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Staff Confidence Pool (No Spread) Week 9

Will Grant's Staff Confidence Pool (No Spread) Week 9
By Will Grant, October 30, 2014

Staff Confidence Pool (No Spread) Week 9
Photo: USA Today Sports

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

The key to winning this week was picking against Green Bay and Dallas in the late games this week. Maurile Tremblay was the only staffer to pick Washington to win on Monday night and also picked the Saints to beat Green Bay. While others were losing double-digit points, MT cruised to an easy victory this week with 107 points. Had Buzzard picked Washington as well, he would have won for the second week in a row, but he finished second with 93. Both he and MT had 12 correct picks this week. 

Staffer SD DET MIA BAL SEA MIN BUF STL HOU CHI PHI IND OAK GB WAS TOT
DEN ATL JAX CIN CAR TB NYJ KC TEN NE ARI PIT CLE NO DAL Pts
Tremblay DEN DET MIA BAL SEA MIN BUF KC HOU NE PHI IND CLE NO WAS 107
  14 10 13 3 15 5 6 12 4 9 8 2 11 7 1  
Buzzard DEN DET MIA CIN SEA TB BUF KC HOU NE ARI IND CLE NO DAL 93
  14 8 10 2 9 5 1 13 4 11 6 7 12 2 15  
Wood DEN DET JAX CIN SEA MIN NYJ KC HOU NE PHI IND CLE NO DAL 88
  15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1  
Garda DEN DET MIA BAL SEA MIN NYJ KC HOU NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 88
  13 15 14 2 12 1 4 9 8 7 6 11 3 5 10  
Grant DEN DET MIA BAL SEA TB NYJ KC HOU NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 87
  15 10 14 2 8 1 4 13 6 7 3 9 11 5 12  
Lee DEN DET MIA BAL SEA MIN NYJ KC TEN NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 87
  15 9 12 3 11 1 5 13 4 8 6 7 10 2 14  
Larkin DEN DET MIA CIN SEA MIN NYJ KC HOU NE ARI PIT CLE GB DAL 86
  14 5 13 1 11 2 10 3 6 12 7 4 8 9 15  
Holloway DEN DET MIA BAL SEA TB BUF KC HOU NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 85
  15 4 12 2 9 6 1 8 7 11 5 10 13 3 14  
Miglio DEN DET MIA CIN SEA TB NYJ KC HOU NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 83
  12 10 13 1 11 5 2 8 7 14 3 6 4 9 15  
Bitonti DEN DET MIA BAL SEA TB NYJ KC HOU NE PHI IND CLE GB DAL 83
  8 13 12 3 10 4 6 15 5 9 1 7 11 2 14  
Wimer DEN DET MIA CIN CAR TB BUF KC HOU NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 82
  14 10 13 1 9 8 7 12 6 11 5 4 3 2 15  
Haseley DEN DET MIA BAL SEA MIN NYJ KC TEN NE ARI IND CLE NO DAL 81
  7 4 10 9 11 1 3 14 6 15 5 8 12 2 13  
Gray DEN DET MIA BAL SEA TB BUF KC HOU NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 79
  11 5 10 7 8 1 3 15 4 9 2 14 12 6 13  
Brimacombe DEN DET MIA CIN SEA TB BUF KC TEN CHI PHI IND CLE NO DAL 78
  13 11 10 9 8 7 5 15 4 3 12 2 6 1 14  
Pasquino DEN DET MIA BAL SEA MIN NYJ KC HOU NE PHI IND CLE GB DAL 77
  6 13 8 7 12 1 4 14 2 10 3 9 11 5 15  
Cummings DEN DET MIA CIN SEA MIN NYJ KC HOU NE PHI IND OAK GB DAL 77
  12 11 14 5 9 2 3 8 6 10 4 13 1 7 15  
Rudnicki DEN ATL MIA BAL SEA MIN NYJ KC HOU NE PHI IND CLE GB DAL 77
  15 1 11 5 8 2 3 13 6 12 4 9 10 7 14  
Hicks DEN DET MIA CIN SEA MIN NYJ STL TEN NE ARI IND CLE GB DAL 74
  14 13 11 10 7 1 8 9 6 12 2 5 4 3 15  
Hindery DEN DET MIA BAL SEA TB NYJ KC TEN NE PHI IND CLE GB DAL 71
  14 9 12 2 4 3 8 15 1 7 5 11 10 6 13  
Heiser DEN DET MIA BAL SEA TB NYJ KC HOU NE PHI IND OAK GB DAL 60
  15 11 10 5 6 7 4 13 2 3 8 14 1 9 12  
Away SD DET MIA BAL SEA MIN BUF STL HOU CHI PHI IND OAK GB WAS  
Total Pts 0 185 222 50 180 26 23 9 80 3 50 152 2 80 1  
Home DEN ATL JAX CIN CAR TB NYJ KC TEN NE ARI PIT CLE NO DAL  
Total Pts 256 1 13 41 9 47 73 221 21 183 50 4 154 14 249  

Dallas had the second most confidence points last week with 249 points. Green Bay took down another 80 points in the Sunday Night Game. The Colts took down 152 points in their crushing loss to Pittsburgh, making Sunday Night and Monday a minefield. Heiser lost his final five games of the week and Hindery took a tumble down the board with losses by Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Baltimore. 

OVERALL RANKINGS

After a rough week, Hindery is hanging on to the top spot by a thread. Larkin stormed into second place and is just three points behind him. Haseley gained ground as well, despite slipping into third overall and he is just six points off the lead. Buzzard had another solid week and is tied for third with Haseley now. 

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                   695
Larkin 91 82 110 60 100 79 84 86                   692
Haseley 81 83 120 48 92 98 86 81                   689
Buzzard 87 74 95 54 105 87 94 93                   689
Gray 80 87 108 40 101 88 89 79                   672
Grant 94 65 95 58 102 90 77 87                   668
Bitonti 87 69 104 65 94 82 82 83                   666
Miglio 91 66 102 50 108 79 79 83                   658
Lee 87 51 108 50 105 88 81 87                   657
Cummings 75 75 121 53 93 91 71 77                   656
Holloway 78 62 107 44 106 89 85 85                   656
Rudnicki 86 70 97 49 100 85 88 77                   652
Pasquino 85 68 100 49 96 96 76 77                   647
Garda 73 57 102 48 110 95 73 88                   646
Wood 82 91 94 37 72 91 70 88                   625
Heiser 98 55 99 42 97 96 76 60                   623
Brimacombe 76 60 111 39 93 97 68 78                   622
Wimer 78 45 91 44 103 91 78 82                   612
Hicks 77 82 98 48 82 75 69 74                   605
Tremblay 68 60 77 39 66 54 81 107                   552

Tremblay's big week wasn't enough to get him out of the basement, but it definitely shows that taking risks can pay off. Wimer climbed another spot, pushing Hicks toward the bottom. He's just 13 points away from moving up another three spots. 

THIS WEEK'S PICKS

Here are the picks for this week.

Staffer NO JAX TB WAS PHI NYJ ARI SD STL DEN OAK BAL IND MNF
CAR CIN CLE MIN HOU KC DAL MIA SF NE SEA PIT NYG TOTAL
Rudnicki NO CIN CLE WAS PHI KC ARI SD SF DEN SEA PIT IND 50
  4 10 9 3 6 11 1 5 12 2 13 7 8  
Miglio                            
  x                          
Garda NO CIN CLE MIN PHI KC ARI SD SF DEN SEA PIT IND 60
  6 12 11 3 4 9 7 10 2 1 13 5 8  
Hicks CAR CIN CLE MIN PHI KC DAL SD SF DEN SEA PIT IND 49
  5 13 6 4 3 7 2 1 8 9 12 10 11  
Heiser NO CIN CLE WAS PHI NYJ ARI MIA SF DEN SEA BAL IND 52
  2 13 8 12 6 7 5 3 9 11 10 1 4  
Gray NO CIN CLE MIN HOU KC ARI SD SF DEN SEA BAL IND 55
  6 12 1 4 2 13 5 3 10 8 11 7 9  
Hindery NO CIN CLE MIN PHI KC DAL MIA SF DEN SEA PIT IND 57
  2 12 9 4 5 11 6 1 10 7 13 3 8  
Larkin CAR CIN CLE WAS PHI KC DAL SD SF NE SEA BAL IND 55
  1 13 10 2 4 12 8 5 9 7 11 3 6  
Cummings CAR CIN CLE MIN PHI KC ARI SD SF DEN SEA PIT IND 51
  8 12 6 5 9 10 4 3 11 7 13 2 1  
Brimacombe NO CIN CLE WAS PHI KC ARI SD SF DEN SEA PIT IND 55
  1 13 12 2 11 10 4 3 9 8 7 6 5  
Wood NO CIN CLE WAS PHI KC ARI SD SF DEN SEA PIT IND 61
  12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13  
Haseley NO CIN CLE WAS PHI KC DAL SD SF DEN SEA BAL IND 49
  7 10 9 5 8 12 3 6 11 4 13 2 1  
Pasquino NO CIN CLE WAS PHI KC ARI SD SF NE SEA PIT IND 53
  8 9 10 2 4 12 6 5 11 1 13 3 7  
Lee NO CIN CLE WAS PHI KC DAL SD SF DEN SEA BAL IND 48
  1 12 9 2 5 11 3 8 10 4 13 7 6  
Wimer NO CIN CLE MIN HOU KC DAL MIA SF DEN SEA PIT IND 63
  8 12 11 7 6 10 5 4 9 3 13 2 1  
Bitonti NO CIN CLE MIN HOU KC ARI MIA SF DEN SEA BAL IND 54
  4 12 10 1 6 11 9 2 8 5 13 3 7  
Tremblay NO CIN CLE WAS HOU KC DAL MIA SF DEN SEA BAL IND 48
  13 11 10 9 8 7 6 12 5 4 3 2 1  
Holloway NO CIN CLE MIN HOU KC ARI MIA SF NE SEA BAL NYG 56
  8 12 9 6 4 11 7 5 10 3 13 2 1  
Buzzard NO CIN CLE MIN PHI KC DAL MIA SF DEN SEA BAL IND 51
  7 12 9 6 4 10 3 2 11 5 13 1 8  
Grant NO CIN CLE MIN PHI KC ARI SD SF DEN SEA PIT IND 53
  5 10 9 1 8 11 2 6 12 4 13 3 7  
Away NO JAX TB WAS PHI NYJ ARI SD STL DEN OAK BAL IND  
Total Pts 94 0 0 46 85 7 56 60 0 85 0 28 111  
Home CAR CIN CLE MIN HOU KC DAL MIA SF NE SEA PIT NYG  
Total Pts 14 221 168 41 26 185 36 29 171 11 212 42 1  

HEAVY FAVORITES

With only 13 games this week, teams with more than 200 confidence points are real heavy favorites. The Bengals drew the top spot, facing the Jaguars in a game where most people expect the Bengals to come out with an easy win. The Seahawks are a two touchdown favorite over Oakland, and they are the only other team to have more than 200 confidence points. Cleveland and San Francisco were also picked by everyone to come out on top. Indianapolis drew almost universal support and the Saints are heavy favorites in tonight's match-up. KC was a strong favorite over the Jets and Denver is a strong pick against the Patriots, despite being on the road. 

DUAL SUPPORT

The closest game of the week looks to be Washington against Minnesota. Washington is coming off a big Monday night win, but the road game after a Monday Night game has people expecting Minnesota to pull it out. Baltimore might be the underdog after Pittsburgh's big win last week, but both teams drew the fewest combined points of the week. Dallas fell apart against Washington, but the Cardinals are not heavily favored to beat them this week. 

ODDS AND ENDS

It's worth reminding folks that staffers pick the winners of these games and rank them on Wednesday night. So late week injury reports can really sway office pool points. Make sure to keep an eye on things and make adjustments to your picks if possible.

With only 13 games this week, a perfect score will only give the winner 91 points. 

Good luck this weekend!

Photos provided by USA TODAY Sports
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