# NFL Playoff Prediction Contest **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 4, 2011, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326 "2011-01-04T06:38:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2011, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/1 "2011-01-04T06:38:53Z")
[Last year’s thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546473) This contest has two components. In one component, we make our playoff bracket with who we expect to win each round and eventually win the superbowl. This prediction is made before week 1 of the playoffs - you aren’t penalized for wrong answers, it’s just bonus points if you make get it right. The second part of the contest is predicting the actual score of each game. This will be done once per week once we know for sure what the next batch of matchups is. Your score for that week will be the difference between your predicted score and the actual score. This will be calculated by taking how many points you were off of each team’s individual predicted score (not the difference from the combined score). So for example, if you predict the game as Team A 27 Team B 17, and the actual score is Team A 35 Team B 20, then your score for that game will be 11. You were off on team A’s score by 8, and off of team B’s score by 3, hence 8+3=11. There will also be a 10 point bonus to correctly predicting the winning team. It was 5 points last year, but after how it played out I think it should have a little more weight. So in that case your actual score would be 11, minus the 10 point bonus, for a total of 1. Lower scores are better. So at the end of the year, the bonus score from the first part of the contest (with the entire bracket prediction) will be subtracted from the amount of points you have in part 2 to combine for a total score. I’m probably making this sound a bit more complex than it is - if you look over last year’s thread it should be clear how it works. So if you want to play, first you must submit a playoff bracket. We already know who the wildcard weekend teams will be, and we also know who will host the divsion weekend playoff games, so the only blanks you need to fill out are the unknowns. Again, you aren’t punished for wrong answers in this section, just a bonus for correct ones. Part 1: This is where you make a complete playoff bracket. This is only done once, at the beginning of the contest. Predict the divisional games (5 points per correct team) AFC: New England Patriots vs \_\_\_\_\_ Pittsburgh Steelers vs \_\_\_\_\_\_ NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs \_\_\_\_\_ Chicago Bears vs \_\_\_\_\_ 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: \_\_\_\_\_\_ vs \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ NFC: \_\_\_\_\_\_ vs \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 1. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) \_\_\_\_\_\_ vs \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) Part 2: This is where every week you will submit a predicted score from the matchups that weekend. A new submission is required every week. The games this week are Green Bay at Philadelphia New Orleans at Seattle New York Jets at Indianapolis Baltimore At Kansas City A proper entry into this contest will look like this, although obviously with this year’s playoff teams instead of last year’s. If you miss any weeks during the contest, you will be disqualified, although you (and new people to the contest) can make predictions on any given week to see how you fared against that week’s competition. You just won’t be eligible for the overall contest. If you’re confused, [this is what a bracket should look like](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10640663&postcount=8). And then on subsequent weeks, you would only guess the scores for that week’s games. 2008 results: 1st. VarlosZ 2. Furt 3. Ro0sh 4. Borchevsky 5. SenorBeef 6. Hamlet 7. DiggitCamara 8. CatInASuit 9. Fear The Turtle 2009 results: 1. Omniscient 2. Garygnu 3. Jahiegel 4. SenorBeef 5. drm 6. Fear The Turtle 7. Taber 8. Gray Ghost ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/2 "2011-01-06T10:54:32Z")
My entry. Part 1 AFC: New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianpolis Colts NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears vs New Orleans Saints 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers NFC: Green Bay Packers vs New Orleans Saints 1. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) New England Patriots vs Green Bay Packers 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) New England Patriots Part 2: Indianapolis 24 New York Jets 17 Baltimore Ravens 20 Kansas City Chiefs 16 Green Bay Packers 33 Philadelphia Eagles 24 New Orleans Saints 35 Seatle Seahawks 17 ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/3 "2011-01-06T15:20:16Z")
