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The hardest week by far for the Winning Stats Predictor is Week 17, where teams do any number of things that are outside the norm of every other week. Teams that have locked in Playoff positions try some new things, only worried about injuries, while teams out of it may play a guy or two that they haven't seen all year to see if he'd be worth keeping. This makes predicting games, especially ones based on consistent behaviors, quite difficult to get right. In fact, It's been three years since the Predictor got about 50% in Week 17, so I've got my work cut out for me.
Last week the Predictor went 8-8, which was promising until losing both of the Primetime games Sunday and Monday nights. On the season we're now 129-109-2, or 54.2%. I need eight wins this week to better last year's 134-116-6 record, so should be interesting if it beat last year. Picking winners had a 9-7 week, bringing our season total to 153-86-1, or 64.0%. It needs a 9-7 week this week to match last season, as last year in Week 17 it got 14 winners correct to get there. I'll take that again.
Picks for Week 17:
| Home | Score | Away | Score | Probability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcons | 25 | Panthers | 26 | 50.8% |
| Texans | 23 | Jaguars | 14 | 70.8% |
| Packers | 27 | Lions | 21 | 65.4% |
| Chiefs | 26 | Chargers | 25 | 52.4% |
| Dolphins | 26 | Jets | 22 | 59.8% |
| Vikings | 28 | Bears | 23 | 62.4% |
| Patriots | 23 | Bills | 16 | 67.3% |
| Giants | 26 | Eagles | 21 | 63.7% |
| Ravens | 23 | Browns | 15 | 69.7% |
| Steelers | 27 | Bengals | 26 | 50.9% |
| Titans | 20 | Colts | 26 | 65.6% |
| Buccaneers | 20 | Saints | 25 | 61.5% |
| Redskins | 21 | Cowboys | 32 | 75.8% |
| Broncos | 25 | Raiders | 18 | 68.0% |
| 49ers | 16 | Cardinals | 17 | 50.2% |
| Seahawks | 28 | Rams | 20 | 71.6% |
SuperContest had another disappointing 1-4 weekend, bringing our season total to 42-38. It was so close to being a huge success this year, but just fell flat at the end. One last crack to get a couple in the last week. Need two to match last season:
- Jaguars +9.5 at Texans
- Cowboys -6 at Redskins
- Raiders +14 at Broncos
- Cardinals +6 at 49ers
- Bengals +3.5 at Steelers
Survivor Pick: Sadly missing three won't win you any money, but still not bad hitting on 13/16 this season. We'll finish out with the Broncos hosting the Raiders, who I think they'll take care of easily at home, although I think it'll be closer than many expect.
USED: Jets, 49ers, Colts, Steelers, Chargers, Titans, Bills, Chiefs, Bengals, Cardinals, Saints, Packers, Dolphins, Lions, Ravens, Patriots