Happy early New Year and welcome, everyone, to Week 17 of the 2015 Hump Day NFL Pick'em!
We are back and excited to continue our work with the good folks at NRG, who provided the excellent prizes last year and will continue to do so this season!
For the last couple of weeks, we've been repeating over and over again that we believe our Redskins can do big things. Last week, with a HUGE win over the hated Philadelphia Eagles, they rewarded our faithfulness, serving up a division championship and locking up a playoff spot with one more superfluous week left to go in the season. It was a glorious win, and one that also managed to get Eagles head coach Chip Kelly fired, showing once again that the NFL is a fickle mistress.
In regards to our picks, we were pretty happy with the results. We went 6-4 and demonstrated to the world that we can break the .500 mark on occasion. (Very small and sadly, and on extremely rare occasions, only.)
As for our Week 16 prize, the randomly selected contestants were johnlow71 and washingtonwin. After going head-to-head, we had a tie with both of them posting 5-5 records. As we do in such events, our fabulous assistant drew a name out of my favorite Redskins hat, and the winner was:
Johnlow71!!!!!!!! Congrats to him, and we hope he enjoys his DeSean Jackson jersey!!!!
Now we move on to Week 17.
As many of you have noticed, we have moved our radio show The District to Tuesday nights. Please be sure to check out that fine radio program live on WBAD from 7pm - 8pm EST and afterwards as a podcast on ESPN980.com. Due to the changes to the The District's schedule, we have had some rule changes to our contest. Please read below:
This is a weekly contest in which I will make ten game picks each Wednesday and invite you, the loyal Hogs Haven readers, to make your own picks in the comments section.
I will still make my picks each week based on the early lines set in Las Vegas, but instead of picking a winner for every game, I will choose ten games that I feel are the most significant. The games chosen will always include the nationally televised games, the Redskins games (of course), and then whatever other games I find interesting. This change is not purely due to my laziness, but laziness did play a large role.
I am not capping the amount of entrants this year, so everyone who comments with their picks after the post goes up (using the games I chose), and enters Rafflecopter will have a chance.
******Note: Going forward, please use your Hogs Haven handle as your first name to make it easier to locate your picks in the comments section.******
Two contestants will be chosen using Rafflecopter. I will them email them following their selection.
As I mentioned above, I will incorporate the spread as determined by Las Vegas the Tuesday before the games and you can earn 1 point for each correct choice. The contestant with the best score will be the winner. Ties will be decided, as usual, by our lovely assistant, who will draw a name out of my favorite, dirty, Redskins hat.
The winner will be announced on the next week's episode of the District, as well as on that week's Hump Day Pick'em, and earn a fabulous prize, courtesy of NRG, that will then be mailed to them. Each week the prize will change, and every week a prize will be given out.
And since this question has come up a lot, I will also point out there is NO limit to the amount of times you can win!
Simple right?!?!
Here are my 10 picks for this week:
New York Jets (-3) at Buffalo Bills: Thanks to a win last week against the Patriots, the Jets control their fate and a win against their former head coach Rex Ryan gets them into the playoffs. The WWE couldn't write a better storyline than this. (The one's involving Miss Elizabeth in the 1980's were fantastic, however.) Pick: Jets (-3)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+10.5) at Carolina Panthers: The Panthers need a win in this game to clinch the top seed in the NFC. The Bucs need a loss to clinch last place in the NFC South for the fifth straight year. Who wants it more? That's why we play the games. Pick: Panthers (-10.5)
Baltimore Ravens (+7.5) at Cincinnati Bengals: When the best news you've gotten in a while is that a 36-year old wide receiver is un-retiring to come back and play for you in 2016, you know it's been a rough season. Pick: Bengals (-7.5)
Pittsburgh Steelers (-10) at Cleveland Browns: A Johnny Manziel video popping up online anymore is like Eugene Levy popping up in an American Pie movie. It used to be funny, but now it's hardly a blip on the radar. Pick: Browns (+10)
Tennessee Titans (+6.5) at Indianapolis Colts: With the Broncos beating the Bengals last week, the Colts are still alive for the playoffs. It's simple really: If they can beat the Titans, and the Jags can beat the Texans, and the Dolphins can beat the Patriots, and only like five other things magically happen that I won't bore you with, they can punch their ticket. You have to like those odds. Pick: Colts (-6.5)
Oakland Raiders (+6.5) at Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs are going for their tenth straight win and a division title. Too bad the LA Raiders have other plans... Pick: Raiders (+6.5)
Washington Redskins (+3) at Dallas Cowboys: Is it possible to just forfeit a game and rest all your players for a week? That's my vote. Pick: Redskins (+3)
Philadelphia Eagles (+3) at New York Giants: This is yet another game rendered meaningless thanks to our Redskins third straight (and division clinching) win. Did I mention the Redskins are the CHAMPS? THE CHAMPS! Pick: Giants (-3)
Seattle Seahawks (+6.5) at Arizona Cardinals: This is where things get interesting. The Cardinals need to beat the Seahawks to have a chance at the top spot in the NFC. I hope this happens, because if it does and if the Packers beat the Vikings, the Redskins will get Minnesota at home in the first round of the playoffs. That is what we call a "favorable matchup" in the business. Pick: Cardinals (-6.5)
Minnesota Vikings (+3) at Green Bay Packers: If the Packers lose this game, they will come to Washington in two weeks no matter what else happens. Needless to say, I'll be a very outspoken Packers fan on Sunday night, cheese hat and all. Pick: Packers (-3)
So there are my final picks of the season. The winner this week will have this fabulous prize to look forward to, courtesy of NRG:
A Mystery Redskins Prize Pack!!!!!
That's right - a Redskins bag filled with all kinds of Redskins goodies that will get you primed for their playoff run!!!
I will email this week's two contestants, as chosen by Rafflecopter, tomorrow night, and the winner will be announced next Wednesday on the next Hump Day post.
Happy New Year and Good luck!!!!