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
Discounting the fact that everyone lost because of the Panthers-Bengals tie and everyone in the field picked Seattle to win over Dallas, Jeff Haseley only lost four additional points by taking Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Risk management allowed him to take home the top spot by a point, despite a strong push by Brimacombe on Monday night. Pasquino finished with only three incorrect picks, counting the two that took everyone down, but his 13 points on Seattle left him tied for third.
Staffer | IND | GB | NE | CAR | PIT | BAL | JAX | DET | DEN | SD | WAS | DAL | CHI | NYG | SF | MNF | TOT |
HOU | MIA | BUF | CIN | CLE | TB | TEN | MIN | NYJ | OAK | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | STL | TOTAL | Pts | |
Haseley | IND | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 42 | 98 |
13 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 5 | |||
Brimacombe | IND | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | TB | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | CHI | PHI | SF | 44 | 97 |
15 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 | |||
Pasquino | IND | GB | NE | CIN | CLE | BAL | TEN | MIN | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | CHI | PHI | SF | 47 | 96 |
10 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 8 | |||
Heiser | IND | GB | NE | CIN | CLE | BAL | TEN | MIN | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 56 | 96 |
11 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 7 | |||
Garda | IND | GB | NE | CIN | CLE | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | NYG | SF | 60 | 95 |
12 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 7 | |||
Wimer | IND | GB | BUF | CIN | CLE | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 41 | 91 |
13 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |||
Cummings | IND | GB | BUF | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | NYG | SF | 38 | 91 |
7 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |||
Wood | IND | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | JAX | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | CHI | PHI | SF | 44 | 91 |
15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |||
Grant | IND | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 44 | 90 |
12 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 7 | |||
Holloway | HOU | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | NYG | SF | 44 | 89 |
1 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 12 | |||
Lee | IND | GB | BUF | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | CHI | PHI | SF | 38 | 88 |
4 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 12 | |||
Gray | IND | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | JAX | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 51 | 88 |
11 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 3 | |||
Hindery | IND | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | JAX | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | CHI | NYG | STL | 1 | 87 |
12 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |||
Buzzard | IND | GB | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 43 | 87 |
3 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 7 | |||
Rudnicki | IND | GB | NE | CIN | CLE | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | WAS | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 40 | 85 |
9 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 10 | |||
Bitonti | IND | MIA | NE | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | MIN | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | NYG | SF | 46 | 82 |
9 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 10 | |||
Larkin | HOU | GB | NE | CIN | CLE | TB | TEN | MIN | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 52 | 79 |
2 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 4 | |||
Miglio | HOU | GB | BUF | CIN | CLE | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | STL | 46 | 79 |
5 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 1 | |||
Hicks | HOU | GB | NE | CIN | CLE | TB | TEN | MIN | DEN | SD | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 41 | 75 |
3 | 9 | 7 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 11 | |||
Tremblay | HOU | MIA | BUF | CIN | PIT | BAL | TEN | DET | DEN | SD | WAS | SEA | ATL | PHI | SF | 45 | 54 |
3 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 9 | |||
Away | IND | GB | NE | CAR | PIT | BAL | JAX | DET | DEN | SD | WAS | DAL | CHI | NYG | SF | ||
Total Pts | 156 | 200 | 128 | 0 | 53 | 121 | 3 | 89 | 277 | 259 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 14 | 136 | ||
Home | HOU | MIA | BUF | CIN | CLE | TB | TEN | MIN | NYJ | OAK | ARI | SEA | ATL | PHI | STL | ||
Total Pts | 14 | 3 | 29 | 208 | 21 | 8 | 115 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 231 | 77 | 84 | 3 |
the Bengals and the Seahawks took down everyone this week, with a combined 439 confidence points. Atlanta was the only other upset that had an impact, but only a couple people had a lot of points on them. One was Tremblay, who took a beating right out of the gate, and finished this week with just 54 overall points.
OVERALL RANKINGS
Hindery extended his lead over Larkin to 10 points this week, but lost ground on Haseley who is now tied for second after winning this week's contest. Hindery has a solid lead at this point, but the next seven places are separated by just 21 total points. A good or bad week from anyone could really have an impact.
