ETBLITZ POWER PICKS, NFL PLAYOFF EDITION! | We pick until the Super Bowl (College Football Pick-Off results coming Tuesday!)
We’ll have an update on our College Football Pick-Off on Monday, complete with our guests and their picks headed into Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship.
For now, though, here’s the latest version of our ETBlitz Power Picks! as the National Football League continues their road to Super Bowl LIX – that’s 59, for those of you who refuse to try with the Roman numeral thing. I’m convinced that sooner or later, the NFL is just going to give up and write regular numbers.
At any rate, our panel has actually picked 398 games dating back to the final weekend of August / first weekend of September, and Joe Hale, sportswriter extraordinaire, has pulled away from the pack, has lapped the field and is now making fun of us and possibly doing hand gestures as he comes around the track a few times.
Only my daughter Ashtyn and possibly Kilgore ISD school board-member Dereck Borders are within shouting distance of Joe, as he sprints to the finish line that hits on Super Bowl Sunday, when we wrap up the picks this year.
Now, the College Football Pick-Off does NOT count in this. That’s a horse of a completely different color. We’ll reveal who did what in that race, because it’s separate, in a different story. These picks are the panel’s picks that included the high school regular season and playoffs, college football’s regular season and the NFL’s regular season, playoffs and eventually the Super Bowl.
So, here we go.
THE PANEL & THE STANDINGS
We’ve introduced them just about every week during the course of the season, but it’s been a few weeks since we had an actual article on here, so let’s do that now.
Dennis Jacobs has been with me since I was at “the other place,” shooting photos for me mainly of Kilgore High School sports for over 15 years. Dennis, who’s just about the nicest human being on earth, is an instructor at KISD, has done mission work in Japan, is super-intelligent and can tell you everything you want to know about Godzilla films. And he’s really good at picking the outcomes of games – he and I both had kind of an off-year this year.
Contrary to popular belief – and to rumors spread by Doug Smith – the aforementioned Joe Hale has NOT been writing sports in East Texas since baseball was invented. Joe has only been writing sports here since FOOTBALL was invented.
Just kidding, Joe.
Not really.
Joe’s the senior member of our regular staff, and his ability to pick the outcomes of games is evident by looking at the standings, which you’ll see below. He wrote for many years for the Longview News-Journal, and now we’re happy to have him with us.
Dereck Borders is not only a member of the KISD board; he’s also a taxidermist, a dad and recently a proud granddad a few times over, and if you ask Dereck, he’ll tell you he doesn’t know much about football. He’s selling himself short. He regularly travels with me to games, is my spotter for tackles and situations in football, and proud to call him my friend.
Jenna Lucas is my wife, our business manager here at ETBlitz.com, the executive editor, and has been bailing me out when I need a good photographer for about – oh – 30 years or so.
Jacob Lucas is my son, a student at the University of Alabama, and works in the athletic department, doing all kinds of video and photography work for them. And occasionally, he’s in and helps the old man out with stuff.
Ashtyn Lucas is a student at Kilgore College, first and foremost, but also keeps me in line with social media, helps out ETBlitz in that regard, and just loves being around sports in general. She also has a column here on the site from time to time called “Ashtyn’s World.” Here’s a sample: ASHTYN’S WORLD / By Ashtyn Lucas | Hello, world. Let’s talk football (& lots of other stuff). It’s been a while; she hasn’t done one since football season ended locally. I’ll try to get her to do a new one this week.
Alex Nabor is, of course, our youngest photographer; he’s also a student at KC, where he does photography for them, as well. But Alex is very talented, has been shooting for me for years, and by the time he’s out and doing this in a major media market, Alex will have more experience under his belt doing major sporting events (he already DOES) than most of the photographers on staff put TOGETHER. You can check out his work by searching his name on our site.
Clayton Fletcher is our assistant sports editor, a former state cross-country qualifier himself, an athlete in college, and my right-hand man.
And Ronnie Sartors – one of the most respected elder statesmen of the freelance photographers in the East Texas region. His work has been not only in most of the area’s newspapers, but also here on ETBlitz, and in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. We’re so proud to have Ronnie as a part of our team, cannot ever say that enough.
And then there’s me. And that’s the panel.
Here’s how things stand going into this weekend.
As mentioned, Joe’s far and away in front. With 398 games picked, Joe has an overall record of 295-103.
Yeah. That’s dang good. Dang good.
Ashtyn is in second place, and her record is 280-118.
Dereck is in third, and he’s got a record of 276-122.
Jacob and I are tied at 270-128 each.
After that, it’s Dennis checking in with a record of 263-135.
Ronnie is 262-126, but he has 10 less picks made than the rest of us because he started just a little late.
Clayton is 257-141.
Alex is 256-142, and Jenna is 248-150.
THE GAMES
Now, here’s the list of this week’s games, and it’s not long. There are only four: two on Saturday, and two on Sunday.
Today’s games
Houston (11-7) at Kansas City (15-2), 3:30 p.m., ABC / ESPN
Washington (13-5) at Detroit (15-2), 7 p.m., FOX
Sunday’s games
Los Angeles Rams (11-7) at Philadelphia (14-3), 3:30 p.m., ABC / ESPN
Baltimore (13-5) at Buffalo (14-4), 5:30 p.m., CBS / Paramount
We won’t have a grid this time; we’ll just do our winners and losers this way.
Game one, Houston vs. Kansas City: Jacob, Jenna, Ashtyn, Dereck, Dennis, Ronnie, Joe and myself all pick Kansas City. Clayton and Alex are taking Houston to pick the upset.
Game two, Washington at Detroit: Jenna, Ashtyn, Joe, Ronnie, Dennis, Clayton, Alex, Jacob, and Dereck – in short, everybody but me – like Detroit. I’m going with a big upset, and taking Washington to pull off a shocker.
Sunday’s games
Game three, L.A. Rams at Philadelphia: Dereck, Dennis, Joe, Ronnie, Clayton, Jacob, Jenna, Ashtyn, and me all believe the Eagles will protect their home field and beat the Rams. Alex thinks the Rams will go on the road and win, and reach next weekend’s NFC Championship Game.
Game four, Baltimore at Buffalo: So, even though they’re playing at home, how many people picked the Buffalo Bills to actually win a physical game against that Baltimore Ravens defense and the running game of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry? That would be Jenna, Alex, Dennis, and Ronnie. That means the rest of us – Jacob, Ashtyn, Dereck, Clayton, and myself – all like the Ravens to go into Buffalo and leave with a closeasitsounds win.
Regardless of how things go down, try to enjoy what’s left. Counting this weekend’s four games, the CFP National Championship game, the AFC and NFC Championship Games next weekend and the Super Bowl, there are only eight games left in the 2024 football season. It’s been a blast, but it’s about to be a wrap.
