What is the Head to Head Contest?
The following rules apply to the head to head that started weeks ago, the one with no cash prize. The rules for the contest that offers a $100 prize appear in an email sent out October 22. The NSPL's head to head contest is just a fun project (no cash prize). It is separate and outside of the main score predicting contest that has all the accuracy stats. It requires no extra effort on your part to participate. You're focused on one important game a week and go against a different opponent head to head according to the NFL schedule. You pick up one win or loss a week. There are 32 contenders, each having a team assignment for the whole year. Let's say your assigned schedule was Dallas. That means from all the regular picks that you make each week only the Dallas game will be the concern. It would be your Dallas pick vs your opponent's Dallas pick. The outcome is that NFL experience of having one big game a week home or away and against a divisional rival or not....16 hard fought memorable games...and then the play offs.
2017-18 Rules.............The new rules are more informal. the concept of strictly adhering to the NFL schedule is out. The notion that there must be 16 NFL games picked all with a specific balance of divisional or conference games is out. Not every set up will be explained prior to kick off. You may always contact me for the scoop.
Below are the starting roster and the latest head to head (non cash prize) standings as of Oct 27: for the cash prize standings you'll have to scroll down.
2-0 New England = Judy Wackel
0-2 Miami = Greg Cote of the Miami Herald
0-2 Buffalo = Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk
1-1 New York Jets = MDS of Pro Football Talk
3-1 Cleveland = Marc Lawrence of USA Today Sports Weekly
2-1 Cincinnati = Elliot Harrison of nfl.com
1-1 Pittsburgh = Tim Chase of NSPL, Gerry DuLac of the Pittsburgh Gazette will be the back up.
1-3 Baltimore = Steven Lourie of footballfanspot.com
1-1 Tennessee = Gerry Shultz of NSPL
1-1 Jacksonville = Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News
0-2 Houston = John McClain of the Houston Chronicle
0-3 Indianapolis = Chris Simms of bleacherreport.com
2-1 LA Chargers = Sam Farmer of the LA Times
1-1 Kansas City = Emmanuel Pepis of sportsnola.com, Steve Babineau of NSPL
1-1 Denver = Barry Wilner of AP News
-3 Oakland = Several Contributors of USA Today Sports Weekly
Week 9 will follow the week 9 schedule. Additional games as follows:
Titans @ Jacks...use the Lions at GB game, Monday Night
Skins @ Philly...Use Chiefs at Dallas late afternoon game
Rams @ AZ...use the Skins at Seattle late afternoon game
Chicago @ Detroit...use the Thursday night game
Minn @ Chargers...Use the Sunday Night game, Raiders at Miami
Seahawks @ SF... Use the Bucs at NO game
Minn @ Pitt... Use the Sunday Night game
Lions @ LA Rams...Use Chiefs at Dallas late afternoon game
Cardinals @ Cincy...Use Ravens at Tenn, early afternoon game
Packers @ Atlanta... Use Broncos at Philly game
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1-1 Dallas = Pete Prisco of cbssports.com
0-1 Philadelphia = Jeffrey Boswell of sports-central.org
0-1 Washington = Wunderdog.com
0-2 New York Giants = Alex Hanson of NSPL
1-1 Chicago = Rodney Combs of NSPL
1-0 Green Bay = Dan Kohn of USA Today Network, Wisc.
0-1 Detroit = Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun Times
1-1 Minnesota = Erik Anderson of henrycottosmustache.com
3-0 Tampa Bay = Paul Kasabian of bleacherreport.com
2-1 Atlanta = ironrank.com
1-1 Carolina = Randy Inman of footballdogz.com
2-1 New Orleans = Hope Maruzo of NSPL
3-0 San Francisco = Gerry DuLac of the Pittsburgh Gazette
1-0 LA Rams = Gil Alcaraz of nflspinzone.com
2-0 Seattle = Oliver Matthews from youtube.com
0-1 Arizona = Walter Cherepinsky of walterfootball.com
Week 11 will follow the week 11 schedule. Additional games as follows:
Titans @ Jacks...use the Lions at GB game, Monday Night
Skins @ Philly...Use Chiefs at dallas late afternoon game
Rams @ AZ...use the Skins at Seattle late afternoon game
Chicago @ Detroit...use the Thursday night game
Minn @ Chargers...Use the Sunday Night game, Raiders at Miami
Seahawks @ SF... Use the Bucs at NO game
Minn @ Pitt... Use the Sunday Night game
Lions @ LA Rams...Use Chiefs at Dallas late afternoon game
Cardinals @ Cincy...Use Ravens at Tenn, early afternoon game
Packers @ Atlanta... Use Broncos at Philly game
The won/lost records for the "informal contest" will continue on. The head to head results from week 8 going forward will be added. For the new cash prize contest everyone will start with a 0-0 record.
