Going for Two: Week Thirteen Lackluster Performances

Houston, Minnesota, Atlanta, Indianapolis, New England, and my calculations were all poor performers this week. At best, most of my calculations, including the Mid-Season, will get 63% while Points and my Gut picks get 75%, and actually, that's not very bad. However, the NFL Power Ranking benchmark is at 69% and the Football Locks benchmark is looking at a stunning 88%, which is the highest one-week percentage of any predictions I'm tracking.

No one predicted Chicago or New England's losses, with the exception of my Ideal picks, but Football Locks knew more about Tennessee, while they and my Gut were right about Buffalo and Seattle. Interesting, and frankly, surprising that the Patriots followed suit with the other undefeated teams starting with the Packers of being unable to lose just one game and bounce back. That thing I said about losses being absolutely detrimental certainly rang true for the Packers, Denver, Cincinnati, and now New England. The Panthers better hope that their first loss doesn't happen in Week 17.

As for my picks, I waffled earlier today about the Sunday Night Game, but came back to predicting a Steelers win. The Packers might be able to come back from a 20 point deficit, but the Colts won't be overcoming their 25 point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. I'm unlikely to watch tomorrow's game even though I've heard a lot about this Cousins guy and wouldn't mind seeing Dallas lose. I just can't stomach that logo or tolerate hearing that racial slur for three or more hours. I'm glad to hear fewer mentions of the mascot on TV, and no one seems to be touting this upcoming game as "Cowboys and Indians", thank goodness. Still, it's time to change the name.