2016 NFL Picks Week 16

Week 15 is in the books, and so is another great week for me. I went 12-4 in improve my overall percentage by a point to 62.6%. My PotW, Atlanta, was able to easily beat San Francisco. 12-3 on the year for PotW. I had no upset picks last week, which means my record remains at 18-23. This week is a little odd with Christmas, so instead of the usual slate of games on Sunday, they will now be played on Saturday.

Losses: Minnesota getting destroyed at home by Indianapolis, Kansas City losing a late lead to Tennessee, Arizona losing a shootout to New Orleans, and Carolina upsetting Washington on the road. All losses for the home teams, and upsets for the away teams.

On to Week 16:

2016 NFL Picks Week 15

Another successful week! That makes 7 in a row, which is half the season at this point. I was 11-5 last week, which bumps me up slightly from 61% to 61.65% overall. To achieve my goal of 66% (2 correct picks out of every 3), I need to reach 169 wins on the year. To do that, I need to make 42 correct picks over the last 3 weeks, which is an average of 14 per week. AKA, probably not going to happen, but I'll still try of course. Detroit barely beat Chicago for my PotW, but I improve to 11-3 this year. For some reason I had 4 road upsets last week, but I was right on half of them (Houston over Indianapolis, New York Jets over San Francisco); my record stands at 18-23. I'd like to get to .500 for upsets this year.

The upsets that didn't pan out were Denver over Tennessee and San Diego over Carolina. I should have picked the home team in those games, as well as for my 3 other losses: Arizona at Miami, Seattle at Green Bay, and Dallas at the New York Giants.

On to Week 15, where we'll have football games played on 4 of the next 5 days:

2016 NFL Picks Week 14

Week 13 saw the end of bye weeks, and left me with a 13-2 record. That's good for my best week yet, and propels me to 61% overall this year. I've been picking pretty well since Week 8, so I hope the hot streak continues. New England prevailed over Los Angeles as my PotW; I am now 10-3. I correctly picked 2 of 3 upset picks, which bumps me up to 16-21 so far this season. Kansas City and Tampa Bay were able to pull off road wins at Atlanta and San Diego, respectively. Of course, the Eagles were unable to pull off the same at Cincinnati.

My only other loss aside from Philadelphia was New Orleans failing to beat Detroit at home.

Bring on a full Week 14!

2016 NFL Picks Week 13

Note that my original post had me picking the 49ers (which was not my actual pick) and for some reason omitted the Buffalo/Oakland game entirely. I picked Oakland.

With a full slate of 16 games last week, I fared quite well for the 5th week in a row. I went 12-4, which brought me all the way up to 59% on the year, a 2% increase. The New York Giants successfully beat the Cleveland Browns for my Pick of the Week, as I improved to 9-3. Houston lost to San Diego at home for my only upset pick, which drops me to 14-20 so far this season.

Aside from Houston, I also incorrectly picked Seattle to beat Tampa Bay on the road, Denver to beat Kansas City at home, and fucking Philadelphia to win a home game against Green Bay.

On to Week 13, which is the last of the bye weeks:

2016 NFL Picks Week 12

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all enjoy the 3 Fs: Food, Family, and Football. Also Drinks. Obviously I'll focus on football in this post.

Yet another good week! I finished 10-4, which is my first double digit win total since way back in Week 2. I'm now at 57% overall, which is getting back on the right track. New England won over San Francisco as my POTW, which puts me at 8-3 this year. I was unsuccessful in both my upset picks, which drops me to 14-19 on the season.

Losses: Tennessee at Indianapolis (upset pick), Kansas City at home against Tampa Bay, Arizona at Minnesota (upset, and I flipped flopped), and Cincinnati vs Buffalo (I was this close to picking Buffalo).

There's a full slate of games this week (bye weeks end next week), including 3 on Thanksgiving

2016 NFL Picks Week 11

I now have 3 winning weeks in a row, after picking 9 of 14 during Week 10. My recent hot streak has seen my overall percentage rise to 56%.  Though they barely won, my POTW was correct (Arizona over San Francisco) which brings me up to 7-3 on the year. I went out on a limb and chose a crazy 5 upset picks... even crazier is that they were all right! With the 5 correct picks last week (Houston, Denver, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, Dallas) I improve to 14-17 this season. Much better than my record the week prior.

Losses: Carolina vs Kansas City, New York Jets vs Los Angeles, Atlanta at Philadelphia, San Diego vs Miami, and New England vs Seattle. I would have needed to pick an absurd 10 upsets last week to be perfect!