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 | 532 | |||||||||||
Larkin | 91 | 82 | 110 | 60 | 100 | 79 | 522 | |||||||||||
Haseley | 81 | 83 | 120 | 48 | 92 | 98 | 522 | |||||||||||
Cummings | 75 | 75 | 121 | 53 | 93 | 91 | 508 | |||||||||||
Gray | 80 | 87 | 108 | 40 | 101 | 88 | 504 | |||||||||||
Grant | 94 | 65 | 95 | 58 | 102 | 90 | 504 | |||||||||||
Buzzard | 87 | 74 | 95 | 54 | 105 | 87 | 502 | |||||||||||
Bitonti | 87 | 69 | 104 | 65 | 94 | 82 | 501 | |||||||||||
Miglio | 91 | 66 | 102 | 50 | 108 | 79 | 496 | |||||||||||
Pasquino | 85 | 68 | 100 | 49 | 96 | 96 | 494 | |||||||||||
Lee | 87 | 51 | 108 | 50 | 105 | 88 | 489 | |||||||||||
Rudnicki | 86 | 70 | 97 | 49 | 100 | 85 | 487 | |||||||||||
Heiser | 98 | 55 | 99 | 42 | 97 | 96 | 487 | |||||||||||
Holloway | 78 | 62 | 107 | 44 | 106 | 89 | 486 | |||||||||||
Garda | 73 | 57 | 102 | 48 | 110 | 95 | 485 | |||||||||||
Brimacombe | 76 | 60 | 111 | 39 | 93 | 97 | 476 | |||||||||||
Wood | 82 | 91 | 94 | 37 | 72 | 91 | 467 | |||||||||||
Hicks | 77 | 82 | 98 | 48 | 82 | 75 | 462 | |||||||||||
Wimer | 78 | 45 | 91 | 44 | 103 | 91 | 452 | |||||||||||
Tremblay | 68 | 60 | 77 | 39 | 66 | 54 | 364 |
With back to back strong performances, Wimer continues to claw his way out of the basement. He's put some serious distance between himself and Tremblay now, and another solid week will have him moving up the charts.
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week.
Staffer | NYJ | MIN | ATL | MIA | CAR | CLE | SEA | CIN | NO | TEN | KC | ARI | NYG | SF | HOU | MNF |
NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | JAX | STL | IND | DET | WAS | SD | OAK | DAL | DEN | PIT | TOTAL | |
Rudnicki | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | NO | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | PIT | 44 |
15 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | ||
Miglio | ||||||||||||||||
n/a | ||||||||||||||||
Garda | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | CIN | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | NYG | DEN | HOU | 40 |
15 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 1 | ||
Hicks | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | CAR | CLE | SEA | CIN | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | HOU | 41 |
15 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1 | ||
Heiser | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | NO | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | PIT | 43 |
13 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 3 | ||
Gray | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | PIT | 38 |
15 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 1 | ||
Hindery | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | HOU | 37 |
15 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 14 | 1 | ||
Larkin | NE | BUF | BAL | MIA | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | OAK | DAL | DEN | PIT | 38 |
13 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 3 | ||
Cummings | ||||||||||||||||
n/a | ||||||||||||||||
Brimacombe | NE | BUF | ATL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | NO | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | PIT | 47 |
15 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 | ||
Wood | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | NO | TEN | KC | ARI | DAL | DEN | HOU | 48 |
14 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 1 | ||
Haseley | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | PIT | 43 |
15 | 9 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 1 | ||
Pasquino | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | NO | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | HOU | 27 |
15 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 2 | ||
Lee | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | SF | PIT | 49 |
15 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | ||
Wimer | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | SF | PIT | 41 |
13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Bitonti | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | NO | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | HOU | 52 |
9 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 1 | ||
Tremblay | NE | BUF | BAL | MIA | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | OAK | DAL | DEN | PIT | 49 |
4 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 1 | ||
Holloway | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | HOU | 43 |
14 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 1 | ||
Buzzard | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | DAL | DEN | PIT | 42 |
15 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 4 | ||
Grant | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | CLE | SEA | IND | DET | WAS | SD | ARI | NYG | DEN | PIT | 41 |
15 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 1 | ||
Away | NYJ | MIN | ATL | MIA | CAR | CLE | SEA | CIN | NO | TEN | KC | ARI | NYG | SF | HOU | |
Total Pts | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 134 | 223 | 12 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 85 | 11 | 3 | 8 | |
Home | NE | BUF | BAL | CHI | GB | JAX | STL | IND | DET | WAS | SD | OAK | DAL | DEN | PIT | |
Total Pts | 245 | 155 | 194 | 151 | 189 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 63 | 112 | 127 | 4 | 125 | 137 | 25 |
HEAVY FAVORITES
Another week with some pretty obvious favorites. Vegas has several games with a seven or more point spread, so it's easy to see why these games are taking in an lot of confidence points. Tonights match-up holds the top spot with everyone picking the Patriots as the heavy favorite. Seattle drew a lot of support over the Rams this week as well, despite their tough loss at home against the Cowboys last week. Buffalo and Cleveland also were picked by everyone to win. Washington, San Diego and Denver were also heavy favorites by most of the field.
DUAL SUPPORT
None of this week's games were very close in confidence, but Detroit and New Orleans only managed 82 total confidence points between the two of them.
ODDS AND ENDS
With just 33 total confidence points in the Monday night game, this week's winner will probably be decided before that point. If you're looking to make a big move in your office pool and have a strong feeling about Pittsburgh or Houston this week, that would be the game to do it.
Cummings and Miglio missed the cut-off this week. Their totals will be included in next week's results article.
Good luck this weekend!