I can't pick football
In the interest of a) proving that I'm still alive, and b) proving how little I really know about football, I'm publishing the picks I had made for this season* and comparing them to how things actually happened. I even came up with a little scoring system: 2 points for a correct division champion, 1 point for any other correct pick, 0 for an incorrect pick, -2 for any first place pick that finished last or vice versa. A perfect score would be 40 points. (16 for the division champs, 24 for the remaining teams.)
AFC South: 5 Points
My Picks: Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston
Actual: Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston
Dead on. Houston made it far more interesting this season, but this has been a familiar pattern for a few years now. It's really a matter of figuring out if the Titans can pass the Jaguars in any given year.
AFC East: 3 Points
My Picks: New England, NY Jets, Buffalo, Miami
Actual: New England, Buffalo, NY Jets, Miami
Yeah, everybody knew that the Patriots would be good and the Dolphins would be bad. But 16-0 and 1-15?
AFC West: 3 Points
My Picks: San Diego, Denver, Kansas City, Oakland
Actual: San Diego, Denver, Oakland, Kansas City
Paging Herm Edwards. Herm Edwards, please pick up the white courtesy phone.
AFC North: 2 Points
My Picks: Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Cleveland
Actual: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore
My faith in Mike Tomlin was well placed. But how did Derek Anderson and Carson Palmer switch brains? Oh, and Brian Billick? Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!
NFC South: 2 Points
My Picks: New Orleans, Carolina, Tampa, Atlanta
Actual: Tampa, Carolina, New Orleans, Atlanta
Deuce McAllister's injury derailed the Saints, while Jeff Garcia became the second coming of Trent Dilfer, only with a much hotter wife.
NFC West: 0 Points
My Picks: San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Arizona
Actual: Seattle, Arizona, San Francisco, St. Louis
Yes, I fell for the Frank Gore hype. Alex Smith, however, is in the wrong offense.
NFC East: -1 Point
My Picks: Philadelphia, NY Giants, Dallas, Washington
Actual: Dallas, NY Giants, Washington, Philadelphia
But wait, it gets worse...
NFC North: -4 Points
My Picks: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Green Bay
Actual: Green Bay, Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago
Backwards. Exactly, perfectly backwards.
Final Score: 10/40 (.250)
I really need to study the NFC better.
*: The picks were made in comments on each Deadspin division preview post. You can look them up. Or you could just take it on faith that I wouldn't falsify picks this awful.
