Upset pick of the week this week is Dallas beating us; sure, I could go with Cleveland’s upset of Buffalo, or Atlanta’s loss to Denver, but let’s face it, that’s the upset that upsets us the most.  Three players thought Dallas would beat our Redskins, earning this weeks Upset Pick of the Week Kudos.  Those players are El Gaupo, I miss Schroeder to Bryant, and theofilidies.  Kudos guys.

Last but not least, we have our weekly leaderboard.  There’s not that much change at the very top of the leaderboard, as the players in the top three were in the same position last week, though the race has tightened slightly.  Leading the way, with 101 points, is Hot Stuff Coming Through, closely followed by chris horton hears a who with 100, and A. Fishman’s Picks at 99.  It’s still tight at the top, though, as fully 13 more players are within 10 wins of the leaderboard; it’s still very much up in the air as to who will win, as no one has pulled away from the pack and achieved separation.  Kudos to our season leaders, though!  Remember, we have yet another Thursday night NFL game this week on NFL network, so get that Thursday game in early.

This week’s big winner was El Gaupo, with 11 wins in a 14 win week… not bad at all.  5 others had 10 win weeks, also keepers, and deserve some respect, but El Gaupo gets the Props this week.  BTW, as an aside, my old favorite Redskins beat writer, Jim Ducibella, was a huge fan of El Gaupo, and had an ongoing bet with O’Halloran at the Washington Times over who would pay on their next trip to El Gaupo in Seattle… shame he retired.  Props to El Gaupo!

Upset pick of the week this week is Cleveland handing it to Jacksonville.  I’ve been fairly warm on the Jaguars this year, having penciled them in as a first round playoff winner in the AFC…. so for them to lose to the Browns this week was a bit of an upset to me.  It was an upset for most of the rest of us, too, but not to everyone.  Kudos have to go out to Fletchskins, Texas Redskin, Vetetax’s Picks, and coooooley for properly prognosticating that pick.

As always, we close out with the Season Props.  This week, El Gaupo has extended his lead, and now leads by a game over Hot Stuff Coming Through and 22209, 69 to 68.  However, the top 22 players are all within 9 games of the lead, so just a couple of good weeks could easily vault anyone up into the top spots, and with 16 game weeks starting again in two week, it won’t be long before it’s easy to make up huge amounts again.  Regardless, however, El Gaupo is our big Season Prop winner for this week!  Remember to get you picks in, because you need to get in it to win it!

This weeks big weekly winner is lostnbigD; with thirteen out of fourteen picks this week, that was quite a week, especially in a week where so many of the leaders faltered.  The next best was El Guapo, he rode his 11 to move fairly high in the season standings.  You really have to give props for that kind of performance for both of those players, with especially big props to lostnbigD; while three other players have a 13, they all got it during week three, when there was a 16 game week.

Upset Pick of the Week is purely subjective; if I think it counts for most people as a huge upset, then it’s the one.  Under normal circumstances, I would have gone with St. Louis thumping Dallas… but a number of folks saw that coming (and I was even thinking about maybe making that pick).  On the other hand, one that very few folks saw coming, and still almost didn’t, was Oakland over the Jets.  Even with a field goal difference, in overtime, I didn’t see the Jets losing that game.  So, that’s the game, and this week it was called by lostnbigD and Sundayisforfootball.  Kudos to them for seeing a 57 yard FG in overtime!

Last, but probably most importantly for many players, we get to this weeks season leaders. Last week, we had two co-leaders.  This week, there is only one, HotStuffComingThrough with 59 points.  However, we have a 6 way tie for 2nd, with El Guapo, Sundayisforfootball, BigGay, 22209, Java_woman, and chris horton hears a who all tied for 2nd.  Theres still a lot of football left, though, so just because you aren’t in that group, keep going!  Judging by past years, anyone hovering in the 40 point range could still readily be the season champ if they get a few really good weeks in before the byes start ending, and perform well the rest of the weeks.  Remember, there are TEN more weeks to play… plenty of time to catch up!  At least, that’s what I keep saying as I try to pounce myself.  Kudos to our season leaders, and remember to “Get in it to win it!”

