2023 NFL Pick'em

[Jamesman42]

They're going to finish 11-6 or better if I do that.

[DragonAttack]

^
Sometimes I have about ten minutes to make my picks, and my subconscious mind reads the first team as the road team.

anyhoo....so far, I'm 1-7 on my Ravens and Lions picks.   

It seems like every year there's a team or two that I just can't get a read on. For me it's been Cinci and Cle this year.

Yeah.....so, of course, I picked each one to beat the Ravens.

[Stadler]

Anyone else enjoy that game last night?   I lost - but so did everyone else.  It was fun to watch the enthusiasm that the Bears brought even after 14 straight losses, and I love how Matt Eberflus coached with some balls, not from a place of fear.   

I also like what I saw - admittedly, one game, and I dozed a bit during the middle - from both quarterbacks.  They both can throw the damn football, for sure. 

[ProfessorPeart]

Absolutely no one here expected them to compete, let alone win that game. Local news was down, and everyone I talk to was dreading watching the game last night. Maybe Butkus sprinkled some magic or something on them. Fields is looking like a star again.

[El Barto]

Absolutely no one here expected them to compete, let alone win that game. Local news was down, and everyone I talk to was dreading watching the game last night. Maybe Butkus sprinkled some magic or something on them. Fields is looking like a star again.

I absolutely expected them to compete and likely win, and came very close to picking Chicago. They are a better team than WTF, and were definitely better motivated. I saw this coming in a big way. At the same time, despite being a better team they're still a bad team, and I don't like going that far out on a limb for bad teams. Had to take the safe bet and I'm kicking myself for it.

Truth be told, I was amazed that nobody here took the risk.

That 6% on yahoo is some intimidating shit, ain't it.   

[DragonAttack]

Fortunate enough to have a neighbor whose dad subscribed back in the day.  'Most Feared Man In The Game'....not much doubt there.  The old 'Black & Blue' division earned its reputation for good reason.  Those games were just brutal.



I tuned in for one minute, saw those hideous unis DC was wearing (c'mon new owner, burn those suckers), and tuned right out.

[ProfessorPeart]

Wow, we were all pathetic through the early games. I only picked 2 wrong games last week and only have 2 right so far this week. Can't say I have seen a universally bad week like this before.

[Jamesman42]

My wife (who is the most casual fan ever) picks each week based on who would actually win in a fight of the mascots or what the team represents.

She is 11/12 right now (she was torn on Bills vs. Jaguars but chose Bills).

[Cool Chris]

That Week 8 Group Picks page is a bloodbath! It looks like there are twice as many red squares as there are green ones.

[Jamesman42]

Just looked, that is a sight for sure.

I might be able to take first place this week if my last two picks pan out.

[faizoff]

That Week 8 Group Picks page is a bloodbath! It looks like there are twice as many red squares as there are green ones.

Yeah truly a bloodbath. Just the 3 right so far, don't think I've ever scored that low lol.

[El Barto]

So maybe it's just me, but does anybody really enjoy picking games anymore? I used to think this was a lot of fun, but it's just become a pointless Sunday morning chore now. It just seems like the league has changed to such a point that there's really no rhyme or reason why teams win and lose anymore. In the past when I was highly confident in a pick I'd hit more often than not. That's what made it fun. Figuring out how and why a team would win and watching it happen. Now it seems like the more confident I am in a pick the less likely they are to win. What's the point in that?

[Jamesman42]

No, I agree, every game feels like a crapshoot. Even KC and PHI are your usual picks, generally, and you still don't know what's going to happen, like DEN beating KC.

[Cool Chris]

I never took my picks too seriously, but I don't follow the league as much as most other participants do. It actually makes me more involved in the games and the season as a whole, keeping track of injuries, firings, and such, than I would otherwise. I do get your point though. People who put actual money on games have much larger stones than myself.

[ProfessorPeart]

I find it more fun than standard fantasy which literally zapped all the fun out of football for me.

But yeah, this year has been really odd. I literally have no idea where to go most of the time. Every year in this thing I just hang out in the right in the middle of the pack. I can't break through.

[El Barto]

I never took my picks too seriously, but I don't follow the league as much as most other participants do. It actually makes me more involved in the games and the season as a whole, keeping track of injuries, firings, and such, than I would otherwise. I do get your point though. People who put actual money on games have much larger stones than myself.

It does prompt to me to watch games I might otherwise disregard when they're money games (or in my case whisky games). I'm not sure that's actually a good thing, though. Half the time the money games are Carolina vs Chicago or some other worthless endeavor. I'd prefer to just put the most interesting game on.

[Stadler]

So maybe it's just me, but does anybody really enjoy picking games anymore? I used to think this was a lot of fun, but it's just become a pointless Sunday morning chore now. It just seems like the league has changed to such a point that there's really no rhyme or reason why teams win and lose anymore. In the past when I was highly confident in a pick I'd hit more often than not. That's what made it fun. Figuring out how and why a team would win and watching it happen. Now it seems like the more confident I am in a pick the less likely they are to win. What's the point in that?

It's not you.  I wasn't then, and am not now, quite as serious as you, but there are a couple games a week I liked to look into a little deeper, and I find that it really is a crapshoot.   I thought I found a nugget a couple weeks ago, went back, did the math and turned out that the "nugget" resulted in a 7-6 record. 

