Super Duper Bowl LX

Here it is, the last pick of the NFL season, and it's one Jay foreshadowed on our podcast when the conference title games were on the horizon. He said the Rams-Seahawks NFC championship game was the de facto Super Bowl, and he stood his ground, taking Seattle over New England and giving the points. I'll take the Pats and the points, though I don't feel great about it, but if the game is ugly as I fear it will be due to the lack of experience and tough tests of the two quarterbacks, then I may be getting a gift with that many points. I legit can see a FG finish either way. Here are the picks officially for the record:

NFL Conf. Finals '26

No drama in this blog post tonight. Jay, by virtue of extending his lead over me in our NFL handicapping contest to 7 and a half points, has such a lead that it makes sense for me to "punt" and just take his picks as mine so that now Jay will have to pick the Super Duper Bowl correctly or else I would claim the 8 points and win the season. I could go against him for these two Championship Sunday games if I felt strongly about my picks, but I don't. How the hell could I feel confident when I've compiled a 1-9 record in these playoffs? So I'll just concur with Jay, although I probably would lean Rams if left to my own devices, which means if you don't put everything on Seattle, it's all your fault. Here are our picks:

NFL Conf. Semis '26

After nearly no conflict in NFL Wild Card Weekend, we managed to split the slate for Divisional Round. Saturday is drama-free as Jay and I both like the road teams to break the hearts of the top seeds. Sunday is the drama. Jay wanted Houston all week until an injury development, while I will trust that great defense to go into New England and take a W. I have been loud about how untrustworthy Chicago is, and that didn't change, while Jay will take them as the home dog vs. the Los Angeles Rams. Be sure to find our podcast In Much Less Detail for the full breakdown. Here are the picks:

 

NFL Wild Card '26

It's all about the new blood in the NFL playoffs this year. No Chiefs, no Ravens, no Bengals, no Lions. And no excuses for the Bills according to the pundits. But Jay and I have Buffalo going down in this SuperWickedWildCardWeekendYaySports. If you want to hear our whys for all the games, find In Much Less Detail on Spotify or iTunes and hit that subscribe button. You won't have much embrace debate because we agree on every Wild Card Weekend game except one, but you'll be (hopefully) smarter. Here are our picks and playoff scoring system:

 

2025 What I Learned About Each Team In One Sentence

Cowboys--That GM is pure shit for brains, and his dealing the best defender tanked a season that featured a heck of an offense.

Giants--There's potential on both sides of the ball, and a major coaching job to pull out that potential by whoever wants the challenge.

Eagles--It's a real struggle to get them all to play to their max at the same time, which will cost them as they attempt to defend their title.

Commanders--Must keep Jayden Daniels healthy in order to compete in any game.

Bears--Competent coaching and frenetic but fearless QB play from Caleb Williams resulted in a division title and a very bright future.

Lions--Another defensive health breakdown doomed the Kneecap Biters, and one more year like that probably dooms coach Dan Campbell.

Packers--Can be a very tough offense to handle when Jordan Love is clicking, but lost their chance at a championship with the Micah Parsons injury.

Vikings--They must decide to fully commit to J.J. McCarthy as their future or find someone else who won't waste prime Justin Jefferson.

Falcons--Finally the braintrust brought a pass rush, making them a playoff contender, but that same braintrust that bolloxed the QB situation couldn't survive the collapse.

Panthers--Bryce Young's Heckyll-and-Jyde QB play makes them a complete mystery entering the playoffs.

Saints--Still lots and lots of work to do on the roster despite the glimpses of hope shown by Tyler Shough.

Buccaneers--A monster start to the season gave way to a mental and physical breakdown embodied by the shortcomings of QB Baker Mayfield.

Cardinals--Made the hard choice to turn away from franchise QB Kyler Murray, which was necessary to see how they can do with professionalism at the position.

Rams--Perhaps the most dangerous all-around team in the league, they can punch on defense and dazzle with the ageless Matthew Stafford spinning the ball.

49ers--Survived devastating injuries on defense to snag a playoff spot as coach Kyle Shanahan once again schemed up a top producing offense.

Seahawks--The top seed grabbed headlines with the Sam Darnold-led passing game but dominated with a physical suffocating defense.

Bills--They keep going as far as their heroic QB Josh Allen can carry them, but how much punishment can he take?

Dolphins--Injuries and scapegoating of Tua Tagovailoa derailed Miami, and the rebuild will be a tough task.

Patriots--What a turnaround as the team embodied the attitude of new coach Mike Vrabel and the cutthroat instinct of OC Josh McDaniels.

Jets--Need a new roster, a new front office, and probably a new coach, but otherwise all good.

Ravens--Waited and waited for the QB and defense to get healthy at the same time, and still they're division champions if a FG goes through.

