Well, the first week went smoothly for the Cowboys, and for 10-for-10. We had a record number of participants; all got their picks in on time; most were easy to read and figure; everyone included the Cowboys game; everyone who made Thursday Game Only picks returned with their other nine; and, Cowboys won.
This week was a little different. I am learning the pattern of BTB players. Week #2 normally has some new players, and many more who drop off the map. The only mention of them the rest of the season is at the bottom of the overall leaderboard each week (they're the ones who stay in single digits all year).
We did drop this week - 49 week #1 players failed to return for week #2. We did add some this week - 14 new players this week. However, we also had:
- three - failed to include the Cowboys game as one of their ten picks
- two - failed to submit ten countable picks (one failed to highlight either team in one game; the other submitted picks on Friday, but included the Thursday Night game as one of his picks - at least, it was right, just not counted)
- one - made a Thursday Game Only pick, but failed to return with his other nine
So, we had 207 participants this week - one played Thursday Game Only and 206 played 10-for-10. 203 made picks in the Cowboys-Chiefs game, and three failed to include the mandatory game in their ten picks.
In an "other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" moment, we had another good scoring week, with our consensus picking eleven winners and five losers. Ten of our wins were near-unanimous, but three of our losses were staggering as well. The other three games had more even splits, and the least number of participants.
That is the same record as last week (11-5), but it drops us a game behind the Front Page Writers consensus (they went 12-4 this week). They got Arizona right, while our majority/consensus favored Detroit. The other fifteen were the same.
Before I go on any farther, I need to give a shout-out to One.Cool.Customer. I had not written any table-laden FanPosts since the new SBNation webdesign, and my tables did not format or look right. He gave me some secret HTML code commands to make them look the same way they did last year. I re-edited last week's FanPost after many of you saw it. You will see the updated and more colorful tables this week in this FanPost, and in KD's next contest page (he uses my data/tables for the overall leaderboard and the Hall of Fame).
KD did approve of my Hall re-design, so you will see that this week on his page, not here (spoiler alert - it is unchanged; no new members this week).
Here is our weekly scorecard:
Week #2 Results (Home in CAPS) | |||
Win | Winners (we're great) | Lose | |
176 | HOUSTON | Tennessee | 2 |
174 | GREEN BAY | Washington | 2 |
160 | New Orleans | TAMPA BAY | 1 |
158 | CINCINNATI | Pittsburgh | 1 |
158 | Denver | NEW YORK GIANTS | 2 |
152 | BALTIMORE | Cleveland | 3 |
151 | ATLANTA | St Louis | 4 |
135 | NEW ENGLAND | New York Jets | 2 |
96 | OAKLAND | Jacksonville | 1 |
95 | CHICAGO | Minnesota | 4 |
Win | Losers (we're bleep) | Lose | |
10 | KANSAS CITY | Dallas | 193 |
8 | Miami | INDIANAPOLIS | 113 |
9 | San Diego | PHILADELPHIA | 96 |
22 | ARIZONA | Detroit | 43 |
Win | Pretty Even (we're indifferent) | Lose | |
25 | BUFFALO | Carolina | 24 |
13 | SEATTLE | San Francisco | 23 |
Even with the Cowboys' loss to the Chiefs, all NFC East teams lost on Sunday (just as all four AFC North teams lost in week #1). And, if Andy Reid's Chiefs can beat the Eagles, Redskins, and Giants as well, then this could end up being "no harm, no foul" in the long run.
Last week, I mentioned how it takes us a couple of weeks to catch on to this year's strong and weak teams. Last year, we picked the Saints overwhelmingly to win in their first three games - all losses. Finally, in week #4, we picked them to lose.
We were a little quicker to make a couple of adjustments: in week #1, we were all over the Steelers (I was one of the handful that picked Tennessee to beat them); this week, we were almost unanimous to pick the Bengals (only one picked Pittsburgh). We were all over Washington in week #1, riding the Shanny-Bob Express against Chip and the Collegians; we got off that train this week before it reached the frozen tundra.
