2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 4

The bye weeks are beginning in the NFL this week, but for the coalition, there are no weeks off as we enter our fourth round of picking games against the spread.

The group kind of regressed in Week 3, though Adam took four of our seven disputed picks last week to cut the column deficit to two games. But we all remain looking up at Kristen at the top of the standings. You can also view a breakdown of how we've picked in relation to each other here. I think the most fun stat from there has to be Adam's wife Jen going 4 of 6 on hero picks through three weeks, and as I understand it she's basically just picking with her eyes closed. Not bad, all things considered, especially since she had the best week out of all of us.

Looking ahead to Week 4, Adam and I disagree on five games out of 15. Let's get to the picks!

When "Roughing the Passer" Has Gone Too Far

Photo by Adam Wesley (USA TODAY Network)

I almost wrote something about this last week in the wake of the Packers getting another game stolen from them by poor officiating. Then it happened again this week, and now I can't hold back anymore.

To be clear, I've long been of the opinion that in most cases, officiating doesn't decide the outcome of games... with some exceptions, of course. And I'm not blaming the officiating for Green Bay's embarrassing loss to the Redskins yesterday. But I am blaming them for their farcical sense of justice. So in case you haven't seen the league's latest nonsense, the two forthcoming tweets sum it up pretty well.

Just to review … this was a penalty ... ~ JW (1/2) pic.twitter.com/1RQ5c7z0kA

— Wilde And Tausch (@WildeAndTausch) September 23, 2018

... but this was not. ~ JW pic.twitter.com/ESLvOtQkhY

— Wilde And Tausch (@WildeAndTausch) September 23, 2018

Like the complete and utter crap penalty on Clay Matthews' hit on Kirk Cousins the week before, I didn't see it in real time. But I was pissed as soon as I saw it. The Alex Smith flag I get more than I do the Cousins one; the Alex Smith takedown involved Matthews landing on Smith, and per the NFL's asinine new rule, it's the correct call. But it is a horrific rule. Combine that with a play on Rodgers that absolutely should have drawn a flag... and it's clear the NFL has no idea what it's doing.

I didn't play organized football, but when defensive players, other quarterbacks, and even former heads of NFL officiating think you've screwed this up, then you have 100 percent screwed this up. The conspiracy theorist inside my head wants the Packers to sue the league for deliberately targeting them with their nonsense, but the rational person in my head knows that's stupid. But I'm dumbfounded at this point. Short of teams refusing to take the field until this gets fixed, I don't know this problem gets resolved.

We talk about how the NFL is supposedly declining and arguably dying and the various causes that go into it. Cord cutting, people boycotting due to anthem protests, and now this nonsense... I'll let Pro Football Weekly's Hub Arkush take it home.

If the NFL continues to pretend last 2 Roughing calls on Clay Matthews aren't complete B.S., I'm just not sure how much longer people will keep watching? League is becoming a total joke and it's truly sad to watch.

— Hub Arkush (@Hub_Arkush) September 23, 2018

2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 3

The coalition is chugging along as we begin Week 3 of the NFL season, and thus Week 3 of the Pigskin Pick 'Em contest!

After trailing for the entire 2017 season, I remain in the lead through two weeks in 2018 among the columnists after Adam and I split our disputed Week 2 picks. But in the overall standings, it is Kristen who finds herself as the queen of the group by two games. So far, her strategy of "Take the cat teams" has yielded positive results. You can view a breakdown of how everyone has picked compared to each other here, which also include accurate standings.

This week, we're staying at about the same pace as Adam and I disagree on seven games out of 16. Let's see if I can add to my lead.

2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 2

One week of football is in the books, and with Week 2 kicking off tonight, the coalition is back at picking NFL games against the spread!

We've got a big group this year, which meant massive expansion of the Google sheet tracking our picks in relation to each other. And after one week, we're still pretty much bunched together.

Perhaps most importantly, after trailing for literally the entire season last year, I took five of the seven disputed games from Adam last week en route to being tied for first through 16 games. And our wives acquitted themselves pretty well in their first week of picking games: Kristen is just a game out of first place after picking all the cat teams in Week 1 and winning three of those four games, while Jen went hero twice and won both of those contests.

In the sequel, Adam and I disagree on six games out of 16. Before the jump, as a fair warning: some NSFW language is included below. Let's get to it!

2018 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 1

Okay, the NFL preview series is all done. The NFL Tournament of Champions is in the books. And with the 2018 season kicking off today... it's time to renew my favorite feature of Confessions of a Sportscaster.

In the first full NFL season that I'd been writing Confessions of a Sportscaster, I started picking NFL games against the spread, and loved it. That was 2012, and here we are with this feature beginning its seventh year. But it's no fun just doing this on my own. I like making it a competition. And competition needs a rival writer.

That's where Adam Quinn comes in. He's my wife's cousin's husband, but he's also a good friend who I get to see a few times a year when he comes up from Texas, though he's from the area and lived here until just a couple years ago. Fortunately we stay in touch and I'm honored to have him back once again.

