Board 8 > NFL Ladder Contest - Week 13

(+) Yeah! (+)

Tiebreakers are open. Be sure to check out and understand the rules. Bad week last week as very few people advanced, but one was Nee joining Naye on Level 8.

A few ground rules:
-Please say which level you are on when you post your pick. In most cases it will probably be obvious, but this makes it easier for me to record the picks.
-The deadline to make a pick is at the start of the second set of games on Sunday afternoon (4:25 PM ET). That means no SNF/MNF picks after most all the games have started or finished. You cannot pick a game that has already started.
-The deadline to answer the bonus question is at the start of games on Sunday (1 PM ET).
-Please post the spreads with your picks, it makes it much easier for me.
-I get my spreads from an online site providing lines from several sources, both in Vegas and out. Although these sources may continue to change their lines throughout the week, the ones I post in the topic are frozen and final for our purposes.

Explanation of Levels:

Level 1: Pick a winner. Simply pick one team to win their game. If they win, you go on to level 2.

Level 2: Pick an Underdog to win. You must pick a team that is an underdog to win their game. Underdogs will always be the team listed second.

Level 3: 2 Games with Spread. Using the spreads I provide, pick 2 games. You must get both correct to move on. Spreads work by giving (-) or getting (+) points. The team that is the favorite to win "gives" points to the underdog. If you choose the favorite to win, they must still win after "giving" those points to the underdog. If you choose the underdog, you would be correct if they win the game after "getting" those points. For example, if a game says "Giants (-2.5) vs. Cowboys," if you pick the Giants, they must actually win the game by at least three points; if you pick the Cowboys, you would win if they actually won the game or lost by two points or less.

Level 4: 30+ or 10-: Pick one team to score 30 or more points, OR pick one team to score 10 or less points. You must clearly choose either 30+ or 10-. If you pick a team to score 30+, but they score 10-, you do not advance.

Level 5: Pleaser: Pick one team to win using the spread, but with the pleaser, you lose 6 points on the spread. In other words, add six points in whichever direction makes it harder to win. For example, a (-2.5) spread becomes (-8.5), a (+3.5) becomes a (-2.5) spread, etc.

Level 6: QB, RB, WR: Pick 1 player to throw a touchdown pass, 1 player to rush for a touchdown, and 1 player to catch a touchdown pass. They must all be from different teams, and must also combine for at least 4 touchdowns in their respective positions. Typically you will be picking a QB, RB, and WR, but you may pick players from other positions to fill those roles (i.e. a TE or RB to get a receiving touchdown). You must make it clear what role you are picking the players for if it is not the standard QB/RB/WR or QB/RB/TE. If the player gets a touchdown in a different way (i.e. your rusher getting a receiving touchdown), it does not count.

Level 7: 3 Over/Unders: I will now provide over/unders for each game. This number relates to the final score. You must choose 3 of the games and decide whether the final score will be OVER the number I provided or UNDER the number I provided. You must get all 3 of these correct to advance.

Level 8: 5 Game Teaser: This is the opposite of level 5. Instead of losing 6 points on each spread, you actually gain 6 points on each spread. But you have to get all 5 games right to move on. So a team favored by 9.5 will now only have to win by 3.5, a team that is getting 2.5 points will now be getting 8.5 points.
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Tiebreakers The bonus points that you have accumulated throughout the season will be used to earn tiebreaker points. Each bonus point gives you one attempt at a level that you have previously passed during this season. If correct, you get points added to your tiebreaker score equal to the number of the level. You may use as many as you want during a week or save them for a future week, but you can only attempt each level once per week, and you must have already passed that stage to attempt it. Each bonus point can only be used once. After Week 17, if there is a tie on the highest-reached level, the person with the highest tiebreaker score will be crowned champion.

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Schedule: (home team in CAPS, favorites on the left)
Thursday, November 30th
DALLAS (-1.5) vs Washington [45.5]

Sunday, December 3rd
BALTIMORE (-2.5) vs Detroit [42.5]
CHICAGO (-3.5) vs San Francisco [40.5]
ATLANTA (-2.5) vs Minnesota [47.5]
New England (-8.5) at BUFFALO [48.5]
Denver (-1.5) at MIAMI [39.5]
TENNESSEE (-6.5) vs Houston [42.5]
JACKSONVILLE (-9.5) vs Indianapolis [40.5]
Tampa Bay (-1.5) at GREEN BAY [43.5]
Kansas City (-3.5) at NY JETS [43.5]
LA CHARGERS (-13.5) vs Cleveland [42.5]
NEW ORLEANS (-4.5) vs Carolina [47.5]
LA Rams (-6.5) at ARIZONA [45.5]
OAKLAND (-8.5) vs NY Giants [42.5]
Philadelphia (-5.5) at SEATTLE [47.5]

Monday, December 4th
Pittsburgh (-5.5) at CINCINNATI [43.5]

