Bears' Butterfinger Beneficiaries,
BFIG's ninth edition opened in unfamiliar territory, with the heavily picked Pats getting shellacked at home. But the very next thing to happen?
On their first series of the game... the Browns ended up in 4th-and-19... then had the punt blocked... and recovered for a touchdown.
We'd once again found our Brownsylibrium.
Yet, in the fourth quarter of Sunday's early games - which featured our four top picks - it was just 21-18 Steelers, 14-12 Bills, 20-17 Falcons... and 29-7 Jags.
Run that final 5 minutes back a few times, and at least once there's gonna be a Week 1 survivor catastrophe. We escaped with fair health, but at least for now, 2016 BFIG feels a lot more distant than it did last week...
WEEK 1 HEALTH CHECK: GENERALLY GOOD; DEFINITELY NOT SAVAGE
Damage done: 6,250 started the week; 14 picked teams lost, knocking out 1,172 people; 5,078 of us are moving on to Week 2. (BFIG's gray Competition Summary box will have this info for each week.)
Could it have been worse? Wayyyyy worse. The Falcons (my pick) should have lost. The Bears dropped game-winning touchdown passes on 1st AND 2nd down with under a minute left. And in Cleveland, the Steelers were in 2nd-and-13 with 3 minutes left, up just 3 points. Roethlisberger floated a prayer up to Antonio Brown, who bailed his QB out.
Closest call: Falcons over Bears. Two plays in the fourth quarter saved Commish and 700 others: 1) Due to a busted coverage, Falcons TE Austin Hooper could have done an interpretive dance after catching his 88-yard TD pass and still scored, and 2) On 2nd-and-goal with the game on the line, Bears RB Jordan Howard had what'll remain one of the worst drops of the year on the half-yard line. Will we take the good fortune? YES, YES WE WILL!
Easiest win: Rams over the helmeted Ken dolls formerly known as the Colts. Yes, the Rams were our #2 pick in the Week 1 survivor power rankings, but 46-9? Two pick-6s? Jared Goff for 300 yards?!? Commish needs a moment.
Toughest loss: Broncos beat Chargers. Only eight people picked the Bolts, but, man... when is it gonna end?! The Chargers are in a new city, but they're still the world champs in excruciating losses. A perfect kick completed a thrilling fourth quarter to send the game into OT... until it wasn't perfect because Denver called a timeout... then blocked the ensuing attempt... 24-21 Broncos.
Team SZN record: 2-0. Commish thought FOR SURE he was gonna add a seventh year to his pattern of BFIG exits. From 2011 through 2016, this is when I went out: Week 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. The Bears' butterfingers saved me. The GM had a much easier day with the Rams. NOTE: In the email, I said The GM picked Houston. Was I drunk? We'll never know...
PICKS NOW LOCK THURSDAYS. REPEAT AFTER ME: PICKS LOCK ON THURSDAY
Week 1 is the only week that allows picks till Sunday morning. From now on, picks lock at 5:20pm PDT on Thursday - just before Thursday kickoff.
SMS pick reminders saved more than 100 people last week. There's zero reason not to do this! TURN ON PICK REMINDERS
And remember, BFIG now moves to two picks in Week 10. Every team you pick, even when you're picking two, must be a team you haven't picked before.
THERE IS NO SADNESS HERE: GO GET IN THE SECOND CHANCE POOL!
The inaugural Second Chance champ, Joe Preiner, won 20 bucks. (Hi, Joe!) This year's Second Chance champ wins $10,000. (Hi again, Joe!)
It starts in Week 5. Same format as BFIG. And yes, new friends can play in it.
If you're like "OK, I get it now. This place RULZ!" then tell your friends to join for Second Chance and our two other NFL competitions starting later this year.
WEEK 2 SURVIVOR PICK POWER RANKINGS ARE LIVE
We nailed the Rams-Colts game in Week 1 and generally ranked 'em well. Can we keep it rolling in Week 2?
HOUSEKEEPING (THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW, AND LINKS YOU WANT)
- The links to make picks are always in your homepage "Active Competitions" section. Your homepage is theSZN.com
- Once again, picks lock THURSDAY at 5:20pm PDT. There are zero exceptions. You can always change your pick before the deadline, so make a pick early.
- Your pick isn't locked until you see the pick confirmation page. Simply selecting your team DOES NOT LOCK IN YOUR PICK! You have to click "Submit picks." You don't want to be the person who forgets to do this. See the pick confirmation page. Be the pick confirmation page.
- You can create and join groups at any time. If you and your friends aren't competing for bragging rights or a side pot yet, get in a group together.
- Commish and GM play in all SZN competitions, but we can't win any money. This isn't DraftKings amateur hour. But you bet your ass I want the Title Belt!
- The Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl
- Commish loves you