Rules are rules but the commissioner will have the final say.
CASH PRIZE STANDINGS AFTER OUR FINAL WEEK (WEEK 17 IN NFL TERMS)
5-4 Buffalo = Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk
5-5 New England = Judy Wackel
5-4 New York Jets = MDS of Pro Football Talk
5-5 Miami = Greg Cote of the Miami Herald
6-3 Cincinnati = Elliot Harrison of nfl.com
4-3 Baltimore = Steven Lourie of footballfanspot.com
2-6 Pittsburgh = Tim Chase of NSPL, Gerry DuLac of the Pittsburgh Gazette will be the back up.
2-6 Cleveland = Marc Lawrence of USA Today Sports Weekly
5-3 Tennessee = Gerry Shultz of NSPL
5-4 Houston = John McClain of the Houston Chronicle
3-5 Jacksonville = Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News
2-5 Indianapolis = Chris Simms of bleacherreport.com
5-3 Denver = Barry Wilner of AP News
5-3 Oakland = Several Contributors of USA Today Sports Weekly
2-5 LA Chargers = Sam Farmer of the LA Times
2-4 Kansas City = Emmanuel Pepis of sportsnola.com, Steve Babineau of NSPL
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5-3 New York Giants = Alex Hanson of NSPL
5-4 Dallas = Pete Prisco of cbssports.com
4-4 Philadelphia = Jeffrey Boswell of sports-central.org
3-5 Washington = Wunderdog.com
5-3 Minnesota = Erik Anderson of henrycottosmustache.com
4-3 Detroit = Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun Times
3-5 Chicago = Rodney Combs of NSPL
3-5 Green Bay = Dan Kohn of USA Today Network, Wisc.
6-2 Carolina = Randy Inman of footballdogz.com, replaced by Steve Babineau of NSPL
6-3 Tampa Bay = Paul Kasabian of bleacherreport.com
5-4 New Orleans = Hope Maruzo of NSPL
2-7 Atlanta = ironrank.com
6-2 Seattle = Oliver Matthews from youtube.com
2-6 LA Rams = Gil Alcaraz of nflspinzone.com
4-5 Arizona = Walter Cherepinsky of walterfootball.com
4-4 San Francisco = Gerry DuLac of the Pittsburgh Gazette
The won/lost records for the "informal contest" will continue on. The head to head results from week 8 going forward will be added. For the new cash prize contest everyone will start with a 0-0 record.
Rules are rules but the commissioner will have the final say.
Head to Head Contest Rules
The beauty of this contest is that it requires no effort on your part to participate. Your picks have already been posted. We'll do all the work and post the results in this section. NFL team assignments are posted below. So when the Dolphins play the Ravens we'll see who made the better pick...the Dolphins blogger or the guy covering the Ravens.
Everyone is assigned an NFL team schedule to follow. If your NFL team is at home playing against a particular divisional rival, so are you. In this contest there is a disadvantage for the visitor built into the rules if you are on the road.
Everything springs out of how your pick contrasts your opponent's pick. We go down the hierarchy, from straight up to vs spread to against the over/under and more, looking for the first item of contention. Just go down the list as far as you need to go and follow the instructions.
(A) Straight Up: If you have a different straight up pick than your opponent's pick read no further.
(B) Vs spread: Assuming that both contestants had the same straight up pick then we look for any difference in vs spread.
If there is then that becomes the battle which will decide which side wins.
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Note: From here down the lower case indicates that not only will the visitor need to win one battle on the list but the next one down as well. If there is a contrast in the over/under pick as in (c) then the visitor needs to win there AND the next item (d). Find the 1st battle and then it is on to the next one down on the list where there is a contrast.
(c) Against the over/under- (second hurdle required by the visitor assuming that THIS is the 1st contrast found between the two picks.) From here on down the visitor will need to not only win the 1st battle but win a 2nd one as well...if there is a 2nd contrast left on the (A) (B) (c) (d)(e)(f) list
(d) The better prediction of the margin of victory Let's say you both agreed on who would win straight up AND vs spread AND also agreed on the over/under. The visitor would need his pick to be closer to the predicted margin of victory. Ties, revealed by the final score go to the home person. If a tie is evident before the contest begins then it is on to the next test. The visitor will also need to win the next battle in order to win.
(e) Better prediction of total points. Ties are handled the same way as previously mentioned. In the rare case that both have the same team picked right down to the predicted margin of victory this test alone will then decide the winner. There will be times where there is the over/under test and then another similar test
(Total Points Differential) where the test is less stringent. If that is the case then go to Score Differential.
(f) Score Differential. If there is a tie then go on to the next test.
If both picks are ever identical the home person can change his pick by 1 point or compel his opponent to do so. If that is not possible then another game will be assigned by the commissioner.