Something I began to track last year is our record picking each team each week. You see, we don't just pick winners each week - whom we think will win ten selected games - but we also, by extension, pick losers - whom we think will lose those ten games.
Often, that's how we pick our "winners" as we pick "whoever is playing Jacksonville", "whoever is playing the Raiders", etc. This next table tracks our success at picking each team to win or lose each week. Again, these numbers are based on our consensus picks and are not weighted (our 176-2 preference of Houston over Tennessee counts the same as our 25-24 preference of Buffalo over Carolina).
There are fourteen teams that we have picked correctly both weeks - either picking them to win and they won, or picking them to lose and they lost. There are sixteen teams - including the Cowboys - that we have picked correctly once and missed once. Finally, there are two teams that we mis-picked both weeks. Will we mis-pick them again this week?
In this table, the first letter is how our consensus picked that team - win or lose; the second letter is the result. WW means we picked them to win, and they won. LL means we picked them to lose, and they lost. The others are our misses - we pick one way and the result is the opposite. Here's that table (with room to grow across the season):
Picks/Results for Each Team/Each Week | |||||||||||||||||||
Team | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | W | L |
Atlanta | LL | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Baltimore | LL | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Buffalo | LL | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Carolina | LL | LL | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Denver | WW | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Green Bay | LL | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Houston | WW | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Jacksonville | LL | LL | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Minnesota | LL | LL | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
New England | WW | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
New Orleans | WW | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
New York Giants | LL | LL | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Oakland | LL | WW | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
St Louis | WW | LL | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Arizona | LL | LW | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Chicago | LW | WW | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Cincinnati | WL | WW | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Cleveland | WL | LL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Dallas | WW | WL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Detroit | WW | WL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Indianapolis | WW | WL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Kansas City | WW | LW | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
New York Jets | LW | LL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Pittsburgh | WL | LL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
San Diego | LL | LW | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
San Francisco | WW | WL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Seattle | WW | LW | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Tampa Bay | WL | LL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Tennessee | LW | LL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Washington | WL | LL | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Miami | LW | LW | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
Philadelphia | LW | WL | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
Total | 44 | 20 |
Here's what you've been waiting to see - the scoreboard. How did we do this week? Did anyone score 10-for-10?
KD will list the complete leaderboard - top to bottom - each week in his contest page. I list here each week the top weekly scores and the top leaderboard scores.
This week, no one scored 10-for-10, although we had 27 score 9-for-10 to lead the way. Twenty-two faithful, loyal, upstanding, young leaders of the blog scored 9-for-10 by having the Cowboys as their only loss. Four renegade "realists" picked the Chiefs. All four, ironically enough, picked the Eagles, and had that as their only loss. What about the twenty-seventh 9-for-10? He was one of the four who failed to make a pick in the Cowboys-Chiefs game. He had nine right, his tenth discarded, and the Cowboys game scored "wrong", per KD's rules.
With two consecutive 9-for-10s to open the season, we have a single leader overall this week. Congratulations to I am Ironman!!! for being alone at the top. Right below him, there are sixteen breathing down his neck, only one off the pace. Forty more (including yours truly) are only two behind, and fifty-two more are three behind. That's over one hundred within three of the lead.
