We said goodbye to our six-game Knockout Pool streak in Week
10, but we were great in picking the local games and the biggest games on the
schedule. Against the spread, we were a
perfect 5-0 in picking the two local games and the three big games, while we
were 4-1 straight up. Our “Start ‘Em”
team went on to its fourth win in a row against the “Anti-Start” team, which
pushed our record to 6-4 on the season.
JOIN US!
It is never too late to join and see how you measure up
against me and other listeners who participate.
You can enter your picks and join the groups I created for the
show. The winner will be touted on the Saturday
show and, if you top the charts, you could even call in to give me your
picks! Here is how:
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Game
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Goal
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Where to Play
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Group to Join
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Eliminator Challenge
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Pick 1 winner per week, no
repeat picks (a.k.a. Knockout Pool)
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Pigskin Pick’Em (Straight Up)
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Pick a winner for each game,
every week
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Pigskin Pick’Em (Against the
Spread)
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Pick a winner against the point
spread for each game, every week
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NFL Gridiron Challenge
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Pick a team of players with a
$50 million salary cap
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KNOCKOUT POOL/ESPN.com ELIMINATOR CHALLENGE
Our six-game winning streak in the Knockout Pool is over and
spoiled by a team that helped us more than any other team to put together that
streak: Jacksonville. The Jaguars earned
their first win of the season and it was on the road against Tennessee. We are now 7-3 in Knockout Pool picks.
This week’s pick: N.Y.
Giants defeating Green Bay
This would be laughable a few weeks ago, when the Giants
were winless and the Packers had Aaron Rodgers as their starting
quarterback. But, times have
changed. Also, the Giants have shown a
proclivity for beating teams with backup quarterbacks (see: Vikings, Eagles)
and bad quarterbacks (see: Raiders). The
Packers are on their third starting quarterback in as many weeks with Scott
Tolzien taking over this week. I am
taking the Giants to help me get back on the winning track.
PAST PICKS
Week 1: Tampa Bay (L at NYJ)
Week 2: Cincinnati (W vs. PIT)
Week 3: Minnesota (L vs. CLE)
Week 4: Indianapolis (W at JAX)
Week 5: St. Louis (W vs. JAX)
Week 6: Denver (W vs. JAX)
Week 7: Green Bay (W vs. CLE)
Week 8: New Orleans (W vs. BUF)
Week 9: Seattle (W vs. TBY)
Week 10: Tennessee (L vs. JAX)
GAME PICKS/ESPN.com PIGSKIN PICK ‘EM
Here are the game picks for this week. We talk about the local games and the three
of the other most important games, our “Big Games”, on our weekly This Week in
Fantasy Sports segment on Saturdays, but we pick every game, every week here on
the blog. New this year is the listing
of our Preseason picks we made for our NFL Preview series on the show. This will give you an idea on what I thought
of each team before the season and what I am thinking of each team during the
season.
ALL GAMES
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RESULTS
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Straight Up
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Against the Spread
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Preseason SU
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SEASON
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86-61 (.585)
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62-85 (.422)
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84-63 (.571)
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LAST WEEK (Week 10)
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8-6
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9-5
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8-6
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LOCAL GAMES
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RESULTS
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Straight Up
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Against the Spread
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Preseason SU
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SEASON
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16-17
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10-23
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16-17
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LAST WEEK (Week 10)
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2-0
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2-0
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1-1
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WEEK 11 LOCAL GAME PICKS
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Straight Up
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Against the Spread
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Preseason SU
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N.Y. Jets at Buffalo (Sunday
1pm)
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NYJ
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NYJ (+1.5)
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BUF
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Washington at Philadelphia
(Sunday 1pm)
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PHL
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PHL (-3.5)
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WSH
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Green Bay at N.Y. Giants
(Sunday 4pm)
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NYG
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NYG (-6.5)
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NYG
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New England at Carolina (Monday
night)
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CAR
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CAR (-2.5)
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NE
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BIG GAMES
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RESULTS
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Straight Up
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Against the Spread
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Preseason SU
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SEASON
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15-15
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15-15
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14-16
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LAST WEEK (Week 10)
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2-1
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3-0
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2-1
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WEEK 11 BIG GAME PICKS
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Straight Up
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Against the Spread
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Preseason SU
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Baltimore at Chicago (Sunday
1pm)
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CHI
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BAL (+2.5)
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CHI
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San Francisco at New Orleans
(Sunday 4pm)
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NO
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NO (-3.5)
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NO
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Kansas City at Denver (Sunday
