NFL Pick 'em 2023

Saturday I think I am going with:
Pitt
Indy

But if any key players skip the game, I may change.

 

I could go either way on these games, but word is slowly leaking out
of even more players skipping this game, either to rest, or due to injury.

BUT - will Pittsburgh play worth a ****? Who knows....
If I followed my own theory from last week then I should be picking Baltimore, but I'm not...

 

Missed it by THAT much...
I was gonna switch to Balt, but they JUST kicked off so I'm locked on Pitt....

Had I known it was raining in Balt I would have switched long ago...

And who knows, maybe I will get lucky...

 

shows what I know....

 

No week 18 entry?

Two games today, one already done, you have about 30 min before the second game today, Hou at Indy...

 

I was not expecting you to post your Sunday picks until later Sunday AM...

 

Saturday, Jan. 6

• Pittsburgh Steelers - Balt sat too many players, Pitt had everything to play for - and they lost TJ Watt.
  
• Indianapolis Colts - most every week I picked Houston - until this game. Ugh...

Sunday, Jan. 7
New Orleans Saints, 1 p.m. (CBS) This is one game I may flip before kickoff.................

• Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m. (CBS) I think more CLV guys will be limited.
  
• Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. (CBS) Could go either way... but JAX has more weapons... but it is in Tenn.... ???
  
• Detroit Lions, 1 p.m. (FOX) This game scares me, DET needs to show us they are for real - or not.
  
• New England Patriots, 1 p.m. (FOX) I don't see Belichick losing maybe his last game in NE.
  
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m. (FOX) It's Carolina, but TB has a lot to play for.
  
• Green Bay Packers, 4:25 p.m. (CBS) This is Chicago's Super Bowl - they will lose it.
  
• Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m. (FOX) It's Washington, so.....
  
• Las Vegas Raiders, 4:25 p.m. (FOX) LV fighting to keep their coach, Denver with nothing to play for
  
• Kansas City Chiefs, 4:25 p.m. (CBS) KC sitting most of their players, but LAC don't have anyone TO sit....
  
• San Francisco 49ers, 4:25 p.m. (FOX) SF gets a BYE next week no matter what, LAR does not.
  
• Philadelphia Eagles, 4:25 p.m. (CBS) This game scares me - is another I may flip before kickoff. If NYG had a better O/L...
  
• Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. (FOX) Will Az continue to play over their heads? Will SEA's offense ever wake up? So far they haven't. Another one I may flip.
  
• Buffalo Bills, 8:20 p.m. (NBC) Miami has too many guys hurt, Buff HAS to win to get into the playoffs.

Because TJ Watt got hurt in the Saturday game, I see MORE players sitting in the Sunday games just because of Watt... we will see.

 

I think next season we will end the contest with Week 17, and not play Week 18....
Too many variables with players sitting out.

One guy had a great name for week 18 games 'The post-season pre-season, where guys we never heard of are playing'.

Opinions welcome.

 

I'm envious - where are you?
Where ya been?
Where ya going?
Or do you live there? (sorry, I don't know)

 

I was right = even more players being held out.
Sam LaPorta getting hurt a few minutes ago didn't help.

Rams added Aaron Donald, KC added Travis Kelce to the inactive list.
Kelce needed something like 20 yards to get 1,000 yards, which means
something to his 1,000 yard season streak.

 

Can't go for it if the Coach makes you inactive.
They also added Rashee Rice to inactive.

I am pretty sure next season we will end the contest on/after Week 17.

I think next season even MORE players will sit - but you won't know who
until game time - OR a player will play one series and then sit...

I'm a bit stunned Detroit is still playing everyone - and now they have TWO major injuries.

PS - and now that Jax has lost, Buff is guaranteed a playoff spot.
They were not guaranteed of even MAKING the playoffs until Jax lost.
What does this mean?
I betcha a lot of Buff starters don't play the whole game, they don't NEED to win now.

 

OK, we will.

ALSO, I am going to run the 'Playoff Fantasy Challenges', where you pick players, and those
players multiply their points the longer their teams continue to win.

So, IF Purdy gets 20 pts in his first game, good, in the next round if he gets 20, now it's 40,
and in the third round if they win and he gets, say, 18 pts, it's 54 points, so he would have 114 pts.
BUT, if a guy wins in the first rounb but loses in the 2nd round, you have to pick a new player to
replace him and that player starts over from then on.
I can explain more if you need me to.

The key is to pick players you think will be on teams that you think will go far - and players that will do well
on those teams.

I will be doing this on NFL.COM and I THINK ESPN.COM also, so you have to have logons there (free).

And if nobody wants to, that's cool too, I don't think anyone from FC has ever played it - with me anyway,
and I've been doing it for years.

 

Week 18 and final regular season results

Whisky - 10 - 170
Nicholas - 11 - 169
BigEasy - 10 - 158
Koisokok- 8 - 152

The only clean sweeps were Detroit and Dallas, who we all picked.

For week 18, I made my picks based on a consensus of different NFL guys on the web,
instead of going with my gut on some of them. Trusting them cost me just two wins.

Almost all season I went with Houston - until this week, and it cost me a win.
However, I also WANTED to go with Tenn, the Giants and Seattle - that would have been
3 more wins, BUT, I also wanted to go with Atlanta, Minn and Chicago - which
would have been 3 losses, so it was a 'wash'.
I was not sold on Derek Carr doing well, Minn's QB issue, and I thought Chicago was
going to be without a couple of guys that ended up playing....

I was also figuring Phiily would wake up, they didn't, Seattle played well enough to win,
and Lawrence laid another egg with an important game on the line - and Jax could not
stop Derrick Henry - which they usually do.

I thought the 49'ers backup players would be better than the Rams backup players - they weren't.

I am a little shocked NE didn't play well enough in the snow - their forte~ - to send Belichick out a winner.
DO I think NE keeps Belichick?
I think Kraft will tell him someone else is going to handle the draft and player personnel, and if Bill doesn't agree, he's out.
My .02 anyway.

 

Wildcard Weekend:

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Cleveland @ Houston 3:30pm NBC
Miami @ Kansas City 7pm Peacock - STREAMING ONLY (those a-holes...)

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Pittsburgh @ Buffalo 12:00pm CBS
Green Bay @ Dallas 3:30pm FOX
Los Angeles Rams @ Detroit 7pm NBC

Monday, January 15, 2024

Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay 7:15pm ABC and also ESPN.

If you have ESPN this will also be a 'Manningcast' game, which is good, as the regular ESPN MNF announcers are clowns...

 

Looks like neither ESPN nor NFL is not doing the playoff player challenges this year,
just the normal, boring 'pick the games' games.

 

In our playoff pick 'em, what do you guys want to use as a tie-breaker if we have a tie?
SB winner #1 TB?
Total combined points in the SB regardless of who is playing in it? (whoever is closest - over OR under, not the usual 'closest without going over')