The NFL is scripted. 

[El Barto]

My problem is that I've always looked for why a team would win rather than simply which team would win. Rarely it might come down to HFA (very rarely), or "they'll rally for their coach," but there would always be a reason. I missed three games this week where all of the reasons (and there were numerous reasons for each) simply didn't matter. These were the games I'd always hit on. Three good reasons was almost a lock for me, and my record here and the whisky bottles on my bookshelves demonstrate that. It just doesn't work anymore. I'm not sure why.

[Stadler]

My problem is that I've always looked for why a team would win rather than simply which team would win. Rarely it might come down to HFA (very rarely), or "they'll rally for their coach," but there would always be a reason. I missed three games this week where all of the reasons (and there were numerous reasons for each) simply didn't matter. These were the games I'd always hit on. Three good reasons was almost a lock for me, and my record here and the whisky bottles on my bookshelves demonstrate that. It just doesn't work anymore. I'm not sure why.

The NFL is scripted.


 

[Jamesman42]

I don't know if you're being sarcastic, Stadler, but man does it feel like that sometimes.

[Stadler]

I don't know if you're being sarcastic, Stadler, but man does it feel like that sometimes.

Nah, not really being serious, and it's sort of a running joke here.  But it's hard to laugh sometimes.

[DragonAttack]

at the kind of halfway point of the season

1   axeman9182   89-47
2   Rattlehead           87-49
3   Stadler's Blues   86-50
   T-ski’s Pick-ski’s   86-50
5   Cool Chris           86-50
   jamesman           86-50
7   Dave                   85-51
   Professor           85-51
9   DragonAttack   82-54
10   Admiral Barto   81-55
11   Ghost of DoC   80-56
12   hefdaddy42   79-57
   KevShmev           79-57
14   faizoff           78-58

I'm still doing better than the Ravens' beat reporter for The Baltimore Sun 

There are a few reasons for enjoyment, or lack thereof, in regards to making picks.  How well your favorite team is doing, along with how well you are doing with your picks are big factors. 

Another may be fatigue.  At least it is for me.  In the old days, we had Sunday's to read the paper, browse the web, watch a good pregame show on ESPN, and then make our picks.  And then came TNF on occasion.  Now it's every week but the final few.  Oh, let's not forget the handful of early Sunday European games. 

I was in a couple of FF leagues in the '00s.  As was my wife.  They were fun. After two years, I dropped out of one.  With all the Thursday games, I'm glad I did. 

I'm much older now, so that may be a factor for me.  Hell, I'm so old that I can remember the title game taking place before the New Year's bowl games. And later on, the Super Bowl being played in mid January in the sunshine!  Now it's the weekend before Valentine's Day.  Before I start yelling for someone to get off of my yard.....

'Too often......the more you have, the less you have.....'

[El Barto]

I still do the Sunday morning thing. I think for me it's just that the system I've used with great success for the last 20 years simply no longer works. I never tried to pick who would win a game in as much as I'd pick why one team would win the game. Countless times this year I've made some great picks only to see them bomb, and that ruins the fun for me. I've had a couple of late game comebacks do me in. Plenty of games are decided by the refs now, and that's certainly no fun. There's simply no point to the way I approach this thing anymore. I've totally given up on it and have switched to an entirely new way of doing things, and I'll fair far better now as a result. Won't be any fun, though.

[ProfessorPeart]

There's a reason it's called the No Fun League!

[Jamesman42]

I have had two bad weeks (week 1 and this past week), so I am content with my current standing. I feel Bartoman on this, I am glad to play along with y'all but it feels more random than I had thought it would.

[ProfessorPeart]

This last week was a bloodbath for me. Took some chances and paid dearly. Lowest point total I have ever had for a week.

[El Barto]

This last week was a bloodbath for me. Took some chances and paid dearly. Lowest point total I have ever had for a week.

I took no chances and it was still a bloodbath. I'm honestly surprised at how some people are doing well, all things considered.

[Jamesman42]

You're telling me. I only got 5 right.

[Stadler]

This last week was a bloodbath for me. Took some chances and paid dearly. Lowest point total I have ever had for a week.

I took no chances and it was still a bloodbath. I'm honestly surprised at how some people are doing well, all things considered.

Even the pros aren't doing well.  If you picked only the Vegas favorite for every game, you wouldn't be in the top three slots (at least you wouldn't be 1 or 2). 

[Jamesman42]

I forgot to get my pick in for the Lions game that's on right now. Fuck.

[T-ski]

I forgot to get my pick in for the Lions game that's on right now. Fuck.

I think you’re good.

[DragonAttack]

 
Happened to me last Thanksgiving by five minutes

This year....oh, my good ol' Lions.  My forlorn home team where dreams almost always turned to nightmares, until I moved to Maryland in 2000.  I'd have a chance for my first perfect pick em week tonight, ...if not for my good ol' Lions. :'(

[ProfessorPeart]

Woof. Another horrible week of picks. The early games were a mess.

[T-ski]

Working my way to the bottom of the standings.

[faizoff]

I went up a couple of places from dead last to 4th from dead last! Lookout world!