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It's time to reveal the winner of the Prediction Post from 2015! The link to the original post from September 2015 is right here. Yes, right here. Definitely not right here.
Spoiler: Drunk Viking has been unseated.
Since there can be only one, a new Hawkstradamus walks the hallowed halls of Field Gulls. Congratulations to...
...there were 20 categories this year. In our new upgraded format, a top guess earned you five points. Second place earned you three points. Third place was worth one tiny, but often crucial, point.
Envelope please...
...so I'll list the categories one by one, that way you can witness a couple of astounding predictions by non-winners. Then the final standings.
Last note: I used stats from pro-football-reference unless otherwise specified.
Last last note: Contact me right away if I screwed up!
The winner is...
Results: Individual Categories
A) Total rushing yards by Marshawn Lynch. (Tie-breaker: Total touchdowns.)
| Actual amount: 417 (3) | |
| Winner | Flyndiggory, 734 |
| 2nd place | tartarandfries, 950 |
| 3rd place | qrtqrt, 957 |
It paid to be pessimistic. Or sarcastic.
B) Total receptions by Jimmy Graham. (Tie-breaker: Total touchdowns)
| Actual amount: 48 (2) | |
| Winner | AussieAl, 46 |
| 2nd place | rossco, 52 (9) |
| 3rd place | KC, 52 (12) |
Again, most folks overestimated. That will change soon enough. Hang with me here.
C) Frank Clark sacks + Tyler Lockett TD. (Tie-breaker: Actual amounts)
| Actual amount: 11 (3 plus 8) | |
| Winner | demingas, 11 |
| 2nd place | Mike Bottemiller, 11.5 (6.5 plus 5) |
| 3rd place | Sahr, 11.5 (9.5 plus 2) |
Clark was foreseen to far outpace Lockett in sacks by FG readers. Maybe this year?
D) Fred Jackson touches (total touchdowns)
| Actual amount: 58 (2) | |
| Winner | onelesshippie, 62 |
| 2nd place | Soggyblogger, 63 |
| 3rd place | William & Polly, 64 |
Tons of folks saw Jackson with 90 or 100 touches. That didn't happen, but we did get him a playoff win.
E) Russell Wilson passer rating (league rank)
| Actual amount: 110.1 (1) | |
| Winner | DangeRussLiaisons, 110.07 |
| 2nd place | Dorktastic, 110 |
| 3rd place | FunGolfVacations, 109.6 |
Take a bow, DRL. For spelling "Liaisons" right, and also for the prediction thing. Your precision made me look up the second decimal digit, you know, to find out if you were a time traveler who could also tell us the winners of Super Bowls 60 through 70. Alas, RW's final number was 110.12, so we'll all just have to keep our day jobs.
Next time try to be closer than 0.05 points, K?
/in background, Dorktastic rips his hair out
F) Russell Wilson total yards (how many rushing?)
| Actual amount: 4577 (553) | |
| Winner | robert.loeder, 4573 |
| 2nd place | Captain_Ron, 4567 |
| 3rd place | 99-percent-sure, 4560 |
Nice call, robert.leader. Meanwhile, at her leisure, 99 may now rename herself 99.63-percent-sure.
G) Team's top three in solo tackles (provide amounts for each)
| Actual: Wright 71, Wagner 67, Chancellor 42 | |
| Winner | John Fraley, same three, off by 120 total tackles |
| 2nd place | Blake Whitney, same three, off by 143 total tackles |
| 3rd place | Seahawk Junky, same three, off by 145 total tackles |
Five of us put Wagner, Wright and Chancellor, in that order. Nobody else named just those three. Nobody got the exact order right. It came down to who was the closest in tiebreakers. But before you shout "RIGGED!", listen to spoiler two: this is my first and last appearance in the winners' circle. Next time I can't let my 10-year-old make the predictions. What does he know?
H) Team's top three in interceptions (provide amounts for each)
| Actual: Thomas 5, Chancellor 2, Sherman 2, Lane 2 | |
| Winner | Blake Whitney, named 3/4, off by 6 total INT |
| 2nd place (tie) | onelesshippie, named 3/4, off by 7 total INT |
| 2nd place (tie) | OutsideContain, named 3/4, off by 7 total INT |
Again, nobody named Jeremy Lane on their list so everyone who got three names right made the cut. These guys were the closest. Hi Blake. Again.
I) Team's top three in sacks (provide amounts for each)
| Actual: Bennett 10, Avril 9, Irvin 5.5 | |
| Winner | madpunter88, Bennett 10, Avril 7, Irvin 5 |
| 2nd place (tie) | datboyeddiep, Bennett 9, Avril 8, Irvin 7 |
| 2nd place (tie) | RLambert27, Bennett 9, Avril 8, Irvin 7 |
Not bad, fellas. Frank Clark was a popular choice here. Maybe in 2017.
