This week's preseason games are perfect examples of why you would have to be crazy to seriously bet anything on any preseason results. Trying to predict the halftime scores is outlandish enough. Actually betting real money on these games or any part of these games is beyond my comprehension.
Now, let's see just how bad my halftime picks were, starting back with the Thursday night games just to be complete...
Thursday Night Halftime Score Prediction Recaps:
St. Louis Rams at New England Patriots
New England should have no problem handling the Rams and will take a commanding 21-3 lead into the locker room.
INCORRECT. Wow, impressive 20-14 first half victory on the road, St. Louis. And you even managed to win the game outright.
Indianapolis Colts at Green Bay Packers
A far more intriguing matchup, and a possible Super Bowl preview, Green Bay wins the first half at home, 17-16.
CORRECT. Even more high scoring than I expected, Green Bay runs away with a solid 28-17 halftime victory.
Friday Halftime Score Prediction Recaps:
Atlanta Falcons at Miami Dolphins
No advantage will be gained by either team as they battle to a 17-17 halftime draw in South Florida.
INCORRECT. Atlanta ran away with the first half, 10-3, gaining a clear advantage in South Florida.
Washington Redskins at New York Jets
New York wins a tight first half against the dysfunctional Redskins, 10-7.
INCORRECT. It was a tight, ugly first 30 minutes with the kind of score you'd expect to see between the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals. Washington proves me wrong with a 6-5 halftime victory. Honestly, if anybody picks the first half score of an NFL game to be 6-5, walk away from them. They are obviously crazy.
San Diego Chargers at New Orleans Saints
Two high-flying offenses put up the points in a possible Super Bowl preview, but enter the locker room with the scoreboard deadlocked at 20-20.
INCORRECT. Neither team reached the 20 point mark until the second half, but the Saints managed a late field goal to break-up my predicted tie. Man, that city gets all the breaks...
Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs
The Eagles take control of the game and win the first two quarters on the road, 14-10.
CORRECT: Finally, the Eagles do something I can admire and win the first half as I predicted. It wasn't a perfect score prediction (they never will be) but a 10-7 victory is almost the same as a 14-10 victory. I'm sure some math wizard out there could prove me right.
Saturday Halftime Score Prediction Recaps:
Cleveland Browns at Detroit Lions
Even in a preseason game, this matchup makes me want to roll my eyes. Detroit holds serve at home and wins the first half, 13-10.
INCORRECT. Cleveland throws up 24 first half points by scoring practically every way possible. It ended up being an exciting game. Too bad nobody watched it.
Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills
Both offenses struggle early, but Buffalo pulls away with a short field goal to take the 10-7 halftime victory.
CORRECT: Buffalo and Cincinnati both surprise by getting their offenses off to quick starts, but Buffalo prevails as predicted with a 21-14 halftime lead.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Can preseason games be blacked out? I guess we'll find out. Jacksonville wins the first half of this road game, 13-7.
INCORRECT: Tampa Bay holds Jacksonville's sputtering offense to just two field goals in the first half to prove me wrong with a 10-6 halftime victory.
New York Giants at Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore dominates in this east coast matchup and takes a comfortable 20-9 lead into the locker room.
CORRECT. The closest prediction so far. Score one for me! Baltimore dominated this east coast matchup and took a comfortable 17-3 lead into the locker room.
Dallas Cowboys at Houston Texans
This potential shoot-out gets upstaged by stingy defense in the red zone. Dallas manages the extra field goal to gain a 13-10 advantage at the half.
INCORRECT. At least one team from Texas played this game like it mattered and wanted to prove they belonged in the playoff talks. Dallas, you looked pathetic. Down 13-0 at halftime, it wasn't even that close. Jerry Jones did not look happy in the press box. Remember those looks of annoyance. He will look ten times worse if you don't win the Super Bowl at home this year.
Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings
Brett Favre plays more than four plays and Seattle has no chance on their trip to the Midwest. Vikings are dominating at halftime, 21-3.
INCORRECT. 10-10 tie at halftime. I guess Favre needs more than two weeks to get into the swing of things.
Tennessee Titans at Carolina Panthers
Carolina surprises Tennessee early and holds on for a 13-10 lead at the break.
INCORRECT. Both teams surprised each other so badly that neither team figured out how to score! 0-0 at the break. Carolina did pull away in the second half, but too late for this pick to be accurate.
Arizona Cardinals at Chicago Bears
Unlike in recent years, nobody thinks they know who either of these teams are. They each may have been who we thought they were, but that doesn't mean either team has a chance to come out ahead by halftime. Game tied 14-14 when they hit the locker room after two quarters.
INCORRECT: Arizona wins the first 30 minutes 7-0 and nobody yet knows who either of these teams are.
San Francisco 49ers at Oakland Raiders
Strong defensive play and sloppy offensive mistakes keep this close at the halfway mark, but San Francisco will have the 10-7 lead.
CORRECT: Higher scoring than expected, but finally, the right team heads into the locker room with the lead. San Francisco adds one more to my win column with a 17-14 halftime victory.
Sunday Halftime Score Prediction Recap:
Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
In the Mile High City, the halftime score will be anything but. Pittsburgh and Denver battle to a 10-10 standstill after the first 30 minutes.
INCORRECT. Pittsburgh was driving in the closing seconds of the first half to make this a perfect 10-10 pick for me... but then Goodman stole a Dennis Dixon pass and returned it 77 yards in the wrong direction, stealing all hope for a perfect halftime prediction away from me.
Final Tally: 5 correct, 11 incorrect (31.3% accuracy... but when read as a Batting Average, .313 is a great number, especially with runners in scoring position!)
Wow, even trying to be that inept I couldn't have been that inept. Preseason game prognostication - if you try and apply logic, you have no chance. What did Jerry Seinfeld once tell George Castanza? "If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite, no matter how unlikely, has to be right."
Based on that logic, Creative Misfortune proudly presents the Cleveland Browns and the St. Louis Rams as his Super Bowl XLV favorites. That's right. These picks can't possibly lose! Thanks for the tip, Jerry.
Check back later today for details regarding Creative Misfortune’s first ever season of “If Real Football Used Fantasy Football Scoring…”
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