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