MICROSOFT CORTANA IS a virtual personal assistant that is โ for the want of something better to do we suppose โ picking every single game this NFL season.
It has enjoyed a decent hit rate, last week predicting 10 of the 14 games correctly to bring it to 48-29 (62%) for the year.
Cortana missed on the Chiefs and Ravens โ which lost in two of the biggest upsets of the season โ and also fell into the trap of favouring home teams by predicting the Titans and Chargers would come out on top.
This week โ and for the first time all season โ Cortana and the Las Vegas oddsmakers are in complete agreement, but how will we do in picking on gut and based on what weโve seen from the teams on the field this season.
Letโs see:
Atlanta Falcons (-3) at New Orleans Saints (Thursday)
Cortanaโs pick: Falcons have a 60% chance of winning
The42โฒs pick: This is a weird trap game for the 5-0 Falcons. Divisional games are always tricky to call but the Saints have managed just one win at home since October 2014 so weโll take Atlanta in this one too.
Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5) at Buffalo Bills
Cortanaโs pick: Bengals have a 52% chance of winning
The42โฒs pick: Cincinnati came from 17 points down in the second half to beat the Seattle Seahawks last week. Theyโre playing a Bills team with serious question marks about the fitness of their running backs and quarterback. The Bengals easily for us.
Houston Texans (-1.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars
Cortanaโs pick: The Texans have a 53% chance of winning
The42โฒs pick: The AFC South is a tyre fire of a division where even the best team โ the Indianapolis Colts โ are terrible. Jacksonvilleโs Blake Bortles is on course to throw more than 30 touchdowns this season and heโll lead the Jaguars to victory this weekend.
Kansas City Chiefs (+3.5) at Minnesota Vikings
Cortanaโs pick: The Vikings have a 61% chance of winning
The42โฒs pick: With Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs actually had a decent chance in the is game but, without him, Kansas City offer nothing on offence. Vikings to take the win.
Denver Broncos (-4) at Cleveland Browns
Cortanaโs pick: โ Broncos have a 64% chance of winning
The42โฒs pick: Peyton Manning is playing horribly and yet Denver remain undefeated as their defence continue to bail them out. The Browns offensive line has already given up 18 sacks this season and wonโt be able to protect their quarterback. Broncos by six.
Chicago Bears (+3) at Detroit Lions
Cortanaโs pick: The Lions have a 67% chance of winning.
The42โฒs pick: This is why you canโt trust computers. The Lions are beyond help. They canโt score and they canโt stop teams scoring. The Bears with Jay Culter โ as he has proven two weeks in a row โ are an altogether different beast and will comfortably beat the spread.
Miami Dolphins (+2.5) at Tennessee Titans
Cortanaโs pick: The Titans have a 58% chance of winning.
The42โฒs pick: This is one of the closer games to call as the Titans should have won last week too but suffered from poor play in the secondary and conservative play-calling on offensive. Still, Tennessee by three for us.
Carolina Panthers (+7) at Seattle Seahawks
Cortanaโs pick: The Seahawks have a 58% chance of winning.
The42โฒs pick: The Panthers have had one of the easiest schedules in the NFL up until now but their undefeated run is sure to come to a halt in Seattle this weekend. This is not the Seahawks weโve known over the last few years but theyโre still good enough to take care of Carolina.
Washington (+6) at New York Jets
Cortanaโs pick: The Jets have a 70% chance of winning.
The42โฒs pick: The Jets are a top ten team, theyโre coming off a bye week and hoping to keep pace with the New England Patriots in the race for the AFC East. And yet we still think the spread is too generous against a Washington team which has already recorded wins over two top-ten defences this season.
San Diego Chargers (+10) at Green Bay Packers
Cortanaโs pick: The Packers have a 78% chance of winning.
The42โฒs pick: Double digit spreads are always scary but the Rams are a much better team than the Chargers and they still lost by 14 in Wisconsin last Sunday. Expect a similar margin of victory for the Packers this week.
Baltimore Ravens (-2.5) at San Francisco 49ers
Cortanaโs pick: The Ravens have a 61% chance of winning.
The42โฒs pick: With a combined win/loss record of 2-8 the real question here is does anyone really care which one of them comes out on top? The line is just tempting enough to think the Ravens can get the job done.
Arizona Cardinals (-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers
Cortanaโs pick: The Steelers have a 55% chance of winning.
The42โฒs pick: Again, weโre going to have to disagree with Cortana. The Steelers are coming off a short week where they only just squeaked a win against the Chargers. The Cardinals look well set to make a deep playoff run and theyโll bring their record to 5-1.
New England Patriots (-8) at Indianapolis Colts
Cortanaโs pick: The Patriots have a 70% chance of winning
The42โฒs pick: This really could be a massacre given the form the New England offence is in. The Colts are not built to win a time of possession battle and the Patriots are likely to get very near 50 points in what should be a comfortable win.
New York Giants (+4) at Philadelphia Eagles
Cortanaโs pick: The Eagles have a 56% chance of winning
The42โฒs pick: Big Blue may have started the season by throwing away two games back-t0-back but theyโve been virtually flawless ever since. The loss of Prince Amukamara on defence is making us a little nervous but weโre still going with the Giants to beat the spread.
May the best man/computer win.
At his age itโs a clever thing to do, heโll be 31 by the time his contract runs out. Take a nice hefty signing fee from Juve and spend your last 2/3 seasons in Turin before retirement. Bad bit of business by Spurs though.
@David Lawlor: better not get injured before Christmas. That will be in his mind and impact on his performance. Little tweaks and he will cry off.
@David Lawlor: itโs a release clause, if he wonโt sign a contract what you expect them to do
Fair chance heโs looking to run down his contract, I guess
@Kevin Ryan: Then Juve will swoop in for the free transfer. Lovely jubbly!
Absolutely nuts how nobody went for him. It was a no brianer for Solskjaer or even Emery to go in for him.
@Patsy Mongan: Would have also weakened a rival in Spurs who dont have the cash to sign a replacement of equal quality.
@PฮรรY ะฏOOะฮฃY: dont have the cash? Do you not follow the news.. spurs are loaded
Woodward hang your head in shame
Will go to juve for free and a big payday next summer
There is a good possibility he could end up at Ajax too, said he wants to finish his career there.