9/22/26
What a wild week of football we just witnessed in week 2. It was a week covered in upsets and unfortunately injuries to young quarterbacks. A trio of young QBs all suffered injuries as Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Jaxson Dart all left their respective games early with various injuries. Meanwhile, Cleveland shocked Tampa Bay while New Orleans downed Baltimore and Las Vegas moved to 2-0 by beating the LA Chargers. We also got a couple of overtime games and we would also go to OT in Professor DW’s Football Pick ’em Challenge.
There were a handful of contestants that were sitting on 11 points going into Monday Night Football and it was very even in terms of who picked the New York Giants and who picked the Los Angeles Rams. In the end, Jaxson Dart’s injury turned the game into a comfortable win for the Rams to get them into the win column in 2026. That narrowed the tie for first down to five as Mark Westley, Jeff Mohoric, Brady Haggerty, Cliff Nichols, and John Haggerty all sat on 12 which meant we would need the tiebreaker to determine first and second place.
There were a couple of games with a lot of penalties like Green Bay @ New York which had 27 but also a handful with very few like Seattle @ Arizona with just nine. The total number of penalties was 218 which only knocked one contestant out for going over as John Haggerty again was involved in a tiebreaker but his guess of 224, which was by far the closest, knocked him out with the Price is Right rule. Brady Haggerty’s 197 would earn the win this week while Mark Westley’s 183 beat Jeff’s 150 and Cliff’s 89 to give him second place.
Both Brady and Mark now qualify for Professor DW’s Exclusive Postseason Tournament at the end of the season. Brady also earns the $25 cash for being the overall winner for the week. The grand prize will remain a mystery for now but there are still many chances to get qualified for the postseason. Brady and Mark are still able to play to try to block out spots and maximize their chances to take home the grand prize. Despite getting just one entry into the Tournament, fewer entrants create a better chance to win. Brady will be in the postseason tournament for the first time while Mark returns to the postseason after missing out last year but qualifying in the 2024 season.
Professor DW actually had a very nice week but ended up with just 10 points because of the Giants loss on Monday night. He was slightly above average which was a huge improvement from week 1. He is ready for the NFL to schedule a game in his native Switzerland, which is more likely to happen before he gets a win.
There were a number of surprising upsets this week but the one that stood out over the rest was Cleveland’s win over Tampa Bay on the road. A delay due to stormy weather couldn’t stop the mighty Browns and only three contestants called that one correctly. Cliff Nichols, Kyle Bywater, and Kim King were the trio to believe in the Desahun Watson led Browns and it paid off this week.
Week 3’s contest is up. The deadline to enter is back to 4pm on Thursday so get signed up ASAP. Congratulations Brady and Mark and best of luck to everyone this week.
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