Over the past few years, we have given the subscribers of Footballguys.com the Staff Confidence Pool Challenge, where numerous staffers try and pick the winners each week with a confidence ranking, and Dave Larkin’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 once again this year Footballguys is proud to bring you the combination of the two - the Footballguys' staff "Against the Spread Pool Challenge". Multiple staff members (19) will pick the winner of each NFL game against the Las Vegas line. As a tie-breaker, the person who is closest to the total points scored on the last Monday Night game will be the winner. Winners will be announced from week to week and the best overall record will be crowned Against the Spread Champion. Picks and ranks are due on Wednesday, so any late-breaking news may not be reflected in the choices.
Please note, that this contest should NOT be viewed as direct sports wagering advice, especially later in the season. Since the staff is trying to beat one another, picks may be made to go against the grain in an attempt to try and catch up in the standings. This example of game theory is more in tune towards playing a contest such as this - so again, do not use these picks as direct advice towards which games to pick each and every week. Rather, use these picks to see the top choices each week, especially by the staff members towards the top of the standings.
Jeff Pasquino has provided some insight into this kind of contest with two preseason articles. The 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).
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS and Final Standings
Several key upsets hurt the staff during the final week of the season. Most notable was Buffalo's loss to the Jets which hurt overall leader Sean Settle and resulted in an interesting finish to the overall season. With Larkin taking the Rams and Haseley taking the Titans, we had a three-way tie for first place at 15-2.
|
Staff Member
|
Record
|
Wk01
|
Wk02
|
Wk03
|
Wk04
|
Wk05
|
Wk06
|
Wk07
|
Wk08
|
Wk09
|
Wk10
|
Wk11
|
Wk12
|
Wk13
|
Wk14
|
Wk15
|
Wk16
|
Wk17
|
|
Sean Settle
|
15-2
|
SEA
|
NE
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
PHI
|
BAL
|
SF
|
PIT
|
CAR
|
IND
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
GB
|
MIN
|
NO
|
DEN
|
BUF
|
|
Dave Larkin
|
15-2
|
SEA
|
BAL
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
PHI
|
NE
|
BUF
|
MIN
|
SF
|
NO
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
CAR
|
GB
|
KC
|
DEN
|
LAR
|
|
Jeff Haseley
|
15-2
|
SEA
|
BAL
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
PHI
|
NE
|
BUF
|
LAR
|
SF
|
NO
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
CAR
|
GB
|
MIN
|
IND
|
TEN
|
|
Justin Howe
|
14-3
|
LAC
|
NE
|
DAL
|
SEA
|
HOU
|
BAL
|
BUF
|
MIN
|
PHI
|
IND
|
OAK
|
DET
|
GB
|
PIT
|
SF
|
KC
|
NO
|
|
James Brimacombe
|
14-3
|
PHI
|
NE
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
KC
|
BAL
|
BUF
|
MIN
|
SF
|
NO
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
GB
|
HOU
|
SEA
|
MIA
|
TEN
|
|
Steve Buzzard
|
14-3
|
PHI
|
NE
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
KC
|
BAL
|
SF
|
PIT
|
BUF
|
NO
|
MIN
|
CLE
|
CAR
|
GB
|
SEA
|
DEN
|
TEN
|
|
Jason Wood
|
13-4
|
BAL
|
NE
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
PHI
|
LAR
|
SF
|
JAC
|
BUF
|
KC
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
GB
|
MIN
|
NO
|
SEA
|
IND
|
|
Aaron Rudnicki
|
13-4
|
PHI
|
BAL
|
DAL
|
LAR
|
HOU
|
LAC
|
BUF
|
MIN
|
SEA
|
NO
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
KC
|
GB
|
NYG
|
DEN
|
NE
|
|
Jeff Pasquino
|
13-4
|
SEA
|
BAL
|
DAL
|
LAR
|
PHI
|
NE
|
BUF
|
PIT
|
SF
|
IND
|
MIN
|
CLE
|
CAR
|
GB
|
OAK
|
KC
|
TEN
|
|
Alessandro Miglio
|
13-4
|
SEA
|
BAL
|
NE
|
LAR
|
LAC
|
NO
|
SF
|
PIT
|
BUF
|
IND
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
CAR
|
MIN
|
NYG
|
ATL
|
GB
|
|
Andy Hicks
|
12-5
|
PHI
|
NE
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
KC
|
BAL
|
BUF
|
NO
|
SF
|
GB
|
MIN
|
CLE
|
CAR
|
HOU
|
SEA
|
PIT
|
TB
|
|
Clayton Gray
|
12-5
|
PHI
|
BAL
|
DAL
|
INDY
|
NE
|
LAC
|
BUF
|
LAR
|
SEA
|
NO
|
MIN
|
CLE
|
KC
|
GB
|
SF
|
ATL
|
PIT
|
|
Matt Bitonti
|
12-5
|
SEA
|
BAL
|
SF
|
LAR
|
PHI
|
NE
|
BUF
|
PIT
|
GB
|
NYG
|
MIN
|
NO
|
KC
|
HOU
|
CLE
|
ATL
|
IND
|
|
Devin Knotts
|
11-6
|
BAL
|
HOU
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
KC
|
GB
|
BUF
|
MIN
|
CLE
|
TB
|
OAK
|
NO
|
CAR
|
PHI
|
SF
|
SEA
|
NE
|
|
Andrew Garda
|
11-6
|
BAL
|
CAR
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
KC
|
GB
|
BUF
|
LAR
|
SF
|
NO
|
OAK
|
CLE
|
NYJ
|
MIN
|
NE
|
SEA
|
HOU
|
|
William Grant
|
11-6
|
PHI
|
BAL
|
SEA
|
LAR
|
NE
|
DAL
|
SF
|
PIT
|
IND
|
GB
|
OAK
|
DET
|
CAR
|
MIN
|
KC
|
ATL
|
NO
|
|
Mark Wimer
|
10-7
|
CLE
|
NE
|
DAL
|
LAC
|
PHI
|
BAL
|
BUF
|
MIN
|
GB
|
NO
|
OAK
|
SEA
|
NYJ
|
HOU
|
SF
|
KC
|
PIT
|
While typical Eliminator/Survivor pools drop people from the contest after one or two losses, we keep things rolling to the end. Doing so gives us some interesting views of how people faired for the entire season. With 3 teams finishing 15-2, those scores would be good enough to win most double-elimination pools. Well done.
Another three staffers finished 15-3, with Steve Buzzard closing out the season with four consecutive wins at the toughest point in the season.
Only four staffers won four consecutive weeks to finish the season and none finished with five correct picks in a row.
Congrats again to our staff winners, and I hope that you both enjoyed this season's Eliminator Pool and that it helped you towards success this year. Happy New Year and see you next season!
Questions, suggestions, and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.