What a great occurrence! Last week was amazing for the Pantheon with two correct final scores, and that luck continued this week. Another one of our prognosticators was able to correctly predict the final score of a game! Amazing! I will never cease to be amazed when that happens because of the countless number or score combinations. Way to go!
Other than that prediction, it was a bit of a down week for the Pantheon. We have been on a roller coaster so far this season, with a high number of points scored one week, and then a lower number the next. While there were 23 points scored last week, there were only 11 points scored this week. Knowing that the correct final score prediction accounts for three of those points means that only eight other predictions were correct. We can do better.
Once again, I know you want me to tell you who correctly called the final score up here, but I’m not going too. HA HA! You’re just going to have to scroll down and read for yourself. For now, let’s move on to the games for this week.
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.)
- Chicago Bears XX @ Atlanta Falcons YY
- Baltimore Ravens XX @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers YY
- Detroit Lions XX @ Minnesota Vikings YY
- Carolina Panthers XX @ Cincinnati Bengals YY
- Green Bay Packers XX @ Miami Dolphins YY
Can you stand not knowing who called it? I hope you didn’t already read ahead like you did last week. You did, didn’t you? Again? That’s just low, man. Oh well, for those that are above cheating, 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.)
- Buffalo @ Detroit – thebaskett correctly predicted that the Bills would defeat the Lions by a score of 17-14!
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.
- Minnesota @ Green Bay – Preparation_A correctly predicted that the Packers would win by 32 points.
- Chicago @ Carolina – Big Cheese correctly predicted that the Panthers would win by seven points.
- Buffalo @ Detroit – BearsSaveLives correctly predicted that the Bills would win by three points.
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.
- Minnesota @ Green Bay – LambeauOrWrigley correctly predicted that the teams would combined to score 52 points.
- Chicago @ Carolina – LaCW and TheHairy1 both correctly predicted that the teams would combine to score 55 points.
- Atlanta @ New York Giants – Staffords_Glove correctly predicted that the teams would combine to score 50 points.
Winning team’s score
- Buffalo @ Detroit – Preparation_A correctly predicted that the Lions would score 17 points in a victory.
Against the grain
Oftentimes, our picks will be unanimous. However, there are those who will sometimes walk their own path.
- None this week.
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:
- Minnesota Vikings 16 @ Green Bay Packers 21
- Chicago Bears 30 @ Carolina Panthers 24
- Atlanta Falcons 17 @ New York Giants 34
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 @ New Orleans Saints 27
- Buffalo Bills 34 @ Detroit Lions 27
Once more, the “pros” did not get anything correct this week, so they still only have the two points. As it currently stands, we now have 31 of our prognosticators that have matched, or exceeded their point total.
Week 5 Leaderboard
Now on to the leaderboard!
People usually say that it’s lonely at the top. That is definitely not true for our leaderboard. We have gone from a four-way tie for the lead last week, to a six-way tie this week. The biggest mover this week was thebaskett with his correct final score prediction. Those three points vaulted him up to be one of the six at the top.
The only other real movement to speak of was from LaCW. With his one point this week, he also moved up to be one of the six tied for first place. The leaderboard only shows the top 5 for each week, so that means the only ones visible are those in the lead. However, there are three people just off of it with four points, and eight more with three points. One strong week from any of these people will have their names up on the leaderboard.
With that said, here is the leaderboard after week five (in the case of a tie, the names are arranged alphabetically):
- andylet445 – five points
- FalconsFan0125 – five points
- LaCW – five points
- Maized and Confused – five points
- natesweet – five points
- thebaskett – five points
Again, I just wanted to give one last big shoutout to thebaskett for his correct final score prediction! It is always great to see these names added to the vaunted halls of the Pantheon. Congratulations!
Now that we’ve properly congratulated him, let’s give a little congratulatory clap to all the others 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.