There were only 2 underdog victories outright in week 9, the Vikings pulling off a miracle with a QB who didn't even know the playbook, and the Commanders, who we picked to beat the Patriots. Actually, I should also note that as per what we've done all season so far, I'm not counting one game (Kansas City) where they were underdogs later in the week, but we technically got 2 of the 3 underdog picks right!

2 underdog winners (1 counting to our record) would usually not be much to console us in a losing week, but when pickings were so slim, it does kind of cushion the blow of a -50% ROI week, as do the circumstances of our other picks. Essentially, our instincts are still good, we've just missed on 3-4 games by the finest margins over the last few weeks.

In week 9, we picked the Bucs, who managed to go from a win to a loss in 30 seconds (the second week in a row, after the Giants did the same in week 8), the Giants, whose QB tore his ACL in the first quarter while driving at midfield down 0-7, the Titans, who almost won on the last play of the game, and the Bills, who also had a shot to win against the Bengals on Sunday.

So none of the picks were awful, but it was just a tough one to swallow, particularly given that if the Bucs had won, we'd have just about broken even. Still, those are the breaks, and sometimes the slate will throw you a week where there are lots of 'almosts', but not many winners.