Let me tell you, the minutes that Andy and Tony spend studying these games before doing these picks has really been paying off so far this season. Especially for Tony, who won the week handily.
Here are the standings:
Week 2
Tony 10-6
Season
Tony 16-15-1
And here are the picks for week 3:
1) Tony: Cowboys over Dolphins – The big advantage to picking first each week is getting to pick the Dolphins opponent.
2) Andy: Patriots over Jets – The Patriots look like they have for the last 15 years or so. The Jets look like they have less passion for playing football than we do for upkeep on a website.
3) Andy: Packers over Broncos – The Packers have adapted to the new coaching staff much more quickly than we’ve written a 2020 Hall of Fame post. Hopefully both of those things change soon. Denver has its hopes riding on another over-the-hill QB who looks bored. Maybe next year they can bring back Donovan McNabb.
4) Tony: Seahawks over Saints – I hope things go well for Teddy Bridgewater…I just don’t think things will go well for him. Tough first start back for him.
5) Andy: Eagles over Lions – Philadelphia let one get away against Atlanta last week. The Eagles will be playing mad. Detroit … yep, still Detroit.
6) Tony: Colts over Falcons – May have grabbed this game a little high, but refuse to touch the Vikings game, and after that it’s a dart toss. Just like what I;ve seen heard about the Colts since Jacoby Brissett took over. And didn’t like what I saw from the Falcons in week 1 that much, even if week 2 was a little better.
7) Andy: Vikings over Raiders – Minnesota should win this pretty handily. The game isn’t in prime time and Oakland isn’t that good, so Kirk Cousins should have a solid performance. Oakland … yep, still Oakland.
8) Tony: Bills over Bengals – I don’t exactly have faith in the Bills right now, but I’m pretty sure I know what the Bengals are capable of.
9) Andy: Chiefs over Ravens – This one is being billed as the game of the week. I don’t see it. Baltimore has had a softer opening two weeks than most college teams. This will be their first test. I think Kansas City wins handily.
10) Tony: Chargers over Texans – This should be a good game…hopefully I took the home team. I mean, I could look it up, but…
11) Andy: Rams over Browns – I went through the whole offseason thinking Cleveland was going to run away with the AFC North. Good thing we also didn’t publish a preseason prediction post either.
12) Tony: Titans over Jaguars – We picked these games on Tuesday, and Andy tried posting them before the game tonight, but apparently my lack of maintenance was causing issues…and this pick didn’t age well. On the plus side…glad I didn’t accept any of those lame offers for DJ Chark last year.
13) Andy: Bears over Washington – Chicago hasn’t looked good. In fact, Mitch Trubisky looks like he’s taken a bigger step back than this blog has the last couple years. But Washington is worse.
14) Tony: 49ers over Steelers – Mason Rudolph might prove me wrong, but Steelers fans have to be a little worried with zero of the Killer B’s playing (for them) the rest of this year.
15) Andy: Cardinals over Panthers – Good gravy, who cares.
16) Tony: Buccaneers over Giants – The Giants made this one slightly more interesting by benching Eli Manning…although it’s still dumbfounding to me how much airtime that story has gotten this week. I mean, it’s not like a Hall of Famer got benched in week 3, right? Right?
Tony has taken the lead in the straight-up picks, but it’s only by a game. Their solid results show the pride and passion they put into making these picks each week.
Here are the standings:
Andy
Tony
Week 2
10-6
11-5
Season
20-11-1
21-10-1
Here’s where the dart throws landed for week three:
With just three playoff games left, I could have wrapped up the best record in the entire playoffs last week, with Andy going 1-3 after a 3-1 start Wildcard Weekend, and Tony P. going 3-1 after a 1-3 Wildcard Weekend. Had I gotten all four games right, I would have been a perfect 8-0 after two weeks, and sealed the deal. Unfortunately for me, in all my chatter about not wanting to see the Eagles back in the NFC Championship game, I forgot to actually make a pick … and I don’t even know for sure who I was going to pick, based on my own write up. I probably was going to go Eagles again, hoping to go wrong — but either way, even though I’m perfect on games I actually pick this postseason, I have left the door slightly open for Tony P. or Andy to catch me (if they go 3-0 and I go 0-3).
So of course, after a season that saw me pick games at a clip of at least 10 total games worse than the other guys, who manages to go 4-0 in the wildcard round of the playoffs? My score predictions maybe weren’t the greatest — but I even managed to get the one I wanted to get wrong right.
