IF YOU DONT WANNA READ ALL THIS, JUST TELL ME YOUR DIVISION WINNERS, WILDCARDS, AND WHY FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON.
Every year i'm in a pool where you make picks for the whole season instead of week by week. You get to pick your 6 playoff teams from each conference and put points on them depending on how you think they'll do.
I've been doing this pool for years and lemme tell you, the people who pick mostly teams that are projected to do well, lose. You have to take some risks and try to figure out which teams are gonna come outta nowhere.
What do you guys think about...
The NFC South - I'm gonna pick either the Saints or go out on a limb and pick Tampa Bay. I think Jeff Garcia is way underrated and could spark the bucs, he and Jon Gruden are GAMERS. good idea? no?
NFC West - I WAS thinking 9er's all the way to be sort of a surprise division winner (they were 7-9 last year), but they have looked really unimpressive in the preseason. Also i think 1 of the wildcards will come outta here, arizona could surprise people with Leinart.
NFC East - I'm considering taking the Cowboys to make the superbowl, also i'll probly take the eagles as a wildcard.
NFC North - Bears win, no wildcard here. I'm pretty firm on that.
AFC West - San Diego would be awfully tough to NOT pick as the division winner, think Denver or KC will make the wildcard?
AFC East - Patriots win the division here, duh. Think the Jets can squeeze in the playoffs again?
AFC South - The superbowl winner in recent years has usually failed to make the playoffs the following year, but the colts are like a playoff making dynasty. Also i love the jags and i love vince young, whaddya think?
AFC North - Baltimore was pathetic in the playoffs, that could be pretty deflating. The Bengals have an explosive offense, but half their team will get arrested. The Steelers finished last season looking like they could return to playoff form.
I'm asking for advice cause this is a HUGE pool, i won $350 off of a $30 entry last year, and i hope to do even better this year
so you think cinci will win the division? Have they made any big additions? I can't think of any major changes for them, i just know they still got Carson, ocho cinco, and whosurmomma.
nothing major....that division is tough to decide on tho....Pitt could come on strong depending on the year Ben has, Balt always has a good showing on D but their offense is kinda weak depending on how Air McNair plays and Cinci is pretty solid on offense with a decent D....Cleveland could be a formidable opponent this year as well, they wont make the playoffs but they will stir up the division
im hopin the cowboys go to the super bowl ma boy roy williams is a killer back there at safty. but i hope minesota does good cause Adrian Peterson is there.. and hes jus the man.
Adrian Peterson is sooo fun to watch. In the vikings vs. texans preseason game he broke a run for like 15 or 20 yards and as he was gonna get pushed outta bounds instead of just stepping out (cuz he was surrounded) he just absolutely laid out the DB that was gonna hit him. Looked like a linebacker hitting an unsuspecting WR, dude loves contact
oh yeah dude. dont knwo if u ever saw him play for the sooners.. but thats all he did.. he was rarely knocked down.. i mean like ppl had to drag him down. hes a beast.
no you're not alone paul, i'm really debating over who to pick with that division. The Steelers finished last season REALLY strong...like putting an @ss whoopin on ppl.
Chauncey thanks for the input. I think the Cards could pull it off too, that might be one of my gutsy picks this year.
Man...U guys know your sports and football...I agree with most all of U...but I can't see Detroit or Arizona doing anything...nor Washington...and I give much more credit to the Steelers!
but no matter what, my Patriots will be the AFC champs!...
This reminds me of what everyone said about my MLB picks on the LD and whatta ya know almost every one of my teams are in first. The ones who aren't are only a couple games out with 26 games to go. Any of you can go and copy ESPN or some other site's expert picks, but I have my reasons why I made these selections.... so whatever. You guys are the same ones who put 100 bucks on that 2-5 shot at the track only to see him get run down in the stretch by my 14-1 horse.
"This reminds me of what everyone said about my MLB picks on the LD and whatta ya know almost every one of my teams are in first."
Well i DO think you know your sports, so you should know the NFL is entirely different. In Baseball you tend to have teams rise or decline more gradually, or you could say predictably. In the NFL you have a couple teams like every season that have 6-8 more/less wins than the previous year.
"Any of you can go and copy ESPN or some other site's expert picks"
i don't know who you're talking to lol, but i sure as hell don't do that.
"You guys are the same ones who put 100 bucks on that 2-5 shot at the track only to see him get run down in the stretch by my 14-1 horse."
again, it ain't me.
I think your picks are solid. Detroit is the only bad one to me. Sure this could be the year they finally make use of all that talent...but people have been betting on it for like 5 years straight and it never pans out. Good luck to you on that one, you'll need it.
Okay so my latest idea is to have Indy miss the playoffs, while the jags win the division and the titans make the wildcard. Haven't decided on this for sure yet but if Indy DID miss the playoffs, and the jags/titans both do pretty well, the payoff would be huge cause everyones probly gonna have indy having a big year. WHADDYA THINK!?
