We are proud to bring you the return of the Footballguys.com Staff Confidence Pool Challenge. 20 Staff members will pick the winner of each NFL game, and rank each choice from most confident (16 points) to least (1 point). As a tie-breaker, the person who is closest to the total points scored on the last Monday Night game will be the winner. Winners will be announced from week to week and the best overall record will be crowned Confidence pool Champion. Picks and ranks are due on Wednesday, so any late-breaking news may not be reflected in the choices. Also please note that no point spread is taken into account with these picks – it is a straight up pick of which NFL team will win this week. See the other confidence pools for picks against the spread (ATS) or Survivor / Eliminator style.
THIS WEEK'S PICKS
Here are the picks for this week.
| Staffer | GB | BUF | OAK | TEN | MIN | JAX | WAS | CLE | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | IND | NYG | SD | MNF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | MIA | BAL | ATL | TB | DAL | DEN | DET | ARI | TOTAL | |
| Rudnicki | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | TB | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 40 |
| 9 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 1 | ||
| Miglio | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | ATL | TB | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 45 |
| 12 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Garda | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | MIN | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 40 |
| 5 | 16 | 10 | 15 | 6 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 1 | ||
| Hicks | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | TB | DAL | DEN | DET | ARI | 53 |
| 12 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 2 | ||
| Heiser | SEA | CHI | NYJ | TEN | MIN | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 52 |
| 5 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 2 | ||
| Gray | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | ATL | TB | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 41 |
| 11 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 7 | ||
| Hindery | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 37 |
| 9 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 1 | ||
| Larkin | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | MIN | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | ATL | TB | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 55 |
| 13 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 1 | ||
| Cummings | SEA | CHI | OAK | TEN | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | NO | TB | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 38 |
| 9 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 5 | ||
| Brimacombe | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 45 |
| 8 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Wood | SEA | CHI | NYJ | TEN | STL | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | TB | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 56 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Haseley | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | MIN | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | BAL | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 45 |
| 3 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Pasquino | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | MIN | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 43 |
| 11 | 15 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 6 | ||
| Lee | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | BAL | ATL | TB | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 47 |
| 9 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 3 | ||
| Wimer | GB | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 45 |
| 8 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Bitonti | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | MIN | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | TB | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 55 |
| 12 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 9 | 4 | ||
| Tremblay | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | WAS | PIT | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 57 |
| 14 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 8 | ||
| Holloway | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | NO | TB | SF | DEN | DET | SD | 41 |
| 6 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Buzzard | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | NO | TB | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 50 |
| 12 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 4 | ||
| Grant | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | MIN | PHI | HOU | PIT | NE | BAL | NO | CAR | SF | DEN | DET | ARI | 52 |
| 15 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 2 | ||
| Away | GB | BUF | OAK | TEN | MIN | JAX | WAS | CLE | NE | CIN | NO | CAR | SF | IND | NYG | SD | |
| Total Pts | 8 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 215 | 45 | 126 | 35 | 129 | 0 | 0 | 26 | |
| Home | SEA | CHI | NYJ | KC | STL | PHI | HOU | PIT | MIA | BAL | ATL | TB | DAL | DEN | DET | ARI | |
| Total Pts | 188 | 289 | 213 | 187 | 69 | 300 | 62 | 235 | 0 | 40 | 9 | 45 | 3 | 220 | 160 | 34 |
HEAVY FAVORITES
As we begin the 2014 season, there are a few games that all of the staff members think will be an ‘easy’ pick. Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New England, Denver and Detroit were picked by all 19 contestants to win their games. Philadelphia and Chicago both received a high number of confidence points as well. Only Wimer picked Green Bay to upset Seattle tonight and Cummings was the only staffer to pick Oakland over the Jets. Hicks was the only person to pick the Cowboys over San Francisco and Atlanta had a small group of support, but with very little confidence. Cummings also joined Heiser as the only two people to pick Tennessee over Kansas City.
DUAL SUPPORT
Baltimore – Cincinnati was the closest game this week, with Cinci receiving just five more points than the Ravens. San Diego and Arizona received the fewest combined confidence points with Arizona having a slight edge. Carolina against Tampa, Houston against Washington and St. Louis against Minnesota were also tougher games to pick this week.
ODDS AND ENDS
Check out our other office pool games. We offer a weekly content taking the spread into account and a 'Survivor' format where staff members pick one team to win each week and you can't use the same team twice. Between these three articles, your office pools should be covered.
Reminder here that the maximum points this week is 136. Please note: Since this article comes out on Thursday, if something major happens between now and the weekend, make sure to adjust your picks accordingly.
Good luck this weekend!