Nailed It! 2015: Baby Steps

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Did we actually do it? Did we hit rock bottom, and have begun to climb out? I want to believe, I really do. This week is helping restore my faith in our prognosticators. After two weeks of 10 points, and 12 last week, we scored 16 points this week. That’s right, we’re making baby steps in the right direction. Lets keep this ball rolling, and keep the number of points scored going up.

This was also a good week in that we saw some more against the grain predictions come true. Early in the season these can be rare, but as the season moves on I hope that we can see some more of these. There are definitely some teams that are not as strong as they appear, and may be ripe for an “upset” just as Seattle was this week.

Anyway, enough of my rambling, bring on the games!

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.)

  • Minnesota Vikings XX @ Detroit Lions YY
  • New Orleans Saints XX @ Indianapolis Colts YY
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers XX @ Washington Redskins YY
  • Atlanta Falcons XX @ Tennessee Titans YY
  • Philadelphia Eagles XX @ Carolina Panthers YY

Once you have called your shots down below, please update the spreadsheet. Here is the link.  (Only update the cells in your own column.)

The Official CYST Spreadsheet

With all of that out of the way, read on to find exactly 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.

  • Chicago @ Detroit – BearsSaveLives, BP, DanOnWis, Gabes222, and SDL all correctly predicted that the Lions would win by three points.
  • Kansas City @ Minnesota – Jmac34 correctly predicted that the Vikings would win by six 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.

  • New Orleans @ Atlanta – ALLSAINTSROW, C-Jammin, and Nichels all correctly predicted that the teams would combine to score 52 points.
  • Carolina @ Seattle – Donny Donowitz III Esquire, and Natradamus both correctly predicted that the teams would combine to score 50 points.

Winning team’s score

  • Kansas City @ Minnesota sgunderson17 correctly predicted that the Vikings would win with a score of 16 points.
  • Carolina @ Seattle – Big Deal correctly predicted that the Panthers would score 27 points in a victory.
  • San Diego @ Green Bay – Nichels correctly predicted that the Packers would win with a score of 27 points.

Against the grain

Oftentimes, our picks will be unanimous. However, there are those who will sometimes walk their own path.

  • Carolina @ Seattle – Astro and Big Deal were the only two (out of 22!) who predicted that the Panthers would defeat the Seahawks.

Week 6 Leaderboard

Now on to the leaderboard!

We have some new names on the leaderboard this week. The top position is still being held by Gabes222 with another point scored, but there are a few people on his heels. By scoring another point this week, ALLSAINTSROW moved out of a sole possession of third into a tie for second place with six points. After them, we have a new three-way tie for fourth place. With two points scored by each of Big Deal and Nichels they move into that tie for fourth. This was a good week for some others as well, as there are still four people sitting just off the board with four points, and another five people with three points. One good week from any of them, and we could see their names up here.

With that said, here is the leaderboard after Week 6 (in the case of a tie, the names are arranged alphabetically):

  1. Gabes222 – 8 points
  2. ALLSAINTSROW – 6 points
  3. MKE – 6 points
  4. Big Deal – 5 points
  5. Jmac34 – 5 points
  6. Nichels – 5 points

Again, I just wanted to give one last big shoutout to all the people named above. We again had a slightly better week than the previous, so I’m hoping that this will continue.

Now let’s give a little congratulatory clap to all the people 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 NFC South. Once you have done that, please update the spreadsheet using the link provided. I will be reviewing the spreadsheet 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 spreadsheet before it gets locked at the start of the games, I will include them.