This week has some even more compelling games that I probably won’t watch:
Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed and Champ Bailey headlined the announcement of the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2019 Thursday night. The list was culled down from a list of 25 semifinalists, named in November.
Joining the trio on the list of finalists are wide receiver Isaac Bruce, running back Edgerrin James, defensive backs Steve Atwater, Ty Law and John Lynch, offensive linemen Tony Boselli, Kevin Mawae, Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchinson, defensive lineman Richard Seymour, and coaches Don Coryell and Tom Flores.
The selection as a finalist marks Hutchinson and Atwater’s second time making the cut (Atwater was first a finalist in 2016, Hutchinson last year), the third time for Boselli, Bruce, James, Law and Mawae, the fourth time for Faneca, and the sixth time for Lynch. Flores and Seymour are first time finalists.
Among those not making the cut were coach Jimmy Johnson, receivers Hines Ward and Torry Holt, linebacker Clay Matthews. Two finalists from the 2018 class, Everson Walls and Joe Jacoby (who was a three time finalist) ran out of modern era eligibility, and now must wait for a possible seniors nomination.
The fifteen finalists will be cut to 10, and then cut to five before being placed up for a final yes/no vote, along with contributors Pat Bowlen and Gil Brandt and Senior Nominee Johnny Robinson on Saturday, February 2, the day before the Super Bowl.
We realized that we never actually put up an official post this year with our prediction in it, and that a fair number of our regular commentors have already listed their guesses on our thread about Robinson’s nomination–but this year, we’ve put together the form below to submit your choices below, and if a enough people submit guesses, we may come up with some sort of prize (and even if not, we’ll post some sort of adulation to the submission with the most correct).
And for the record, my guess this year would be Faneca, Gonzalez, Lynch, Reed and Coryell, with a yes to Bowlen, Brandt and Robinson.
I haven’t gone back to look at last week yet, but if it’s anything like my Alternative Picks, I probably am a bit closer to getting a concerned call from my fictional buddy Guido…
Tony:
$1,000 – New Orleans (-7.5, +105) vs Philadelphia – The Eagles are struggling mightily this year, and the Saints aren’t. If this was in Philly, I’d be hesitant on this one–but in New Orleans, I’m loving the +105 payout.
$1,000 – Atlanta (-3.5, -107) vs Dallas – A matchup of two teams that always seem to lose when appear to possibly have figured something out, only to win when they appear to have drizzled it down their leg. With the Cowboys coming off a big divisional win, and the Falcons at home after an embarrassing loss to the Browns (not because it was the Browns–because they were never in the game), I’m surprirsed this line has moved towards the middle from 4.5.
$1,000 – Pittsburgh at Jacksonville: Over 47 (-105) – A lot of weeks I don’t like any of the totals–this week, there’s three I like–this one, the Chargers/Broncos over 46.5, and the Vikings/Bears over 44. I’ll take what seems like the safest bet–look for the Steelers to jump out early, and the Jaguars to score some garbage points late. Which of course means if you’re in Vegas, the prop bet is the Jags score first and build up a 20+ point lead…
$750 – Cincinnati (+245 money line) over Baltimore – Yes, this game is in Baltimore. But it’s Lamar Jackson’s first NFL start. And there’s a chance that RG3 will see some action. I legit can’t figure out how the moneyline has moved towards the Ravens even more.
Andy:
$1,000 – Carolina (-4, -115) at Detroit – The Lions have quit.
$1,000 – Houston (-3, -117) at Washington – Relying heavily on road teams again, but the Texans are for real and Washington is imploding.
$800 – Arizona (-5, -110) vs Oakland – The Raiders have become this year’s joke team.
$500 – Cincinnati (+245 money line) at Baltimore – So, maybe not really that much of an upset, but the Ravens are favored by a TD. Really? Bengals win outright.
Loading ...
Holt has several years left on modern ballot, was in final 7 and after waiting until Fitz is elected in…
Zack Martin has given us our first class of 2030 first ballot candidate - agreed very possible Chiefs look to…
Jones didn’t play in 2024 which would make him eligible for class of 2029 as hall doesn’t use retirement “date”,…
Has Julio Jones officially retired from the NFL? According to nfl.com and profootballreference.com, he is still considered active? Would he…
I guess what I am saying Andy P is that transparency is great, just doubt that it improves the results