Week 11 NFL Picks

KNOCKOUT POOL/ESPN.com ELIMINATOR CHALLENGE

Our 10^th pick in our Knockout Pool was Pittsburgh last Monday night against Kansas City.  It should have been easy, but it was most definitely not.  Kansas City dragged Pittsburgh into overtime, but the Steelers survived and so did we.

This week’s pick: Dallas defeating Cleveland

Dallas has been playing well lately and the Cowboys look to be the main challenger to the Giants for the NFC East division title.  Cleveland has been as weak as Kansas City this season and it will be the wrong time to face Dallas.  Tony Romo has been very successful in November and I think it will continue at home against a weaker club.

PAST PICKS

Week 1: Houston (W vs. MIA)

Week 2: N.Y. Giants (W vs. TBY)

Week 3: Chicago (W vs. STL)

Week 4: Baltimore (W vs. CLE)

Week 5: San Francisco (W vs. BUF)

Week 6: N.Y. Jets (W vs. IND)

Week 7: Minnesota (W vs. ARZ)

Week 8: Green Bay (W vs. JAX)

Week 9: Seattle (W vs. MIN)

Week 10: Pittsburgh (W vs. KCY)

GAME PICKS/ESPN.com PIGSKIN PICK ‘EM

Here are the game picks for this week.  We also have a “Sports With the StatMan” entry in the ESPN.com Pigskin Pick ‘Em for games against the spread.  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.  Here they are:

LOCAL GAMES

Last Week: 3-1 straight up, 1-3 against the spread

Season: 23-12 straight up, 18-16-1 against the spread

Week 11 Picks:

Indianapolis at New England – Straight Up: NE, Against the Spread: NE (-9.5)

N.Y. Jets at St. Louis – Straight Up: STL, Against the Spread: STL (-3.5)

Philadelphia at Washington – Straight Up: WSH, Against the Spread: WSH (-3.5)

Bye week: N.Y. Giants

BIG GAMES

Last Week: 1-2 straight up, 1-2 against the spread

Season: 25-6 straight up, 17-14 against the spread

Week 11 Picks:

Green Bay at Detroit – Straight Up: GBY, Against the Spread: GBY (-3.5)

Baltimore at Pittsburgh – Straight Up: BAL, Against the Spread: BAL (+3.5)

Chicago at San Francisco – Straight Up: CHI, Against the Spread: CHI (+4.5)

OTHER GAMES

Last Week: 5-2 straight up, 5-2 against the spread

Season: 49-31 straight up, 41-39 against the spread

Week 11 Picks:

Miami at Buffalo – Straight Up: BUF, Against the Spread: BUF (-1.5)

Arizona at Atlanta – Straight Up: ATL, Against the Spread: ATL (-9.5)

Cleveland at Dallas – Straight Up: DAL, Against the Spread: DAL (-7.5)

Cincinnati at Kansas City – Straight Up: CIN, Against the Spread: CIN (-3.5)

Tampa Bay at Carolina – Straight Up: TBY, Against the Spread: TBY (-1.5)

Jacksonville at Houston – Straight Up: HOU, Against the Spread: HOU (-15.5)

New Orleans at Oakland – Straight Up: NO, Against the Spread: NO (-4.5)

San Diego at Denver – Straight Up: DEN, Against the Spread: SDG (+7.5)

START ‘EM/ANTI-START ‘EM/ESPN.com GRIDIRON CHALLENGE

We are participating in the ESPN Gridiron Challenge on ESPN.com.  The object is to pick the best team possible with a $50 million salary cap.  However, we are adding 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.

So far this season, my nine-man squad is 4-5-1 against a comparable squad:

Week 1: Head-to-Head – L, 107-124; By Position – 2-6-1

Week 2: Head-to-Head – L, 73-98; By Position – 3-6

Week 3: Head-to-Head – L, 103-139; By Position – 3-6

Week 4: Head-to-Head – L, 105-118; By Position – 4-5

Week 5: Head-to-Head – W, 110-56; By Position – 7-2

Week 6: Head-to-Head – L, 98-127; By Position – 2-6-1

Week 7: Head-to-Head – W, 119-80; By Position – 6-3

Week 8: Head-to-Head – T, 75-75; By Position – 3-5-1

Week 9: Head-to-Head – W, 138-105; By Position – 4-4-1

Week 10: Head-to-Head – W, 145-43; By Position – 9-0

TOTALS: W-L: 4-5-1, PF: 1073, PA: 955, By Position: 43-43-4

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	POS	Anti-Start ‘Em Team
Andrew Luck IND ($6.9)	QB	Joe Flacco BAL ($6.1)
Sam Bradford STL ($5.8)	QB	Philip Rivers SDG ($6.1)
Steven Jackson STL ($6.5)	RB	Matt Forte CHI ($7.2)
Mark Ingram NO ($4.4)	RB	Isaac Redman PIT ($6.3)
Randall Cobb GBY ($6.4)	WR	Demaryius Thomas DEN ($7.2)
Dez Bryant DAL ($6.1)	WR	Danario Alexander SDG ($4.2)
Dustin Keller NYJ ($4.9)	TE	Dwayne Allen IND ($4.6)
Greg Zuerlein STL ($3.8)	K	Garrett Hartley NO ($3.9)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers TBY ($4.8)	DEF	Indianapolis Colts IND ($4.0)
$49.6 million	TOTAL	$49.6 million

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.