The stars aligned this week, as most games were relatively easy to predict. And, with one major exception, all of the results were as predicted. In fact, if I wrote a subtitle for this FanPost, I would call it "Return of the Cherry-Pickers".
Last week, there were a few picks that were almost unanimous, both in participation and in preference. This week, there were six games that were that way - almost everyone selected these games, and almost everyone made the same choice.
Also last week, more than a third of you selected the Jets over the Cowboys, and were criticized by those of us that thought (and hoped) that the Cowboys would win that game.
This week was different. all eighty-six entries picked the Cowboys. And, all eighty-six were RIGHT! Your unanimity was rewarded.
Last year, it took until week #10 before jstaubach got 10 for 10. This week, there were three who got all ten picks correct. And, if Baltimore had beaten Tennessee, there would have been a mind-boggling forty-one (almost half of this week's entries) who would have correctly picked 10 for 10.
After the jump, see results and analysis...
The three who successfully picked 10 for 10 this week: I am Ironman!!!, mdlusk, and Travlr. They were three out of seven who avoided the trap game Baltimore @ Tennessee.
Thirty-eight more of you picked 9 for 10 - all of you only missed Baltimore @ Tennessee. If the Ravens had won, then all forty-one of you would have won 10 for 10, and KD would have had to rob a bank to award all of the prizes.
Last week's winners picked 8 for 10. This week's average was 8.37 correct.
Most of you jumped on a handful of games. Again, with the one exception, you lopsidedly picked the winners. However, some of those games were not lopsided, and could have easily gone the other way - read the game threads and see who thought that the Cowboys were a lock against the 49ers, especially in the second half. Buffalo and Washington both scored in the last seconds as well, turning defeats into victories. Tampa Bay was way behind at the half, before rallying to win. And, New England was in a shootout with San Diego. None of these were blowouts.
The only other game besides Baltimore @ Tennessee that the majority did not pick correctly was Philadelphia @ Atlanta. I personally chose not to touch that game, as did most of you. It to me was too close to call, and the twenty-six of you who chose it were almost evenly divided (Atlanta-12 and Philadelphia-14). Again, it went down to the wire with Atlanta coming from behind to claim victory.
Here's a chart showing the lopsidedness of the cherry-pickers - picking "easy" games, and avoiding the "toss-up" games:
Game |
Participants |
Winners |
Losers |
Dallas @ San Francisco |
86 |
86 |
0 |
Green Bay @ Carolina |
85 |
84 |
1 |
83 |
83 |
0 |
|
Seattle @ Pittsburgh |
83 |
83 |
0 |
Baltimore @ Tennessee |
79 |
0 |
79 |
Kansas City @ Detroit |
78 |
75 |
3 |
Houston @ Miami |
59 |
57 |
2 |
Chicago @ New Orleans |
47 |
42 |
5 |
40 |
38 |
2 |
|
San Diego @ New England |
39 |
38 |
1 |
Tampa Bay @ Minnesota |
39 |
33 |
6 |
Arizona @ Washington |
36 |
28 |
8 |
Oakland @ Buffalo |
33 |
25 |
8 |
Philadelphia @ Atlanta |
26 |
12 |
14 |
Cleveland @ Indianapolis |
25 |
18 |
7 |
Cincinnati @ Denver |
22 |
15 |
7 |
TOTAL |
860 |
717 |
143 |
Note that the bottom three in popularity when combined don't even add up to any of the most popular six choices. When the bye weeks begin, you won't be able to cherry-pick as many games, because there will only be thirteen or fourteen games in bye weeks.
I also noticed that many who participated in week #1 did not enter their selections for week #2, including two of the week #1 leaders. However, there were many new entrants this week, so I stayed busy scoring all the entries.
Total Participants - 112 |
|||
Week 1 total entries - 81 |
Week 2 total entries - 86 |
||
Week 1 only - 26 |
Both Weeks - 55 |
Week 2 only - 31 |
KD is making two recognitions each week - those who made the best selections that week, and a running tally for the entire season. It may not be too late for first-time entries next week, but it will be an uphill climb, especially after this week's scores. Around half of you posted entries both weeks, and around half of you did one week.
Here are the scores that I have for week #2:
Entrant |
#2 |
Entrant |
#2 |
Entrant |
#2 |
Entrant |
#2 |
I am Ironman!!! |
10 |
IMHO |
9 |
1youngwiz |
8 |
TARHEEL PAUL |
8 |
mdlusk |
10 |
InkedKing |
9 |
Alpha |
8 |
tattooed cowboy |
8 |
Travlr |
10 |
Jebediah Flibberbrush |
9 |
Behind the Lines |
8 |
Troy |
8 |
|
|
Jeremiah_24 |
9 |
Bradly Adams |
8 |
tsylvest |
8 |
88Deztined46 |
9 |
LilZtretch |
9 |
chilaquiles |
8 |
Tuna Helper |
8 |
Allan Uy |
9 |
neon greon |
9 |
Dachs |
8 |
WA_Cowboy |
8 |
Antonio S |
9 |
NerdVernacular |
9 |
Dezstroyer88 |
8 |
|
|
Baked Potato Soup |
9 |
NJcowboysFAN |
9 |
illcowboy |
8 |
BlueNSilverBlood |
7 |
Becho |
9 |
Nord15 |
9 |
Jason Pai |
8 |
Damnsammit |
7 |
Benthere |
9 |
orli |
9 |
jazzbo251 |
8 |
Enja |
7 |
BigBad Joe |
9 |
Panzer84 |
9 |
JLMax09 |
8 |
GunsUp |
7 |
BishopWest |
9 |
Pearson88 |
9 |
jstaubach |
8 |
KD Drummond |
7 |
ChiaCrack |
9 |
Pnut Gallery |
9 |
kitten mittens |
8 |
Portland's Cowboy fan |
7 |
Cowboys_Attack |
9 |
qbfannn |
9 |
liquidblake |
8 |
Rat-Pack |
7 |
D_Carter |
9 |
Specific |
9 |
lxblssng |
8 |
RespectTheStar |
7 |
DC_fan |
9 |
Static |
9 |
meisternance |
8 |
ROYAJA8 |
7 |
dsmith12 |
9 |
thebigham |
9 |
Mic ThaRock |
8 |
starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 |
7 |
Englishneil |
9 |
wittenfan |
9 |
Mikhaili |
8 |
VicTor W |
7 |
FuriousDman |
9 |
ziggy 19 |
9 |
One.Cool.Customer |
8 |
|
|
GordBerl |
9 |
|
|
Rohpuri |
8 |
Fuzzy5.7 |
6 |
Grady90 |
9 |
.FRoST.USAF |
8 |
Rummob |
8 |
Jessy S |
6 |
Hookem Up |
9 |
@Tonekupone |
8 |
scotscowboyfan |
8 |
|
|
hookerhome |
9 |
1Bullseye |
8 |
scottmaui |
8 |
|
|
Here are the top 25 scores that I have for both weeks together:
Entrant |
Tot |
#1 |
#2 |
Entrant |
Tot |
#1 |
#2 |
Englishneil |
17 |
8 |
9 |
.FRoST.USAF |
15 |
7 |
8 |
GordBerl |
17 |
8 |
9 |
ChiaCrack |
15 |
6 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
Hookem Up |
15 |
6 |
9 |
Allan Uy |
16 |
7 |
9 |
illcowboy |
15 |
7 |
8 |
BishopWest |
16 |
7 |
9 |
InkedKing |
15 |
6 |
9 |
DC_fan |
16 |
7 |
9 |
jstaubach |
15 |
7 |
8 |
Grady90 |
16 |
7 |
9 |
KD Drummond |
15 |
8 |
7 |
Jebediah Flibberbrush |
16 |
7 |
9 |
lxblssng |
15 |
7 |
8 |
Pnut Gallery |
16 |
7 |
9 |
mdlusk |
15 |
5 |
10 |
qbfannn |
16 |
7 |
9 |
NJcowboysFAN |
15 |
6 |
9 |
Specific |
16 |
7 |
9 |
Rohpuri |
15 |
7 |
8 |
Travlr |
16 |
6 |
10 |
scotscowboyfan |
15 |
7 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
wittenfan |
15 |
6 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
ziggy 19 |
15 |
6 |
9 |
See you next week! Go Cowboys!