Pick'em Mode

Week 2
Optimized Hybrid
Uses XGBoost model predictions for close games, Vegas favorites for lopsided matchups. Backtested 2018-2024: 73.8% of max points.
114
Points Earned
136
Points Possible
83.8%
Percentage
11-5
Record
0
Pending
16
pts
CLE CLE
@
BAL BAL *
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
CLE -12.5
Strong favorite
Correct
+16 pts
17 - 41
15
pts
CAR CAR
@
ARI ARI *
2025-09-14 16:05 Favorite
CAR -7.0
Clear favorite
Correct
+15 pts
22 - 27
14
pts
BUF BUF *
@
NYJ NYJ
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
NYJ -6.0
Moderate favorite
Correct
+14 pts
30 - 10
13
pts
CHI CHI
@
DET DET *
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
CHI -6.0
Moderate favorite
Correct
+13 pts
21 - 52
12
pts
LA LA *
@
TEN TEN
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
TEN -5.5
Moderate favorite
Correct
+12 pts
33 - 19
11
pts
NYG NYG
@
DAL DAL *
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
NYG -4.5
Moderate favorite
Correct
+11 pts
37 - 40
10
pts
JAX JAX
@
CIN CIN *
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
JAX -3.5
Slight favorite
Correct
+10 pts
27 - 31
9
pts
SEA SEA
@
PIT PIT *
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
SEA -3.5
Slight favorite
Wrong
+0 pts
31 - 17
8
pts
WAS WAS
@
GB GB *
2025-09-11 20:15 Favorite
WAS -3.5
Slight favorite
Correct
+8 pts
18 - 27
7
pts
ATL ATL
@
MIN MIN *
2025-09-14 20:20 Favorite
ATL -3.5
Slight favorite
Wrong
+0 pts
22 - 6
6
pts
LAC LAC *
@
LV LV
2025-09-15 22:00 Favorite
LV -3.5
Slight favorite
Correct
+6 pts
20 - 9
5
pts
SF SF *
@
NO NO
2025-09-14 13:00 Favorite
NO -3.0
Slight favorite
Correct
+5 pts
26 - 21
4
pts
DEN DEN
@
IND IND *
2025-09-14 16:05 Model
IND -2.5
Slight favorite
Correct
+4 pts
28 - 29
3
pts
TB TB
@
HOU HOU *
2025-09-15 19:00 Model
TB -2.5
Slight favorite
Wrong
+0 pts
20 - 19
2
pts
NE NE
@
MIA MIA *
2025-09-14 13:00 Model
NE -1.5
Toss-up
Wrong
+0 pts
33 - 27
1
pts
PHI PHI
@
KC KC *
2025-09-14 16:25 Model
KC -1.5
Toss-up
Wrong
+0 pts
20 - 17

How Pick'em Scoring Works

  1. Pick the Winner: For each game, pick which team will win straight-up (no spread).
  2. Rank by Confidence: Assign confidence rankings 1-16 to each pick. 1 = least confident, 16 = most confident.
  3. Earn Points: If your pick is correct, you earn points equal to your confidence ranking.
  4. Strategy: This page uses the Optimized Hybrid strategy:
    • Close games (spread < 3 pts): Trust the XGBoost model predictions
    • Lopsided games (spread ≥ 3 pts): Trust the Vegas favorite
  5. Backtest Result: This hybrid strategy scores ~73.8% of maximum possible points over 7 years (2018-2024), outperforming "always favorite" by +1.3 percentage points.