 Speaking of cupcakes, most of our players did well in this 14 game week, with about 8 1/2 wins on average for our players.  Some did substantially better this week, such as Terp4Life and BRAGGIN’ RIGHTS, with 10 wins this week, but none did better than our Player of the Week, Texas Redskin, with a very nice 11.   Props to these players for their outstanding week!

For the Upset Pick of the Week… Miami over (at least MY) preseason AFC representative in the Superbowl, San Diego.  I guess I believed somehow that even Norv Turner couldn’t ruin what the Chargers had… I guess I’m wrong.  But a number of other folks don’t believe in Norv, or they think the Dolphins must be the best awful team in the league, having dispatched the Patriots already, as well.  Terp4Life, BRAGGIN-RIGHTS, Java_woman, lostnbigD, Pizzatown, Veretax’s Picks, and Udothedishes.com all knew that Miami would be able to handle the Chargers, earning them the Upset Pick of the Week Props for Week 5!

Last week, in Highlander style, there was only ONE when we talk about Season Props, at least in first.  This week, there are now 6.  Leading the way with 41 points, are BigGay, Sundayisforfootball, Java_woman, 22209, Pizzatown, and chris horton hears a who.  Seven other players are one game back, waiting to bounce with a good week on that first place tie, but for now, those six are all deserving of our Season Props!  It’s a long season, and anyone who’s played even as few as three weeks still has a reasonable chance at winning one of the three prizes Lee has offered at the end, so remember to Get In It To Win It!

This week, the number to beat is a very good 11 of 13.  Pizzatown and stuck in the ‘tah both earned weekly Props for the outstanding performance; while it might not SOUND good, for a week with only 13, that’s excellent.  Quite a few other ways also did very well, too, but Props this week only to Pizzatown and stuck in the ‘tah!

Upset pick of the week is KC beating the stuffing out of Denver.  Who would have thought for the second week in a row that an unbeaten team would lose to a winless team?  Even taking into account how suspect many are of Denver, it was still quite a shocker.  The Shutdown Corners and dr WNC both saw it coming, earning them Upset Pick of the Week Kudos!

Last, but definitely not least, we need to look at the Season Leaderboard.  In true Highlander fashion, there can be only one… and that one (at least this week) is Sundayisforfootball with 33 points.  However, with three prizes to win, we also need to identify those still styling for some of the other prizes.  Hot Stuff Coming Through leads the folks tied at 32, with BigGay, 22209, Pizzatown, Java_woman and chris horton hears a who following, all still in a cluster for second, one game back.  Props to those players for their so far outstanding seasons, and remember to Get In It to Win It!

There will be no Season Props this week; next week, we’ll begin giving out Season Props based on two full “keeper” weeks.  That said, it always pays to have your worst week still be decent, so don’t forget to make your picks!  This week, the Weekly Props go to Fletchskins and the appropriately named Chris Horton Hears a Who, who managed to pick up an astounding 12 points.  Following that up with 11 picks were We Want Dallas (our first yearly winner), coooooley, TheDudesRug, and Pizzatown.  Keep in mind that there were supposed to be 16 games this week… only 15 were played, with the Colts-Titans game rescheduled for later in the season.  That means we’ll have two other 15 week games that will replace two 14 week games.  So 12 of 15 is pretty astounding!  If only I had gone with our beloved ‘Skins this week and had faith!

 The Upset Pick of the Week game is San Francisco edging out Seattle in an early NFC West division game.  With San Fancisco being somewhat less than respectable the last few years, and the Seahawks being a very … well, medicro, but above average for the NFC West team, I figured the Seahawks had this game… but who knew?  Well, Fletchskins, TheDudesRug, TheDeadskins (um, what???), Terps4Life, The Shutdown Corners, and Veretax’s Picks knew, that’s who! (Who?  Is Chris Horton catching ANOTHER interception?)  At any rate, Props to them for the prescient prognosticating prowess that propelled them to pontificatedly pick San Francisco… yeah, in my mind I heard the voice of Don King do that line.