Here are the top scores of week #2, and the top of the overall leaderboard:
Top Scores This Week | |||||||
Week #2 | Score | Week #2 | Score | Overall | Score | Overall | Score |
Aggie Man | 9 | Hookem Up | 8 | I am Ironman!!! | 18 | traceabides | 16 |
beastygaming | 9 | hookerhome | 8 | 9_to_88 all day | 17 | Trent Schoneweis | 16 |
BoydNation | 9 | Howleyesque | 8 | Aggie Man | 17 | 1Bullseye | 15 |
CarloRue | 9 | ibleedcowboyblue | 8 | Baloo. | 17 | behind.enemylines | 15 |
DCB* | 9 | illcowboy | 8 | BoyfromOz | 17 | BigBad Joe | 15 |
geof | 9 | IRONRAVEN | 8 | DCB* | 17 | BishopWest | 15 |
gershwin | 9 | jakezze01 | 8 | ginge159 | 17 | bookiebuster | 15 |
I am Ironman!!! | 9 | jamesvb | 8 | Lajitas Lava | 17 | boys.camncrew | 15 |
jstaubach | 9 | JDobermans | 8 | lsttexas | 17 | connor.cmr | 15 |
Lajitas Lava | 9 | Jebediah Flibberbrush | 8 | One.Cool.Customer | 17 | Cowboy Joe | 15 |
lucke | 9 | Junkyard Dog | 8 | Realist Larry | 17 | CowboyinExile | 15 |
mik888 | 9 | Kansas Cowboy | 8 | skinny post | 17 | cwby4lf | 15 |
nicomachus | 9 | kethry1313 | 8 | spur_for_life | 17 | D_Carter | 15 |
One.Cool.Customer | 9 | Kire_V | 8 | Travlr | 17 | Doc_J | 15 |
Ray Silva | 9 | LoboTX | 8 | Useful_Idiot_ | 17 | EchoEcho | 15 |
Realist Larry | 9 | lsttexas | 8 | Vector_41 | 17 | Enja | 15 |
revellyre | 9 | Matt Buresh | 8 | Wreck'emCowboys | 17 | gabrielau23 | 15 |
skinny post | 9 | Max2 | 8 | Allan Uy | 16 | geof | 15 |
spur_for_life | 9 | mbraunginn | 8 | beastygaming | 16 | gershwin | 15 |
suddendeath88 | 9 | meisternance | 8 | BigHat in NewTexas | 16 | HonorTheStar | 15 |
Tallgrass Prairie | 9 | melman88 | 8 | BoydNation | 16 | Hookem Up | 15 |
Travlr | 9 | mikemc68 | 8 | Canadian Cowboy_74 | 16 | illcowboy | 15 |
Useful_Idiot_ | 9 | MSM33 | 8 | CarloRue | 16 | jakezze01 | 15 |
Vector_41 | 9 | MUTTS | 8 | CDMac24 | 16 | jamesvb | 15 |
Witten mittens | 9 | Nova84 | 8 | ChrisMan | 16 | JDobermans | 15 |
Wreck'emCowboys | 9 | Oh Hai Doggy | 8 | cowboy1966 | 16 | jockmeister | 15 |
YumaCactus | 9 | Panzer84 | 8 | CowboyBaby | 16 | Junkyard Dog | 15 |
9_to_88 all day | 8 | Pnut Gallery | 8 | CowboysBarry | 16 | KD Drummond | 15 |
Allan Uy | 8 | Portland's Cowboy fan | 8 | cowdog | 16 | kethry1313 | 15 |
Baloo. | 8 | Proxy406 | 8 | Dalai Luke | 16 | Kire_V | 15 |
bcg08 | 8 | pugbuddy | 8 | hookerhome | 16 | letsgtld | 15 |
BigBad Joe | 8 | rhodri2112 | 8 | Howleyesque | 16 | Matt Buresh | 15 |
BishopWest | 8 | scotscowboyfan | 8 | IRONRAVEN | 16 | mdlusk | 15 |
bookiebuster | 8 | Seatown7 | 8 | Jebediah Flibberbrush | 16 | mehrans9 | 15 |
BoyfromOz | 8 | Shakeepuddn | 8 | jstaubach | 16 | melman88 | 15 |
Canadian Cowboy_74 | 8 | sirjason22 | 8 | Kansas Cowboy | 16 | Mikellie | 15 |
CDMac24 | 8 | slowmotion80 | 8 | LoboTX | 16 | Mikhaili | 15 |
cee-los | 8 | Souna21 | 8 | lucke | 16 | MosesArt | 15 |
ChrisMan | 8 | Specific | 8 | Max2 | 16 | MSM33 | 15 |
Cowboy Joe | 8 | swanhooch | 8 | mik888 | 16 | mushpuppy | 15 |
