PhinPhanatics Staff Locks and Upsets – Week 5

Sep 22, 2013; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins cheerleader performs during the second half against the Atlanta Falcons at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

In addition to our weekly staff picks that debuted last week, the staff here at PhinPhanatic collaborated to put out an additional column, representing the staff picks for both a “Lock” and an “Upset” pick of the week.  While we fared well in the staff picks article, not everyone was as lucky in the “Upsets” category – though we are currently batting 1.000 in our staff “Locks” category after our first week – as only two staffers for PhinPhanatic hit on their upset pick of the week. Going into week 5, we’re hoping that we improve that statistic in our predictions.  With a great deal of overlap yet again this week, this could be an all or nothing attempt at doing so.

As we did last week, below you’ll find each staffer’s weekly “Lock” and “Upset” pick, along with their reasoning for the selection:

This weeks edition could come with intriguing results, especially around the Jags vs Rams.  We currently have two staff writers picking the Jags in an Upset Special, while four others have picked the Rams as the Lock of the Week.  Regardless of the outcome of this game, both teams are pretty terrible at this point and are in the running with teams like Tampa Bay and the Giants for an extremely early pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Speaking of the Giants, they were the most popular pick by of our writers this week, as three of our staff members selected them to pull it together against a staggering Eagles team as an Upset Pick.  Other popular picks amongst our staff have Houston upsetting the 49ers  and Atlanta as a lock to trounce the struggling Jets.  Two of our writers went out on a limb in their upset predictions, selecting Green Bay to top the Lions (who would’ve seen this game as an upset pick a month ago?!?) and in a bold prediction, one of our staffers has Chicago taking down a New Orleans team that dashed so many Dolfans hopes on Monday night.

After our first week of predicting locks and upsets, here is where we stand amongst the team staff:

As you can see, while we all hit on our “Locks” last week, only Dale-Paul Jordan and Eric Roddy were able to accurately project their upset picks.  Well done, Eric & Dale-Paul!

Fins up!