The Behind The Steel Curtain survivor pool finished up its ninth week where every contestant made a selection for the first time in the contest. While technically we started with 592 entries, I have one entry in each league as the commissioner so there were 587 different contestants. Hundreds have entered, but only one can go home with the autographed David DeCastro football. Entering Week 9, there were exactly 97 entries still alive.
The most common selection for Week 9 was the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night, which led all six leagues as the choice for 47% of all the remaining entries. The 49ers fell behind early but jumped out to a two-touchdown lead going into the fourth quarter. Arizona scored 11 points to cut the lead to three, but were unable to stop the 49ers on a 3rd & 11, a 3rd & 3, or a 3rd & 9 as San Francisco never relinquished possession to end the game.
Other popular choices were the Buffalo Bills over the Washington Redskins and the Seattle Seahawks over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While the Bills handled the Redskins fairly easily, the Seahawks needed overtime to take down the Bucs after missing a 40-yard field goal at the end of regulation. This week saw the fourth-most popular selection eliminating over 10% of the contestants as the Green Bay Packers were never really in contention with the Los Angeles Chargers.
After nine weeks, 13.2% of contestants still remain with 19 people being eliminated in Week 9. Since I am still alive in all six leagues, it means we have less than 75 contestants remain with one league down to single digit entries. If you are still in the contest, make sure you enter your pick early so you don’t get knocked out due to a lack of selection. In fact, go do it right now if you are still alive!
As the season moves forward, it does become slightly easier to know what a team is supposedly capable of based on their body of work, but the choices become fewer as many contestants have already used the NFL’s top teams. With six teams on bye and some of the more obvious choice being teams many have already used, who will be the go-to team of choice?
Weekly Update:
Upcoming Week 10 Games of Note:
- Most heavily favored: New Orleans (-12.5) at home vs. Atlanta
- Closest match up (other than the Steelers): Los Angeles Chargers (-1) at Oakland
- The Steelers match up: Pittsburgh (+3.5) at home vs Los Angeles Rams
- On Bye Week: Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins
(all lines are courtesy of oddshark.com as of 11/5)
So there you have it! Make sure you check back at Behind The Steel Curtain to stay updated on the contest. Even if you did not enter or have already been eliminated, feel free to check in and see how you would have fared each week.