Bengals--Guess the atrocious defense last year wasn't DC Lou Anarumo's fault after all.

Browns--Dysfunctional organization used three QBs and didn't adequately prepare any of them, then fired the coach.

Steelers--Went from chants to fire the coach to division champs despite the offensive limitations and the collapsed lung of T.J. Watt.

Texans--Put together the kind of cohesive and talented defense that will be very tough to beat in every playoff game.

Colts--So desperate to find relevance after the hot Daniel Jones start to the season that they turned to a grandpa at QB, with predictable results.

Jaguars--New coach Liam Coen slowly meshed with QB Trevor Lawrence to surge forward with a dangerous offense as the playoffs approach.

Titans--Never a real competitor in any of their games even as the rookie QB Cam Ward showed promise.

Broncos--One of the most unique coaching jobs ever, Sean Payton seemed to wait until 2nd halves of games to give QB Bo Nix the test answers, but it worked.

Chiefs--It was time for the team to step back and miss the playoffs as the one-score luck from last year turned against them, but they tried like hell.

Raiders--Pete Carroll and Geno Smith fronted an embarrassingly bad effort that had no innovation and no chance.

Chargers--Must power their way through injuries and incompetence on the offensive line if they want to find playoff success.

2025 Week #18

Here it is, the most bonkers week of the football season, NFL Week 18. No one knows who's playing, no on knows how long anyone is playing, and no one knows if the people playing in the first half will still be playing in the second half. Which is exactly why we welcome guest picker Coin to see how much worse the picks can be when they're a literal random heads-or-tails proposition. Jay and I are heads up on nine picks, counting the magic trick Jay pulled to start the day Saturday when he took the Panthers with the points but the Buccaneers to win. If you're following us on X/Twitter, you already knew that. Here are the picks, including the coin flips:

 

2025 Week #17

It's a battle to the finish for Jay and me as the NFL season winds down.  I've fought back to within three games of him his Linsanity hot streak finally cooled off. And with his Detroit loss to Minnesota on Xmas, I clinched having the most correct Locks, which is nice to store away with the madness that is Week 18 looming next week. This week may get ugly, though. I don't ever remember this many road favorites. It's 11 of the 16 games! The three home dogs covering on a short week on Triple Jesus kinda makes sense after the fact, but I wasn't paying close attention to the games, so I don't know if they took it or the visitors gave it to 'em. All I know is, I'm nervous for the rest of the slate, where I tackle Jay on six games, one where he craps on my Lock. Here are our Week 17 picks:

2025 Triple Jesus

Here are our picks for the Triple Jesus BackupFest, featuring all three home teams using backup QBs. Nothing to note since Jay and I are concurring down the line, but Jay is burning his Lock of the Week on his "love" of Max Brosmer.

 

2025 Week #16

There's a comfort in the portion of the NFL schedule when the Saturday games start up. It's the holiday season, it's the start of the winding down of the long football season, it's the real teams separating themselves from the fake, it's the resolution of which squads will overcome and claim their spots at the top of their respective conferences. Jay and I are battling through as the picks wind down. Jay finally turned in a sub-.500 week and allowed me back with shouting distance, setting up a furious last three weeks. And we crapped on each other's Locks for the second week in a row, so we're making it spicy. We're heads up on five picks not counting Thursday as we pick the rest of Week 16:

2025 Week #15

Jay and I are crapping on each other's Lock this week, but considering how he's been beating me like a drum the last two months in our NFL picks ATS, maybe I should change my pick. He's 102-71 ATS since Week 3! That's insanity, and as he keeps reminding me, I can end his streak any time by being my usual Cooler self and tailing his picks with my money. Haven't done it yet, but I may have to get desperate. Here's our slate for Week 15, which including the opposing Locks work out to six picks head-to-head:

2025 Week #14

Now that Turkey Day is gone and December has arrived, it's Real or Fake For Real in the NFL. Jay and I get to see which teams prove themselves to be formidable when the schedule gets tough, and who folds and fades away. Problem is, this year, there are way more teams that feel fraudulent than there are teams that inspire confidence. No team is a juggernaut, but man, some of these teams at the top of divisions and conferences just seem fake AF. It's our hobby to decipher which squads deserve the hype and which deserve to get faded. We are agreeing on a lot of our early winter opinions, as we only differ on four games for Week 14; however, I am crapping on his Lock. Here are our picks:

 

2025 Week #13

Like last year, Jay and I split the two Turkey Day games we differed on, so the five we differ on for the rest of the week will decide who had a successful Thanksgiving weekend. Jay doesn't want to be greedy and ask for the sweep, but I will, even though I still can't catch him for the season. No Lock-Offs, no Contingency-Offs, just our picks and Locks for the remainder of Week 13 in the NFL:

 

