We have a busy weekend with three big broadcasting gigs, so there will be no commentary for this week. We’ll just make our picks.
The predictions involve the “straight-up” choice, meaning that no spread will be considered. Meanwhile, there will also be a points system used to put some emphasis on correctly predicting the tough games. Using the TABRankings as a basis for illustrating the “power” of each game, the week’s schedule will be divided into three groups:
- Games of the Week (3 points each): Any game with two teams having a combined ranking total of 24 or less. Both teams MUST be within 10 spots of each other, unless both teams are within top 12. (Theoretically, 1 v. 12 is a playoff-quality match-up.)
- Non-GOTW Divisional Games (2 points each): Any divisional battle that isn’t in the aforementioned group.
- The Rest (1 point each): Any match-up that is neither a Game of the Week or a divisional battle.
Note that we’re only looking at 2015 data from now on to make our picks. Our 2015 NFL Season Predictions made back in August no longer have any say in these picks. Check out our picks below, along with our submission to NFL Pickwatch.
Games of the Week (3 points each)
(5) Green Bay Packers (6-1) at (4) Carolina Panthers (7-0)
(7) St. Louis Rams (4-3) at (15) Minnesota Vikings (5-2)
(8) Oakland Raiders (4-3) at (11) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-4)
Non-GotW Divisional Games (2 points each)
(24) Cleveland Browns (2-6) at (2) Cincinnati Bengals (7-0) **Lock of the Week**
(25) Miami Dolphins (3-4) at (18) Buffalo Bills (3-4)
(12) Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) at (22) Dallas Cowboys (2-5)
The Rest (1 point each)
(19) Washington Redskins (3-4) at (1) New England Patriots (7-0)
(31) Tennessee Titans (1-6) at (14) New Orleans Saints (4-4)
(29) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) at (9) New York Jets (4-3)
(16) New York Giants (4-4) at (20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4)
(10) Atlanta Falcons (6-2) at (30) San Francisco 49ers (2-6)
(3) Denver Broncos (7-0) at (23) Indianapolis Colts (3-5) **Upset of the Week**
(28) Chicago Bears (2-5) at (27) San Diego Chargers (2-6)
Bye dates: (6) Arizona Cardinals (6-2), (13) Seattle Seahawks (4-4), (17) Kansas City Chiefs (3-5), (21) Houston Texans (3-5),
(26) Baltimore Ravens (2-6) and (32) Detroit Lions (1-7)
Update (11/10/15): Sorry, looks like we forget to save and post a screen cap of picks submitted to NFL Pickwatch! Don’t worry… these were our picks, already with winners and losers. Yet, we still wanted to keep up with our routine of showing our work. This time, it’s just an merged screen cap of Pickwatch’s User NFL Picks. As you can see, we only went with one pick against the consensus.
