Eagles or Rams? Dog with 8-0 record on NFL playoff predictions makes her pick
You doubted the dog, didn’t you?
Don’t feel bad. We all had reservations.
And then, Luna, the 7-year-old Maltipoo, picked all six winners for the NFL wildcard games in the opening round of Paste BN Sports’ novel NFL prediction competition: Man vs. Machine vs. Dog. Things only got crazier on Saturday.
Luna picked the Washington Commanders over the Detroit Lions -- no joke, check the graphic -- and the Kansas Chiefs over the Houston Texas.
The adorable, soothsaying dog is 8-0 and taken a healthy lead over Paste BN’s Jarrett Bell and Tyler Dragon and the computer-run statistics model created by Kostas Pelechrinis, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Pelechrinis, impressed with Luna’s fast start, remarked by email, “Given that she chose randomly every game, the chance of getting all 6 right is about 1.6% (1.5625% to be accurate lol).’’
Of course, the professor assumes Luna is picking random. Assuming she’s not making her picks with football expertise or unerring intuition.
Divisional championship schedule
Our experts' results, NFL playoff picks
How the 'machine' and Luna make their picks
Want more? See these data-driven hot picks
The scoring system
Devised by NFL predictions expert David Glidden, it will work like this:
Each week, the competitors will turn in full brackets with picks for games in every round, including the Super Bowl. A perfect bracket from start to finish would earn 1,000 points, but competitors likely will have to adjust those brackets week to week.
Thirty points will be earned for each team correctly picked to win a wild card game, 35 points for a Divisional round game, 50 points for a Conference championship game and 75 points for the Super Bowl.
Then we’ll have an official winner and the answer to our burning question: Is it Man, Machine or Dog who we can trust most with NFL playoff predictions?
Let the games and predictions begin!
Odds for NFL's divisional games
BetMGM's initial betting lines for next weekend's games are set. A plus before the number signifies the amount a bettor would win on a $100 bet. A minus signifies the amount a bettor must bet to win $100.
Odds for AFC divisional games
Houston Texans (+375) at Kansas City Chiefs (-500) favored by 8 points
Baltimore Ravens (-120) favored by 1 point at Buffalo Bills (+100)
Odds for NFC divisional games
Washington Commanders (+400) at Detroit Lions (-550) favored by 9 points
Los Angeles Rams (+225) at Philadelphia Eagles (-275) favored by 6 points