This week, the Naga Viper overtook the Ghost Chili as the world's hottest hot pepper.
The Viper is so hot it can strip paint.
Quick, slip one into Peter King's next meal.
It might strip down his columns to a readable word count.
As we usually do, we ask our RNG to makes its picks for the week’s NFL games. We then compare these picks to the so-called experts. To make things even more lively, I include my cat, Jesus Quintana, in on the picks, along with Doug Lee and myself (Doc Bear is too smart for this). The RNG is simply armed with the notion that 57% of the time, the home team is a winner in the NFL. Quintana picks between two quarters as I drop them to the floor. Doug Lee uses his vast mental resources.
I use Kahlua and a proprietary mathematical formula. If that doesn’t work, I eat a Naga Viper like this dumbass until the picks come to me.
So let's see how things stand after Week 12.
| EXPERT | Wins | Total | Percentage | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Cole | 117 | 176 | 66.48% | 1 |
| Ron Jaworski | 107 | 163 | 65.64% | 2 |
| Accuscore | 113 | 176 | 64.20% | 3 |
| Chris Mortensen | 109 | 176 | 61.93% | 4 |
| ESPN Pigskin Pick 'Em | 109 | 176 | 61.93% | 4 |
| Mike Golic | 109 | 176 | 61.93% | 4 |
| TJ "The Dude" Johnson | 108 | 176 | 61.36% | 7 |
| Mark Schlereth | 108 | 176 | 61.36% | 7 |
| Yahoo Users | 108 | 176 | 61.36% | 7 |
| Michael Silver | 106 | 176 | 60.23% | 10 |
| Peter King | 105 | 176 | 59.66% | 11 |
| Les Carpenter | 104 | 176 | 59.09% | 12 |
| Merril Hoge | 103 | 176 | 58.52% | 13 |
| RNG | 102 | 176 | 57.95% | 14 |
| Doug Lee | 101 | 176 | 57.39% | 15 |
| Pete Prisco | 101 | 176 | 57.39% | 15 |
| Eric Allen | 96 | 176 | 54.55% | 17 |
| Adam Schefter | 95 | 176 | 53.98% | 18 |
| Jesus Quintana | 86 | 176 | 48.86% | 19 |
| Raiders Fans | 5 | 176 | 2.84% | 20 |
With 5 weeks to go, it appears as if uber-nerd Jason Cole is running away with this thing. I'd direct my hatred towards him, but Peter King is too easy of a target.
The RNG correctly picked 14 of the games last week and is making a bit of a surge lately, while Doug Lee and I continue in our same holding pattern.
Quintana never recovered from his early season mistakes. But he can take solace in the fact that Raiders fans exist.
It's also worth pointing out that the concept of the wisdom of crowds is applying quite nicely now. If you're a believer in the idea that crowds generally do a better job than experts, you've got some interesting data here.
Let's take a look at the picks for Week 13:
| WEEK 13 | Random Number Generator | Jesus Quintana | TJ "The Dude" Johnson | Doug Lee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VISTOR | HOME | Pick | Pick | Team | Team |
| HOU | PHI | PHI | PHI | PHI | PHI |
| NO | CIN | CIN | NO | NO | NO |
| CHI | DET | CHI | DET | CHI | CHI |
| SF | GB | GB | SF | GB | GB |
| JAX | TEN | TEN | TEN | TEN | JAX |
| DEN | KC | KC | KC | KC | KC |
| CLE | MIA | CLE | MIA | MIA | MIA |
| BUF | MIN | MIN | BUF | BUF | MIN |
| WAS | NYG | NYG | NYG | NYG | NYG |
| OAK | SD | OAK | OAK | SD | SD |
| DAL | IND | IND | IND | IND | IND |
| STL | ARI | ARI | STL | STL | STL |
| CAR | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA |
| ATL | TB | TB | ATL | ATL | ATL |
| PIT | BAL | PIT | BAL | BAL | BAL |
| NYJ | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE |
Quintana's Upset Specials
1) Detroit over Chicago. Quintana's hatred for Jay Cutler runs deep; Suh runs over Cutler.
2) San Francisco over Green Bay. Singletary straps it on at halftime and knocks Aaron Rodgers the hell out.
3) Buffalo over Minnesota. Quintana wants a higher draft pick for the Broncos, so it's a must win for the Bills.
4) Oakland over San Diego. WTF?
Peter King Actually Wrote This
I don't care if Colt McCoy has to play in one of those walking boots. Start him, Eric Mangini. He's the future.
PK, that's exactly why you shouldn't play him, but screw it. Throw him out there so the future can injure himself even more.