Part 1 AFC: New England Patriots vs Kansas City Chiefs Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianpolis Colts NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs New Orleans Saints Chicago Bears vs Philadelphia Eagles 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers NFC: Philadelphia Eagles vs New Orleans Saints 1. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) New England Patriots Part 2: Indianapolis Colts 31 New York Jets 24 Kansas City Chiefs 24 Baltimore Ravens 17 Philadelphia Eagles 35 Green Bay Packers 27 New Orleans Saints 38 Seattle Seahawks 10 ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/4 "2011-01-06T15:37:10Z")
Let’s see if I can do better than DFL this time. AFC Divisional Games: Jets at Patriots Ravens at Steelers NFC Divisional Games: Packers at Falcons Saints at Bears AFC Championship Game: Steelers at Patriots NFC Championship Game: Bears at Falcons Super Bowl: Patriots vs. Falcons. Patriots win in a blowout. **Part 2:** Jets 21, Colts 20. Ravens 20, Chiefs 17 Packers 34, Eagles 28 Saints 24, Seahawks 13 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/5 "2011-01-06T15:54:32Z")
Part 1: Predict the divisional games (5 points per correct team) AFC: New England Patriots vs New York Jets Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears vs New Orleans Saints 2. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers vs New York Jets NFC: Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers 1. Predict the Super Bowl (5 points per team) Green Bay Packers vs New York Jets 1. Predict the Super Bowl winner (10 points) New York Jets Part 2: Green Bay 30 at Philadelphia 23 New Orleans 33 at Seattle 13 New York Jets 20 at Indianapolis 17 Baltimore 28 at Kansas City 9 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/6 "2011-01-06T19:29:37Z")
Part 1 Divisional Games AFC: New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis Colts NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears vs New Orleans Saints 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: New England Patriots vs Indianapolis Colts NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs New Orleans Saints 3. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) New England Patriots Part 2: Indianapolis 24 New York Jets 10 Baltimore Ravens 17 Kansas City Chiefs 13 Green Bay Packers 21 Philadelphia Eagles 17 New Orleans Saints 24 Seatle Seahawks 13 ---
**Author:** ![Jahiegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ea924/32.png) [@Jahiegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jahiegel)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/7 "2011-01-08T03:13:39Z")
Part 1 1. Predict the divisional games AFC: New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis Colts NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears vs New Orleans Saints 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers NFC: New Orleans Saints vs Green Bay Packers 1. Predict the Super Bowl (5 points per team) New England Patriots vs Green Bay Packers 1. Predict the Super Bowl winner (10 points) New England Patriots Part 2: Indianapolis Colts 24 New York Jets 23 Baltimore Ravens 21 Kansas City Chiefs 17 Green Bay Packers 26 Philadelphia Eagles 20 New Orleans Saints 27, Seattle Seahawks 17 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/8 "2011-01-08T06:14:18Z")
AFC: New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis Colts NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs New Orleans Saints Chicago Bears vs Philadelphia Eagles 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers NFC: Chicago Bears vs New Orleans Saints 3. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) Pittsburgh Steelers vs Chicago Bears 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) Pittsburgh Steelers Part 2: Indianapolis 28 New York Jets 13 Baltimore Ravens 20 Kansas City Chiefs 10 Philadelphia Eagles 20 Green Bay Packers 17 New Orleans Saints 24 Seatle Seahawks 7 ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/9 "2011-01-08T06:51:09Z")
AFC: New England Patriots vs Baltimore Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs Seattle Chicago Bears vs Green Bay 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: Baltimore vs Pittsburgh NFC: Atlanta vs Green Bay 1. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) Baltimore vs Green Bay 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) Green Bay Part 2: Green Bay (21) at Philadelphia (17) New Orleans (10) at Seattle (17) New York Jets (24) at Indianapolis (31) Baltimore (20) At Kansas City (17) ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/10 "2011-01-08T19:06:52Z")