Bonus Question: How many combined sacks and turnovers will Geno Smith have this week? (lolgiants)

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Level 8
Naye745
TheKnightOfNee***

Level 7
Arti****
baubeta**
Camden*****
cyan1001******
davidponte****
foxhead84******
Paratroopa1*****
Reg***
Thrillwell********
WalkingWiki***

Level 6
5tarscream****
Cody11533***
crazyisgood*
Dancedreamer****
DpOblivion***
Dr_Football***
Emeraldegg**
HBJDubs****
Jukkie*
kevwaffles
Logicblade
meche313****
Meow1000****
Mewtwo59*
MrSmartGuy***
pronouncemyname***
Ringworm****
SpikeDragon*****
Stripperiffic****
terpaholic****
th3l3fty**
theawesomestevr***
TsunamiXXVIII**
Wizardsfan1000*****
xp1337****
ZeroSignal620**

Level 5
Crescent-Moon*
ExquisiteSamurai*
fortybelowsummer***
KingBartz***
KommunistKoala*****
mccheyne*
MZero11**
Runemistress***
thekitchensink****
Vengeful_KBM***
voltch*
Wicklebee***
WiggumFan267***
Xuxon****

Level 4
VeryInsane**

Level 3
dowolf
Evil_REmade***
guffguy89
HanOfTheNekos
HotDogButts*
KCF0107****
MartinFF7**
Whiskey Nick******

Level 2
Eddv
SwiftyDC*

Level 1
bng_mmmk
Jakyl25*
ProfitProphet
SeabassDebeste
WweJth*

* - Bonus points
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Level 6:
Wentz
Hyde
Antonio Brown

Bonus: 5
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Level 3:
Dallas
Detroit

Bonus: 6
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Level 7
CHICAGO (-3.5) vs San Francisco under [40.5]
LA CHARGERS (-13.5) vs Cleveland under [42.5]
Tampa Bay (-1.5) at GREEN BAY under [43.5]

bonus 4
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level 8:
Washington (+7.5)
Minnesota (+8.5)
Tennessee (-0.5)
Tampa Bay (+4.5)
LA Rams (-0.5)

Bonus: 5
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Tiebreakers The bonus points that you have accumulated throughout the season will be used to earn tiebreaker points. Each bonus point gives you one attempt at a level that you have previously passed during this season. If correct, you get points added to your tiebreaker score equal to the number of the level. You may use as many as you want during a week or save them for a future week, but you can only attempt each level once per week, and you must have already passed that stage to attempt it. Each bonus point can only be used once. After Week 17, if there is a tie on the highest-reached level, the person with the highest tiebreaker score will be crowned champion.

Yikes, I think I understand but could you give at least one detailed example when you have time. Thanks
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lv 5: Detroit -3.5

Bonus: 5
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Level 6:
Brady
Gurley
A. Brown

Bonus: 3
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Level 6:

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Todd Gurley
WR: Antonio Brown

Bonus: 7

Was seriously tempted to take Hunt for RB because the Jets will screw something up somehow but I dunno, the Chiefs are in free-fall.
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Level 5
Raiders -15.5
bonus 15
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or -14.5 but 15.5 will work too
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Level 6 QB Russel Wilson
RB Mark Ingram
WR Travis Kelce
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Bonus 6
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Level 6:
Dallas vs Washington UNDER 45.5
New England at Buffalo UNDER 48.5
New Orleans vs Carolina UNDER 47.5

Bonus: 5

Tiebreaker:
Level 6: QB Brady, RB Gurley, WR A. Brown
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Level 5: Green Bay +5.5

Bonus: 5
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Level 7
DALLAS (-1.5) vs Washington [45.5] UNDER
Tampa Bay (-1.5) at GREEN BAY [43.5] UNDER
Kansas City (-3.5) at NY JETS [43.5] UNDER

Bonus 8
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Level 7
DALLAS (-1.5) vs Washington [45.5] UNDER
BALTIMORE (-2.5) vs Detroit [42.5] OVER
OAKLAND (-8.5) vs NY Giants [42.5] OVER

Bonus: 4
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Level 6
QB: Tom Brady
RB: Todd Gurley
WR: Antonio Brown

Bonus: 4
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Level 5:
Redskins

Bonus: 3 (before getting pulled)
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Screw it why not

Level 6:

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Todd Gurley
WR: Antonio Brown

Bonus: 5
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Level 6:

QB: P. Rivers
RB: Todd Gurley
WR: Gronk

Bonus: 9
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Level 6:
Kirk Cousins
Le'veon Bell
Adam Thielen

Bonus: 4
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Level 7:
Dallas vs Washington UNDER
Philadelphia at Seattle OVER
Pittsburg at Cincinnati OVER

Bonus: 5

Tiebreaker:
L2: Green Bay
L4: New England +30
L5: Green Bay (-4.5)
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Level 6 Brady, Bell, Graham

Bonus 7

Level 8:
New England (-2.5)
MIAMI (+7.5)
Carolina (+10.5)
SEATTLE (+11.5)
CINCINNATI (+11.5)

Bonus: 6
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Ok specifically aiming to play matchups with this one.

QB: Tom Brady (Brady vs. ~Bottom 10 pass defense. Also, it's Buffalo.)
RB: Jordan Howard (Eagles are 1st in rush defense. 49ers are 30th. He'll have a rebound game).
WR: Josh Doctson (should be the primary receiver against a still-weak Dallas defense. He'll be getting throws in the end zone.)
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Level 3
Seahawks
Bengals

Bonus
4
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Level 7:
DALLAS (-1.5) vs Washington [45.5] UNDER
CHICAGO (-3.5) vs San Francisco [40.5] OVER
NEW ORLEANS (-4.5) vs Carolina [47.5] OVER

Bonus: 5
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@Thrillwell Sorry, I've been a bit busy. Yeah, it's a bit wordy. You can see a couple people in here have submitted tiebreaker picks.

So for example, foxhead submitted a tiebreaker with three different picks: a Level 2 pick (Packers), a Level 4 pick (Patriots 30+), and a Level 5 pick (Packers -4.5). If, say, the Patriots break 30 points and the Packers win but fail to cover the spread, he would have 6 tiebreaker points. They will carry over to the end of the season. He had six bonus points available, he used three this week, so he has three more (plus any more he might accumulate) that he may use in the remaining weeks. He could again pick a Level 2, Level 4, and Level 5 next week if he wants. The only thing you couldn't do is, in the same week, pick both New England 30+ and New Orleans 30+ as two separate picks; so you can choose the same level the following week, but you can't use it twice in the same week. And you have to have already passed the level, so you can't pick a Level 8 tiebreaker since you're on Level 7.

The strategy is in figuring out which levels you want to pick and when. Obviously (in theory) the lower levels are easier, but worth less; the higher levels are harder, but worth more. So there are five weeks left, and you have an impressive eight bonus points available, so you have some flexibility there. You can use them whenever you want, spread out however you want. Hopefully I've helped clear things up and not made them more confusing.
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Level 5:
OAKLAND (-14.5)

Bonus: 3
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DpObliVion posted...

@Thrillwell Sorry, I've been a bit busy. Yeah, it's a bit wordy. You can see a couple people in here have submitted tiebreaker picks.

So for example, foxhead submitted a tiebreaker with three different picks: a Level 2 pick (Packers), a Level 4 pick (Patriots 30+), and a Level 5 pick (Packers -4.5). If, say, the Patriots break 30 points and the Packers win but fail to cover the spread, he would have 6 tiebreaker points. They will carry over to the end of the season. He had six bonus points available, he used three this week, so he has three more (plus any more he might accumulate) that he may use in the remaining weeks. He could again pick a Level 2, Level 4, and Level 5 next week if he wants. The only thing you couldn't do is, in the same week, pick both New England 30+ and New Orleans 30+ as two separate picks; so you can choose the same level the following week, but you can't use it twice in the same week. And you have to have already passed the level, so you can't pick a Level 8 tiebreaker since you're on Level 7.

The strategy is in figuring out which levels you want to pick and when. Obviously (in theory) the lower levels are easier, but worth less; the higher levels are harder, but worth more. So there are five weeks left, and you have an impressive eight bonus points available, so you have some flexibility there. You can use them whenever you want, spread out however you want. Hopefully I've helped clear things up and not made them more confusing.

Thanks for the response, got it now : )
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Well they're getting killed but at least I got Doctson right!
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I should probably stop picking Thursday games for level 7.
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Still has a decent chance of hitting the under.
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Meow1000 posted...

Still has a decent chance of hitting the under.

I have faith
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so much for faith
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Well, that game wiped out half of Level 7 for the week, and Nee as well.
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well that backfired
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Second week in a row I'm done on Thursday.
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Whoops, this week didn't go so well.
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bump
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Level 3:
Oakland
Green Bay

Bonus: 4

Level 6
QB: Carson Wentz
RB: Alex Collins
WR: Robby Anderson

Bonus: 5
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Level 7
CHICAGO (-3.5) vs San Francisco under [40.5]
LA CHARGERS (-13.5) vs Cleveland over [42.5]
Tampa Bay (-1.5) at GREEN BAY under [43.5]
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Level 7:
DEN V MIA Under
JAX v IND Under
LAC v CLE Under
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Level 6
QB: Tom Brady
HB: Todd Gurley
WR: Antonio Brown
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Level 5: Oakland -14.5

Bonus: 6

Level 6:
QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: Todd Gurley
WR: Brandin Cooks
Bonus: 6

Level 6:
QB: Carson Wentz
RB: Melvin Gordon
WR: Rob Gronkowski

Bonus: 3
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