Fingers crossed this week to hit double digit wins again:

2016 NFL Picks Week 10

After posting my best mark Week 8, I decided to do even better Week 9. I ended up at 9-4, which raised my overall percentage by 2 points to 55%. My PotW was also correct (Dallas over Cleveland), which improves my record there to 6-3. I whiffed on my upset picks again (really Philly? and Denver), dropping me to a miserable 9-17. That's not 9 FOR 17 by the way, it's 9 AND 17. Ouch.

My only losses were the 2 upset picks I mentioned (Philadelphia at New York Giants and Denver at Oakland), as well as Minnesota losing at home to Detroit, and Green Bay doing the same against Indianapolis. Hoping to make Week 10 my third winning week in a row...

2016 NFL Picks Week 9

Another week, another tie! Of the remaining 12 games I finished with my best week at 8-4, to raise my overall percentage by 1 to 53%. Of course my Pick of the Week (Minnesota) lost, so I wouldn't take my recommendations on that. Once again I went against my "rule" of never picking an away team or a division game. Oops. Now 5-3 for the season. To make things worse I was incorrect in both my upset picks, which drops me to 9-15 (probably my worst mark to date).

Aside from the aforementioned tie between Cincinnati and Washington in London, my losses included Detroit at Houston (upset pick), Seattle at New Orleans, Arizona at Carolina (upset pick), and Minnesota at Chicago. Looks like I should have went with the home teams!

On to Week 9, another shortened schedule due to 6 byes:

2016 NFL Picks Week 8

I just cannot gain any traction this year! I finished Week 7 with 7 wins, 7 losses, and 1 tie. I don't count ties as wins or losses, so think of it as a lost game. That being said, I stay around 52% on the year. My PotW, Atlanta, lost at home (in OT) to San Diego; I'm now 5-2. I didn't fare any better with my upset picks, as I was 1 for 4 (Oakland over Jacksonville) to drop me to 9-13 for the season. Oof.

Minnesota, much to my approval, lost to Philadelphia. Washington was unable to upset Detroit. Buffalo, despite being road favorites, lost to Miami. Tennessee couldn't get a home win against Indianapolis. Baltimore couldn't pull of an upset at the New York Jets. As mentioned earlier Atlanta could not get the home win vs San Diego. Finally, I don't know why I bothered to pick San Francisco with a home upset against Tampa Bay. On to a short Week 8, with only 13 games due to byes:

2016 NFL Picks Week 7

What do you know, a good week! I finished at 9-6, which raised my overall percentage slightly to 52%. Another couple good weeks and I'll be feeling a little better about this year. Though I forgot to add it to last week's post, my Pick of the Week was Buffao which I got correct to improve to 5-1. I was 2 for 4 in upset picks (New Orleans and Jacksonville), which moves me to 8-9 on the year.

The losses started early, as I incorrectly picked Denver to beat San Diego on the road. Pittsburgh were also road favorites, but shit the bed against Miami. I am likely cursed at picking Philadelphia, as they played poorly at Washington. Oakland was unable to pull off the home upset against Kansas City. Green Bay hasn't looked themselves this year, as Dallas came in and beat them easily. Finally, I thought Houston hadn't been playing well so picked them to lose against Indianapolis at home (who was playing better lately), but that didn't happen.

On to Week 7:

2016 NFL Picks Week 6

This year may really be tougher than usual, as I finished Week 5 at 7-7. I still only have 1 week where I picked above .500, as another 6 upsets this week didn't help. My Pick of the Week (Pittsburgh over New York Jets) was correct at least, and I improve to 4-1. I had 3 upset picks last week, and was only correct in picking Dallas over Cincinnati; I dropped to 6-7 for those picks so far this year. Let's recap the losses again as I hope for a better week!

I figured Arizona would be unable to overcome their poor play and injuries to beat San Francisco on the road, but they did. Miami is looking pretty bad this year, as they lost at home to Tennessee. Washington hasn't looked great, but went on the road to beat Baltimore. Philadelphia were favored to win at Detroit, but only played half the game well (and the refs didn't help) en route to their first loss. Denver was also handed their first loss by Atlanta, but they were at home. In a battle of 2 teams that have looked better as of late, Los Angeles was unable to maintain that level of play as Buffalo came in and beat them handily. Finally, Carolina was unable to win their home matchup against Tampa Bay on a last second FG.

