I kept station with 3D last week, but there’s still seven points between us, although Dan has come back to me a little. It’s not too late to make up the points, but there’s only four weeks to do it so if it is going to turn round it needs to be soon.

Cowboys @ Bears (+2.5)

This is a tricky pick for me as the Dallas Cowboys are struggling right now, they have fallen back to 6-6 and are on the road playing in a cold and windy Chicago. The Bears have actually won three of their last four and so have fought back to 6-6, but there is still a 19.3% difference between them in overall DVOA. I like the idea of getting points as the home team on a short week, only both teams have had a full week to prepare after playing on Thanksgiving and this number is actually slightly better for the Cowboys than the consensus number I’m seeing. I don’t like either coach but tracking the ESPN number against a consensus number is working better than me second guessing lines so until I get to do the full spreadsheet I had planned in the off-season (but never quite got to) I’m going to use the number comparison system that has me beat by win percentage so far this season.

Gee’s Pick:     Cowboys
Dan’s Pick:     Cowboys

Week 9 Trivia

‘Timing is, they say, everything and football is no exception, particularly at this point in a season. It’s about now that the playoff picture is becoming clearer and that can change the motivation for each team. Some will be keenly preparing for post-season while others whose ship has sailed will be thinking of rebuilding and positioning themselves for next season. I know which group I’d prefer to be in but as so often is the case for the Vikings high hopes can be dashed at the last moment.

I expected the game at the Seahawks to be close and so it was with the Vikes building a first half lead only to see it more than wiped out in the third quarter. Despite a better forth quarter and it still being in the balance at the 2 minute warning, the timing just wasn’t right and salt was applied to the wound with a late field goal.

The result was that having levelled up with the Packers last week, Minnesota once again fell 1 game behind making the last 4 games crucial, particularly the divisional match ups. But I’ve travelled this path before and my gut feel is that once again the Vikes are looking at a wild card berth – unless the Packers really go off the boil.

What is most definitely bubbling are the trivia quiz and the Picks competition. Gee’s picks came through last week and while Dan picked up the pace again, with just 7 points covering us all this is going to be an interesting home stretch.

For last week’s trivia I asked:

In 2002 The Texans became only the 2nd expansion team to win its inaugural game. Against whom?

Dan spotted the nudge about time zones and went for Tennessee while Gee picked the Cowboys. Both good guesses and earning himself 2 points to leave him just 1 point behind on 13 – 14 is Gee. The Texans ran out winners 19-10 in a Home game at the Reliant Stadium – and if you are interested the first winners of their inaugural game was Minnesota in 1961,

This week the train rolls into Indianapolis and the question is simply:

Prior to moving to Indianapolis in 1984, what city did the Colts call home?

This is getting tight again, but we have several more weeks to go before the Superbowl. Bring it on’

It was another tough week of picking that saw me just about stay above fifty percent but only by the skin of my teeth.

Gee:                 Week 4   6-9                Overall   32-31
Dan:                 Week 4   6-9                Overall   29-34
Dan’s Dad:         Week 4  5-10             Overall   28-35

Rams @ Seahawks (-1.5)

This is the second tasty looking Thursday night game in a row as the faltering LA Rams head up to Seattle to take on the Seahawks who got back on track with a win last week. This is a contest that pits the eleventh and twelfth ranked teams by DVOA against each other and it feels like it will be a close game. The Seahawks defence doesn’t quite look the same this year, but their offence is top ten, and they can at least rely on Russell Wilson even if it does feel they could utilise his skills more. Meanwhile the Rams lost to the Buccaneers last week with their defence giving up fifty-five points and the offence hasn’t looked quite right all year. For all the talk of there not being a snap limit for Todd Gurley, his actual carries and targets are not the same and Jared Goff has looked distinctly underwhelming in recent weeks. I’m not saying it is time to panic, but with the changes in their offensive line it feels like a different Rams team this season and with them on the road in Seattle on a short week that’s enough for me to cautiously pick the Seahawks. Of course, I’m 1-3 for Thursday night picks this season which did lead to this exchange with Dan, so you can’t say I didn’t warn him:

Gee’s Pick:       Seahawks
Dan’s Pick:       Seahawks

Week  Trivia

‘The Power of 4.
It’s odd how things seem to coalesce around a point and Week 4 became, unfortunately for me, just that.
I’ll gloss over yet another abysmal picks performance which left me 4 off the pace but stoically I recall being that far back before only to recover.

The question I set was:
In how many Super Bowls did the Buffalo Bills appear during the 1990s?

There was only one winner this week and, coincidentally for Week 4, Gee identified that the answer was also 4
I will admit to running an interference play in specifying the date range but I know how these two are prone to overthinking things so a little misdirection can only add a little spice.

Starting with the first Superbowl to be decided by a single point (20:19) in 1990 the Bills not only played in 4 but these were consecutively from 1990 – 1993.
2 points, therefore, to Gee which levels the scores up at 4 each after this week.

The theme question also failed to trouble the umpires although I thought that someone might have spotted the pattern by now.

For Week 5 I’m looking at the Carolina Panthers but I’m resisting asking about the Bromance that developed between them and Leicester City developed in 2016 when City were winning the Premier League. So here goes.
How many rushing yards did DeShaun Foster run in the 2002 regular season?

I’ll allow 50 yards either way and there are 2 points for a correct answer’