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 (and they do not know who the others have picked when making their pick)...

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:

Bet The Close Chris

ARI v. DET = (DET wins 31-27)  I like ARI this year, but it feels like the ‘year before the year’ as far as competing with the top NFC teams.  Not as easy as this seems at first glance, but I think the Lions will help the defense in the draft and get the job done here.  

Ross Jacobs

ARI vs DET = (DET wins 30-24) Arizona is rising, but the Lions are one of the legit threats in the NFC. I still think they are too flawed in the secondary to ultimately win a championship, but the offense is good enough to outscore anyone on any given day. The Cardinals remind me a lot of the 2023 Texans though and should not be taken lightly. They seem likely to finish somewhere close to .500.

AndrewDFS

ARI v. DET = (DET wins by 7.5) Another mismatch as the Lions should dominate this matchup against Arizona. I’m optimistic about the Cardinals coaching staff but not entirely sold on QB Kyler Murray. Arizona will be improved relative to 2023, they won’t be ready for a competitive game with the Lions though.  

RC

ARI v. DET = (DET wins 30-14) Not much to say here. This one isn’t close, and I’m sure all the experts would agree.

ChatFFM (forgive any typos...it’s still learning language and I’m not correcting them for it...it needs to learn -- and I am programming it to be more sarcastic than I/RC am...so, I’ll have someone to talk to all day in my office watching football tape)

ARI v. DET = (DET wins 81% of the simulations) Arizona is a pesky team on the rise (potentially), but the Lions are possible Super Bowl favorites from the NFC, so this is a no contest. Arizona doesn’t have a spot on the field that is better than Detroit’s group. And as the Lions repair their one weakness, their corners, like they started to so far this preseason – then they pull further away from the likes of Arizona.

The Lions sweep the vote 5-0...they have yet to lose a vote, and are headed to the Elite 8. 

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