Welcome to the 2011 NFL Ladder Contest! In this wonderful contest created by BBallman7, every week during the regular season you have a challenge. If you get it correct, you move onto the next level; if you get it wrong, you stay at that level to try again the next week. Each level gets tougher as you progress. There will also be a bonus question every week; getting the bonus correct adds to your tiebreaker score which in the end would be used to decide a winner if there are multiple people on the highest-reached level. There are no limits to sign-ups, and you can join at any time during the season.
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 (4:15 PM ET). That means no SNF/MNF picks after most all the games have started or finished. Obviously 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). -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: 35+ or 7-: Pick one team to score 35 or more points, OR pick one team to score 7 or less points. You must clearly choose either 35+ or 7-. If you pick a team to score 35+, but they score 7-, you do not advance.
Schedule: (Home team in CAPS; favorites to the left, underdogs to the right) Sunday, October 2nd DALLAS (-1.5) vs Detroit New Orleans (-6.5) at JACKSONVILLE PHILADELPHIA (-8.5) vs San Francisco ST LOUIS (-0.5) vs Washington CLEVELAND (-1.5) vs Tennessee Buffalo (-3.5) at CINCINNATI Minnesota (-1.5) at KANSAS CITY CHICAGO (-6.5) vs Carolina HOUSTON (-3.5) vs Pittsburgh Atlanta (-4.5) at SEATTLE NY Giants (-1.5) at ARIZONA SAN DIEGO (-7.5) vs Miami GREEN BAY (13.5) vs Denver New England (-4.5) at OAKLAND BALTIMORE (-3.5) vs NY Jets
Sunday, October 3rd TAMPA BAY (-9.5) vs Indianapolis
Bonus Question: How many points will be scored in the Jets vs. Ravens game on Sunday Night? [Guess whole numbers only]
Six people have advanced to Week 4 through the first three weeks. Unfortunately for Level 3 last week, Detroit was the most commonly picked spread (11/27); they were favored by 3.5 and won by 3. The top picks in Level 2 (Atlanta 15, Miami 8 out of 40) both lost. 15 people were correct on the bonus. 50/68 picked Brady at QB, and 35 picked Calvin Johnson at WR, who both scored touchdowns, but most people got tripped up at RB as Ray Rice (18) and Rashard Mendenhall (14) failed to score. Crono801 is the only person who has gotten a bonus point in every week so far, but noone on Level 4 has more than one bonus point.
Guess I'll take Green Bay 35+ for now but I might change it.
38 for the Bonus
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Never underestimate the power of stupidity in numbers. ~War13104 Never stoop to the level of idiots. They will drag you down and beat you with experience.
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If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? [HERO'S PLUNGE] http://img.imgcake.com/finegifdy.gif
I sort of like the fact that the only bonus point I have missed so far was a 50/50 question. The other two were much tougher and got them both. Also glad I know it is possible I might pass level 6 if I ever get there again - think my combo ended up with 7 TD's. Thinking I'll be stuck on Level 2 for a while the way it's going though.
L4: Bills 35+ (they've scored 35+ every game so far this season, so... don't let me down now!) Bonus: 41
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor