Week 7 Summary

Wow, I just remembered to post.

There were 5 losing picks last weekend. All five lost for the second time and are OUT!

Three had BAL, one had OAK and one did not make a pick!

Counts:

3 vying for first
16 in with a second chance
19 out

Week 6 Summary

This is much easier to write...only one loser this past weekend.

Peter Black lost for the second time and is out. Peter selected NO against TB...at TB. Another division rivalry causes a loss. TB was destroyed two weeks ago at SF, but they turned it around.

I still can't get over the NYG game in Week 5. What a disaster. Then, they too come back and beat a good BUF team. This is a crazy year in the NFL.

Counts:

3 vying for first
21 in with a second chance
14 out

Week 5 Summary - Ouch

There were 19 entries battling for first when the games started. Afterward, there were only three. That's right, 16 entries lost for the first time with NYG. Another three lost for the second time, and another lost for the second time with IND. In total there were 20 losing picks from 29 entries.

The NYG loss is one of the biggest upsets since I started this contest. And one of the biggest since ESPN started hosting the Eliminator Challenge. In all ESPN groups, 52% of the entries picked NYG.

So, Gabe Cate, Lincoln Barrett and my dad are the only three entries alive for first place. I'm not going to name all of the losers! There are 22 remaining for second.

I never gave the NYG pick a second thought. It was a perfect pick from my perspective. I've mentioned this numerous times, and refer to it all the time in my summaries. I look for a home team, playing a team in a different division with a worse record. NYG had all of this. In addition, SEA had to travel across the country. My philosophy resulted in 20 straight weeks of winners dating to the beginning of last season, I suppose it had to end at some point.

Counts:

3 vying for first
22 in with a second chance
13 out

Week 4 Summary

As you can tell, I'm holding off on the summaries this year, to combine them with a reminder.

Last weekend there were seven losing picks involving BUF and PHI. Five of the losing picks were second time losers and these five are out of the competition: Chris Parker, Josie Valcho (my mom) on both entries!!!, George Valcho (my dad) on one of his entries, and Paul Bowman. Note that mom, dad and Paul Bowman are previous champions.

Kim Parker and Andy Guess lost for the first time.

BUF, riding high after and upset of NE, lost on the road to CIN. A typical NFL "letdown" game. Watch out for these. A big win can lead to a loss. This happening in Week 2 as well. BAL blasted PIT in Week 1 and lost on the road in Week 2.

PHI is hard to explain. At home against SF looked like a good pick, but now PHI is 1-3...use caution if you like PHI.

Note that the NFL bye weeks are starting, limiting your options.

Goodbye Hank Williams Jr.

Counts:
19 vying for first
10 in with a second chance
9 out

Week 3 Summary

I thought there was one "easy" game last week, and most everyone picked it. SD over KC. It turned out not to be easy. SD only won by 3. Watch out for those intra-division games.

We had five losers last week. Four picked division match ups. PHI lost to NYG. NE lost to BUF. The other had NYJ. OAK is looking tough.

It's difficult, this time of year, to know who is "for real," and who just had a few easy games. BUF is now the only undefeated team in the AFC.

Of the five losing picks, four lost for the second time and are out for the year. Say goodbye to previous champion Mike Boggs, Chad Swigor, Ryan Melissinos, and Janna Heermans. Steve Taylor dropped into the loser's bracket.

Counts:

21 vying for first

13 in witch a second chance

4 out

Week 2 Summary

A big change from last week...only one loss. My mom had BAL at TEN. TEN pulled the upset. She played two picks this year and is already in the loser's bracket with both!

This week is tough. I see only one "easy" game, and it's between division opponents.

Counts:

22 vying for first

16 in with a second chance

Week 1 Summary

As usual Week 1 was very interesting. I thought, going in, that it was a difficult slate of games. There were numerous division match ups, and good teams on the road.

The results show that it was difficult! Of the 38 entries, 15 picked a losing team. Most had either KC or CLE, but one had DEN.

Talk about lucky, I took NYJ. I thought they would easily handle DAL at home. They didn't "handle" them at all, but won when Romo fell apart at the end.

Kevin Whatley, playing for the second time, advanced to Week 2 in the winner's bracket for the first time. I only mention this because he was embarrassed last year when I called him out in the summary.

Historical Week1 Losses:

1999 - 23 of 41
2000 - 4 of 51 (7.81%)
2001 - 25 of 59
2002 - 13 of 55
2003 - 39 of 55
2004 - 3 of 55 (5.45%)
2005 - 26 of 58
2006 - 4 of 62 (6.45%)
2007 - 5 of 50
2008 - 25 of 45
2009 - 1 of 44 - BEST EVER
2010 - 6 of 43
2011 - 15 of 38

Check out 2003...now that was a tough Week1.

Counts:

23 vying for first
15 in with a second chance