Pickwatch is back for another season. You'll see this week we're adding a few new features you've requested, and we'll also be improving the existing site to ensure you have the best experience possible when making your picks and checking where you stand against your fellow Pickwatch members.

With all that said, in the end, this is a site that devotes itself to the experts. We know that almost all of you just want to see how well the experts do when compared with each other, and that's why today we're launching an 'Expert Constitution'. This is a list of five basic, simple rules that all media personalities -whetehr on TV or on the internet - should adhere to when making their NFL predictions.

1: Don't be contrarianskip

This is without doubt one of the pet peeves of both us and our readers. Put simply, there is nothing worse than an expert picking the opposite team to his co-hosts, or trying to be edgy for the sake of it. If you truly believe the Jags will knock off the Eagles in week 1, that's fine. They may well do just that, but you shouldn't just say it because you're in a room full of guys who are picking the Eagles and you want to be different.

Don't be different for the sake of being different - be right for the sake of being right.

2: Don't be a 'homer'nohomers

This is rife in our experience. There are some analysts who simply won't pick against their former clubs. We'll not name any names today, but rest assured we keep tabs of who every expert picks and has picked over the last two years. We know when a guy is backing his team because he's a fan. It helps nobody, and makes you look a bit silly, really.

3: Don't back both horses

'I think the Bears will win, but I think the Bills can cause an upset if they get Sammy Watkins involved'

You can guarantee that if the Bills were to win in such a scenario, the expert involved would be trumpeting their prescience from the rooftops. 'I said the Bills could win last week if they got Sammy Watkins involved' - Yeah buddy, but you picked the Bears, and the people who were trusting your opinion also lost out.

It's fine to have a nuanced take on a game, to see both sides and give respect to important factors that may come into play but in the end we are asking for one of two results, not a half-hearted 'both teams could win'.

4: Don't ever try and alter your picks after the game beginswarren-sapp

Why don't you head down to Vegas and try asking if you can change your mind once your team goes down by 14 in the 1st quarter? How do you think that would work out for you?

Exactly. We're watching, and if we catch you cheating - and we did catch at least one person doing this last year - we'll expose you for the charlatan that you are. Just remember that.

5: Take your picks seriously!

Ok this is it. The most important one. If you're an expert, you probably aren't always too thrilled about making picks, and we get that. You likely feel that having to say which team will win is making a rod for your own back, that people will call you nasty names and make you feel really bad about getting them wrong.

Boo hoo.

You're being asked to pick because we, the NFL fans care. That's how you earn your living, through us continually visiting your website or watching your TV show. We use those in so many different ways, and we take notice because we don't have days to study film or devote to all 32 teams. We trust that when you make picks, you're doing it because YOU want to be right too, and if you're not, or if you don't give it your best shot, then you're failing many of the people who keep you in work.

and finally...

We're not asking for you to be right all of the time. It's a fact that some of the best intentioned experts and most respected analysts simply can't choose between two teams to win a game straight up.

We understand that even the best experts aren't right 100% of the time, but we, the fans just ask that you follow these golden rules above. If you're making your picks for the right reasons, we'll back you 100%, no matter what the outcome.