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
Clayton Gray checks in as this week's top scoring team, missing just three games this week and edging out a ton of other guys by just a couple points by managing his risk well. Eight other staffers missed the same three games, but Gray finished as much as 11 points ahead of some of them becaue he didn't risk as many points on those three games.
Staffer | CLE | MIA | KC | PIT | TEN | SF | DAL | ATL | DEN | NYG | STL | CHI | CAR | TOT |
CIN | DET | BUF | NYJ | BAL | NO | JAX | TB | OAK | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | Pts | |
Gray | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 76 |
3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 10 | ||
Pasquino | CIN | MIA | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 75 |
4 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 8 | ||
Brimacombe | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 75 |
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 13 | ||
Buzzard | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 74 |
8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 6 | ||
Haseley | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 74 |
5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 7 | ||
Miglio | CIN | DET | BUF | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 74 |
5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 7 | ||
Wood | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | TB | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 72 |
6 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | ||
Heiser | CIN | DET | BUF | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 72 |
4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | ||
Garda | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 71 |
11 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 7 | ||
Holloway | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | TB | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 71 |
4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 7 | ||
Hindery | CIN | MIA | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 70 |
10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 8 | ||
Lee | CIN | DET | BUF | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 68 |
10 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 6 | ||
Rudnicki | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 67 |
11 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 4 | ||
Cummings | CIN | DET | BUF | PIT | BAL | SF | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 67 |
10 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | ||
Bitonti | CLE | DET | BUF | PIT | BAL | NO | JAX | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 67 |
2 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 6 | ||
Tremblay | CIN | MIA | BUF | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | TB | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 66 |
8 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
Grant | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 66 |
10 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 3 | ||
Wimer | CIN | DET | KC | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 65 |
10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 11 | ||
Larkin | CIN | DET | BUF | PIT | BAL | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | 63 |
11 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 3 | ||
Hicks | CIN | DET | BUF | PIT | TEN | NO | DAL | ATL | DEN | SEA | STL | GB | PHI | 37 |
13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Away | CLE | MIA | KC | PIT | TEN | SF | DAL | ATL | DEN | NYG | STL | CHI | CAR | |
Total Pts | 2 | 5 | 45 | 164 | 9 | 1 | 146 | 51 | 221 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Home | CIN | DET | BUF | NYJ | BAL | NO | JAX | TB | OAK | SEA | ARI | GB | PHI | |
Total Pts | 148 | 87 | 27 | 0 | 189 | 90 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 191 | 153 | 154 | 130 |
On weeks with so many teams having a bye, it's hard to make big moves. However, it's also easy to fall way behind if you miss one or two of your bigger games. Hicks may not have put a lot of thought into confidence weighting last week, and he paid for it by missing five of his first six games. Hicks only managed to post 37 points this week, the lowest total of the season for anyone. The Bengals, Steelers and Saints were almost everyone's poison this week, with big upsets costing the field over 400 confidence points this week. As previously mentioned, had each of them won as they were 'expected' to do, we'd have had many staffers with a perfect scorecard this week.
OVERALL RANKINGS
After holding the top spot for eight consecutive weeks, Hindery finally gave up the lead this week. Buzzard managed to edge him out and climb into the top spot, holding on by just a point. Haseley and Larkin swapped places at #3 and #4 overall, and Buzzard's lead is just 16 points being the difference between #1 and #4. Gray's win this week brought him closer, but he's still a few weeks away from contending for the top spot.
Staffer | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 | Total |
Buzzard | 87 | 74 | 95 | 54 | 105 | 87 | 94 | 93 | 71 | 74 | 834 | |||||||
Hindery | 95 | 85 | 115 | 47 | 103 | 87 | 92 | 71 | 68 | 70 | 833 | |||||||
Haseley | 81 | 83 | 120 | 48 | 92 | 98 | 86 | 81 | 60 | 74 | 823 | |||||||
Larkin | 91 | 82 | 110 | 60 | 100 | 79 | 84 | 86 | 63 | 63 | 818 | |||||||
Gray | 80 | 87 | 108 | 40 | 101 | 88 | 89 | 79 | 61 | 76 | 809 | |||||||
Miglio | 91 | 66 | 102 | 50 | 108 | 79 | 79 | 83 | 73 | 74 | 805 | |||||||
Grant | 94 | 65 | 95 | 58 | 102 | 90 | 77 | 87 | 69 | 66 | 803 | |||||||
Bitonti | 87 | 69 | 104 | 65 | 94 | 82 | 82 | 83 | 69 | 67 | 802 | |||||||
Holloway | 78 | 62 | 107 | 44 | 106 | 89 | 85 | 85 | 74 | 71 | 801 | |||||||
Garda | 73 | 57 | 102 | 48 | 110 | 95 | 73 | 88 | 78 | 71 | 795 | |||||||
Pasquino | 85 | 68 | 100 | 49 | 96 | 96 | 76 | 77 | 73 | 75 | 795 | |||||||
Rudnicki | 86 | 70 | 97 | 49 | 100 | 85 | 88 | 77 | 69 | 67 | 788 | |||||||
Cummings | 75 | 75 | 121 | 53 | 93 | 91 | 71 | 77 | 62 | 67 | 785 | |||||||
Lee | 87 | 51 | 108 | 50 | 105 | 88 | 81 | 87 | 57 | 68 | 782 | |||||||
Wood | 82 | 91 | 94 | 37 | 72 | 91 | 70 | 88 | 70 | 72 | 767 | |||||||
Brimacombe | 76 | 60 | 111 | 39 | 93 | 97 | 68 | 78 | 69 | 75 | 766 | |||||||
Heiser | 98 | 55 | 99 | 42 | 97 | 96 | 76 | 60 | 51 | 72 | 746 | |||||||
Wimer | 78 | 45 | 91 | 44 | 103 | 91 | 78 | 82 | 68 | 65 | 745 | |||||||
Hicks | 77 | 82 | 98 | 48 | 82 | 75 | 69 | 74 | 66 | 37 | 708 | |||||||
Tremblay | 68 | 60 | 77 | 39 | 66 | 54 | 81 | 107 | 57 | 66 | 675 |
Wimer slid back a spot, and he is now one point behind Heiser on the overall board. Hicks took another tumble this week, but Tremblay still has a lot to go to catch him.
