Oh, the things that happen when a person with a degree in mathematics pretends to know something about football. To approximate the score for a game, find the two teams playing this week and add a touchdown for the team with home field advantage. (By the way, these numbers are a guide... I ain't liable for your dumb-ass picks if you use this.) The league average this week is 20.5.

Back to This Week's Picks

My NFL Power Ratings are the results of a formula including such components as offensive and defensive production, and strength of schedule. Factors such as weather and recent injuries are not included, so be sure to consider your picks with those in mind. A team's Power Rating increases most significantly with road wins or upset victories. Teams on the top of the food chain can stay there by beating the teams they're supposed to beat.

Game scores using the above table are approximate. Some teams may have high Power Ratings because of stellar defense, so the numbers here are used to determine a game's point spread only, not the final score. The worst team in the NFL automatically gets a Power Rating of 10; predicted point spreads are determined from there.

Good luck on your football pool! --Jones