Bullseye Rule: If the visitor nailed the predicted margin of victory that is what we call a Bullseye. If the visitor
gets a bulls-eye while the home person didn't then the visitor picks up the win automatically. No 2nd test is needed. If the home person gets a bullseye while the visitor got a chance to drop a losing test and keep the winning test the win will go to the home person.
Hit Rule: A Hit is when you got the total points exactly correct. If you are a visitor who got a hit no 2nd test will be needed.
Target Rule: A Target is scored if you got half the score correct. If you are the visitor and you were the only one to get a target no 2nd test will be needed.
Near Exacta Rule: If one of you came within a point of an exacta then that is an automatic win.
In rare cases there may be ties but if one side got a target or a hit that carries weight to be like winning a test. A hit carries more weight than a target.
If the visitor won the only valid test possible then the visitor won. If the only valid tests ended up as ties then the game will be declared a tie.
New Rule as of 11/15/13: OVERTIME RULE: Should the teams on the field go to overtime all calculations regarding tests and requirements are out the window.
If the two picks have differing predicted winners, sides of the spread, or predicted margins of victory (in that order) then a determination is made as to which way each side is leaning. All that needs to happen is for the team that you leaned towards wins the game. If both sides picked the same team by the same amount of points then the Overtime Rule is not in effect.
Playoff rules are the same as regular season rules.
Everyone is assigned an NFL team schedule to follow. If your NFL team is at home playing against a particular divisional rival, so are you. In this contest there is a disadvantage for the visitor built into the rules if you are on the road.
Everything springs out of how your pick contrasts your opponent's pick. We go down the hierarchy, from straight up to vs spread to against the over/under and more, looking for the first item of contention. Just go down the list as far as you need to go and follow the instructions.
(A) Straight Up: If you have a different straight up pick than your opponent's pick read no further.
(B) Vs spread: Assuming that both contestants had the same straight up pick then we look for any difference in vs spread.
If there is then that becomes the battle which will decide which side wins.
===================================================================
Note: From here down the lower case indicates that not only will the visitor need to win one battle on the list but the next one down as well. If there is a contrast in the over/under pick as in (c) then the visitor needs to win there AND the next item (d). Find the 1st battle and then it is on to the next one down on the list where there is a contrast.
(c) Against the over/under- (second hurdle required by the visitor assuming that THIS is the 1st contrast found between the two picks.) From here on down the visitor will need to not only win the 1st battle but win a 2nd one as well...if there is a 2nd contrast left on the (A) (B) (c) (d)(e)(f) list
(d) The better prediction of the margin of victory Let's say you both agreed on who would win straight up AND vs spread AND also agreed on the over/under. The visitor would need his pick to be closer to the predicted margin of victory. Ties, revealed by the final score go to the home person. If a tie is evident before the contest begins then it is on to the next test. The visitor will also need to win the next battle in order to win.
(e) Better prediction of total points. Ties are handled the same way as previously mentioned. In the rare case that both have the same team picked right down to the predicted margin of victory this test alone will then decide the winner. There will be times where there is the over/under test and then another similar test
(Total Points Differential) where the test is less stringent. If that is the case then go to Score Differential.
(f) Score Differential. If there is a tie then go on to the next test.
If both picks are ever identical the home person can change his pick by 1 point or compel his opponent to do so. If that is not possible then another game will be assigned by the commissioner.
Bullseye Rule: If the visitor nailed the predicted margin of victory that is what we call a Bullseye. If the visitor
gets a bulls-eye while the home person didn't then the visitor picks up the win automatically. No 2nd test is needed. If the home person gets a bullseye while the visitor got a chance to drop a losing test and keep the winning test the win will go to the home person.
Hit Rule: A Hit is when you got the total points exactly correct. If you are a visitor who got a hit no 2nd test will be needed.
Target Rule: A Target is scored if you got half the score correct. If you are the visitor and you were the only one to get a target no 2nd test will be needed.
Near Exacta Rule: If one of you came within a point of an exacta then that is an automatic win.
In rare cases there may be ties but if one side got a target or a hit that carries weight to be like winning a test. A hit carries more weight than a target.
If the visitor won the only valid test possible then the visitor won. If the only valid tests ended up as ties then the game will be declared a tie.
New Rule as of 11/15/13: OVERTIME RULE: Should the teams on the field go to overtime all calculations regarding tests and requirements are out the window.
If the two picks have differing predicted winners, sides of the spread, or predicted margins of victory (in that order) then a determination is made as to which way each side is leaning. All that needs to happen is for the team that you leaned towards wins the game. If both sides picked the same team by the same amount of points then the Overtime Rule is not in effect.
Playoff rules are the same as regular season rules.
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