night)
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DEN
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KCY (+8.5)
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DEN
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OTHER GAMES
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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
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Straight Up
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Against the Spread
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Preseason SU
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SEASON
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55-29
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37-47
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54-30
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LAST WEEK (Week 10)
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4-5
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4-5
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5-4
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WEEK 11 OTHER GAME PICKS
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Straight Up
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Against the Spread
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Preseason SU
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Indianapolis at Tennessee
(Thursday night)
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IND
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IND (-3.5)
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IND
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Cleveland at Cincinnati (Sunday
1pm)
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CIN
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CLE (+6.5)
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CIN
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Atlanta at Tampa Bay (Sunday
1pm)
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TBY
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TBY (+1.5)
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TBY
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Arizona at Jacksonville (Sunday
1pm)
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ARZ
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ARZ (-6.5)
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JAX
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Oakland at Houston (Sunday 1pm)
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HOU
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HOU (-6.5)
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HOU
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Detroit at Pittsburgh (Sunday
1pm)
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DET
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DET (-2.5)
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PIT
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San Diego at Miami (Sunday 4pm)
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SDG
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SDG (-1.5)
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MIA
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Minnesota at Seattle (Sunday
4pm)
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SEA
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SEA (-13.5)
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SEA
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START ‘EM/ANTI-START ‘EM/ESPN.com GRIDIRON CHALLENGE
We are participating in the ESPN Gridiron Challenge on
ESPN.com again this season. The object
is to pick the best team possible with a $50 million salary cap. The salary cap moves up if the value of your
players increases. However, we have added
another wrinkle. The object of the
ESPN.com is to buy low and sell high and the more you accomplish that, the more
money you get in your salary cap. My
goal is to put together a nine-man unit (2 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF)
that is better than another nine-man unit at a similar price.
This was as dominating a win as we have had all season in
Week 10, as the Start ‘Em team won, 119-61.
Even though the positional matchups was only won by a 6-3 count, the
three losses were very close. Case
Keenum outdueled our Carson Palmer, 20-18, Torrey Smith edged our Jordy Nelson,
8-5, and neither their Greg Olsen or our Vernon Davis was startable in Week 10,
as we lost that matchup, 2-1. Demaryius
Thomas (28 points) and Russell Wilson (27) led the way for the Start ‘Ems, and
Pierre Thomas (20) made it a trio of 20-point scorers. The Anti-Start ‘Ems Keenum was the only
20-point producer for the losers.
WEEK 1:
Head-to-Head – L, 100-137; By Position: 2-7
WEEK 2:
Head-to-Head – L, 86-116; By Position: 3-5-1
WEEK 3: Head-to-Head – W, 114-95; By Position: 6-3
WEEK 3: Head-to-Head – W, 114-95; By Position: 6-3
WEEK 4:
Head-to-Head – W, 118-48; By Position: 7-2
WEEK 5:
Head-to-Head – L, 116-128; By Position: 6-2-1
WEEK 6:
Head-to-Head – L, 81-102; By Position: 4-5
WEEK 7:
Head-to-Head – W, 125-94; By Position: 5-3-1
WEEK 8:
Head-to-Head – W, 117-86; By Position: 5-4
WEEK 9:
Head-to-Head – W, 181-165; By Position: 5-2-2
WEEK 10:
Head-to-Head – W, 119-61; By Position: 6-3
SEASON: 6-4 W-L (.556), 1157 PF, 1032 PA
(52.9% of points), 49-36-5 by position (.562)
Here is the Week 11 entry in the Gridrion Challenge, our
“Start ‘Em” team, along with our comparable “Anti-Start ‘Em” team, which is our
“opponent” for the week.
(all dollar figures in millions)
Start ‘Em Team
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POS
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Anti-Start ‘Em Team
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Russell Wilson SEA ($6.5)
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QB
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Colin Kaepernick SFO ($6)
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Carson Palmer ARZ ($5.5)
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QB
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Alex Smith KCY ($5.2)
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Marshawn Lynch SEA ($7.2)
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RB
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LeSean McCoy PHL ($7.4)
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Danny Woodhead SDG ($5.7)
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RB
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Stevan Ridley NE ($6.4)
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Victor Cruz NYG ($5.9)
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WR
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Eric Decker DEN ($6.1)
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Marques Colston NO ($5.3)
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WR
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Hakeem Nicks NYG ($5.4)
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Julius Thomas DEN ($6.4)
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TE
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Vernon Davis SFO ($6.2)
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Stephen Gostkowski NE ($5.4)
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K
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Mason Crosby GBY ($5.1)
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Houston Texans HOU ($4.0)
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DEF
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Minnesota Vikings MIN ($4.1)
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$51.9 million
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TOTAL
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$51.9 million
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Catch me on "Sports With The
StatMan" on Wednesdays at
11pm ET and Saturdays at 11am ET. We'll break down these picks and look ahead
to next week on our This Week in Fantasy Sports segment, Saturday morning at
11am ET.