2016 NFL Picks Week 5

Either I'm just not as accurate this year, or there's been more upsets than usual... I'd like to go with the latter. I finished Week 4 at 7-8, which means I'm barely above .500 at 32-31. I was correct in my Pick of the Week thanks to some bad calls, but I'll take it (3-1 on the season). I was 1 for 2 in upset picks (Oakland at Baltimore), bringing my season total to 5-5. Statistically speaking I would have been better off picking all upsets, as there were a whopping 8 out of 15 games this week.

The losses for me started early on Sunday morning, with Jacksonville holding of Indianapolis in London. From there, I saw Buffalo shut out New England, Seattle traveling to beat the New York Jets, Carolina coming up short in a high scoring game against Atlanta, Detroit losing on the road to Chicago, San Francisco losing at home to Dallas, San Diego blowing the game against New Orleans, and finally Arizona being upset by Los Angeles.

Maybe Week 5 will be more predictable?

2016 NFL Picks Week 4

Week 3 was so-so for me, as I finished at 8-8 to drop my overall percentage to 52%. I did correctly pick 2 upsets out of 3 (Denver and Atlanta), which brings me to .500 at 4-4. Unfortunately my Pick of the Week, Arizona, shit the bed against Buffalo and lost on the road. I should have listened to my own advice of not picking a road favorite as the PotW, but I didn't. Now 2-1 on the season.

Losses: Houston couldn't even put up a point at New England, Tennessee couldn't win at home against Oakland, as mentioned earlier Arizona lost to Buffalo, Jacksonville couldn't quite pull off the home upset versus Baltimore, the New York Giants lost a back and forth game to road Washington, Minnesota's defense shut down Carolina, Los Angeles finally scored a TD and beat Tampa Bay on the road, and Philadelphia absolutely destroyed Pittsburgh (I'm OK with this incorrect pick).

Week 4 sees the start of the bye weeks:

2016 NFL Picks Week 3

I finished Week 2 at a respectable 10-6. That at least puts me over .500 for the year. I am 2-0 in my Picks of the Week, thanks to Carolina handily defeating San Francisco. I was 1-1 in upset picks (No thanks to Jacksonville, but thanks Philly!), which brings my season total to 2 for 5.

Losses included a Tennessee upset over Detroit, Dallas on the road over Washington, Seattle failing to score a TD in Los Angeles, Oakland being upset at home by Atlanta, and Jacksonville and Green Bay unable to pull off road wins at San Diego and Minnesota respectively.

Week 3 picks ahead!

2016 NFL Picks Week 2

Making picks for Week 1 of any season is difficult (with so much about the teams unknown), but it proved especially hard in 2016. Most of the games were basically coin tosses in my opinion, and even the "easy" picks barely panned out. Brutal. Hopefully Week 2 will be a bit easier.

2016 NFL Picks Week 1

I'm back with what will be my fifth (!) year of NFL picks. I ended up picking nearly 63% of last year's games correctly, down a bit from 68% in 2014. Click the "NFL Picks" tag below to see my past picks. I'll once again attempt to pick at 70% or better this year...

I had a great playoff run last season, finishing 9-2 (82%) despite an incorrect Super Bowl 50 pick. It was my best playoffs in terms of correct predictions, though there is still room for improvement.

For those new to my picks, or those that need a refresher:

• Winners will be bolded
• Upsets will be italicized
• *Pick of the Week* will be offset by asterisks
• Picks will be made straight up, though upsets are determined by the spread
• Upsets determined from SportsLine

On to the Week 1 picks for the 2016 NFL season!

Thursday, 8:30pm

Carolina Panthers at Denver Broncos

Sunday, 1pm

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons

Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans

Cleveland Browns at Philadelphia Eagles

Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets

Oakland Raiders at New Orleans Saints

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears at Houston Texans

Green Bay Packers at Jacksonville Jaguars

Sunday, 4pm

Miami Dolphins at *Seattle Seahawks*

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions at Indianapolis Colts

Sunday, 8:30pm

New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals

Monday Night Football

Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins (7:10pm)

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (10:20pm)

Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd remake a Styx music video shot for shot

And when I say shot for shot, I mean it. In all its cheesy 80s glory, Fallon and Rudd perfectly capture "Too Much Time on My Hands" from Styx. The worst part is that they only cover the first half of the song.

Watch it here.

Here's the original for comparison.

ECTO COOLER IS COMING BACK!

Call me nostalgic, but I had to break my non-posting slump for this.



