Just a reminder… agreeing with every one of the House picks can never amount to “Beating the House”. This week, all 14 picks were agreed on by the majority of members, so both the House and the membership came in with an incredibly mediocre 8-6 this week. The Madden 09 Xbox 360 simulation didn’t fare as well with a 6-8 record, letting the membership come within a half game of the season total lead. The craziness continues in this 2008 NFL Season… who knows what will happen next.
The results to-date are:
| * | The House | Madden Sim | Members |
| Week 5: | 8-6 | 6-8 | 8-6 |
| 2008 Overall: | 39-35 | 44-30 | 43.5-30.5 |
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The Challenge
As it was mentioned earlier, The House and membership agreed on all picks this week. That might be a great way to earn a good pick set, but you’re not going to Beat the House in the process. That’s the name of the game, isn’t it?
Since the House wasn’t beaten, we can’t award the DVD prize pack this week… but we CAN give out a game ball. Member kozy4u2 led the pack in week five with 11 correct picks out of 14 and 45 total correct on the season and has earned a Nerf Pro Grip Football. Nice work.
Tune back in on Thursday morning to once again agree or disagree with the House’s NFL week 6 picks and predictions.
The League
The surprises continued in week 5. A few teams that looked strong early in the season dropped their games this weekend. The biggest upset was the Arizona Cardinals lighting up one of the new AFC favorites, the Buffalo Bills. The Cardinals threw up 41 to the Bills’ 17 to knock one of the remaining unbeaten teams off of their high horse. The Chargers, Eagles and Packers all dropped games they were picked to win also, and now all four are sporting 2-3 records. The Chargers and Packers aren’t in that big of a hole yet, but with the three other teams in the division sporting 4 wins, the Eagles have much to overcome as the season progresses.
Since the Bills didn’t come through this week, the perfect teams are down to two… the Titans and the New York Giants. Tennessee has 5 wins already, as the Giants are at 4 because they took their vacations already. The Titans bye week is now, in week 6, but they have some pretty tough teams coming up on the schedule so the run should end soon. The Giants’ cakewalk continues, but they certainly won’t sweep their division.
Have you taken a good look at the standings lately? Not one of the teams favored to win their respective divisions is in the lead right now. Of course, most of those favored teams are within striking distance, but the clock is ticking and as we further progress through the schedule, it is going to get tougher and tougher to gain ground. It is just a crazy time for the NFL right now, there are absolutely no guarantees anymore. The “Any Given Sunday” cliche is as true now as it ever was.
Fantasy Land
Quarterbacks ruled the middle of the top five this week, putting up three of the top four performances. The other two are some names that are strangers to the top of the fantasy lists in DeAngelo Williams and Andre Johnson. Has anyone noticed the names Favre and Rodgers on the fantasy lists lately? It seems like when one puts up a great performance, the other answers. I saw we just put the two in the octagon and let them battle it out once and for all.
If you look at the numbers beyond the top three, they’re pretty mediocre. The top fantasy numbers in week 5 were:
DeAngelo Williams
Running Back – Carolina Panthers
In 34-0 win over the Kansas City Chiefs
– 20 carries for 123 yards, 2 TDs. 1 TD catch.
Ben Roethlisberger
Quarterback – Pittsburgh Steelers
In 26-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars
– 26/41 for 309 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT.
Aaron Rodgers
Quarterback – Green Bay Packers
In 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons
– 25/37 for 313 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT.
Kurt Warner
Quarterback – Arizona Cardinals
In 27-24 win over the Green Bay Packers
– 33/42 for 250 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT.
Andre Johnson
Wide Receiver – Houston Texans
In 31-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts
– 9 catches for 131 yards, 1 TD.
To review the Week 5 picks, visit the Beat the House main picks page. The week 6 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.
