I thought about this but I am not sure it matters...how many people are not going to select NE to make the playoffs?  Also keep in mind that when I say week 8, I mean it is due before kickoff of the first game of week 8.  So the best a team could be is 7-0 (byes further complicate the playoff picture).    If you did playoff predictions after week 4 last year then this would only be 2 more games of info at the most, possibly only 1.

A sure fire team in week 8 would pretty much always be on my list to make the playoffs in week 4.  The real advantage in waiting a few weeks is in the more questionable teams.  The teams who are serious contenders for first round byes will be the easy additions to your list.  It is the 3rd and 4th seeded division champions and the 6 or 7 teams per conference vying for the wildcard spots that differs from person to person.

nordlead said: lol, that isn't what I meant with the gray. I meant the NE/Buf and SD/Oak games Either way, great job.

Spent some time trying to get the "unplayed" (rather than the "missed") games to be gray.  The issue is that while I can have it format the cell based on what it is or isn't I can't format the cell based on what another cell is or isn't.  In this case I would need to format each player's prediction cell based on what the "Actual" row says.

All of the formatting is done based on a comparison to the cell it is formatting...so I can ask "Is this cell equal to [that] sell?" and format based on the answer. 

In short I could make the cells gray but it would require game by game formatting of every row rather than the existing automated formatting that I have set up right now.  I've set the bottom row to have a conditional formatting so that unfunished games show up as gray in that row but thats probably the best I can do unless someone who knows more about OpenOffice spreadsheets than I do (and there aren't too many people like this) can show me how to do it.

edit: PS - I'm putting up the first MNF game update now and I will have the Week 2 ballot up shortly after since all submissions are now closed.  The first MNF game update is done, week 2 ballot is up, and the scores are current as of the 2nd quarter of SD @ OAK.  Last update of the night will be coming once the game is over.

Although I know that statement is true, I simply cannot force myself to pick against them.

Thank you, San Diego.

As a Bears fan I have three things to say.

1) It sucks that Urlacher is out for the year. Now our defense will be ranked about 30th.

2) I was never high on Cutler and thought that the Broncos swindled us when they got Kyle Orton and two 1st round picks for him.

3) Lovie Smith is the stupidest football coach on the planet. He is currently ranked one place ahead of Dave Wannstedt.

lol, yeah I hear ya

1) It always sucks to lose big players, especially when they are the heart and soul of a team.

2) Yeah, I agree pretty much entirely (especially about the shitty trade).  People have been big on him for a long time and I have honestly never seen it. Im really glad the Vikings did not pick him up like the "experts" said we should.  Even if he turns it around and does really well this season his playing style is the wrong fit for the Vikings. 

3) It may have been Hennelly (iirc) who actually decided to go for it on the punt but even having that option available to him on 4th and long still falls on the head coach.  After all, someone had to coach him to do that as it was a by-design option for the long snapper.

@ Sqrl I just wanted to say that I like the way that you have set up the table now. Now I can see who made which picks exactly so I can act brilliant when I got one right that they got wrong.

Also, I think that your Vikings will win the NFC North; as much as it pains me to say this. The defense looks good, the running back is awesome, and now you have a quarterback ( forgot that guy's name). The Bears are in for a long year, the Packers don't really impress me either, and that other team is not very good at all.

It's a long season, so as optimistic as I am I won't be counting my chickens just yet =)

With that said, I am looking forward to seeing what Peterson, Taylor, Harvin, Berrian (thanks!), and Favre can do.  I have confidence in our defense, but our offense is of the "pound on them until they submit" philosophy which makes for some nervewracking first halves. 

PS - Peterson is way more than "awesome" .    Other RB's are just lucky the chargers horse-collar tackled Peterson at the end of the game in '07.  Otherwise the single game rushing record wouldn't be 296, it would be more like 350.

So Sqrl: did you register my adjustments?

Edit: And if you did, could you PM me a ballot with my adjusted picks for Week 2 already on it, so I can post it here for posterity's sake, as well as keep it for my records?

Edit #2: Do you have to go offline just to run another program? Seriously, try to multitask, will ya?

man sqrl is such a spammer

29 points for monday.

These are early so I'm not sending them to you yet.

I'm torn betwenn Oak and KC both pretty bad last year but both just scored pretty well on some good teams. I'm leaning towards Oak... but if the majority picks them I'm gonna go with KC to try and get an upset and gain a game.