Pick'em Mode
Week 2Always-favourite (baseline)
Uses XGBoost model predictions for close games, Vegas favorites for lopsided matchups. Benchmark: always picking the Vegas favorite scores 72.4% of maximum confidence points (66.4% straight up) across 2018-2025.
58
Points Earned
136
Points Possible
42.6%
Percentage
7-9
Record
0
Pending
| Pts | Matchup | Spread | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 |
 LV
@
 BAL
|
LV -9.0
Clear favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
26 - 23
|
| 15 |
 BUF
@
 MIA
|
MIA -7.5
Clear favorite
|
Correct
+15 pts
31 - 10
|
| 14 |
 CLE
@
 JAX
|
CLE -7.5
Clear favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
18 - 13
|
| 13 |
 NO
@
 DAL
|
NO -6.5
Moderate favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
44 - 19
|
| 12 |
 CIN
@
 KC
|
CIN -6.5
Moderate favorite
|
Correct
+12 pts
25 - 26
|
| 11 |
 CHI
@
 HOU
|
CHI -6.0
Moderate favorite
|
Correct
+11 pts
13 - 19
|
| 10 |
 ATL
@
 PHI
|
ATL -5.5
Moderate favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
22 - 21
|
| 9 |
 LAC
@
 CAR
|
CAR -5.0
Moderate favorite
|
Correct
+9 pts
26 - 3
|
| 8 |
 TB
@
 DET
|
TB -4.5
Moderate favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
20 - 16
|
| 7 |
 SF
@
 MIN
|
MIN -4.5
Moderate favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
17 - 23
|
| 6 |
 SEA
@
 NE
|
NE -3.5
Slight favorite
|
Correct
+6 pts
23 - 20
|
| 5 |
 IND
@
 GB
|
GB -3.0
Slight favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
10 - 16
|
| 4 |
 NYJ
@
 TEN
|
NYJ -3.0
Slight favorite
|
Wrong
+0 pts
24 - 17
|
| 3 |
 PIT
@
 DEN
|
DEN -3.0
Slight favorite
|
Correct
+3 pts
13 - 6
|
| 2 |
 NYG
@
 WAS
|
NYG -2.5
Slight favorite
|
Correct
+2 pts
18 - 21
|
| 1 |
 LA
@
 ARI
|
ARI -1.5
Toss-up
|
Wrong
+0 pts
10 - 41
|
How Pick'em Scoring Works
- Pick the Winner: For each game, pick which team will win straight-up (no spread).
- Rank by Confidence: Assign confidence rankings 1-16 to each pick.
1= least confident,16= most confident. - Earn Points: If your pick is correct, you earn points equal to your confidence ranking.
- Strategy: This page uses the Optimized Hybrid strategy:
- Close games (spread < 3 pts): Trust the XGBoost model predictions
- Lopsided games (spread ≥ 3 pts): Trust the Vegas favorite
- Backtest Result: This hybrid strategy scores ~73.8% of maximum possible points over 7 years (2018-2024), outperforming "always favorite" by +1.3 percentage points.