Office Pools are a fun way for even casual NFL fans to enjoy a little bit of sports gambling. It is an excellent opportunity to bond with your colleagues, enjoy a little friendly competition, and most importantly, win a little money.
The staff at Footballguys.com also enjoys these contests, and each week we will publish our picks to give our subscribers some ideas on what teams to pick in your office pools or at your local sportsbook.
Each week, we will post our office pool picks with three different themes:
- Office Pool – NFL Game Picks. Our staff will pick the winner of every NFL contest every week. They will also rank how confident they are with their selection from 16 (most confident) down to 1 (least confident). We'll also combine everyone's confidence points, giving you a Wisdom of the Staff confidence level as well.
- Office Pool – Against the Spread Picks. Each week, the staffers will choose their eight favorite NFL games and pick the winner, based on the early Las Vegas lines for each of them.
- Office Pool – Eliminator/Survivor Picks. Sounds simple, right? Just pick one team to win this week. The only catch is that you can only use a team once the entire season.
This Week's Picks
The table below represents this week's NFL games and the point spread for each of them. Teams in row #1 are the away team. Teams in row #3 are the home team. The Line represents how strong the home team is against the away team. Positive number = home team is the favorite. Negative number = away team is the favorite.
Each staffer picks eight teams that they expect to win, factoring in the Line for each game.
For Example: If Dallas is +6.5 at Philadelphia, then Philadelphia is the favorite. Philadelphia must win by 7 or more points to be a correct pick against the spread. Dallas would be a correct pick against the spread, even if they lose by 6 points, since they are not the favorite.
| DAL | KC | CIN | LV | TB | PIT | NYG | ARI | MIA | CAR | SF | TEN | HOU | DET | BAL | MIN | MNF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LINE | +6.5 | -2.5 | -5.5 | +2.5 | -2.5 | -3.5 | +6.5 | -5.5 | -0.5 | +2.5 | -1.5 | +7.5 | +2.5 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +0.5 | |
| PHI | LAC | CLE | NE | ATL | NYJ | WAS | NO | IND | JAX | SEA | DEN | LAR | GB | BUF | CHI | TOTAL | |
| Bitonti | PHI | CIN | LV | NYJ | ARI | SF | TEN | DET | 48 | ||||||||
| Blaylock | PHI | CIN | TB | NYJ | WAS | ARI | MIA | DEN | 45 | ||||||||
| Brown | PHI | KC | PIT | WAS | ARI | IND | DEN | BUF | 0 | ||||||||
| Carey | PHI | KC | CIN | NE | WAS | ARI | JAX | DEN | 44 | ||||||||
| Cummins | PHI | CIN | ATL | JAX | DEN | GB | BAL | CHI | 0 | ||||||||
| Davenport | TB | PIT | ARI | MIA | JAX | SF | LAR | DET | 43 | ||||||||
| Dodgson | PHI | CIN | NE | NO | JAX | TEN | DET | BUF | 38 | ||||||||
| Duffy | PHI | LAC | CIN | NYJ | ARI | JAX | SF | BAL | 44 | ||||||||
| Grant | PHI | KC | NE | TB | WAS | ARI | IND | CHI | 46 | ||||||||
| Haseley | PHI | KC | CIN | NE | TB | PIT | IND | SEA | 47 | ||||||||
| Hicks | CIN | TB | WAS | MIA | JAX | SF | BAL | CHI | 45 | ||||||||
| Larkins | CLE | LV | ATL | WAS | ARI | IND | DET | BAL | 42 | ||||||||
| McCarty | PHI | KC | CIN | LV | ATL | PIT | MIA | JAX | |||||||||
| Papworth | NE | TB | PIT | WAS | ARI | IND | DEN | LAR | 42 | ||||||||
| Roberts | PHI | CIN | NYJ | WAS | ARI | SF | GB | BAL | 38 | ||||||||
| Rudnicki | PHI | KC | CIN | NE | ARI | DEN | LAR | BAL | 42 | ||||||||
| Song | DAL | KC | CLE | NYJ | NYG | DEN | GB | MIN | 43 | ||||||||
| Wagman | PHI | KC | CLE | TB | NYG | JAX | SEA | DEN | 44 | ||||||||
| Weisee | PHI | KC | NE | MIA | JAX | SF | DEN | MIN | 45 | ||||||||
| Total Picks | DAL | KC | CIN | LV | TB | PIT | NYG | ARI | MIA | CAR | SF | TEN | HOU | DET | BAL | MIN | |
| Away | 1 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| PHI | LAC | CLE | NE | ATL | NYJ | WAS | NO | IND | JAX | SEA | DEN | LAR | GB | BUF | CHI | ||
| Home | 14 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
The totals at the bottom represent 'The Wisdom of the Staff' when it comes to picking against the spread. Since the staff are only picking eight games each week, some games may not have many totals. This means that when taking into account the spread for that particular game, the staff preferred to choose a different game, as that one was too close to call.
High Confidence Picks
The Eagles are a 6.5-point favorite to win tonight against the Cowboys, yet 14 staffers expect them to win by more. The Bengals and Cardinals are both 5.5-point favorites, but 11 staffers picked both of them to win as well. The Jaguars are only a 2.5-point favorite, but nine staffers expect them to win by more, while none of the staff took the Panthers and the points. Nine staffers expect the Chiefs to win by three or more on Friday as well.
Low Confidence Picks
As you might expect, games with small spreads are expected to be close, and the spread makes it harder to be confident in choosing a winner. The Dolphins at the Colts and the Vikings at the Bears have only 0.5 spread, and both games have just a few picks for either team. The Steelers at the Jets and the Lions at the Packers are also expected to be close games and challenging to choose who will win against the spread.
Final Thoughts
Staff are awarded one point for each correct pick against the spread. We will track these over the course of the season so you can see how everyone stacks up from week to week.
Note: The lines for each game do not change once they are set on Monday. Each staff member must lock in their pick by Wednesday evening as well. Lines can change throughout the week based on the injury report and weather conditions. Please consider that when making your own office pool picks or sports bets against the spread.
Good Luck!