AFC: **New England Patriots vs New York Jets Pittsburgh Steelers vs Kansas City Chiefs** NFC: **Atlanta Falcons vs New Orleans Saints Chicago Bears vs Philadelphia Eagles** 1. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: **New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers** NFC: **Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles** 1. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) **New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons** 2. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) **New England Patriots** Part 2. Jets 24, Colts 21 Chiefs 24, Ravens 17 Saints 31, Seahawks 13 Eagles 31, Packers 21 I have a feeling that Sanchez is going to have his one good (or good enough) game (which will probably be a bad thing for the franchise long term), and Manning will get forced into 2-3 picks. Basically, Cromartie is a huge variance guy – if he has an interception, Jets win; if he gets burned by Garçon for 140/2, Colts advance. I also feel like Kansas City at home is a tougher nut to crack than most people think, and that the Ravens are going to have that creeping feeling of dread when it’s early in the 3rd Quarter and the game isn’t going according to plan. Hopefully, Todd Haley will pull his head out of his ass and give Jammal Charles 3/4 of the carries. Saints over Seahawks is “duh,” and Eagles over Packers is “I dunno, take the home team I guess.” ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/11 "2011-01-08T21:42:30Z")
Part 1: This is where you make a complete playoff bracket. This is only done once, at the beginning of the contest. Predict the divisional games (5 points per correct team) AFC: New England Patriots vs **New York Jets** Pittsburgh Steelers vs **Kansas City Chiefs** NFC: Atlanta Falcons vs **Green Bay Packers** Chicago Bears vs **New Orleans Saints** 2. Predict the championship games (5 points per team) AFC: **New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers** NFC: **Green Bay Packers vs Chicago Bears** 1. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) **Chicago Bears vs New England Patriots** 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) **New England Patriots** Part 2: This is where every week you will submit a predicted score from the matchups that weekend. A new submission is required every week. The games this week are Green Bay at Philadelphia New Orleans at Seattle New York Jets at Indianapolis Baltimore At Kansas City Packers 31 - Eagles 23 Saints 27 - Seahawks 9 Jets 30 - Colts 26 Ravens 20 - Chiefs 21 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/12 "2011-01-08T21:48:03Z")
Always with the late, Omni! ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/13 "2011-01-08T22:03:02Z")
When I see the game on TV it reminds me! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/14 "2011-01-08T22:31:39Z")
Wow, the Seahawks are making it a game. When it started 10-0 I thought it was going to be a dull one, but the Seahawks remain in it. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/15 "2011-01-08T22:58:02Z")
Haha, everyone has at least 7 points so far. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/16 "2011-01-08T23:31:02Z")
Wow, Seahawks are really outplaying my expectations! ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/17 "2011-01-09T01:22:01Z")
Well, I almost hit the Saints’ score exactly! Just needed that two-point conversion. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/18 "2011-01-10T02:51:16Z")
It appears I messed up the seeding in the NFC. Am I allowed to Adjust? My superbowl winners don’t change and obviously my winners from this week don’t either. If so, the adjustments are in bold. > [@](#): > > AFC: > New England Patriots vs Baltimore > Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis > > NFC: > Atlanta Falcons vs **Green Bay** > Chicago Bears vs **Seattle** > > **swapped Seattle and Green Bay** > > 1. > > Predict the championship games (5 points per team) > > AFC: > Baltimore vs Pittsburgh > > NFC: > > **Chicago** vs Green Bay > > 1. Predict the superbowl (5 points per team) > > Baltimore vs Green Bay > > 1. Predict the superbowl winner (10 points) > > Green Bay ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/19 "2011-01-10T04:09:19Z")
Also, apparently pittsburgh plays baltimore next week. That doesn’t really change my next prediction though. I still think Baltimore will be in the conference final. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326/20 "2011-01-10T04:15:42Z")
> [@drm](#): > > Also, apparently pittsburgh plays baltimore next week. That doesn’t really change my next prediction though. I still think Baltimore will be in the conference final. You weren’t wrong on that one. Who Pittsburgh would play was dependent on the Jets/Colts game. If the Colts had won, Baltimore would’ve gone to NE. The Packers never would’ve played the Bears though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-playoff-prediction-contest/566326.md?page=2)