Hi-C is bringing back Ecto Cooler, the amazing Ghostbusters themed citrus flavored/green colored drink. It last debuted in 1987 and was discontinued in 2001; since then it has seen many people attempting to replicate the elixir (pretty sure I've posted a recipe on here).

It will come back on May 30th to promote the new Ghostbusters movie, and you can follow the action at Ecto.cool before it is released. Apparently the cans will be similar to Coors Light's blue Rocky Mountains, and slime will turn green when cold.

Via

The Walking Dead Season 6 Part 1: A Look Back and A Look Ahead

I've been politely asked about a dozen times (you know who you are) to do a post on the latest season of AMC's The Walking Dead. I initially couldn't think of a good idea, but eventually decided to write about the first half of season 6. I've read all the comics to date (they are at issue #151), and I feel that I can apply that knowledge to what may or may not happen in the second half of season 6. Let's start with a look back at the first half:

Super Bowl L Pick

Yes, I'm still calling it Super Bowl L and ignoring the fact they're now calling it Super Bowl 50. So, Super Bowl Large it is! Like the last 2 games, this one comes down to the #1 seeds with the Carolina Panthers representing the NFC and the Denver Broncos representing the AFC. The game will be played in San Francisco this year.

After last week's Conference Championships, I solidified my best playoff record thus far. I did so by correctly picking Denver to upset New England, and Carolina to take care of Arizona. That makes me 9-1 overall, and 2-1 in playoff upset picks. Denver is a 5.5 point underdog on game day, and I'd bet on them with that spread. But will I pick them straight up?

2015 NFL Picks for Conference Championships

I was close to staying perfect for the playoffs, but got fancy and picked Kansas City to upset New England. Still, I went 3-1 during the Divisional Round, improving my playoff record to 7-1 (1-1 upsets). I'm on pace for my best playoff record thus far, which would best last year's 8-3. On to the Conference Championship picks!

2015 NFL Picks for Divisional Round

Sorry this is late, but I was in Mexico and then moving. Sue me! A more in depth post should be coming soon, but I was 4-0 last week for the first time ever.

I picked all the away teams for Wild Card Weekend, of which only one (Green Bay) was an upset. It paid off though, as all 4 picks resulted in wins. Let's see if I can keep this going:

Saturday
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals
Sunday
Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers
Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

Upset pick as of 1/16 4:25pm

Previous Results
Week 1: 10-6
Week 2: 7-9
Week 3: 12-4
Week 4: 11-4
Week 5: 9-5
Week 6: 11-3
Week 7: 8-6
Week 8: 9-5
Week 9: 9-4
Week 10: 7-7
Week 11: 9-5
Week 12: 10-6
Week 13: 10-6
Week 14: 10-6
Week 15: 11-5
Week 16: 10-6
Week 17: 8-8
Season: 161-95 (62.9%)

Wild Card: 4-0
Playoffs: 4-0 (100%)

2015 NFL Picks for Wild Card Weekend

The 2015 NFL regular season has come to a close, but that doesn't stop me from continuing my picks throughout the playoffs. As for the regular season, I finished at 62.9% overall by correctly picking 161 of 256 games. Week 17 was one of my worst, as I finished 8-8 (7 of the losses were upsets). I did manage to pick 1 of 2 upsets correctly (Washington at Dallas) to finish the season at 20-17 (best record in that regard). Denver came through as my PotW, and I'll end with a record of 12-5.

Lots of losses this week, with most of them being upsets: NYJ losing at Buffalo, New England losing at Miami, Atlanta losing at home to New Orleans, NYG losing at home to Philadelphia, St. Louis losing at San Francisco, Arizona losing at home to Seattle, and Green Bay losing the division title at home against Minnesota. The only exception was Chicago not upsetting Detroit at home.

2015 NFL Picks Week 17

After the completion of today's games, the 2015 NFL season will have reached its conclusion. But how did I do last week? After going 11-5 two weeks ago to break my streak of 10-6 weeks, I went right back to going 10-6. That basically leaves me around 63% for the year. I lost yet another PotW, as Pittsburgh was unable to beat lowly Baltimore (shame on me for going against my rule of never picking a road team). That puts me at 11-5 on the season, which is terrible in my book. I was 2 for 3 in upset picks (correct on Washington and Indianapolis, wrong on Jacksonville), which puts me at 19-16 for the year. Another win this week would see me breaking 20 for the first time.

Losses: Tampa Bay, Carolina, New England, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Seattle