Hall of Fame Game ~ Prediction Recap and Fantasy Football Result

The Hall of Fame Game played out last night much like you would expect. Dallas looked solid, though would have been even more impressive if their first team offense had come away with a TD at the end of their first drive and they had controlled the ball better. Cincinnati struggled greatly and played very sloppy. Turnovers and penalties hurt them early, often and throughout the game. Whether the Cincinnati offense played their starters or backups, the Dallas defense dominated them, forcing 4 sacks, 3 interceptions, a fumble and a defensive touchdown. If Cincinnati hopes to compete with Baltimore and Pittsburgh for the AFC North title, they better get their offense figured out before the season starts.

On Friday I predicted Dallas would come away with a 20-16 victory. Dallas prevailed in a decent game by the final score of 16-7, a little lower than expected. During the regular season I will predict the results of all games. I personally am more focused on getting the winner correct than getting the correct matchup versus any Vegas lines. I also have no illusions about predicting the final scores accurately, since that is nearly impossible with NFL games. My final score predictions are meant to be more of an indication of how close the game itself should be and is a measure of how well the teams stack up against one another. If the final game score is predicted to be 24-23, the two teams are very evenly matched, whereas if the final score prediction is 30-17, one team is clearly better than the other and should have an easy victory. Of course, there are no "easy" victories in the NFL.

Also, as a control value on the games I predict, I will always track how well my predictions stand up against "blind" predictions. Blind predictions are predictions based on no thought being required to choose the winner. The two blind predictions I will use for every game this season will be the following:

1) Control A ~ Home Team Wins, 20-17 (Last season, the home team won 57.7% of the time)

2) Control B ~ Best Record Wins, 20-17; if Records Equal, Home Team wins, 20-17 (Last season, the team with the best record won roughly 60% of the time)

My personal goal is to finish the regular season and playoffs with 70% or better accuracy predicting the winners of each game.

Hall of Fame Game ~ Creative Misfortune Fantasy Matchup Result*

In a game that ended 16-7, not many fantasy points were to be had. The constant shuffling of players in and out of the game didn't help much for the fantasy scoring either, particularly on Cincinnati's side of the ball. Below are the results of the starting fantasy lineups for each team in the preseason opener. During the regular season, Creative Misfortune Fantasy Football season standings will be updated every Tuesday.

*Note: For this sample Creative Misfortune Fantasy Matchup, only the backup players likely to play at least one quarter or more were chosen to compete. All points based on the NFL's official scoring system used for their public, default leagues.

Cincinnati Bengals	pts				pts	Dallas Cowboys
JT O'Sullivan	-1		QB		2	Jon Kitna
Brian Leonard	0		RB1		4	Tashard Choice
Bernard Scott	1		RB2		0	Chris Gronkowski
Jerome Simpson	1		WR1		0	Sam Hurd
Andre Caldwell	0		WR2		0	Titus Ryan
Quan Cosby	1		WR3		2	Kevin Ogletree
Jermaine Gresham	0		TE		6	John Phillips
Dave Rayner	1		K		10	David Buehler
Cincinnati Bengals	11		DEF		22	Dallas Cowboys
Total	14		>>>		46	Total

Tomorrow, Valway returns with letters to the Cincinnati Bengals and his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers...