We are proud to bring you the return of the Footballguys.com Staff Confidence Pool Challenge. 20 Staff members will pick the winner of each NFL game, and rank each choice from most confident (16 points) to least (1 point). 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 Confidence pool Champion. Picks and ranks are due on Wednesday, so any late-breaking news may not be reflected in the choices. Also please note that no point spread is taken into account with these picks – it is a straight up pick of which NFL team will win this week. See the other confidence pools for picks against the spread (ATS) or Survivor / Eliminator style.
RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK
Heath Cummings was the only guy who had the guts to pick Oakland to upset Kansas City and get their first win last week. He only received a single point of confidence for his gamble, but the three guys that finished directly behind him lost 32 points between the three of them. When you start the week out 10+ points in the hole, it's hard to catch back up. Hindery actually had more correct picks than Cummings, but the 11 points he lost on Kansas City cost him the win this week.
Staffer | KC | TEN | CIN | NYJ | TB | DET | CLE | GB | JAX | STL | ARI | MIA | WAS | DAL | BAL | TOT |
OAK | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | MIN | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | NYG | NO | Pts | |
Cummings | OAK | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 111 |
1 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 4 | ||
Hindery | KC | PHI | CIN | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | BAL | 106 |
11 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 1 | ||
Lee | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 105 |
9 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 2 | ||
Tremblay | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | CLE | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | BAL | 104 |
12 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 15 | 2 | ||
Buzzard | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 103 |
11 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 3 | ||
Brimacombe | KC | PHI | CIN | BUF | CHI | NE | CLE | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | NYG | NO | 102 |
15 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 2 | ||
Holloway | KC | PHI | CIN | BUF | CHI | NE | CLE | GB | IND | STL | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 102 |
12 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 5 | ||
Gray | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | CLE | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | BAL | 101 |
13 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | ||
Rudnicki | KC | PHI | CIN | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 101 |
9 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 8 | ||
Bitonti | KC | PHI | CIN | NYJ | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 100 |
12 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 4 | ||
Haseley | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 98 |
14 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 1 | ||
Miglio | KC | PHI | CIN | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | NYG | NO | 98 |
11 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 4 | ||
Larkin | KC | PHI | HOU | NYJ | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | STL | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 96 |
8 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 3 | ||
Grant | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | ARI | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 94 |
10 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | ||
Pasquino | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | TB | NE | CLE | GB | IND | SD | ARI | DEN | SF | DAL | BAL | 89 |
11 | 8 | 14 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 1 | ||
Wood | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | CLE | GB | IND | SD | ARI | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 86 |
15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Wimer | KC | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | STL | ARI | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 85 |
12 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Garda | KC | PHI | HOU | NYJ | CHI | NE | CLE | GB | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 85 |
15 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 4 | ||
Hicks | KC | PHI | CIN | NYJ | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | STL | ARI | DEN | SF | DAL | BAL | 81 |
6 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 4 | ||
Heiser | KC | PHI | HOU | NYJ | CHI | NE | ATL | GB | IND | SD | ARI | DEN | SF | DAL | NO | 69 |
12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Away | KC | TEN | CIN | NYJ | TB | DET | CLE | GB | JAX | STL | ARI | MIA | WAS | DAL | BAL | |
Total Pts | 218 | 0 | 29 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 229 | 0 | 16 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 11 | |
Home | OAK | PHI | HOU | BUF | CHI | NE | ATL | MIN | IND | SD | SEA | DEN | SF | NYG | NO | |
Total Pts | 1 | 240 | 82 | 115 | 139 | 169 | 56 | 0 | 270 | 113 | 84 | 187 | 196 | 3 | 49 |
After last week's bloodbath, seeing so many scores of 100+ this week really hurt the teams that didn't score as well. Heiser took it on the chin with big losses on Kansas City, Houston and Atlanta. On the whole, these team damaged a big chunk of the board, especially the Chiefs with 218 confidence points backing them last week. The Saints were a strong pick by the field as well, but their lost only cost the board 49 points as a whole.
OVERALL RANKINGS
It didn't take long for Hindery to climb back into the top spot, although he's only holding that lead by a single point. He and Buzzard pushed themselves a little farther ahead of the pack though, as Hasley, Miglio and Larking all failed to reach 100 points this week. With just five weeks to go, it's shaping up to be a two team race.
Staffer | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 | Total |
Hindery | 95 | 85 | 115 | 47 | 103 | 87 | 92 | 71 | 68 | 70 | 56 | 106 | 995 | |||||
Buzzard | 87 | 74 | 95 | 54 | 105 | 87 | 94 | 93 | 71 | 74 | 57 | 103 | 994 | |||||
Haseley | 81 | 83 | 120 | 48 | 92 | 98 | 86 | 81 | 60 | 74 | 55 | 98 | 976 | |||||
Miglio | 91 | 66 | 102 | 50 | 108 | 79 | 79 | 83 | 73 | 74 | 63 | 98 | 966 | |||||
Larkin | 91 | 82 | 110 | 60 | 100 | 79 | 84 | 86 | 63 | 63 | 50 | 96 | 964 | |||||
Gray | 80 | 87 | 108 | 40 | 101 | 88 | 89 | 79 | 61 | 76 | 52 | 101 | 962 | |||||
Holloway | 78 | 62 | 107 | 44 | 106 | 89 | 85 | 85 | 74 | 71 | 56 | 102 | 959 | |||||
Grant | 94 | 65 | 95 | 58 | 102 | 90 | 77 | 87 | 69 | 66 | 60 | 94 | 957 | |||||
Bitonti | 87 | 69 | 104 | 65 | 94 | 82 | 82 | 83 | 69 | 67 | 53 | 100 | 955 | |||||
Cummings | 75 | 75 | 121 | 53 | 93 | 91 | 71 | 77 | 62 | 67 | 58 | 111 | 954 | |||||
Pasquino | 85 | 68 | 100 | 49 | 96 | 96 | 76 | 77 | 73 | 75 | 64 | 89 | 948 | |||||
Lee | 87 | 51 | 108 | 50 | 105 | 88 | 81 | 87 | 57 | 68 | 60 | 105 | 947 | |||||
Rudnicki | 86 | 70 | 97 | 49 | 100 | 85 | 88 | 77 | 69 | 67 | 50 | 101 | 939 | |||||
Garda | 73 | 57 | 102 | 48 | 110 | 95 | 73 | 88 | 78 | 71 | 52 | 85 | 932 | |||||
Brimacombe | 76 | 60 | 111 | 39 | 93 | 97 | 68 | 78 | 69 | 75 | 49 | 102 | 917 | |||||
Wood | 82 | 91 | 94 | 37 | 72 | 91 | 70 | 88 | 70 | 72 | 62 | 86 | 915 | |||||
Heiser | 98 | 55 | 99 | 42 | 97 | 96 | 76 | 60 | 51 | 72 | 57 | 69 | 872 | |||||
Wimer | 78 | 45 | 91 | 44 | 103 | 91 | 78 | 82 | 68 | 65 | 41 | 85 | 871 | |||||
Hicks | 77 | 82 | 98 | 48 | 82 | 75 | 69 | 74 | 66 | 37 | 45 | 81 | 834 | |||||
Tremblay | 68 | 60 | 77 | 39 | 66 | 54 | 81 | 107 | 57 | 66 | 38 | 104 | 817 |
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week.
