Yes, you read that correctly. Two points. This week, all our prognosticators could muster was two measly points. This is a new low for the Pantheon, and it leaves me without much to say on the subject.
The nice thing about hitting the bottom (have we, though?) is that the only place to go from there is up. I fully expect us to have a better week of predictions next week, even if there are only three games.
Anyway, let’s just move on to the games for this week.
The Games
As always, here is the slate for next week’s games. Simply copy and paste it to the comments, and add your predicted scores after the team names. (Substitute scores for the XX and YY.)
- New Orleans Saints XX @ Carolina Panthers YY
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers XX @ Cleveland Browns YY
- Washington Redskins XX @ Minnesota Vikings YY
I would just like to remind everyone that the match-up between the Saints and Panthers is on Thursday night, so please be sure to get you predictions for that game in on time. Any predictions for this game that are not posted before it starts, will not be included.
Seriously, two points. Read on to find if you were one of the two who Nailed It!
Final score
These are the people who have (somehow) correctly predicted the final outcome of a game. The only shot that was called that could be considered more famous than these belongs to Babe Ruth. Bow down before their wisdom! (And make sure you ask them for next week’s lotto numbers.)
- None this week.
Scoring differential
These are the ones who correctly predicted the margin by which the victors would best their competition. These are also the ones to consult if you want to bet the spread.
- Detroit @ Atlanta – natesweet correctly predicted that the Lions would win by one point.
- Seattle @ Carolina – natradamus correctly predicted that the Seahawks would win by four points.
Total combined score
These are those who somehow managed to pick the correct total score but did not have any clue in how the teams would actually get there. Still, if you want to bet an over/under, you could do worse than consulting with them.
- None this week.
Winning team’s score
- None this week.
Against the grain
Oftentimes, our picks will be unanimous. However, there are those who will sometimes walk their own path.
- None this week.
ESPN The Magazine
In their NFL preview issue, the writers at ESPN The Magazine predicted the score for every single NFL game to be played in the regular season. Let’s see how they did this week. Here are their predictions:
- Chicago Bears 10 @ New England Patriots 33
- Detroit Lions 13 @ Atlanta Falcons 36
- Minnesota Vikings 17 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26
- Seattle Seahawks 27 @ Carolina Panthers 13
- Green Bay Packers 17 @ New Orleans Saints 24
The “pros” had another scoreless week, and so are still sitting at 4 points for the year. We still have 16 of our prognosticators that have matched, or exceeded their point total.
Week 8 Leaderboard
Now on to the leaderboard!
Even with such a bad week for our prognosticators, there was still some slight movement on the leaderboard. Being one of the two people with a point scored this week, natesweet moved into sole possession of first place with eight points.
There are still plenty more people that have a chance to appear on the leaderboard in the near future. Currently there are seven people just off of the leaderboard with five points, and four more with four points. One strong week from any of these people will have their names up here.
With that said, here is the leaderboard after Week 8 (in the case of a tie, the names are arranged alphabetically):
- natesweet – eight points
- FalconsFan0125 – seven points
- smtate – seven points
- Maized and Confused – six points
- thebaskett – six points
This was not a good week, but I know we can do better. So, in the meantime, let’s give a little congratulatory clap to the two who are listed in this article. Or not. Your choice.
If you would like to have your name forever enshrined in the vast expanse that is the internet, simply call your shot in the comment section below for the games of the NFC North and the NFC South. I will be reviewing the comments and keeping track as the season goes on. And who knows? Maybe you’ll even see your name in the leaderboard!
If you cannot call your shots on Thursday, as is custom, it is still possible to participate. As long as your called shots are posted to the comments of this article before the games start, I will include them.