NFL 2013: Week 4 Picks

Mediocrity reigned in the StatMan picks last week with a 7-9 showing against the spread and straight up.  We balanced a loss in the Knockout Pool with a win in the Start ‘Em/Anti-Start ‘Em Challenge.

You have heard some of our picks on the Sports With The StatMan Saturday morning show, “This Week in Fantasy Sports”, but here are all of our picks for the week.

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:

Game	Goal	Where to Play	Group to Join
Eliminator Challenge	Pick 1 winner per week, no repeat picks (a.k.a. Knockout Pool)	ESPN.com	Sports With The StatMan
Pigskin Pick’Em (Straight Up)	Pick a winner for each game, every week	ESPN.com	Sports w/the StatMan-Str
Pigskin Pick’Em (Against the Spread)	Pick a winner against the point spread for each game, every week	ESPN.com	Sports w/the StatMan-ATS
NFL Gridiron Challenge	Pick a team of players with a $50 million salary cap	ESPN.com	Sports With The StatMan

KNOCKOUT POOL/ESPN.com ELIMINATOR CHALLENGE

Week 3 provided my second Knockout loss of the season, as Cleveland turned a negative into a positive.  After Brandon Weeden was hurt and Trent Richardson was traded, there was not much hope for the Browns.  But, former Patriot backup Brian Hoyer did a fantastic job throwing for three scores and leading the Browns to a 31-27 victory in Minnesota.

This week’s pick: Indianapolis defeating Jacksonville

Yes, I am picking another road team in the Knockout Pool.  Out of all of the games this week, the Broncos probably have a higher certainty of winning their game this week, but we will need Denver later on in the season, though at this point, needing a team for a Knockout Pool when you have a 1-2 record is debatable.  Indianapolis did a fantastic job on the road in San Francisco and the only way they do not win this one is if they overlook the Jags or, you know, if the bus doesn’t show up.

PAST PICKS

Week 1: Tampa Bay (L at NYJ)

Week 2: Cincinnati (W vs PIT)

Week 3: Minnesota (L vs CLE)

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 pick 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.

LOCAL GAMES

RESULTS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason Pick
SEASON	4-7	1-10	5-6
LAST WEEK (Week 3)	1-3	0-4	1-3
WEEK 4 LOCAL GAME PICKS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason Pick
N.Y. Giants at Kansas City (Sunday 1pm)	NYG	NYG (+4.5)	NYG
N.Y. Jets at Tennessee (Sunday 4pm)	TEN	NYJ (+3.5)	TEN
Philadelphia at Denver (Sunday 4pm)	DEN	DEN (-11.5)	DEN
New England at Atlanta (Sunday night)	ATL	ATL (-1.5)	ATL

BIG GAMES

RESULTS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason Pick
SEASON	3-6	4-5	4-5
LAST WEEK (Week 3)	0-3	1-2	1-2
WEEK 4 BIG GAME PICKS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason Pick
Chicago at Detroit (Sunday 1pm)	CHI	CHI (+2.5)	CHI
Seattle at Houston (Sunday 1pm)	SEA	SEA (-2.5)	HOU
Miami at New Orleans (Monday night)	NO	NO (-6.5)	NO

OTHER GAMES

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason Pick
SEASON	21-8	17-12	22-7
LAST WEEK (Week 3)	7-3	7-3	8-2
WEEK 4 OTHER GAME PICKS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason Pick
San Francisco at St. Louis (Thursday night)	SFO	SFO	SFO
Baltimore at Buffalo (Sunday 1pm)	BAL	BAL	BAL
Cincinnati at Cleveland (Sunday 1pm)	CIN	CIN	CLE
Indianapolis at Jacksonville (Sunday 1pm)	IND	IND	IND
Pittsburgh at Minnesota (Sunday 1pm)	PIT	PIT	PIT
Arizona at Tampa Bay (Sunday 1pm)	ARZ	ARZ	TBY
Dallas at San Diego (Sunday 4pm)	DAL	DAL	DAL
Washington at Oakland (Sunday 4pm)	WSH	WSH	WSH

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.

Our first win happened in Week 3, with a convincing 114-95 win of our Start ‘Em team against the Anti-Start ‘Em team, winning six of the nine positions.  We will try to make it two in a row this week.  Holding on to players helps in the Gridiron Challenge by adding to how much money you have, but in our challenge, the Anti-Start ‘Em squad also has as much money to spend, so that could backfire.

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

SEASON: 1-2 W-L, 300 PF, 348 PA, 11-15-1 by position

Here is the Week 4 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
Michael Vick PHL ($6.4)	QB	Robert Griffin III WSH ($6.5)
Alex Smith KCY ($5.5)	QB	Andy Dalton CIN ($5.7)
Doug Martin TBY ($6.4)	RB	LeSean McCoy PHL ($6.6)
Trent Richardson IND ($5.9)	RB	Chris Johnson TEN ($5.8)
Brandon Marshall CHI ($6.1)	WR	Vincent Jackson TBY ($5.7)
Antonio Brown PIT ($5.5)	WR	Steve Johnson BUF ($5.6)
Jimmy Graham NO ($6.3)	TE	Jason Witten DAL ($5.7)
Dan Bailey DAL ($4.6)	K	Sebastian Janikowski OAK ($4.4)
Arizona Cardinals ARZ ($4.4)	DEF	Miami Dolphins MIA ($5.1)
$51.1 million	TOTAL	$51.1 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.