Staffer | CHI | PHI | SEA | NYG | CLE | NO | WAS | OAK | CIN | TEN | CAR | SD | ARI | NE | DEN | MIA | MNF |
DET | DAL | SF | JAX | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | TB | HOU | MIN | BAL | ATL | GB | KC | NYJ | TOTAL | |
Rudnicki | DET | PHI | SEA | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ATL | GB | DEN | MIA | 42 |
11 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 12 | ||
Miglio | DET | PHI | SF | JAX | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 46 |
13 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
Garda | DET | DAL | SEA | NYG | CLE | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | CAR | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 60 |
15 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 5 | ||
Hicks | DET | DAL | SEA | JAX | BUF | PIT | IND | OAK | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 42 |
12 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 6 | ||
Heiser | CHI | PHI | SF | NYG | CLE | NO | IND | OAK | TB | HOU | CAR | SD | ARI | NE | DEN | MIA | 44 |
15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 1 | ||
Gray | DET | DAL | SEA | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | NE | DEN | MIA | 45 |
10 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 15 | ||
Hindery | DET | DAL | SEA | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ATL | GB | DEN | MIA | 36 |
8 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 15 | ||
Larkin | DET | PHI | SEA | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ATL | GB | KC | MIA | 45 |
12 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 7 | ||
Cummings | DET | PHI | SEA | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | CAR | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 38 |
14 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 5 | ||
Brimacombe | DET | PHI | SF | NYG | CLE | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | CAR | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 47 |
2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||
Wood | DET | PHI | SEA | NYG | CLE | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | TEN | CAR | SD | ATL | NE | DEN | MIA | 43 |
13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 14 | ||
Haseley | DET | DAL | SEA | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | GB | KC | MIA | 41 |
10 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | ||
Pasquino | DET | PHI | SEA | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | TEN | MIN | BAL | ARI | NE | DEN | MIA | 41 |
9 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 8 | ||
Lee | DET | DAL | SEA | NYG | CLE | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ATL | GB | KC | MIA | 43 |
14 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 8 | ||
Wimer | DET | DAL | SF | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | CAR | BAL | ARI | GB | KC | MIA | 35 |
11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||
Bitonti | DET | DAL | SF | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 46 |
13 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 16 | ||
Tremblay | DET | DAL | SEA | JAX | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 35 |
15 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 16 | 10 | ||
Holloway | DET | DAL | SF | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | NE | DEN | MIA | 41 |
10 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 12 | ||
Buzzard | DET | DAL | SF | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 41 |
14 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 13 | ||
Grant | DET | DAL | SF | NYG | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | CIN | HOU | MIN | BAL | ARI | GB | DEN | MIA | 38 |
15 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 12 | ||
Away | CHI | PHI | SEA | NYG | CLE | NO | WAS | OAK | CIN | TEN | CAR | SD | ARI | NE | DEN | MIA | |
Total Pts | 15 | 54 | 88 | 164 | 39 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 215 | 2 | 26 | 7 | 129 | 36 | 134 | 205 | |
Home | DET | DAL | SF | JAX | BUF | PIT | IND | STL | TB | HOU | MIN | BAL | ATL | GB | KC | NYJ | |
Total Pts | 221 | 76 | 33 | 28 | 93 | 153 | 273 | 217 | 7 | 169 | 82 | 136 | 8 | 84 | 6 | 0 |
HEAVY FAVORITES
Most of the board expects the Lions to handle the Bears pretty easily today, and they are the 'easiest' choice to make of the three Thanksgiving games. Indianapolis is the strongest favorite this week with 273 confidence points on them to beat Washington. St. Louis, Cincinnati and Miami round out the teams with more than 200 confidence points each. St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Baltimore, Arizona, Pittsburgh and Denver are all heavy favorites this week as well.
DUAL SUPPORT
None of this week's contents can really be considered 'close' from a confidence pool prospective. Dallas, Seattle, Buffalo, Minnesota and Green Bay are all expected to win their games, but their opponents all received a few points of their own. If you're building your office pool picks this week, you may want to lower your confidence numbers on these games.
ODDS AND ENDS
It's a full sprint to the finish now with 136 points being the top score for each week. Be careful of the Monday night game this week as everyone is picking Miami as a heavy favorite.
Happy Thanksgiving and good luck this weekend!