11 Picks for NFL Week 5, Redskins at Eagles
Published Friday, October 3, 2008 at 12:01:00 AM
We're now on the fifth week of my season-long football experiment. And after four weeks, every single one of the 11 methods has gotten at least one pick right. (I am actually closest to being 0-4... last week I picked the Buccaneers over the Packers because I believed the Packers were going to win, and clearly my instincts had been off all year. Distrusting myself worked to perfection, so I joined the ranks of 1-3.)
We still have two perfect pickers (Peter King from "SI", and Karmen, the model who may or may not know football). Tied at 3-1 are the homeless guy outside my office and the battle of the mascots. So clearly, my experiment is proving what I kinda thought it might.
This week, the game we're all picking is Washington at Philadelphia. The line is Philadelphia -5.5, but we're all just picking the game straight up.
This list was published on Friday, October 3, 2008 at 12:01:00 AM under the category NFL Picks.
It currently has View Comments.
Published Friday, October 3, 2008 at 12:01:00 AM
We're now on the fifth week of my season-long football experiment. And after four weeks, every single one of the 11 methods has gotten at least one pick right. (I am actually closest to being 0-4... last week I picked the Buccaneers over the Packers because I believed the Packers were going to win, and clearly my instincts had been off all year. Distrusting myself worked to perfection, so I joined the ranks of 1-3.)
We still have two perfect pickers (Peter King from "SI", and Karmen, the model who may or may not know football). Tied at 3-1 are the homeless guy outside my office and the battle of the mascots. So clearly, my experiment is proving what I kinda thought it might.
This week, the game we're all picking is Washington at Philadelphia. The line is Philadelphia -5.5, but we're all just picking the game straight up.
Accuscore. (1-3 on the season) Accuscore runs tens of thousands of simulations of the game and it likes the Eaglesby a fairly significant amount. The fact that the computer is only 1-3 on the season so far shows just how crazy the NFL has gotten.
The computer is very high on Philly.- Former NFL star Eric Allen. (2-2) Allen's expertise as an ex-NFL player has led him to a .500 record so far on the season. This week, he likes the Eagles.
- Random number generator. (1-3) I use Random.org's coin flipper to choose this pick. Heads home, tails away. It came up heads, so the random number generator is picking the Eagles.
- Homeless guy outside my office. (3-1) Since I am still out of L.A., I had to send one of my co-workers out to get this pick. He told me that the homeless guy loves the Redskins. And Del Taco.
Battle of the mascots. (3-1) This is a tough battle. If you want to take the eagle as the symbol of America, then it would unapologetically destroy the Indian man. But I'm taking it more literally than that, and I feel like this stereotype of a Native American would easily shoot an arrow that would kill an eagle. So the pick here is easily the Redskins.
An Indian takes out an eagle any day.- Adam, the late '80s fan. (1-3) Adam hasn't regularly watched football since 1993, except for that one Thanksgiving game almost a decade back where Barry Sanders just went off. Anyway, I spoke with him about this week and while he does love what Randall Cunningham has done in Philly, he just thinks that Mark Rypien and Art Monk are too much of a 1-2 punch for the Eagles. So he's going with the Redskins.
- Fatter offensive line. (2-2) This one isn't even close. The Redskins line weighs in at 1,510 pounds, the Eagles line is 1,651. The Eagle offensive linemen have an average weight of 330... the Redskin linemen only average 302. Under my theory that big O-lines win games, the pick here is the Eagles.
A model who may or may not know football. (4-0) Karmen is picking the Eagles, because "my dad was born in Philly." Again, not going to question her logic until she actually messes up a pick.
Karmen, our 4-0 model/expert.- Just picking the home team. (1-3) The pick is, naturally, the Eagles. This is an easy one.
- "Sports Illustrated" legend Peter King. (4-0) He thinks it's going to be a "great, great football game"... but, like everyone else, he likes the Eagles to win, 26 to 14.
- My pick. (1-3) I know I'm going against the grain here (and against both of the 4-0 experts above), but I feel like Washington has looked stronger than Philadelphia lately... and I'm going with that feeling. I see the Redskins pulling this one out.
This list was published on Friday, October 3, 2008 at 12:01:00 AM under the category NFL Picks.
It currently has View Comments.
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Read more about 11 Points and Sam here.
For information about reprinting 11 Points content, or for quotes/interviews for your newspaper, magazine, website, TV program, or radio show, contact Sam via e-mail at