Our overall contest is not just between us, even though he's the featured guest picker. We are rejoined this season by my old friend from my WONC days, Chicago Bulls Confidential blogger, 90's Youth Life podcast host, and guy who was devastated by 1994 Jeff Blauser's virtual show of power in Geoffrey Clark.

The rest of the group is a bevy of family. We're joined by my brother-in-law Joe, who I think was really excited to get in on the contest this year. Meanwhile, Adam and I pulled off some recruitments for the contest in his wife Jen and their son Aiden, while my wife Kristen is also on board. Knowing how these things work, either Kristen or Jen are on tap to be the first to pull off an undefeated week in COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em history, and that's largely because Adam already jinxed himself by text yesterday.

Every week you'll see our standings for the week as I'll link to our ESPN group, and I also tabulate our picks in comparison to each other on a Google sheet (thanks to Adam for creating the original a few years back whose template I took and publicized, and have adjusted for this year to account for the increase in participants). But as for the column it's me and Adam every week unless he has a commitment that takes him away, in which case I'll try to recruit a guest columnist.

Adam is our defending champion for the 2017 season and looks to defend his crown. In the four years we've done this so far, we've split in terms of who's done better for a given year. That makes 2018 a rubber year, and one I'm looking forward to. But before we make our picks, I would like to cede the floor to our defending champion.

The boys are back in town!  Haha, back and ready to embark on a great season. Things are finally look up for my Bears and down on GB!  More on that later.

Them's fighting words, sir. For the inaugural 2018 post, Adam and I disagree on seven games out of 16. Without any further ado... let's get to it!

2018 NFC East Preview

Rejoice, COAS readers: tomorrow the NFL is back!

That means I need to wrap up my preview series today. For the past couple weeks I've gone division by division around the country making my picks for the upcoming year. Yesterday I wrapped up the AFC (you can view my full playoff picks here), and so today I need to finish up the league and NFC.

But before I do that, one final time I'm looking to make a shameless plug with the annual COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em contest. You can join the group through that link to see how much better at picking NFL games against the spread you are than I am, while I renew my rivalry with Adam Quinn in our weekly column. The first edition of the season comes out tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to getting back to it.

But until then, here's a look at the NFC East.

2018 NFL Tournament of Champions: Championship

We interrupt our series of NFL season previews for... some more NFL content, as the final step of my project comes to completion.

I wasn't even sure I'd be able to do a project like this with my simulator not getting current teams out. But then in April they released the 2017 NFL teams, and I was able to start running a renewed NFL Tournament of Champions! All 52 Super Bowl champions entered a gauntlet at the beginning of May, playing 12 games apiece to narrow the field down to 24 teams. After four more weeks, we're down to our final two in the quest to find the Champion of Champions.

Playing the role of our visiting team is our number two overall seed and defending Champion of Champions in the 1999 St. Louis Rams. The Rams went 10-2 in group play, losing to a pair of playoff teams but taking the group crown by one game over the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They've followed that up with wins over the 1971 Dallas Cowboys, 1992 Dallas Cowboys, and 2016 New England Patriots, all at home, to reach this stage. But in this title round, they are purely by seeding the underdog.

Our host is the best team from group play and our top overall seed in the 1996 Green Bay Packers. Coming off a quarterfinal appearance in 2014, the Packers were the last remaining undefeated team in group play, winning their first eight games before falling to the 2011 New York Giants, but that was their lone blemish en route to an 11-1 mark and home field advantage throughout the postseason. They've taken advantage of it, knocking off the 2015 Denver Broncos, 1968 New York Jets, and 2000 Baltimore Ravens to reach the pinnacle of sport: a date for immortality and the Championship of Champions.

As the top overall seed, the Packers get to play this game at Lambeau Field. Weather conditions from Green Bay over the weekend will be taken into account. You can view the history of this year's Tournament of Champions, including standings and scores, here. As has been the case all tournament, all simulations have been provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's crown a champion!

2018 AFC East Preview

The NFL season kicks off in two days! We've almost made it!

I've worked my way around the rest of the country, and now we're down to just the East divisions in both conferences. Given the alternating pattern, we're starting with the AFC East today, which is a little weird still given that the Patriots are the Patriots.

I'm taking the opportunity once again to plug this year's edition of the Pigskin Pick 'Em contest which you can join here. Every Thursday (except for Thanksgiving, where it will get accelerated to the day before) I will be joined by Adam Quinn for our picks against the spread.

Until then, let's preview some more football teams.

2018 NFC South Preview

Happy Labor Day! I'm not taking a full break on the holiday with the NFL season just three days away. This means you have just three days to get in on the annual COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em contest. Thursday morning the weekly series will be renewed as Adam Quinn and I return to picking games against the spread and taking potshots at anyone and everyone.

But in the meantime, there are still three more divisions to preview, and today we're looking at maybe the deepest in the league in the NFC South.