Week two was a very good week for the Pantheon, indeed. We had 37 prognosticators participate, and all in all came away with a whopping 39 points scored. I wish that I could say that all 37 people got one point, as that would be fair, but life is not fair and neither is the Pantheon.
However, the biggest deal this week, at least to me, was the amazing number of prognosticators that correctly predicted a winning team’s score. Of those 39 points that were scored this week, 22 were scored on winning team’s score predictions. It wouldn’t normally be such a standout thing, but this last week only two numbers were used for all of those called shots. Twelve people guessed that both the Bengals and the Panthers would score 24 points in their wins, while another 10 predicted that the Packers would score 31 in theirs.
With all that in mind, I wanted to say this: Nailed It! is brought to you today by the number 24, the number 31, and the letter “W.”
The Games
As always, here is the slate for next week’s games. Simply copy and paste it to the comments, and add your predicted scores after the team names. (Substitute scores for the XX and YY.)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers XX @ Atlanta Falcons YY
- Minnesota Vikings XX @ New Orleans Saints YY
- Green Bay Packers XX @ Detroit Lions YY
- Pittsburgh Steelers XX @ Carolina Panthers YY
- Chicago Bears XX @ New York Jets YY
I would just like to remind everyone that the match-up between the Bucs and Falcons is on Thursday night, so please be sure to get you predictions for that game in on time. Any predictions for this game that are not posted before it starts, will not be included.
Now, read on to find out exactly just who Nailed It!
Final score
These are the people who have (somehow) correctly predicted the final outcome of a game. The only shot that was called that could be considered more famous than these belongs to Babe Ruth. Bow down before their wisdom! (And make sure you ask them for next week’s lotto numbers.)
- None this week.
Scoring differential
These are the ones who correctly predicted the margin by which the victors would best their competition. These are also the ones to consult if you want to bet the spread.
- New York Jets @ Green Bay – andylet445, Maized and Confused, natesweet, Niners_Never_Die, Preparation_A, and thebaskett all correctly predicted a seven-point victory for the Packers.
Total combined score
These are those who somehow managed to pick the correct total score but did not have any clue in how the teams would actually get there. Still, if you want to bet an over/under, you could do worse than consulting with them.
- New Orleans @ Cleveland – BearsSaveLivess, cd4packers, and reggie all correctly predicted both teams would combine for 50 points.
- New York Jets @ Green Bay – FalconsFan0125 correctly predicted both teams would combine to score 55 points.
- Chicago @ San Francisco – Niners_Never_Die correctly predicted both teams would combine for 48 points.
Winning team’s score
- Atlanta @ Cincinnati – BlutosPackers, Childerz, LaCW, MKE, niermerg1, and SDL all correctly predicted that the Bengals would score 24 points in a victory.
- Detroit @ Carolina – andylet445, DanOnWis23, Fiddy, LaCW, reggie, and smtate all correctly predicted that the Panthers would score 24 points in a victory.
- New York Jets @ Green Bay – curtisfryer_p, DanOnWis23, Donny33, gatrbuc, LaCW, LambeauOrWrigley, MKE, smtate, TheHairy1, thenichels all correctly predicted that the Packers would score 31 points in a victory.
Against the grain
Oftentimes, our picks will be unanimous. However, there are those who will sometimes walk their own path.
- St. Louis @ Tampa Bay – Buhlitz, cd4packers, and natesweet were the only three (out of 37) who thought that the Rams would defeat the Buccaneers.
- Chicago @ San Francisco – curtisfryer_p, FalconsFan0125, and MIBearFan were the only three (out of 37) who predicted that the Bears would defeat the 49ers.
ESPN The Magazine
In their NFL preview issue, the writers at ESPN The Magazine predicted the score for every single NFL game to be played in the regular season. Let’s see how they did this week. Here are their predictions:
- New England Patriots 30 @ Minnesota Vikings 13
- New Orleans Saints 28 @ Cleveland Browns 14
- Atlanta Falcons 27 @ Cincinnati Bengals 20
- Detroit Lions 23 @ Carolina Panthers 27
- St. Louis Rams 19 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23
- New York Jets 20 @ Green Bay Packers 24
- Chicago Bears 14 @ San Francisco 49ers 30
The only thing they got correct this week was their prediction that the Patriots would score 30 points in a victory over the Vikings. That gives them one point for this week, bringing their season total to two.
Week 2 leaderboard
Now on to the leaderboard!
Our resident Falcons fans curtisfryer_p and FalconsFan0125 maintained their spot at the top of the leaderboard, but they are joined there this week by LaCW with a strong three-point week to bring his total to four. Right behind them sit andylet445 and Niners_Never_Die with three points. Again, it is still early on, so the twelve people with two points have a very good chance to see their names on the leaderboard soon. With that said, here is the leaderboard after week one (in the case of a tie, the names are arranged alphabetically):
- curtisfryer_p – four points
- FalconsFan0125 – four points
- LaCW – four points
- andylet445– three points
- Niners_Never_Die– three points
It was another strong week, with lots of points scored by our prognosticators. So let’s give a little congratulatory clap to those who are listed in this article. Or not. Your choice.
If you would like to have your name forever enshrined in the vast expanse that is the internet, simply call your shot in the comment section below for the games of the NFC North and the NFC South. I will be reviewing the comments and keeping track as the season goes on. And who knows? Maybe you’ll even see your name in the leaderboard!
If you cannot call your shots on Thursday, as is custom, it is still possible to participate. As long as your called shots are posted to the comments of this article before the games start, I will include them.