NFL 2013: Week 11 Picks

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:

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

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

RESULTS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason SU
SEASON	86-61 (.585)	62-85 (.422)	84-63 (.571)
LAST WEEK (Week 10)	8-6	9-5	8-6

LOCAL GAMES

RESULTS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason SU
SEASON	16-17	10-23	16-17
LAST WEEK (Week 10)	2-0	2-0	1-1
WEEK 11 LOCAL GAME PICKS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason SU
N.Y. Jets at Buffalo (Sunday 1pm)	NYJ	NYJ (+1.5)	BUF
Washington at Philadelphia (Sunday 1pm)	PHL	PHL (-3.5)	WSH
Green Bay at N.Y. Giants (Sunday 4pm)	NYG	NYG (-6.5)	NYG
New England at Carolina (Monday night)	CAR	CAR (-2.5)	NE

BIG GAMES

RESULTS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason SU
SEASON	15-15	15-15	14-16
LAST WEEK (Week 10)	2-1	3-0	2-1
WEEK 11 BIG GAME PICKS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason SU
Baltimore at Chicago (Sunday 1pm)	CHI	BAL (+2.5)	CHI
San Francisco at New Orleans (Sunday 4pm)	NO	NO (-3.5)	NO
Kansas City at Denver (Sunday night)	DEN	KCY (+8.5)	DEN

OTHER GAMES

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason SU
SEASON	55-29	37-47	54-30
LAST WEEK (Week 10)	4-5	4-5	5-4
WEEK 11 OTHER GAME PICKS	Straight Up	Against the Spread	Preseason SU
Indianapolis at Tennessee (Thursday night)	IND	IND (-3.5)	IND
Cleveland at Cincinnati (Sunday 1pm)	CIN	CLE (+6.5)	CIN
Atlanta at Tampa Bay (Sunday 1pm)	TBY	TBY (+1.5)	TBY
Arizona at Jacksonville (Sunday 1pm)	ARZ	ARZ (-6.5)	JAX
Oakland at Houston (Sunday 1pm)	HOU	HOU (-6.5)	HOU
Detroit at Pittsburgh (Sunday 1pm)	DET	DET (-2.5)	PIT
San Diego at Miami (Sunday 4pm)	SDG	SDG (-1.5)	MIA
Minnesota at Seattle (Sunday 4pm)	SEA	SEA (-13.5)	SEA

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 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	POS	Anti-Start ‘Em Team
Russell Wilson SEA ($6.5)	QB	Colin Kaepernick SFO ($6)
Carson Palmer ARZ ($5.5)	QB	Alex Smith KCY ($5.2)
Marshawn Lynch SEA ($7.2)	RB	LeSean McCoy PHL ($7.4)
Danny Woodhead SDG ($5.7)	RB	Stevan Ridley NE ($6.4)
Victor Cruz NYG ($5.9)	WR	Eric Decker DEN ($6.1)
Marques Colston NO ($5.3)	WR	Hakeem Nicks NYG ($5.4)
Julius Thomas DEN ($6.4)	TE	Vernon Davis SFO ($6.2)
Stephen Gostkowski NE ($5.4)	K	Mason Crosby GBY ($5.1)
Houston Texans HOU ($4.0)	DEF	Minnesota Vikings MIN ($4.1)
$51.9 million	TOTAL	$51.9 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.