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week.
Staffer | BUF | CIN | HOU | MIN | TB | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | OAK | DET | PHI | NE | PIT | MNF |
MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | NYG | KC | CAR | STL | SD | ARI | GB | IND | TEN | TOT | |
Rudnicki | BUF | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 42 |
4 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 9 | ||
Miglio | MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | SD | ARI | GB | IND | PIT | 46 |
10 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 14 | ||
Garda | MIA | NO | CLE | MIN | WAS | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | SD | ARI | GB | NE | PIT | 60 |
6 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | ||
Hicks | BUF | CIN | HOU | MIN | WAS | SF | KC | CAR | DEN | OAK | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 51 |
3 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 14 | ||
Heiser | MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | SD | DET | GB | NE | PIT | 46 |
2 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 13 | ||
Gray | MIA | NO | CLE | MIN | WAS | NYG | KC | CAR | DEN | SD | ARI | GB | IND | PIT | 46 |
11 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | ||
Hindery | MIA | NO | CLE | MIN | WAS | SF | KC | CAR | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 42 |
9 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 12 | ||
Larkin | MIA | NO | HOU | MIN | WAS | SF | SEA | CAR | DEN | SD | ARI | GB | NE | PIT | 44 |
14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Cummings | MIA | NO | HOU | CHI | WAS | SF | SEA | CAR | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 43 |
12 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
Brimacombe | MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | SEA | CAR | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 50 |
2 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 6 | ||
Wood | MIA | NO | HOU | CHI | WAS | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 52 |
14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Haseley | MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | KC | CAR | DEN | SD | ARI | GB | IND | PIT | 45 |
14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Pasquino | BUF | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | KC | ATL | DEN | SD | ARI | PHI | NE | PIT | 47 |
3 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
Lee | MIA | NO | HOU | CHI | WAS | SF | KC | CAR | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 44 |
8 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 9 | ||
Wimer | MIA | NO | CLE | MIN | WAS | NYG | KC | ATL | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | PIT | 31 |
9 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 1 | ||
Bitonti | BUF | NO | CLE | MIN | WAS | SF | KC | ATL | DEN | SD | ARI | GB | IND | TEN | 44 |
2 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 1 | ||
Tremblay | MIA | NO | CLE | MIN | WAS | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | SD | DET | GB | IND | TEN | 47 |
8 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 1 | ||
Holloway | MIA | NO | CLE | MIN | WAS | SF | KC | ATL | DEN | SD | DET | GB | NE | PIT | 52 |
7 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 12 | ||
Buzzard | MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | KC | CAR | DEN | SD | ARI | GB | IND | PIT | 46 |
9 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 8 | ||
Grant | MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | SF | KC | ATL | DEN | SD | DET | GB | NE | PIT | 45 |
11 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 7 | ||
Away | BUF | CIN | HOU | MIN | TB | SF | SEA | ATL | DEN | OAK | DET | PHI | NE | PIT | |
Total Pts | 12 | 5 | 33 | 47 | 0 | 145 | 56 | 52 | 230 | 4 | 56 | 1 | 19 | 139 | |
Home | MIA | NO | CLE | CHI | WAS | NYG | KC | CAR | STL | SD | ARI | GB | IND | TEN | |
Total Pts | 146 | 196 | 133 | 83 | 179 | 13 | 69 | 45 | 0 | 208 | 38 | 141 | 48 | 2 |
HEAVY FAVORITES
Vegas has Denver and San Diego as heavy favorites this week, so it's no surprise that the leaderboard rated them both with more than 200 confidence points. Only Hicks bucked the trend taking Oakland to upset the Chargers. Washington was also picked by everyone to beat the struggling Bucs. Despite their loss to the 49ers last week, New Orleans drew almost 200 points of confidence over the Bengals, and Pittsburgh and Green Bay were both heavily favored to beat the Titans and the Eagles respectively. Miami is a strong favorite for tonight's game as well, and the 49ers received a big majority of the points against the Giants this week.
DUAL SUPPORT
Chicago has struggled at home, but the Vikings are coming to a very cold Chicago field this weekend. While the Bears were the clear favorite, the Vikings received their fair share of points as well. Seattle at KC is about even as well, with the home Chiefs being a slight favorite. This week's least confident game is the Sunday night matchup of the Patriots and Colts. While Andrew Luck and his team were favored to win, the overall leaderboard didn't risk a lot of points on either team. Atlanta against Carolina and Detroit against Arizona were two other contests that split the board, with none of those four teams receiving more than 56 confidence points.
ODDS AND ENDS
The bye weeks are nearly over, but 91 points is still the top score possible this week. With the season more than half over, the overal winner title is still up for grabs. However, as the weeks start to tick down, it's going to be harder and harder to catch the guys out in front. Starting next week, some guys are going to start making some bigger moves.
Good luck this weekend!