It's scary, but picking like Pa reaps rewards as favorites falter

Sure, it's no doubt frightening to make your football picks with the same recklessness that Pa displayed years ago.  After all, you're throwing good reason to the wind.  You're pinning your hopes on teams that professional oddsmakers are telling you to avoid.  You're walking on a tightrope with no safety net below.  It's a bit nuts.

But the brave Picks members who rolled the dice several times in Week 4 saw their risks turned into rewards as the underdogs erupted.  Six teams that weren't supposed to win somehow came away with a victory.  It was all part of the second annual "Pick Like Pa Week," where each person pays tribute to the crazy former veteran on the first Sunday in October by choosing at least five underdogs.  The themed week should be called "Fright Fest," but that already belongs to Six Flags Great America.

Picks members know the danger of picking like Pa.  One member said the only things scarier are meeting Michael Jackson and running out of Chips Ahoy.  Another member admitted the only worse nightmares are belly shirts going out of style and wearing jeans without holes.  A third member said the only things more terrifying are dead batteries in digital recorders and the death of Hilary Duff.

The favored NFL teams stumbled to a 7-6 record on Sunday, but almost everyone in the Picks surpassed that mark because of their bold predictions.  Mark and Blaine each got four of five long shots to succeed, so they led the pack with 10-3 records.  D.J., Nicki and QT were all 8-5, and the Little Bird was 6-7.  Mark maintained his four-game lead in the overall standings in an early bid to repeat as Picks champion.

Many failures were converted to successes simply because of the requirement to predict upsets.  For example, Blaine switched from the Titans to the Chargers for his fifth underdog, and San Diego delivered with a 38-17 win.  Girlie Time changed two of her picks to comply with the rules, and she won both games as the Browns upset the Redskins 17-13, and the winless Cardinals surprised the Saints 34-10.  Picking like Pa gave Mark the confidence to choose the Giants in Green Bay, and New York prevailed 14-7 in a shocker.

Despite the pressure to choose underdogs, no one could muster the courage to pick the bumbling Bears or Bengals, who both lost again.  At the same time, nobody was brave enough to pick against the mighty New England Patriots, who tied an NFL record with their 18th straight victory.