The one pick-em pool I'm in uses no spread. Pick the winners is all. Seems simple enough, even a little childish or unmanly, not enough hair on this pool, real pools have spreads, separates the men from the boys, which I'm sure the boys are happy about. So, it's a pool for wusses.

But picking without a spread makes winning harder or less random. There are some games everyone knows who will win. And everyone picks that team, meaning there's no separation. Two cases in point last week: Colts/Chargers and Seahawks/49ers. Looking at my group, only 4% had the Chargers and 49ers. That the games split is of no consequence, it meant nothing as far as the group was concerned. And if the Colts convert the field goal, both games go exactly as predicted. Where the separation comes is in the games that are 50-50 and those are the games determining the winner.

Week 11 Picks - no spread

Easy Picks

Colts over Chiefs

Steelers over Jets

Patriots over Bills

Packers over Panthers

Eagles over Dolphins

Some Deliberation

Browwns over Ravens

Giants over Lions

Buccaneers over Falcons

Cowboys over Washington

Seahawks over Bears

Break out the Coin

Chargers over Jaguars (I feel stupid picking the Chargers)

Saints over Texans

Vikings over Raiders (Daunte Culpepper?)

Bengals over Cardinals

Rams over 49ers (Two in a row?)

Broncos over Titans (Biggest coin flip I had)

My guess is this week the over/under is 11. Expect to win 80% of the easier games and 50% of the coinflips. If I do better in the coinflips I might win, worse and I'm hung in effigy. Effigy's not a bad place, has a nice hotel and a little diner where I met this waitress and we...