And my pick of the Lions surprising everyone and taking the NFC North is a reach? After all, the only team to beat in that division is the Bears and I have no confidence in Grossman and the weak running backs corps of Benson and Peterson. Also, the weaknesses in their defense have been discovered judging by last years post season and no coach in his right mind is going to kick the ball anywhere near Devin Hester. Add to that a brutal three games to start off the season (San Diego, @Kansas City, @ Dallas) for the Bears, and they could very realistically find themselves 0-3 rolling into the very hostile Ford Field to face the Lions on 9/30. The Lions should be 2-1 at that point and if their high powered second-year Mike Martz led offense can upset the Bears, the fat lady will be singing her azz off. Not looking as far fetched anymore is it?
The Colts will coast to the conference title since the only team they have to beat in the very weak AFC South is Jacksonville, who dropped Byron Leftwich and are going to go with the unproven David Garrard at QB. The Jag's defense is mean and will keep them in many games but I have almost no confidence that Garrard and Jones-Drew can lead them anywhere. I am thinking that the Colts will be 11-5 and the Jags will be 9-7 or even 8-8. I wish I could change my Jags wild card pick to the Broncos after this development but oh well.
Im a Jags fan till the death..but i dont see 5 loses for the colts...maybe 2-3 but not 5..
Also no team in the NFC is a reach to win there division or even the conference for that matter...Over the past 5-8 years the AFC has domintated the NFC..and there has been no team in the NFC that is consistint over that span
Even though the Colts have a fairly easy schedule for a super bowl winner, the offensive losses of Dominic Rhodes and Tarik Glenn -- who has guarded Manning's blind side Manning's entire career and is being replaced by an unproven rookie -- and the loss of defensive starters Corey Simon, Cato June, Nick Harper and Jason David cast more doubts on an already shaky defense. Five losses sounds about right to me.
"the weak running backs corps of Benson and Peterson."
Benson is really disappointing so far, peterson is solid but nothing special. Two words for you though, GARRET WOLF! Third string RB for the bears, watch out! 5'7" 185 pounds with crazy quicks, hope he gets some playing time
"well brad you got balls that's for sure. Detroit over the bears?"
"I think your picks are solid. Detroit is the only bad one to me. Sure this could be the year they finally make use of all that talent...but people have been betting on it for like 5 years straight and it never pans out. Good luck to you on that one, you'll need it."
"gotta disagree with you brad"
Any of you backseat driving posters wanna still talk about the Lions after they beat the Bears twice and completely destroyed Denver today?
Scoreboard = Detroit Lions 6-2... with Arizona, Giants and the Pack coming up.
eh congrats on the pick....im impressed with how they have played so far....guess i was wrong....i guess theres a first for everything lol just kidding....
(and yes that was a joke, im not a stuck up b1tch lol)
"backseat driving posters"? wtf is that supposed to mean?
I think the packers are better without question. And the Lions WILL NOT finish 12-4, they'll have a much weaker second half of the season. They play the pack twice plus KC, the chargers, giants, cowboys...i think they'll be very lucky to go 4-4 the second half, they aren't in the playoffs quite yet sir.
meh, i remember doing those and it took all of 30 seconds to do lol
and my predictions are always bad for some reason....i think everyone here knows i know my sports pretty well, but for some reason, if i pick team A to win, team B will win....its wild, happens everytime
"backseat driving posters"? wtf is that supposed to mean?
That means those of you who never make predictions about anything yet are all too happy to sit back and criticize the results of those who do after the fact. Pretty lame.
how could anyone pick the bears for the NFC north? i don't understand that at all. i do understand the lions pick but i doubt the lions can keep playing at the level they played at today. The Packers have been consistent throughout the weeks. yes thier wins have all been close but they have done it almost every week.
"That means those of you who never make predictions about anything yet are all too happy to sit back and criticize the results of those who do after the fact. Pretty lame."
I love nothing more than making predictions...this thread was started in the first place based on my decision making process, for making predictions, for a football pool which i invested money in to reflect the confidence i have in my predictions. Sometimes i'm right, sometimes i'm wrong, just like you.
This thread was inteneded for discussion and debate. I don't think i ever knocked you for picking detroit, i just said i thought it was a bad pick and i disagreed. All the credit to you for the success of your prediction halfway through it's lifespan.
and being the prediction maker that i am, i predict your prediction will be incorrect when its said and done.
in case anyone wanted to know these were my final predictions for the pool...
AFC East: Pats
AFC North: Steelers
AFC South: Colts
AFC West: Chargers
AFC Wildcards: Bengals(ouch) & Jacksonville
NFC East: Cowboys
NFC North: Bears(not lookin good)
NFC South: Tampa Bay
NFC West: Cardinals
NFC Wildcards: Redskins and New Orleans(again, ouch...although they looked good today)
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