2017 NFL Picks Week 8

Week 8 was a return to form for me, as I finished 11-4 after going 6-8 the previous 2 weeks. It raised by overall percentage by 1.5%, from 61.5% to 63%. I initially thought last week's games were going to be tough to pick, but I guess I made mostly correct choices. Miami barely pulled through as my PotW, improving to 5-2 on the year. I only had 1 upset pick and it was wrong, which puts me at 13-7 this season.

Losses were Kansas City losing at the last second to Oakland on Thursday, Carolina doing the "bear" minimum at Chicago, Green Bay missing Rodgers at home against New Orleans, and Denver getting shut out at the Los Angeles Chargers.

I like it when recapping the losses is short, so on to Week 8 where the list of games will be short:

2017 NFL Picks Week 7

Well crap. Week 6 saw me pick at 6-8 for the second consecutive week, which drops my overall percentage from 65% to 61.5%. Denver somehow lost to the winless New York Giants, so I drop to 4-2 for Picks of the Week. I did manage to correctly predict my only upset pick, as I improve to 13-6 on the year.

Losses included Carolina at home against Philadelphia (always glad to be wrong about picking the Eagles to lose), Atlanta blowing the game against Miami, Green Bay losing the game (and Rodgers) at Minnesota, Baltimore losing a home game to Chicago, Jacksonville and Kansas City doing the same against the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh respectively, Oakland losing a pick 'em game to the Los Angeles Chargers, and finally Denver losing in a huge upset to the New York Giants.

Here's to hoping this week is lucky number 7:

2017 NFL Picks Week 6

I knew it wouldn't be easy picking in Week 5, but I was hoping to do better than 6-8. Lot's of interesting games, as most of the teams still seem to be finding their identities more that a quarter into the season. Regardless, I saw my overall percentage drop from ~70% to 65% with that mark. I really didn't feel comfortable with any team as my PotW, but the Eagles proved me right with the largest margin of victory (27) over Arizona. I am 4-1 for Picks of the Week. I fared worse in upset picks, only correctly picking 2 of 5 (Seattle, Green Bay) to bring my season record to 12-6.

6 of my 8 losses were by 6 points or less, and for that matter 5 of my 6 wins were by 8 points or less. Incorrect picks were Tampa Bay as home underdogs over New England, the winless Giants at home against the (then) winless Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo (upset pick) over Cincinnati, Cleveland (home underdogs) over the New York Jets, Pittsburgh getting smoked by Jacksonville at home, Tennessee over Miami, Detroit at home against Carolina, and Oakland over Baltimore.

Week 6 begins with an excellent Thursday matchup of two 4-1 NFC teams:

2017 NFL Picks Week 5

With the completion of Week 4 comes Week 5, and the start of the NFL bye weeks. I finished the first quarter of the season with a 10-6 week, which puts me right around my target of 70% (69.8%). Atlanta lost to Buffalo for my PotW, which drops me to 3-1. I fared better in upset picks though, going 3 for 5 to bring my season total to 10-3. If you have been following my picks the last few years, you know I'm generally terrible picking the Eagles. However, this year I am 4 for 4 with correct picks, so I got that going for me which is nice.

Incorrect picks were Miami over New Orleans in London, New England at home against Carolina, Dallas at home against the Los Angeles Rams, road favorite Jacksonville at the New York Jets, home underdogs Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh, and as mentioned above Atlanta at home against (real deal?) Buffalo.

Week 5 picks below, with the rest coming by kickoff on Sunday: