I like to run a contest where I ask you 38 questions, you answer them, and we all look silly after the season. This year, Adam Steele did the lion’s share of the work, and we thank him for that.
Below you will find 38 pairs of numbers. In each case, you tell me which number will be bigger. One point for each correct answer. Most points wins.
Ties — and I expect there to be a nontrivial number of them — go to the side that had fewer votes. For example, here is a pair:
Number of wins by the Lions
Number of wins by the Ravens
Let’s say 49 people take the Lions and 44 take the Ravens. If the Lions and Ravens end up with the same number of wins, then each Ravens-backer will get a point and each Lions-backer will not. Last year, JimZornsLemma won with 25 correct guesses out of 38; the average was just 19 correct guesses. Thanks to Jeremy De Shetler for an assist on some of this year’s questions.
GRAND PRIZE: the main prizes will be (1) honor and (2) glory. There may also be some sort of trinket to be named later. By the time this thing is over, more than five months will have passed, so that gives me some time to scrape something together. But you probably shouldn’t enter unless honor and glory are sufficient.
MORE RULES:
1. Everyone is limited to one entry per person. This will be enforced by the honor system. If caught breaking this rule, you, your children, and your children’s children will be banned from all future FP contests.
2. I won’t enter the contest myself, which will allow me to arbitrate any dispute impartially. Any ambiguity in the rules will be clarified by me in whatever way causes me the least amount of hassle.
3. While there are quite a few items that refer in some way to the NFL postseason, unless specifically stated, all the items below refer to regular season totals only.
5. You may enter until 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, September 9th, 2018. However, there’s an incentive to entering early because…
6. In the event that the contest ends in a tie, the winner will be the person whose entry was submitted first.
HOW TO ENTER: PLEASE READ IF YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY ENTER THE CONTEST.
Cut-and-paste the list of questions below into your editor of choice, THEN DELETE THE CHOICES you don’t like (thereby leaving the ones you do like), and then cut-and-paste your 38 answers into the comments of this thread. Please do not edit the text in any way other than deleting half of it. If you want to leave non-entry comments, you are free to do so either at the very end of your entry or in a subsequent comment, but please do not put commentary in the body of your entry.
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Number of wins by the Lions
Number of wins by the Ravens
Wins by the New England Patriots
Rushing touchdowns by Todd Gurley
Interceptions by the defensive INT leader
Sacks by the defensive sack leader, -10
Games started by Baker Mayfield
Games started by Lamar Jackson
League games decided by 35 or more points
League games decided in overtime
Wins by the Cleveland Browns
Losses by the Jacksonville Jaguars
League kickoff return touchdowns
Wins by the Seattle Seahawks
Yards by the rushing yardage leader
Yards by the receiving yardage leader
League touchdown passes
League interceptions, +375
Combined sacks by J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney
Sacks by Joey Bosa, +2
Repeat teams qualifying for the postseason
Wins by the Cincinnati Bengals
Longest field goal made by Justin Tucker
Longest punt by Johnny Hekker, -15 yards
Interceptions by Aqib Talib
Receiving touchdowns by Michael Crabtree
Touchdown passes by the TD pass leader
Rushing touchdowns by the rushing TD leader, +25
Passer Rating of Matt Ryan
Receptions by Julio Jones
Quarterbacks throwing for 4,000 or more yards
Receiving touchdowns by Rob Gronkowski
Touchdowns by Odell Beckham, Jr.
Margin of victory for the winner in Super Bowl LIII, plus 2.5
Touchdowns thrown by rookie quarterbacks
Interceptions thrown by rookie quarterbacks, +12
Championship game appearances by the Patriots, Steelers, Eagles, and Rams
Playoff berths by the Titans, Ravens, Panthers and Lions
Double digit wins by the Minnesota Vikings
Double digit losses by the Buffalo Bills
Longest receiving touchdown by any player
Longest rushing touchdown by any player, +10
Interceptions thrown by Josh Rosen
Interceptions thrown by Aaron Rodgers
Highest combined point total in a single game
Lowest combined point total in a single game, +90
Yards from scrimmage by Jay Ajayi
Passing yards by Nick Foles, +500
Combined sacks by Von Miller and Khalil Mack
Touchdown passes thrown by Jared Goff
League Adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt
Wins by the Miami Dolphins
Games with 300 or more passing yards by Drew Brees
Games with 150 or more passing yards by Josh Allen
Combined wins by NFC teams
Combined wins by AFC teams, +10
Games with multiple interceptions thrown by Eli Manning
Games with multiple interceptions thrown by Blake Bortles
Wins by the Arizona Cardinals
Double digit wins by the San Francisco 49ers
Number of week 1 head coaches who do not coach 16 games
Number of times a quarterback throws 6+ TDs in a game, -0.5
Rushing touchdowns by Cam Newton
Rushing touchdowns by Le’Veon Bell
Games with 100 or more rushing yards by Ezekiel Elliott
Games with 100 more receiving yards by Antonio Brown
Teams with 11 or more wins
Teams with 11 or more losses
Combined wins by the Buccaneers and Jets
Combined losses by the Saints and Patriots
Sacks by Khalil Mack
Wins by the Chicago Bears, +1.5
Defensive interceptions by the Oakland Raiders
Interceptions thrown by Derek Carr, +2.5
AFC team wins Super Bowl LIII
NFC team wins Super Bowl LIII