helper | 97 | 14 | 6.9286 |
StarloverinWNC | 90 | 13 | 6.9231 |
dsmith12 | 55 | 8 | 6.8750 |
InkedKing | 55 | 8 | 6.8750 |
Allan Uy | 103 | 15 | 6.8667 |
GordBerl | 103 | 15 | 6.8667 |
Pnut Gallery | 103 | 15 | 6.8667 |
1Bullseye | 102 | 15 | 6.8000 |
hookerhome | 102 | 15 | 6.8000 |
The Penguin | 68 | 10 | 6.8000 |
88Deztined46 | 95 | 14 | 6.7857 |
Cowboys_Attack | 95 | 14 | 6.7857 |
neon greon | 95 | 14 | 6.7857 |
TARHEEL PAUL | 95 | 14 | 6.7857 |
Ben24626 | 61 | 9 | 6.7778 |
Rummob | 54 | 8 | 6.7500 |
Babygirl71 | 27 | 4 | 6.7500 |
BishopWest | 101 | 15 | 6.7333 |
jstaubach | 101 | 15 | 6.7333 |
meisternance | 101 | 15 | 6.7333 |
I am Ironman!!! | 94 | 14 | 6.7143 |
CDMac24 | 47 | 7 | 6.7143 |
@Tonekupone | 87 | 13 | 6.6923 |
lxblssng | 100 | 15 | 6.6667 |
Rat-Pack | 100 | 15 | 6.6667 |
slowmotion80 | 60 | 9 | 6.6667 |
ThatRodneyGuy | 20 | 3 | 6.6667 |
jakezze01 | 93 | 14 | 6.6429 |
Pearson88 | 53 | 8 | 6.6250 |
starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 | 86 | 13 | 6.6154 |
Antonio S | 99 | 15 | 6.6000 |
thehogster65 | 59 | 9 | 6.5556 |
DarkKnight88 | 85 | 13 | 6.5385 |
liquidblake | 91 | 14 | 6.5000 |
Rohpuri | 65 | 10 | 6.5000 |
Timmy G | 65 | 10 | 6.5000 |
FuriousDman | 58 | 9 | 6.4444 |
KD Drummond | 90 | 14 | 6.4286 |
Grady90 | 96 | 15 | 6.4000 |
Dezstroyer88 | 70 | 11 | 6.3636 |
Enja | 87 | 14 | 6.2143 |
Hatchetman337 | 80 | 13 | 6.1538 |
tsylvest | 49 | 8 | 6.1250 |
dbunny8it | 79 | 13 | 6.0769 |
Transplanted Texan | 18 | 3 | 6.0000 |
JakBandit | 12 | 2 | 6.0000 |
Jessy S | 86 | 15 | 5.7333 |
Finally, here are the final two weeks of the season. If you want/need to pre-post your picks for either/both weeks, please feel free to make your picks on this FanPost. I will take care of tabulating them and acknowledging them on KD's next contest page, when it comes out. Remember, all normal "Sunday" games are on Saturday (Christmas Eve) this week. Last week, this upcoming Thursday night game would have been a "gimme". Now, with the Colts winning their first game last week, and the Texans losing at home, is it a gimme this week?
Week #16 Games (all "Sunday" games on Saturday)
Houston at INDIANAPOLIS (Thu night)
Denver at BUFFALO
Miami at NEW ENGLAND
Cleveland at BALTIMORE
Jacksonville at TENNESSEE
Oakland at KANSAS CITY
New York Giants at NEW YORK JETS
Minnesota at WASHINGTON
Tampa Bay at CAROLINA
Arizona at CINCINNATI
St. Louis at PITTSBURGH
San Diego at DETROIT
Philadelphia at DALLAS
San Francisco at SEATTLE
Chicago at GREEN BAY (Sun night)
Atlanta at NEW ORLEANS (Mon night)
Bonus - Week #17 Games (update - Giants/Cowboys are now Sunday Night; I moved them to last)
New York Jets at MIAMI
Buffalo at NEW ENGLAND
Tennessee at HOUSTON
Indianapolis at JACKSONVILLE
Washington at PHILADELPHIA
Detroit at GREEN BAY
Chicago at MINNESOTA
Carolina at NEW ORLEANS
San Francisco at ST. LOUIS
Baltimore at CINCINNATI
Pittsburgh at CLEVELAND
Tampa Bay at ATLANTA
Kansas City at DENVER
San Diego at OAKLAND
Seattle at ARIZONA
Dallas at NEW YORK GIANTS
The New Year's Day schedule called for thirteen early games and three late games. The Cowboys-Giants got flexed from an early kickoff into NBC's Sunday Night Football slot. So, the winner will now literally be the last team into the playoffs.
Happy picking! Merry Christmas! Go, Cowboys!
Fear the Star!