Ouch. Things went a little awry in week four with a few underdogs disrupting what were assumed safe picks. The House did it again, posting a sub-500 record once again this season, with only 6 correct picks. The Membership emerged victorious, for the third time in as many weeks, with 7.5 wins. The Madden 09 Xbox 360 simulation kicked some ass in week 4, posting 10 out of 13 wins, and taking it’s first-ever season total lead. The House falls even further back, digging as deep a hole as we’ve ever seen in the Beat the House competition this early in the season. Stay tuned to see what happens next. The results to-date are:
| * | The House | Madden Sim | Members |
| Week 4: | 6-7 | 10-3 | 7.5-5.5 |
| 2008 Overall: | 31-29 | 38-22 | 35.5-24.5 |
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The Challenge
One pick was disagreed with in week four, with another pick being a 50/50 tie in votes. The game the membership couldn’t decide on was the Cardinals taking on the Jets. 91 points, and six Favre-like TDs later, the Jets emerged victorious. Isn’t it nice when a quarterback throws for 425 yards and loses? Only a half-point is awarded on that one. Take what you can get. The lone disagree game was the Tennessee Titans hosting the Minnesota Vikings. The Titans took an early lead and never let it up. The Vikings drop another one, and so did the House.
Since the House was Beaten one lucky member receives a DVD prize pack. With so many upsets this week, it’s pretty impressive that one member could get 11 picks out of 13 correct, let alone two members. With 11 correct picks this week, and 39 on the year so far, this week’s winner is desert11.
Each week we also issue a game ball to one of our members. Member plazamama actually tied desert11 this week and on the overall leaderboard so “she” earns the Nerf Pro Grip Football for this week. Nice work.
Tune back in on Thursday morning to once again agree or disagree with the House’s NFL week 5 picks and predictions.
The League
Wow. A few teams that started to look pretty strong in the first three weeks took a dump in the 4th episode. The Cowboys, Broncos and Eagles fell to their opponents. The four combined were 22.5 favorites to win their games, with most of those points going to the Dallas and Denver opponents. The Cowboys played a division opponent and Philly played a Chicago team with a pretty decent defense, but there is no excuse for the egg that the Broncos laid in Kansas City. Yes, KC and Denver are divison rivals, but the Broncos never led their game and gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter alone. See what happens when officials don’t hand you games?
Teams that deserve some kudos are the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans. This AFC pair are the only two teams in the league still sporting an unbeaten record. Well, the Giants are 3-0, but they had a bye week and fraud teams on their schedule… so they don’t count. If the Bills and Titans can keep up their clean play, they have a great shot to win their respective divisions, especially with the injury turnmoil both the AFC East and South are in. Buffalo is almost a lock to win the East, but we shouldn’t count out the Jags and Colts in the South.
Maybe a team will become dominant this season once they hit their stride, but no one is stepping up at the quarter-mark of the season. I think the age of elite teams has come to pass… at least for now while the salary cap is still in play.
Fantasy Land
The very next game after the New York media called him out, Brett Favre answered the call with a 6 touchdown performance, ruling the fantasy roost in week 4. Coming with the second-most points is Matt Schaub, who was warming up my bench. Week four also saw the return of L.J., who fell off the face of the earth for awhile there. Just missing the list were Drew Brees and Kurt Warner who threw for 363 and 472 yards. Brees has amassed 1343 passing yards so far, a 336 per game average. Nice!
The top fantasy numbers in week 4 were:
Brett Favre
Quarterback – New York Jets
In 56-35 win over the Arizona Cardinals
– 24/34 for 289 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT.
Matt Schaub
Quarterback – Houston Texans
In 30-27 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars
– 29/40 for 307 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT.
Larry Johnson
Running back – Kansas City Chiefs
In 33-19 win over the Denver Broncos
– 28 carries for 198 yards, 2 TDs.
Laveranues Coles
Wide Receiver – New York Jets
In 56-35 win over the Arizona Cardinals
– 8 catches for 105 yards, 3 TDs.
Tony Romo
Quarterback – Dallas Cowboys
In 26-24 loss to the Washington Redskins
– 28/47 for 300 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT.
To review the Week 4 picks, visit the Beat the House main picks page. The week 5 picks and predictions will be up early Thursday morning. Make sure you get your picks in early to move up the leaderboard and get another shot at beating the house. Check in often, the board can drastically change over the remainder of the football season.
Stay tuned to see who will be named the Visionman Players of the Week and if any members have won the gaming PC this week. We’ll update you as soon as the players of the week are announced.
For all other NFL and sports updates, check out the TMRzoo Sports Zone.
See you next week.
