Staff Confidence Pool (No Spread) Week 5

Will Grant's Staff Confidence Pool (No Spread) Week 5 Will Grant Published 10/02/2014

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

Brutal. Simply Brutal. Six teams on a bye and a couple key upsets decimated the field. When the carnage ended, Matt Bitonti stood on top of the pile with 10 correct picks out of 13, but just 65 total points. Larkin finished second with 60 and it had some interesting consequences for him as well. Here are the team by team results.

Staffer NYG TEN CAR BUF GB TB MIA DET JAX ATL PHI NO NE TOT
WAS IND BAL HOU CHI PIT OAK NYJ SD MIN SF DAL KC Pts
Bitonti NYG IND BAL HOU GB PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF DAL NE 65
1 11 9 7 2 12 8 3 13 10 6 4 5
Larkin WAS IND BAL HOU GB PIT MIA NYJ SD MIN SF NO KC 60
10 11 9 8 7 13 6 5 12 1 4 3 2
Grant WAS IND BAL HOU CHI PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF NO NE 58
2 11 9 8 1 12 7 6 13 10 4 3 5
Buzzard WAS IND BAL HOU GB PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF NO NE 54
9 11 4 5 1 12 8 2 13 7 10 3 6
Cummings NYG IND BAL HOU CHI PIT OAK DET SD ATL PHI NO KC 53
7 12 6 5 4 11 2 9 13 10 3 8 1
Miglio WAS IND BAL HOU GB PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF NO NE 50
5 12 2 9 6 10 3 4 13 11 1 7 8
Lee WAS IND BAL BUF CHI PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF NO NE 50
2 12 8 3 5 11 4 6 13 10 7 9 1
Rudnicki WAS IND BAL BUF GB PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF NO NE 49
10 11 5 1 4 12 6 7 13 9 3 2 8
Pasquino WAS IND BAL BUF CHI PIT OAK DET SD ATL PHI NO KC 49
3 11 10 2 1 12 5 8 13 6 4 9 7
Garda NYG IND CAR HOU CHI PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF NO NE 48
6 11 7 9 4 8 3 5 13 2 1 12 10
Hicks WAS IND CAR HOU GB PIT OAK NYJ SD ATL SF DAL KC 48
12 4 3 11 6 10 1 8 13 9 2 7 5
Haseley WAS IND BAL BUF CHI PIT MIA DET SD MIN SF NO NE 48
10 11 5 8 9 13 7 6 12 4 3 2 1
Hindery NYG IND BAL HOU CHI PIT MIA NYJ SD ATL PHI NO NE 47
2 12 6 5 4 11 9 1 13 10 3 7 8
Wimer WAS IND CAR BUF GB PIT MIA DET SD ATL SF NO KC 44
1 11 9 7 2 12 8 3 13 10 6 4 5
Holloway WAS IND CAR HOU CHI PIT MIA DET SD ATL PHI NO NE 44
5 11 1 4 3 12 7 9 13 10 2 6 8
Heiser WAS IND CAR BUF CHI PIT MIA DET SD ATL PHI NO NE 42
3 12 2 6 1 11 8 9 13 10 4 7 5
Gray WAS IND BAL HOU GB PIT OAK NYJ SD ATL PHI NO NE 40
8 12 7 6 2 11 1 3 13 10 4 9 5
Brimacombe WAS IND CAR BUF GB PIT MIA DET SD ATL PHI NO KC 40
9 10 1 2 3 11 4 5 12 8 7 13 6
Tremblay WAS IND CAR BUF GB PIT MIA DET SD ATL PHI NO NE 39
13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Wood WAS IND CAR HOU GB PIT MIA NYJ SD ATL PHI NO KC 37
13 11 6 1 5 10 9 2 8 12 4 7 3
Away NYG TEN CAR BUF GB TB MIA DET JAX ATL PHI NO NE  
Total Pts 16 0 40 39 47 0 104 88 0 158 34 113 71  
Home WAS IND BAL HOU CHI PIT OAK NYJ SD MIN SF DAL KC  
Total Pts 115 219 80 78 32 222 9 19 244 5 47 11 29  

With so many teams on a bye, the 222 confidence points that were placed on Pittsburgh really hurt the overall field. Washington's loss on Thursday night didn't help. Add in Atlanta, New Orleans and New England and the field lost a total of 670 confidence points. Week 2 winner Jason Wood took the brunt of the damage, posting just 37 points this week. 

OVERALL RANKINGS

Larkin may have only posted 60 points this week, but it was enough to let him sneak into the top spot overall, one point ahead of Hindery. He and Haseley slid back to second and third, respectively with Haseley closing the gap by a point. Bitonti continued to climb the charts, moving into 4th with his win this week. 

Staffer W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 W17 Total
Larkin 91 82 110 60                           343
Hindery 95 85 115 47                           342
Haseley 81 83 120 48                           332
Bitonti 87 69 104 65                           325
Cummings 75 75 121 53                           324
Gray 80 87 108 40                           315
Grant 94 65 95 58                           312
Buzzard 87 74 95 54                           310
Miglio 91 66 102 50                           309
Hicks 77 82 98 48                           305
Wood 82 91 94 37                           304
Rudnicki 86 70 97 49                           302
Pasquino 85 68 100 49                           302
Lee 87 51 108 50                           296
Heiser 98 55 99 42                           294
Holloway 78 62 107 44                           291
Brimacombe 76 60 111 39                           286
Garda 73 57 102 48                           280
Wimer 78 45 91 44                           258
Tremblay 68 60 77 39                           244

The bottom of the leaderboard remained constant this week, with no real big movements. Everyone had a bad week. 

THIS WEEK'S PICKS

Here are the picks for this week.

Staffer MIN CLE CHI HOU PIT BAL BUF TB ATL STL ARI NYJ KC CIN SEA MNF
GB TEN CAR DAL JAX IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF NE WAS TOTAL
Rudnicki GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 46
12 5 6 4 8 7 13 14 2 11 10 15 3 1 9
Miglio GB TEN CAR DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF NE SEA 48
12 4 2 7 11 5 8 9 1 14 10 13 6 3 15
Garda GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF NE SEA 60
11 3 2 6 10 9 8 14 13 5 4 12 7 1 15
Hicks GB TEN CAR DAL PIT IND DET NO ATL PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 48
10 3 2 7 11 5 14 6 8 4 9 1 12 13 15
Heiser GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD KC CIN SEA 56
15 3 4 5 10 6 11 8 2 12 9 14 7 1 13
Gray GB CLE CAR DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 46
10 2 1 8 4 7 14 13 3 12 9 15 6 5 11
Hindery GB CLE CAR DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 54
15 2 1 9 8 5 14 13 4 11 12 7 6 3 10
Larkin GB CLE CAR DAL PIT BAL DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF NE SEA 40
12 2 4 11 8 5 15 10 6 9 14 13 3 1 7
Cummings GB TEN CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO ATL PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 38
12 6 5 3 14 2 11 15 1 8 7 9 10 4 13
Brimacombe GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO ATL PHI DEN SD KC CIN SEA 47
15 4 3 2 14 13 12 11 5 10 9 8 1 6 7
Wood GB TEN CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO ATL PHI DEN SD KC CIN SEA 49
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Haseley GB TEN CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 38
1 4 13 12 11 6 2 15 7 14 5 10 3 9 8
Pasquino GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO ATL PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 47
9 1 4 7 12 8 11 10 3 14 5 15 2 6 13
Lee GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 42
15 4 2 6 7 3 8 14 1 9 13 11 12 5 10
Wimer GB CLE CAR DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD KC CIN SEA 55
10 9 8 7 6 11 12 15 5 14 4 13 3 2 1
Bitonti GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 60
10 3 5 4 8 2 15 9 11 7 12 13 1 6 14
Tremblay MIN TEN CAR HOU PIT IND DET NO ATL PHI ARI NYJ SF CIN SEA 43
1 10 7 4 15 3 9 13 6 11 2 8 12 14 5
Holloway GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 41
11 4 2 6 10 7 9 13 1 15 8 14 5 3 12
Buzzard GB TEN CAR DAL PIT IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF NE SEA 45
15 2 3 6 8 5 13 14 4 11 10 9 7 1 12
Grant GB CLE CHI DAL PIT IND DET NO ATL PHI DEN SD SF CIN SEA 52
15 3 2 8 5 9 11 12 1 13 7 14 6 4 10
Away MIN CLE CHI HOU PIT BAL BUF TB ATL STL ARI NYJ KC CIN SEA  
Total Pts 1 45 61 4 191 5 0 0 31 0 2 8 14 84 201  
Home GB TEN CAR DAL JAX IND DET NO NYG PHI DEN SD SF NE WAS  
Total Pts 225 43 28 130 0 123 219 236 60 210 162 210 101 6 0  

HEAVY FAVORITES

After a rough week last week, there were a surprising number of teams that drew strong confidence from the field this week. New Orleans was the team that drew the most support with 236 total confidence points as everyone took them to beat Tampa Bay. Philadelphia, Seattle, Detroit and even Pittsburgh were also picked by everyone and heavily favored to win. While they didn't get everyone in the contest behind them, Green Bay, Dallas, Indianapolis, Denver and San Diego all received a strong majority of the confidence points. It looks like one of those weeks where everyone will do well or everyone will bomb. 

DUAL SUPPORT

The hardest game of the week to pick looks like Cleveland and Tennessee. It's nearly a tie with Cleveland getting the slight edge 45-43. Carolina drew a fair amount of support against Chicago this week as did Atlanta against the Giants. With about 90 confidence points total riding on all three of these games, it's clear that no one on the staff had super strong feelings either way. 

ODDS AND ENDS

The odd game of the week looks to be Sunday night with the Bengals facing the Patriots. With New England drawing just six total confidence points, you'd expect that the Bengals would have drawn a ton of support. Yet when the final totals were calculated, the Bengals had just 84, putting the game on part as a whole with the other 3 games that had about 90 total confidence points. In this case though, most people picked against the Pats after their crushing loss on Monday Night. 

Only two teams on a bye this week, so maximum points will be 120. Let's hope everyone has a better week this time around. 

Good luck this weekend!

Photos provided by Imagn Images
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