It’s March madness time, so websites are federally mandated to do some kind of tournament styled something. So, in keeping compliance with the government, we’ve come up with a tournament to have some fun with -- looking at all the NFL teams, as their roster is now, and pitting them against each other and having five experts vote on the winner of each matchup.
This tournament is not ‘seeded’. It was a randomly generated matchup setup...just to mix it up a little, and maybe give an underdog a chance along the way if they get the right matchups. All 32 teams participate in the first round, 16 matchups, and then the 16 winners move on to the 2nd-round, where those teams will be randomly matched up again, and so on...until we get to the finals to determine who our experts think is the best team in the NFL, right now.
We’re going through this for fun, but also for some betting guidance...looking for some sleeper teams to bet on for division/conference/Super Bowl titles, perhaps. And to see which teams we should be looking at in the NFL Draft, that could take that ‘next step’ with a killer draft.
The five experts voting for their ‘winner’, based on their current data/research, and giving a brief commentary on their picks are...
Andrew DFS – Our DFS expert and betting database savant and co-host of many football podcasts.
Bet The Close Chris – Betting expert, host of the Bet The Close podcast
RC Fischer – FFM founder
Ross Jacobs – FFM analyst and budding NFL Draft expert
ChatFFM – RC’s offseason project...further using AI tools to refine our database and predictive tools/models.
Here’s what the experts think of today’s matchup:
Andrew DFS
BAL v. DAL = (Baltimore by 3) Ravens new RB, Derrick Henry, will benefit from playing with the best OL and QB in his career. Baltimore’s rushing attack with Henry, QB Lamar Jackson, and a healthy RB Keaton Mitchell will overwhelm the Cowboys defense, which struggled stopping the run late last season. Dallas’ failure to contain GB RB Aaron Jones (32-118-3) in the Wildcard round ultimately cost them the game.
Ross Jacobs
BAL v. DAL = (BAL wins 24-20) The Cowboys are a paper tiger that smashes weak teams but fade against good competition. Losing Jonathan Hankins is too much for an already bad run defense. The Ravens reload a brand-new line and Lamar and King Henry run rampant through the Dallas secondary.
RC
BAL v. DAL = (BAL wins 24-14) Derrick Henry was the missing piece the Ravens desired heavy run game was needing. Baltimore is better on offense and defense over a solid enough Dallas team. The Cowboys’ window is closing/has closed.
Bet The Close Chris...
BAL v. DAL = (BAL wins 27-17). The Ravens have liabilities in OBJ and P. Queen walking out the door but has D. Henry walking in. Harbaugh is excited to have King Henry and I think the whole team gets a shot of hope. Cowboys lose Tyron Smith and are kind of just “there” for me, if they drew a bad team, I would have them winning. Of course, if it’s the postseason – flip the score.
ChatFFM
BAL v. DAL = (BAL wins 74% of 1,000 simulations) The Ravens rush for 125-200+ yards in most simulations and Micah Parsons/the Dallas defense is no help here.
FINAL VOTING TALLY...
The Ravens blank the Cowboys, according to our experts, 5-0.
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