Average Joe Contest
The Edge Boost/VSiN Average Joe Contest is a compilation of college football and NFL picks, but with a deadline of 10 a.m. ET on Saturday morning to submit selections, there isn’t enough time to look at the most popular sides and totals on the CFB side. We, however, do have time to break down and analyze the top picks on the NFL side and there are some doozies with the NFL Picks Week 7 edition of the contest.
If you want to get involved in the Edge Boost/VSiN Average Joe Contest, there is still plenty of time to do so and test your mettle against the field. With weekly and quarterly prizes, there are chances to win throughout the remainder of the season. You just can’t win the overall prizes for the full season. See the Average Joe Contest Rules to give it some thought.
Also, if you have an existing account with Edge Boost, you’ll turn the $500 weekly prize into a $1,000 weekly prize. It is in your best interest to sign up with the promo code VSiN if you are joining the contest because the weekly prize is deposited into an Edge Boost account anyway, so you can get ahead of the curve and put the “boost” in Edge Boost by getting that enhanced prize.
NFL Picks Week 7
As a native Clevelander, I cannot help but be concerned when there is optimism about the Browns. Maybe contest players know something I don’t or at least don’t have the scars of more than 30 years as a Cleveland sports fan. Getting a survey of what “Average Joes” are thinking on the NFL is always intriguing. Of course, you can also do that with our DraftKings NFL Betting Splits and Circa NFL Betting Splits, but we’re here to look at what contest players are thinking.
Here are the four most popular ATS Picks for Week 7:
Browns (95%) -2.5 vs. Dolphins
On a windy, miserable, wet day at whatever they call Browns Stadium nowadays, bettors are lining up for the LinkedIn #OpenToWork Bowl featuring Kevin Stefanski and Mike McDaniel. Speculation is that this is a loser goes home match, literally, as the losing team may make a Sunday night or Monday morning decision about the head coach.
Between the conditions and the presence of Quinshon Judkins, it would seem that contest players are barking with the Dawg Pound on this one. Out of the 729 picks on the game, 689 are on Cleveland. Hopefully Myles Garrett doesn’t speed up I-71 to get to the stadium for this one.
Seahawks (80%) -3 vs. Texans
We have another Monday Night Football doubleheader and this one can actually be called a doubleheader, with games at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET. The late one of the two is this one with a rowdy 12th Man crowd braving the gloomy and damp conditions of October that they know all too well. This one is mildly shocking with Houston on a two-game winning streak and three losses by 13 combined points prior to that, but the Seahawks are a metrics darling and Sam Darnold has been quite good this season.
Of the 435 contestants to hit submit on this game, 348 of them aligned with the home chalk. A lot of ATS selections this week were pretty split, but Houston joined Miami as the only two teams to have fewer than 100 supporters.
Chargers (74%) -1.5 vs. Colts
Another favorite on the board here, and one tied with the Lions at 74%, so I’ll get to them in a second. The Fightin’ Jim Harbaughs were fortunate to beat the Dolphins last week, but they got some momentum going on the ground with a big effort from Kimani Vidal. With Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris out, that development is potentially huge with Justin Herbert having a fine season.
The loss to the Giants that seemingly changed the perception of the Chargers is aging pretty well and there are still plenty of Daniel Jones skeptics out there with Indy’s 5-1 start. To be fair, they caught the Broncos at a really good time to eke out a one-point win there and their other four wins are against collections of stiffs. So, the Average Joes believe the Bolts beat the Colts and cover the short number. On the 575 selections here, the Chargers got 427 of them.
Lions (74%) -5.5 vs. Buccaneers
The other Monday Night Football game got some love, as the Lions were a popular pick over the Buccaneers. Not nearly to the degree of the Over in this game, but more on that in a second. Truth be told, it surprises me that so many are eager to fade Baker Mayfield in a dome setting with his weapons on offense, but the Lions are also back inside and we all know about how Jared Goff wears smedium Isotoners when he goes outside in the winter.
There were 559 picks on this game and the Lions pulled in 414 of them.
Here are the three most popular totals of the week:
Buccaneers/Lions Over 52.5 (97%)
If you are one of the seven people who took the Under in this game and make your way to Vegas, I would like to buy you a beer. It takes some serious stones to go against the grain in a primetime game with these two offenses, but good luck and godspeed to you.
There were 207 picks on this game, so do the math and the count was 200 to 7. Based on the weekly Average Joe Contest Splits, NFL totals are not very popular for contestants, but when they are, they really are. Only four sides of a total had more than 73 picks this week.
Browns/Dolphins Under 37 (92%)
It seems that some people may have heard that there will be tropical storm winds on the banks of Lake Erie this weekend. Also, in the immortal words of meteorologist Ollie Williams on Family Guy, “It’s gon’ rain”. (I’m not going to link this because, well, it’s Family Guy, but clips are on YouTube if you don’t get the reference.)
I was at the Browns vs. Bills game in 2007. Certified coldest I have ever been. This YouTube video of the game highlights is worth a watch if you’re so inclined.
My three fondest memories of that game are the Phil Dawson 48-yard field goal, the snowball fights in the stands, and the punters practicing pregame as their kicks landed behind them when kicking into the wind.
Anywho, throwing passes will be difficult. Safeties will be cheating up. Field conditions will likely be bad. All the makings of an Under, at least according to the 314 out of 341 contestants who are looking for a low-scoring affair.
Commanders/Cowboys Over 54 (90%)
Points are expected in Jerry World, as the Emmy nominee for Best Supporting Actor in Landman will be looking for the team he owns to outscore a division rival. Okay, so maybe Jerry’s performance wasn’t award-worthy in Landman, but it was pretty good. And it’s been a lot better than his performance as Owner/GM/Spokesman/Media Whore over the last couple of years.
Anyway, there were 262 picks on this game and 237 took the over. The Cowboys have allowed 184 points in six games and the Commanders 126. Opponents have gotten points on 53.2% of their possessions against the Dallas defense, who will also be without Trevon Diggs. Combined, the two teams have scored 336 points over 12 games, so it makes sense to root for points here.
See all of the pick counts, including college football, on the Average Joe Contest Betting Splits page.