J) Field goals made by Steven Hauschka (number missed)
| Actual amount: 29 (2) | |
| Winner | Blake Whitney, 29 (2) |
| 2nd place (tie) | DukeAndDuke, madpunter88, Soggyblogger, |
| tartarandfries, Tintinnabulatory, 29 (3) |
Blake. What is this sorcery?
Team Categories
K) NFL rank, scoring defense (points allowed)
| Actual result: 1st (277) | |
| Winner | RLambert27, 1 (277) |
| 2nd place | scraps, 1 (276) |
| 3rd place | rbc, 1 (280) |
Oh scraps you almost had it. Lambert, you almost didn't have it.
L) NFL rank, scoring offense (points scored)
| Actual result: 4th (423) | |
| Winner | ndecato, 4 (402) |
| 2nd place | William & Polly, 4 (448) |
| 3rd place | the12thHorde, 4 (470) |
Fourth, guys. #FireBevell. (Note to self: Remember to remove that before publishing.)
M) NFL rank, red zone TD percentage
| Actual result: 16th | |
| Winner (tie) | KC, 16 |
| Winner (tie) | tartarandfries, 16 |
| 3rd place (tie) | manzell, Sahr, 15 |
Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going higher than 16th this season.
N) Team's run-pass ratio, with one decimal digit
| Actual result: 50.6-49.4 | |
| Winner | qrtqrt, 50.6-49.4 |
| 2nd place (tie) | Dorktastic, 50.5-49.5 |
| 2nd place (tie) | LanternmanC, 50.5-49.5 |
qrty good, qrty good
O) Team's home point differential
| Actual result: +54 | |
| Winner | Ilwacojoe, +55 |
| 2nd place (tie) | Chone_Lyfe, +50 |
| 2nd place (tie) | Wilder, +58 |
Banking on close games or a couple home losses really paid off.
Gonzo
P) Longest non-ST scoring play of the season, by who (which week)
Nobody guessed Baldwin. Nobody. And you call yourselves prophets... But several folks went with an 80-yard reception. Came down to the tie-breaker.
| Actual result: Baldwin 80 rec (Week 12) | |
| Winner | 99-percent-sure, Lockett 80 rec (Week 12) |
| 2nd place | killacamkilla2, Kearse 80 rec (Week 14) |
| 3rd place | biju, Lockett 80 rec (Week 6) |
Are you certain you didn't mean Dougie, 99? I think you meant Dougie. Let's pretend you said Dougie.
Q) Number of games, including playoffs, where Chancellor, Thomas and Sherman all appear
No table here. The trio appeared in 13 games together. Lots of you pulled that number out of your blue and green asses.
Winners were:
Acert93, benbu75, _Con_Rad_, debauchedandroid, Game0fDrones, Ilwacojoe, Maverick17, thebluefox.
Gotta remember to put a tie-breaker on every category, I guess.
R) Provide the final NFC West standings, with W-L records
Nobody got all four right. Nobody even got three right. That's because almost every one of you went
SEA-AZ-STL-SF
or
SEA-AZ-SF-STL.
So tons of you (literal tons!) got two teams right. The last two teams. Some of you furnished W-L records closer to reality than others. You are our winners. You are the real heroes.
| Actual: AZ 13-3, SEA 10-6, STL 7-9, SF 5-11 | |
| Winner | Game0fDrones, off by a total of four games |
| 2nd place | ichirostole51, off by a total of five games |
| 3rd place | Gihyou, off by a total of six games |
For the sake of this contest, can you please win the division again, Hawks?
S) List the six AFC playoff teams, with seeding
| Actual: DEN, NE, CIN, HOU, KC, PIT | |
| Winner | hawkblocked, 5 right, 1 correct seeds |
| 2nd place (tie) | Mike Bottemiller, 5 right, 0 correct seeds |
| 2nd place (tie) | _Con_Rad_, 5 right, 0 correct seeds |
About half the entries had Indianapolis as the top seed. That... didn't happen.
T) List the six NFC playoff teams, with seeding
| Actual: CAR, ARI, MIN, WAS, GB, SEA | |
| Winner | manzell, 5 right |
| 2nd place | William and Polly, 4 right, 2 correctly seeded |
| 3rd place (tie) | 15 ties, 4 right, 0 correctly seeded |
Nobody got six right for either conference. Blame Houston and Washington for crashing the party. And the fact that the Cowboys, Eagles and Saints all cratered under the weight of your preseason expectations.
Overdue Announcement
With 14 points earned, including two first places, your 2016 Hawkstradamus is:
Blake Whitney.
He has won bragging rights, your envy, and 144 GullBux, which is the maximum amount that can be awarded at one time under the FG charter.
Let's round out the top five.
Runner-up: tartarandfries, 12 points
3rd place (tie): Game0fDrones, Ilwacojoe, 10 points
5th place (tie): onelesshippie, William and Polly, 9 points
Too many of you at 8, 7, 6 or 5 points for me to list you all. Blaker luck to you next time. Which you'll need at the end of this month, in Part 2.
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