cowboy1966 | 8 | TARHEEL PAUL | 8 | mikemc68 | 16 | NCHeelsBoysFan | 15 |
CowboyBaby | 8 | Tennessee_Jed | 8 | nicomachus | 16 | NorthStar99 | 15 |
CowboyinExile | 8 | the.mo.the.merrier | 8 | Oh Hai Doggy | 16 | Panzer84 | 15 |
CowboysBarry | 8 | thepainster | 8 | Pnut Gallery | 16 | Rex Pfister | 15 |
cowdog | 8 | Through Thick And Thin | 8 | Portland's Cowboy fan | 16 | Samuel_L_Bronkowitz | 15 |
cwby4lf | 8 | traceabides | 8 | revellyre | 16 | StarloverinWNC | 15 |
Dalai Luke | 8 | WA_Cowboy | 8 | rhodri2112 | 16 | Tennessee_Jed | 15 |
Damnsammit | 8 | wildtigger2 | 8 | scotscowboyfan | 16 | thepainster | 15 |
Doc_J | 8 | wittenfan | 8 | Seatown7 | 16 | Through Thick And Thin | 15 |
Elbert | 8 | Yellowbeard | 8 | slowmotion80 | 16 | WA_Cowboy | 15 |
f the romo haters | 8 | 75 tied with | 7 | Souna21 | 16 | wildtigger2 | 15 |
gabrielau23 | 8 | 20 tied with | 6 | Specific | 16 | Witten mittens | 15 |
ginge159 | 8 | 3 tied with | 5 | suddendeath88 | 16 | wittenfan | 15 |
HLCJ69 | 8 | 1 score of | 4 | swanhooch | 16 | zigg6411 | 15 |
Hobbes42 | 8 | 1 Thursday Game Only | 1 | Tallgrass Prairie | 16 | 42 tied with | 14 |
Last week, I was so late getting out my first FanPost that KD actually beat me - his week #2 contest page was up before my week #1 update. Normally, I will take early picks on my FanPost for those whose schedules will not permit them to wait for KD's page. Here is that opportunity this week.
You know the routine: highlight your picks in bold, and leave all games in order. Delete the games you are not picking, leaving just the ten games you are selecting - in order. If you are making a Thursday Game Only pick, please indicate that in your subject. When you are ready for the other nine, either reply to yourself, or make a new comment that says "other nine" or something similar.
The easiest way to make your picks bold, especially from a mobile phone or tablet, is to use asterisks before and after your selection (with no space after the first or before the last asterisk).
- *Kansas City* at PHILADELPHIA will look like Kansas City at PHILADELPHIA
- Kansas City at *PHILADELPHIA* will look like Kansas City at PHILADELPHIA
This is the second week in a row for the Cowboys to play early on Sunday, so there again is no grace for late picks. Here are this week's games, separated by day/time:
Thursday, September 19 (don't include after it kicks off):
Kansas City at PHILADELPHIA
Sunday, September 22 (early):
Houston at BALTIMORE
New York Giants at CAROLINA
Green Bay at CINCINNATI
St. Louis at DALLAS (mandatory, must include this game)
Cleveland at MINNESOTA
Tampa Bay at NEW ENGLAND
Arizona at NEW ORLEANS
San Diego at TENNESSEE
Detroit at WASHINGTON
Sunday, September 22 (late games):
Atlanta at MIAMI
Buffalo at NEW YORK JETS
Indianapolis at SAN FRANCISCO
Jacksonville at SEATTLE
Sunday/Monday, September 22-23 (night games):
Chicago at PITTSBURGH
Oakland at DENVER