2025 Triple Gobble/Dark Friday

My connection held up for the second show in a row, so I'm happy and thankful that the podcast is not sounding like a nightmare for anyone listening. I'm thankful for Jay continuing to make time for the show in between his job and family and general weariness. And I'm thankful that I have the energy to fit this in to my schedule with my side hustles and college courses and making time for the wife. I'll probably crash at some point, but it's all good at the moment. Happy Thanksgiving to all reading. Check out our podcast In Much Less Detail on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and subscribe while you're at it. Here are our Turkey Day and Black Friday NFL picks, which have us head to head on a couple:

2025 Week #12

Folks, we've got a historic week for our NFL picks. Never in the 40-plus year history of Jay and I picking games going back to grade school have we ever had a Contingency-Off, where we both have a contingency pick on the same player but it's the opposite reasoning. In the Steelers-Bears game, Pittsburgh QB Aaron Rodgers is threatening to play despite breaking his non-throwing wrist last week against the Bengals. I don't want anything to do with a 40-year-old QB trying to play against NFL players with a broken wrist, so if he plays, I'll take the Bears, and if Mason Rudolph starts, I'll take Pit against the spongy Chi defense. Jay wants nothing to do with Rudolph, so if he starts, Jay has the Bears, and if Rodgers starts, Jay wants the old "owner" of Da Bears one last time. I think it's a historic number of games we disagree on as well. We're different on 11 games! We agree on only three, counting Thursday night. One of us may have a very rough Sunday, unless we split them as I suspect we will. Here are the Week 12 picks:

 

2025 Week #11

Jay's run continues as he bests me again in NFL picks ATS. He hasn't had a week below .500 since Week 4, putting up 9, 11 and 10 wins before throwing up 7s each of the last 3 weeks. Meanwhile, I haven't been over .500 since Week 7. It doesn't feel like I'm totally lost, but Jay's been better every week for over a month. Frustrating, but not as much as my internet connection which is making our podcast unlistenable as it keeps kicking me off the show mid-sentence. It's either time for a new computer or a new provider. Here are our picks for Week 11, as we differ on five games:

2025 Week #10

Jay and I apparently are sick and tired of favorites not covering spreads and screwing up our picks, so we both went heavier on dogs than normal in this week's picks. We only disagree on four games as a result, and one of them changes based on the Jets choice of QB. If coach Aaron Glenn decides to start Tyrod Taylor, I'll change my pick to Jets over Browns, but if he insists on putting Justin Fields back out there, I'll take Cleveland. Underdogs have been feasting this NFL season, so we took a few. I'm sure we both thought we would surprise the other with a couple of those dogs, only to concur. We'll see how it plays out. Here are our Week 10 picks:

2025 Week #9

After the bloodletting last week, where every NFL game was a double-digit win except the damn Jets, Jay and I hope the violence continues to some extent. We both took the favorites in the five biggest point spread games Sunday, this after taking the favorite Thursday (and being rewarded). Perhaps it's the point in a season where the best teams start to spread their wings and assert themselves. If so, we're all in on the beatings this week. Jay has a Contingency Pick with all the quarterback shenanigans being played: If the Bengals hold back Joe Flacco and have to start Jake Browning again, he will join me and take Chicago. I got the Bears either way. Here are our picks, which have us heads up on five games (or four):

2025 Week #8

Jay and I are feeling ourselves a little after two weeks straight of double-digit wins ATS, which is very hard to do picking every NFL game. But we were on the negative end early in the season, so we know both sides. Jay even poked fun at a couple of my picks, so he's really confident. He thinks I gave him a couple gifts by backing Snoop Huntley (Bal) and Marcus Mariota (Wash). But I say, nothing's a sure thing, not this season. Just ask the New York Giants. Here are our Week 8 picks, which see us going heads up on five games:

2025 Week #7

We're coming off our first double-digit winning weeks of the season, and we independently picked the same game this week as a Double Lock, so Jay and I were feeling good about things on our podcast. It's better than feeling like the world is going to end after a bad week of picks. Maybe we're figuring things out in this very unusual NFL season. We'll find out Sunday and Monday. We do disagree on six games for Week 7, but we were vibing so well about our successful Week 6 that Jay thought we had more picks that were the same. Nope, we just felt like we agreed more. Here are the picks for Week 7:

2025 Week #6

That was a goofy week of comebacks in the NFL last week, some earned, some gifted by the losing teams. I fell on the wrong side of most of them, and Jay has already made up the deficit from earlier in the season. I may be growing up a little, though, as I approach 50, because I didn't grind out my picks this week with extra research and stats. I stayed the course and trusted my instinct, because so many of my picks were good last weekend...until the final score. We'll see how it works out this week. Jay is against me on seven picks overall for Week 6, counting the Thursday night dub he already got over me. Not a good start, but I got lots of bounceback ability with four games Sunday and both Monday. Here are the picks: