The Gridiron Gentlemen’s Super Fun Prediction League: Week 14
Bad news. It’s Week 14. That in itself isn’t awful of course, but it does mean the end of the regular season looms on the horizon like something, well, big and loomy. It also means there aren’t many opportunities left to close in on leader James in the Prediction League
Ground was gained by everyone last week. Everyone except Duncan. Having gone a rather magnificent 14-2 for Week 12, he slipped to a Fisher-esque 5-10 for Week 13. Whoops.
With everyone else having a better week than James, the scores currently sit at:
James: 110-68
Dave: 107-71
Dan: 105-73
Simon: 105-73
Duncan: 103-75
The gap is down to three, and there are some great match ups to look forward to this week:
Oakland Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs
This has all the makings of being an epic Thursday Night encounter. Which probably means it will be 9-6.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Chiefs | Raiders | Chiefs | Raiders | Chiefs | |
| 28-24 | 27-24 | 31-24 | 27-24 | 24-21 |
Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles
The first of the divisional match ups in the NFC East this week. Probably the ugly sister of the two to be honest.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Redskins | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins | Redskins | |
| 38-21 | 28-24 | 27-17 | 28-19 | 28-17 |
Houston Texans @ Indianapolis Colts
If Andrew Luck had Brock Osweiler’s weapons…
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Colts | Colts | Colts | Colts | Colts | |
| 24-17 | 28-24 | 41-13 | 30-19 | 30-17 |
Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns
The Satsuma Bowl Take II (see Dan, no ginger joke there).
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Bengals | Bengals | Browns | Bengals | Browns | |
| 24-14 | 22-19 | 24-19 | 31-17 | 21-17 |
Denver Broncos @ Tennessee Titans
Denver still have issues against the run game. Maybe not the best team to face DeMarco Murray coming off a bye week then?
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Broncos | Broncos | Titans | Titans | Titans | |
| 22-18 | 19-17 | 21-17 | 27-17 | 20-17 |
Arizona Cardinals @ Miami Dolphins
David Johnson has 100+ yards every week this season. I anticipate being able to say the same next week.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Cardinals | Dolphins | |
| 31-24 | 28-16 | 28-17 | 19-17 | 20-17 |
Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions
The NFC North – playing out exactly as everyone expected…
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Lions | Lions | Lions | Lions | Lions | |
| 35-21 | 32-17 | 24-13 | 27-14 | 24-14 |
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Buffalo Bills
Hopefully Rex Ryan will have taken his wildcat to the vet this week to get spayed.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Steelers | Steelers | Steelers | Bills | Steelers | |
| 34-28 | 31-24 | 27-20 | 22-19 | 27-21 |
San Diego Chargers @ Carolina Panthers
I fully expect Cam Newton to come out for the first play wearing a cravat this week.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Chargers | Panthers | |
| 28-19 | 31-14 | 28-19 | 24-17 | 17-14 |
Minnesota Vikings @ Jacksonville Jaguars
The most frequent pairing in this one could well be Blake Bortles to Xavier Rhodes.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | Vikings | |
| 21-17 | 30-10 | 24-13 | 24-17 | 17-14 |
New York Jets @ San Francisco 49ers
Nope, I got nothing.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Jets | Jets | Jets | Jets | 49ers | |
| 13-10 | 19-12 | 14-12 | 28-14 | 10-7 |
Atlanta Falcons @ Los Angeles Rams
Jeff Fisher probably spent the week preparing for Adrian Peterson this week.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Falcons | Falcons | Falcons | Falcons | Rams | |
| 42-10 | 24-17 | 37-14 | 30-10 | 21-17 |
New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If one or both defences have an off day this week, expect points. Lots of points.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Buccaneers | Buccaneers | Saints | Buccaneers | Buccaneers | |
| 31-28 | 31-28 | 28-17 | 34-31 | 28-21 |
Seattle Seahawks @ Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers hasn’t lost at Lambeau in December since forever. Guess who we picked?
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Seahawks | Seahawks | Seahawks | Seahawks | Seahawks | |
| 37-31 | 35-28 | 31-10 | 24-20 | 24-21 |
Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants
The second of the two NFC East clashes. Did the Giants mention they’d already beaten the Cowboys this year.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Giants | Cowboys | Cowboys | Cowboys | Cowboys | |
| 21-17 | 24-21 | 28-24 | 17-10 | 27-17 |
Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots
This one has the potential to be a Monday Night classic. That’ll be another 9-6 then.
| Dan | Duncan | Simon | James | Dave | |
| Ravens | Patriots | Ravens | Ravens | Patriots | |
| 16-14 | 15-13 | 17-14 | 19-17 | 21-17 |
So that’s Week 14. Some potentially excellent games and one or two absolute stinkers. A bit like our predictions really…