NFL Picks 2013: Week 6

by Andy | Oct 8, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

We here at Zoneblitz had a tough Week 5 with none of our contributors hitting more than eight of the 14 contests. Several upsets and many unpredictable games between, frankly, bad teams left us all bunched together.

Consequently nobody gained or lost a lot of ground. I remain the leader. But just six games separate the top from the bottom in our standings for the season. So a big week by any one of us could create quite a swing.

Here are the standings:

We’re close to the one-third mark of the season so you’d think picking these games would get easier. But if you look over the last three weeks there have been a number of coin flip games. That continues into week six, with a couple of divisional games and a slate of contests between teams that don’t often play. So we’ll see if any of us can hit the jackpot.

Here are our picks: (more…)

NFL Picks 2013: Week 5

by Andy | Oct 1, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

So file week four among the many during an NFL season during which nobody really knows what is going to happen. Two of us hit nine out of 15 and two guessed correctly on seven, with many of the misses being spread out over a number of different games.

The three-way tie for first was momentarily broken. I pulled a notch ahead of Tony and Anthony, with Rich gaining a little bit of ground on third place. Here are the standings:

Week five isn’t any easier. This week there are, again, some nonconference games between teams that don’t play all that often. But this time around, they come with the benefit of being fantastically interesting matchups between playoff contenders. Seattle visiting Indianapolis, Denver heading to Dallas and San Francisco hosting Houston are among the games I’m interested in watching this weekend.

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NFL Picks 2013: Week 4

by Andy | Sep 24, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

Sunday was one of those “who the hell knows” days when you just never know what’s going to happen in the NFL. A Cleveland team that’s ownership doesn’t even want to win in 2013 beat a desperate Vikings team that had hoped to rebound from an 0-2 start during its home opener. Indianapolis went on the road and not only beat the popular Super Bowl favorite 49ers, but destroyed them. Carolina shut out a flailing Giants team. And the ranks of the unbeaten include New Orleans and Miami.

So it might be fitting that Tony, who often preaches picking the thing you think most unlikely to happen, won the week with an 11-5 mark. All things considered, none of us were destroyed by the upsets. Anthony Maggio finished 10-6 while Rich and I trailed at 9-7. This produces a three-way tie for first in our season rankings.

Here are the standings heading into week four:

Week four brings on the first bye weeks and a slate of games that doesn’t have a lot of divisional rivalry games, but again pits a mix of teams you don’t get a chance to see play all that often. It also includes the NFL’s annual trek to London. This year the game features a rematch of Super Bowl IX. Unfortunately, that game was held 38 years ago. In 2013, both teams enter the game 0-3.

Here are our picks for the week:

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NFL Picks 2013: Week 3

by Andy | Sep 17, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

The second week schedule looked like a tough one, but the Zoneblitz contributors handled it well. The four of us combined to go 45-19 for the weekend. I led the pack with a 13-3 mark while Rich rebounded from a rough first week as he and Anthony both hit 11 each. Tony got 10 correct.

So heading into week three, the standings look like this:

The schedule doesn’t look a whole lot easier this week with many competitive games on the slate. Hopefully we’ll continue looking like we’ve got at least a bit of a clue. Here goes:

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NFL Picks 2013: Week 2

by Andy | Sep 10, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

The football season got off to an exciting start last weekend. Chip Kelly’s Eagles gave us a glimpse of what his offense is going to look like. Larry Fitzgerald caught eight passes from a quarterback who was able to actually get the ball within his zip code once in awhile. And Anthony Maggio kept fantasy footballers informed with updated rankings right through Sunday’s kickoffs. It was a good start to the season.

Our pick segment didn’t go so well, at least for me. Two of our other three pickers beat me this week, with Tony and Anthony both nailing the Eagles upset over Washington on Monday night. Maggio also stood alone in taking Chicago to beat Cincinnati and New Orleans to beat Atlanta. So that duo tied at 11-5. I did hit 10 while contributing writer Rich Larson struggled to a 7-9 mark in week one. So the standings go like this:

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NFL Picks 2013: Week 1

by Andy | Sep 3, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

Here we are, folks. Kickoff for opening night is a mere two days away. It seems like just yesterday we were watching the lights go out in the Superdome while Baltimore was taking down San Francisco to win a second Vince Lombardi trophy … well, okay. Not like yesterday. Let’s be honest. Life just isn’t the same during the offseason – it feels like an eternity since the last real football was played.

But that ends soon.

This is the third year in a row we’ll be doing a season’s worth of picks. Last year we invited some guest bloggers to join us. This year, we’ve got some new faces joining the Zoneblitz team. You’ve been reading Anthony Maggio’s fantasy football advice here now for a couple months. Rich Larson contributed to our season previews. Both will also be making weekly picks.

To review, I’ve gotten the best of my brother two years running. In 2011, I came on strong in week 17, going 12-4 to hold off Tony, who finished 10-6. So I went 172-84 for the season and he went 169-87. Last year we slid just a bit. Tony dropped to 161-94-1. He did lead the picks competition through week 16, but a 27-5 run in the last two weeks allowed me to overtake him with a 166-89-1 mark.

Overall, I’d say we haven’t embarrassed ourselves too badly at picking these games. I’ve hit at a 66.1 percent clip while Tony has been correct 64.6 percent of the time. We’ll see if the new guys can keep pace with us. (more…)