As I said, next week we begin Season Props… and the only way to get those is to pick!  So, get in it to win it, and make your picks soon.  Hail, Redskins, lets pluck the Cards next!

Leading the way, with scores of 11 (out of 16) for Week 1 were Whatif, Marc, Sundayisforfootball, and Terp4Life.  Those players beat the top of the pack, which clustered strongly in the 10-8 point area.  Even 9 picks is relatively good, however, and anything less… well, remember that we’re dropping the WORST week of the year, so NO body is behind yet!  Kudos to Whatif, Marc, Sundayisforfootball, and Terp4Life for their Week 1 picks!

This being the first week, if there WERE season Props to report at this point, they would be identical with the weekly Kudos… however, there won’t be any Season Props until after Week 3s games, to allow two guaranteed weeks to be in the books (with dropping the worst week, it will take three weeks to guarentee you have two good weeks).

It’s never too early to give Upset Picks of the Weeks Props, though…  Upset Picks are somewhat arbitrary… they are totally what I think are the biggest upsets (though sometimes I’ll have seen them coming, too).  They also have to have been an upset someone actually picked… I also don’t normally go with a “Trendy” upset… if too many people saw it coming a mile away, it’s not normally going to be an Upset Pick of the Week.  There are some REALLY big near misses for that, but the favored team pulled it out in the end after a close call.  Udothedishes.com correctly believed that Peyton Manning’s Colts would somehow be flat against everyones favorite Wide Receiver, Brandon “Big Bust” Lloyd, and his Chicago Bears, and earned Upset Pick of the Week Props.  If it hadn’t been called by so many others, Carolina causing the Charger’s to fizzle would have merited some love, too.  Props to Udothedishes.com for their prognosticating!

It’s not to early to get your picks in for this weeks games… and its not even too late (I thin…) to get into the game at all… but you need to get in it to win it!

But wait!  There’s more!

Not only do you have a chance at great prizes, you also have the chance of getting Redskin Report immortality by earning weekly Kudos, or season props, giving you bragging rights here and among all the other Redskins fans.  And how much would you expect to pay be able to this game?  Well, it doesn’t matter because it’s FREE!

So here’s what you need to know.  This year, the TRR Pigskin Pick’em is being done through Yahoo!  You’ll need a free Yahoo! account; no, you don’t need your REAL email address or anything else, though it probably helps.  Then click here and enter group 17867 and the password, JoeGibbs.  That’s it.  No need to call now, no hidden charges, nada.  And at last count, only 31 (and that Bill guy and Lee Gibbons aren’t eligible to win) are signed up to play; that leaves 19 lucky Redskins fans room to join in.  Those are some mighty good odds if you act fast.  So Get in it to Win it!

This year, the TRR Pigskin Pick’em is being done through Yahoo!; ESPN just waited way too long to open this year (though they did eventually open).  You’ll need a free Yahoo! account; no, you don’t need your REAL email address or anything else, though it probably helps.  Then click here and enter group 17867 and the password, JoeGibbs.  That’s it…. no fuss, no muss.  Make your picks each week for weekly honors, and starting in week 3, for Season Props.  You don’t need to use your real name, but it’ll help if we have a good way to contact you (even if it’s as simple as using something distinctive in the fake email address; you’ll contact US to claim the prize, and we’ll have to confirm it’s you).  We don’t give out emails, send SPAM, sell your firstborn to a Cowboys fan, or anything else weird or undesirable…. we’ll only use it to get your contact information if you win.  And right now, the chances are DARN good.  Personally, though, I’d like to see a really nice group, say, 40 players (hey, I’d say 53, but that would mean I have to do the overflow!).  And don’t forget, we throw away your worst week, so a week of picking poorly won’t kill you.

Now, get in it to win it!